olympics

A white man with long curly brown hair and a 50s style moustache is wearing a red and white Team Canada athletic tank and red shorts. He is cheering as he holds a Canadian flag over his head. He is standing in a stadium with serval camera operators filming him

Nanaimo’s Ethan Katzberg celebrates winning gold at the Olympics

August 21, 2024 by Lauryn Mackenzie

It has been a couple of weeks since Nanaimo’s Ethan Katzberg made history as the first-ever Canadian to win gold in hammer throw at the 2024 Paris Olympics and he is still celebrating his big win.

Katzberg spoke with CHLY following the Olympics as he trains in Slovakia ahead of his next two competitions in the coming weeks.

Katzberg talked about how he got in the sport at a very young age and is honoured to know that his recent win may inspire other people to get into the sport.

For some Olympic highlights, Katzberg said he got to say “hi” to swimmer Micheal Phelps and experience the games with other world-class hammer throwers and Canadian athletes.

He said the support he has gotten from the community and residents in Nanaimo has been very special and is happy to represent Nanaimo in a sport he loves.

A large group of people sit in a theatre cheering, with Canadian flags and a sign that reads Bring Home the Gold Sarah

‘We still love her’: Sarah Mitton’s hometown fans react after Olympic result

August 9, 2024 by Rick Conrad

It wasn’t the result people wanted or expected, but hundreds of Sarah Mitton’s hometown fans still cheered for their hero.

Sarah Mitton, the world indoor champion in the shot put, did not make it to the final eight competitors on Friday, having to settle for 12th place at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

A boisterous crowd of about 250 people gathered at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool to watch Mitton compete live. Decked out in red and white and waving Canadian flags, people erupted into cheers and applause every time Mitton showed up on the big screen.

Mitton was well below her qualifying distance of 19.77 metres in her first two throws. She appeared to be around the 20-metre mark with her third throw, but she fouled out after losing her balance and stepping out of the throwing circle.

Those at the Astor were still proud of what she’s accomplished.

A smiling young woman in shorts and red Team Canada T-shirt holds up a Canadian flag.

Sarah Mitton’s hometown fans ready to cheer on pride of Queens County at Paris Olympics

August 2, 2024 by Rick Conrad

Fans of Canadian shot put star Sarah Mitton will gather next Friday in Liverpool, N.S., to cheer on the reigning world indoor champion at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The Astor Theatre in downtown Liverpool is holding a watch party for the shot put final on Aug. 9 from 2 to 4 p.m. Mitton also competes the day before in the shot put qualification round.

The 28-year-old from Brooklyn has had a great year, capturing the World Athletics Indoor Championship in March, and breaking her own Canadian record at least three times.

The watch party at the Astor is free for everyone, with doors opening at 2 p.m. The shot put final is scheduled to begin at 2:37 p.m.

Astor executive director Jerri Southcott tells QCCR she expects a big turnout for the live event.

Three young women stand on three podiums. The middle one is holding a bouquet flowers.

From South Hazelton to Paris 2024, Regan Yee is ready for the world stage

July 25, 2024 by Dan Mesec

In just two days more than 10,000 elite athletes from around the world will descend on Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Among them will be South Hazelton’s own Regan Yee.

Yee will be competing in her second Summer Olympics in the 3,000 metre steeple chase. Born and raised in South Hazelton, Yee has spent the past decade making her way to the Olympic stage in Pairs, after placing 30th in the steeple chase during the COVID Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.

Although northern communities don’t always have the most exposer or the best facilities, Yee says small communities allow future athletes to focus and hone their skills needed to compete at a high level.

“Even if you’re from a small town there are advantages to that as well,” Yee said. “You have the support of your community, you don’t necessarily have the same stresses at other places.”

Brooklyn’s Sarah Mitton tops Canadian field to qualify for Paris 2024

July 4, 2024 by Rick Conrad

Queens County Olympian Sarah Mitton is on her way to Paris.

The 28-year-old world champion shot putter from Brooklyn qualified recently for the Canadian track and field team that will be going to the Summer Olympics July 26 to Aug. 11.

Her throw of 19.62 metres at the Canadian Olympic trials last week secured her fourth straight Canadian title. She owns the world’s longest throw this year at 20.68 m, which is also a Canadian record. Mitton set that mark in March when she captured gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championship in Glasgow.

In early June, she also captured top spot at the World Athletics Continental Tour in New York City, with a top throw of 20.15 m, beating her closest competitor by more than a metre.

The women’s Olympic shot put qualification round is on Aug. 8, with the final the next day.

An older man with glasses and a moustache, wearing a white shirt, is on the left with a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair. They are holding a two-page document that is open book-style.

Organizers kick off volunteer drive for mixed doubles curling trials in Liverpool

June 4, 2024 by Rick Conrad

The volunteer recruitment drive for an Olympic curling trial event in Liverpool kicked off on a sunny Monday at the Liverpool Curling Club.

Sixteen mixed doubles curling teams will compete Dec. 30 to Jan. 4 at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool for the chance to represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

It’s a relatively new sport, with only two players on each team instead of four. It’s not uncommon to see the same person who threw the rock also sweep it down the ice. Canada won gold in the sport’s Olympic debut in 2018.

Greg Thorbourne, chairman of the Liverpool Championship Host Society, is a longtime booster and organizer of curling events in Liverpool.

“I used to hate mixed doubles. … (But) watching the calibre of curling, the shots made, the number of rocks in play, I don’t think there’s a better game in this world than mixed doubles.”

Sarah Mitton wins shot put gold at World Athletics Indoor Championships

March 1, 2024 by Rick Conrad

Nova Scotia’s Sarah Mitton can now add world champion to her long list of accomplishments.

The Olympic shot putter from Brooklyn, Queens County, captured the gold medal Friday morning at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.

“Incredible. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” she said in an interview via Zoom from Glasgow shortly after her win.

“I’ve just been up in the top but never really on top at a world championship and now I’ve done three outdoor worlds and this is my second indoor worlds so it’s been a long time coming, so it’s just really sweet.”

Listen to Rick Conrad’s interview with Sarah Mitton on her win.

U.S. President announces his support for Six Nations and Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse team

December 12, 2023 by Deya Miller

U.S. President Joe Biden has given his support to the Six Nations peoples to compete under their own tribal flag at the 2028 Olympics. The announcement was made at the White House Tribal Nations Summit on December 6.

The Six Nations peoples consists of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Cayuga & Tuscarora Nations.

The Haudenosaunee Nationals was once called the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse team but was changed due to the word “Iroquois” which means “snake”. The name was given to the Haudenosaunee people by the French and is considered to be an incorrect and derogatory term.

CKRZ journalist Deya Miller gives a brief history of Lacrosse which is the National Sport of Canada and also the history of the Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse team that is formed by the peoples of the Six Nations.