Athletics: Athletics Canada Names 2004 World Indoor Championships Team

February 24, 2004 Ottawa, ON - Athletics Canada is pleased announce its 12-member Canadian team that will be competing at the upcoming 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships taking place in Budapest, Hungary from March 5th - 7th, 2004.

“This is the biggest team we’ve had in a few years at world indoors,” says head coach and chief technical officer for Athletics Canada, Alex Gardiner. “This is a result of a move to focus our resources on specific event groups such as the sprints and hurdles, and middle distance running. It’s also an indication of the tremendous work being done at the PacificSport national training centre in Victoria with coach Wynn Gmitroski. As well, every athlete on this team is a full-time athlete, under the guidance of full-time coaches, which speaks to our professional model.”

Athletes needed to demonstrate that they have the ability to finish in the top eight in order to qualify for selection to the team. Last year, Canada sent a team of seven athletes to the world indoor championships and in 2001, the team size was nine.

“This is the best group of athletes we’ve had heading into the world indoor championships in recent history,” says world indoor championships Canadian team head coach Les Gramantik who is also the director of speed and power programs for Athletics Canada. “Along with our experienced coaching staff, I’m looking forward to helping team members achieve their individual performance goals.”

Headlining the Canadian team list for Budapest is 100m hurdles outdoor world champion, Perdita Felicien; world championship bronze medallist Mark Boswell; as well as Canadian sprint champion, Nicolas Macrozonaris.

The world indoor championships will provide a valuable benchmark for all team members in their preparation for the Olympic Games in Athens this summer.

Team members are listed below:

Athletes:

(Name, Age, Hometown, Residence, Coach, Qualifying Event)
Charles Allen, 26, Brampton, ON, Clemson, SC-USA, Paul Doyle, 60mh
Mark Boswell, 26, Brampton, ON, Brampton, ON, Milt Ottey, High Jump
Carmen Douma, 26, Cambridge, ON, Ardmore, PA-USA, Marcus O'Sullivan, 1500m
Perdita Felicien, 23, Pickering, ON, Champaign, IL-USA, Gary Winkler, 60mh
Heather Henningar, 30, Halifax, NS, Victoria, BC, Wynn Gmitroski, 800m
Nicolas Macrozonaris, 23, Laval, QC, Laval, QC, Daniel St-Hilaire, 60m
Stephanie McCann, 26, Surrey, BC, Victoria, BC, Anthony Curran, Pole Vault
Gary Reed, 22, Kamloops, BC, Victoria, BC, Wynn Gmitroski, 800m
Brad Snyder, 28, Windsor, ON, Athens, GA-USA, Don Babbitt, Shot Put
Kevin Sullivan, 29, Brantford, ON, Champaign, IL-USA, Ron Warhurst, 3000m
Aimee Teteris, 24, Toronto, ON, Victoria, BC, Wynn Gmitroski, 800m
Angela Whyte, 23, Edmonton, AB, Moscow, ID-USA, Wayne Phipps, 60mh

Team Staff

Head Coach, Les Gramantik, Calgary, AB
Coach, Wynn Gmitroski, Victoria, BC
Coach, Daniel St. Hilaire, Montreal, QC
Team Manager, Carole Gemer, Lethbridge, AB
Chiropractor, Wilbour Kelsick, Port Moody, BC

From Athletics Canada.