—Media invited to Canadian Team’s training in Whistler, November 21—

WHISTLER, B.C.—The B.C. Lions have been forced to the sidelines and the Vancouver

Canucks are showing no signs of coming off the bench, clearing the track for the world’s

best bobsleigh and skeleton athletes to slide into the sporting spotlight in British

Columbia this week.

Canadian athletes will bring a trail of Olympic, World Championship and World Cup

medals as long as 1,450-metre track with them to the start line as they get set to host

the third stop of the World Cup circuit, November 19-24, 2012, at the Whistler Sliding

Centre.

Media are invited to attend the Canadian squad’s training session, November 21. The

skeleton athletes will hit the track at 1 p.m., Canada’s bobsleigh athletes will slide at 5

p.m. (all times PST).

Canadians to Keep and Eye on…

Olympic medallists, Kaillie Humphries, Lyndon Rush, Lascelles Brown, Jon Montgomery

and Mellisa Hollingsworth will headline a high-powered Canadian squad for men’s and

women’s bobsleigh and skeleton racing this week.

Calgary’s Humphries, Hollingsworth, of Eckville, Alta., and Rush, of Humboldt, Sask., 

will all return to Whistler with the goal of successfully defending their World Cup titles

claimed last year on the 16-corner track, while Montgomery, of Russell, Man., make his

return to Whistler for the first time since winning the World Cup race in the post-

Olympic year.

Humphries and Montgomery both won their Olympic gold medals on the Whistler Track,

while Rush became the first Canadian to pilot a four-man sled to the Olympic podium in

2010 when he celebrated the bronze with Calgary’s Lascelles Brown.

Montgomery and Hollingsworth will be joined by a high-powered young squad that

includes Calgary’s Sarah Reid who won her first skeleton race two weeks ago and World

Cup rookie, Cassie Hawrysh of Brandon, Man., who was the top Canuck in fourth last

week in Park City, Utah. The men’s team will also include Eric Neilson, of Kelowna, B.C.,

who is coming off one of his best races of his two-year career, and Calgary’s John

Fairbairn is knocking on the door of sliding into the elite top-six.

The Canada 2 women’s bobsleigh will be piloted by Edmonton’s Jenny Ciochetti, while

Calgary’s Chris Spring will look to continue to edge his way closer to the podium in the

Canada 2 men’s sled. World Cup rookie pilot, and 2010 Olympian, Justin Kripps of

Summerland, B.C., will lead a crew in the Canada 3 bobsleigh.

Grey Cup on your Mind?

No worries, come watch former CFL stars Jesse Lumsden, of Burlington, Ont., and Nick

Carriere, of Rockland, Ont., hit the track in Whistler.

Lumsden, who played for Hamilton, Edmonton and Calgary in the CFL, has been chasing

bobsleigh gold since pushing Pierre Lueders at the 2010 Olympics. Lumsden celebrated

his first World Cup gold medal in Whistler one year ago with former University of

Saskatchewan football standout, Lyndon Rush.

Nick Carriere, who played ball for the Toronto Argonauts, put a Grey Cup ring on the

sidelines with the goal of chasing a dream to represent Canada at the Olympic Winter

Games.

Who is Coming…

The Whistler Sliding Centre will play host to the top athletes on the globe for the third

race of the 2012-13 campaign. More than 200 athletes representing 22 countries will

slide into Whistler for men’s and women’s skeleton and bobsleigh races.

Schedule:

Whistler World Cup:

November 21 – Official Training Canadian Team

                  1 p.m. – skeleton

                  5 p.m. – bobsleigh

November 23

                  10 a.m. – women’s skeleton race

                  3 p.m. – 2-man bobsleigh race

                  6:30 p.m. – women’s bobsleigh race

November 24

                  9 a.m. – men’s 4-man bobsleigh race

                  3 p.m. – men’s skeleton race

Tickets:

Tickets for the Whistler event can be purchased for $10 now at www.whistler.com, by calling 1.800.WHISTLER (1.800.944.7853), or in person at the Whistler Ticketing Kiosk.

Children six and under are free. A WILL CALL pick-up booth will be set up at the Whistler Blackcomb ticketing kiosk beside the Excalibur Gondola on November 22, 23, and 24.

Spectators can also purchase tickets by CASH ONLY on site at the Whistler Sliding

Centre.

Whistler Media Accreditation:

ALL media must RSVP to Chris Dornan at uccepuevf@pbzpnfg.arg in advance of the 

event to receive media credentials for the World Cup. Media can pick up accreditation 

at the media centre which will be set up at the venue.

Media Parking:

Limited parking will be made available for media in Lot 7 and 8. Media may also gain 

free access to the venue via the Excalibur Gondola. For complete event information, 

please visit www.bobsleigh.ca or www.whistlerslidingcentre.com

TV Coverage:

Highlights of Canada’s bobsleigh and skeleton World Cup races in Lake Placid, Park City and Whistler, will be televised on Sportsnet and Sportsnet One each day. For complete television coverage, please visit www.bobsleigh.ca.

About Whistler Sport Legacies and the Whistler Sliding Centre

Whistler Sport Legacies is a not-for-profit society responsible for operating three of Whistler’s 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Venues: The Whistler Sliding Centre, Whistler Olympic Park, and the Whistler Athletes’ Centre.

The Whistler Sliding Centre is situated on Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler Resort, and hosted the Bobsleigh, Skeleton, and Luge competitions during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The facility now operates as a centre for high-performance development, youth and recreational club programming, and tourist and public programs, building on the legacy of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

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