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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Kamloops, BC, CAN |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | Kamloops Track and Field Club: Canada |
Further Personal Information | |
| Higher education | University of Texas: Austin, TX, USA |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Boating, travelling. (guadalajara.olympic.ca, 2011) |
| Other sports | He played American football at high school and received a dozen offers of scholarships but switched to athletics after seeing the physical strain the game took on players' bodies. (torontosun.com, 01 Aug 2010) |
| Hero / Idol | Former coach Derek Evely. (Athletics Canada, 22 Jun 2007) |
| Ambitions | To win a medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (edmontonsun.com, 28 Jun 2013) |
| Awards and honours | In 2011 he was awarded the Jack W. Davies Trophy for overall athlete of the year, the F.N.A. Rowell Trophy for outstanding field athlete and the Cal D. Bricker Memorial Trophy for the most outstanding performance. (kamloopsthisweek.com, 21 Dec 2011) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Dr Anatoly Bondarchuk |
| Coach from what year? | 2005 |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He took up athletics at age nine. |
International Debut | |
| Year | 2000 |
| Competing for | Canada |
Further Personal Information | |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "You gotta love what you do. I just want to keep throwing further." (canda.com, 30 Jul 2010) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Coach from which country? | Ukraine |
General Interest | |
| Other information | OLYMPIC HEARTACHE Despite breaking the national record in the shot put at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, he finished fourth with a throw of 21.04m, missing out on a medal by one centimetre. He has spoken about the burden of constantly being asked about the event and also about the motivation it provides. "It's the one centimetre thing. If it was 10 centimetres it would be 'whatever'. It is a competition and that is what competing is about. It gives me that extra rocket fuel." However, he was in line to receive the medal after initial bronze winner Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus was handed a lifetime ban for doping in 2013. (thestar.com, 14 Jun 2013) TRAINING IN CANADA He has commented on the difficulties of training in Canada and the advantages that athletes from warmer climates have. In Canada, he is unable to train outdoors for the hammer without going into sub-zero temperatures and snow. "Outside there would be two feet of snow around the circle, and we'd be out there shovelling it and putting salt on it to melt everything. People upstate don't even do that, they think we're pretty crazy, but I had to do it. It was the only thing I could do to train." (The Daily Texan, 05 Apr 2007) NATIONAL FIRST He became the first Canadian to win a world championship medal in a field event in 2011. (huffingtonpost.ca, 02 Sept 2011) FRIENDSHIP He is good friends with Canadian 800m runner Gary Reed and was best man at his wedding in late 2010 despite only arriving in Canada a few hours before the ceremony. "I am coming back from Europe and I think I get in two hours before the wedding. I will miss the rehearsal but I have a game plan. I actually have a private plane arranged to take me from Calgary to Kelowna, believe it or not. My buddy is a pilot." (cbc.ca, 28 Jul 2010) |
| Injuries | An elbow injury affected his performance at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. (edmontonsun.com, 28 Jun 2013) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |