There will be a few athletes on the 2012 Canadian Olympic Team who call Winnipeg home. Make sure to keep an eye out for them while you’re glued to your television sets the next couple weeks.
Janine Hanson
Rowing
Women’s 8+
Hanson is a member of the quad sculls crew at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing that finished 8th. She is a two-time World Championships silver medalist in the eight in 2010 and 2011. In 2010, Hanson made the switch from sculling to sweeping, having not swept since early college days. At the 2007 World Championships, she competed in the quad sculls finishing 5th.
American-born and Winnipeg-raised, Hanson, a St. Mary’s Academy alumni, graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Movement Science from the University of Michigan, where she rowed for four years. While at Michigan, she won two Big-10 Championships, had two top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships, and was the recipient of the 2006 Big-10 Sportsmanship Award and the 2006 All–Star Award.
Kevin Kowalyk
Rowing
Men’s 2x
Kowalyk makes his Olympic debut in London in 2012. He competed at the 2011 World Championships in the men’s coxless fours finishing 7th and was 9th in the double sculls at the 2011 World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland with partner Michael Braithwaite. Twice he won the Royal Canadian Henley in the men’s single sculls, in 2007 and in 2009.
An engineering student at the University of Manitoba, Kowalyk raced recreationally at the Winnipeg Rowing Club for five years before getting noticed by the national team.
Desiree Scott
Twitter: @msdscott11
Soccer
Women’s Soccer
Desiree Scott played for Canada for the first time in 2003 in the U-16 and represented Canada at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2006 held in Russia. Member of the National Team at World Cup 2011 FIFA held in Germany, she participated in two of three games of the training as a substitute.
She played as a regular in the semifinals and finals of the 2011 Pan American Games where the team won gold. She also represented Canada at the 2007 Universiade in Bangkok and its province, Manitoba, Canada Games in Regina in 2005.
In the summer of 2006, Desiree Scott has participated in five games for Vancouver Whitecaps FC season when the club won its second championship of the W-League. It was won again as member of the club in 2010.
Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Desiree Scott stood out at the University of Manitoba, receiving numerous awards, including that of the most valuable player of the Bisons in 2005.
Clara Hughes
Cycling
Road, Speed
Hughes was born in Winnipeg, and is a graduate of Elmwood High School.
Five-time Olympian and five-time medallist. Only fourth athlete ever to win medals at Winter and Summer Games, and only athlete to win multiple medals at both. Six-time WC medallist. Won 18 Canadian national cycling titles.
Seven-time Pan Am Games medallist between 1991 and 2003 (one gold, three silver, three bronze). Three-time Commonwealth Games medallist. 1995 WC silver medallist (road time trial).
Nicole Sifuentes
Athletics
1,500m
Nicole Sifuentes will be making her Olympic Games debut in 2012 and will compete in the 1500m event after finishing third at the 2012 Nationals with a time of 41:14.06.
Sifuentes is a four-time Canadian Championships 1500m medalist winning one silver (2010) and three bronze (2007, 2008, 2009).
Sifuentes shattered her previous best-ever performance with an Olympic A+ of 4:04.74 at Mesa College in San Diego on June 20, 2012, just prior to the 2012 Nationals in Calgary.
