High jumper Debbie Brill joins Canadian Masters Hall of Fame
Unlike USATF, which formally announces Masters Hall of Famers and Athletes of the Year in December, Canada’s top awards are revealed in June. So we’re happy to learn that Olympian and masters record-holder Debbie Brill (the real inventor of the Flop) is one Famer. (I met her at 1999 Gateshead worlds.) The other is Richard Graves, who died in February. He served for 20 years as a Canadian Masters Athletic Association leader. Awards will be presented at Canadian masters nationals Aug. 13 in Toronto.
Here are Athletes of the Year:
Individual Track Events – “Earl Fee Awardâ€
W85 Lenore Montgomery
In 2015, Lenore set W85 Canadian records in the 400m, 800m, 1500m and 5000m track races. Of these, the 800m, at 4:33.86, and the 5000m, at 32:36.20, were also World records, and were age-graded at 96% and 98%.
Individual Field Events – “Olga Kotelko Awardâ€
W35 Marie-Josée Le Jour
Marie-Josée Le Jour from Toronto is the winner of the Olga Kotelko Award. She competed for Canada in the Discus Throw in the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, a significant achievement for a masters athlete. In the World Masters Athletics Championships in France in August, 2015, in the very competitive W35 age group, Marie-Josée won a Gold medal in the Discus, and Bronze Medals in the Hammer Throw and the Weight Throw.
Combined Events – “Ian Hume Awardâ€
M60 Reidar Zapf-Gilje
Reidar Zapf-Gilje from Vancouver is the winner of the Ian Hume Award. In the Norwegian Multi-Event Championships in June, Reidar won the Gold Medal in the M60 Pentathlon, setting a new Canadian record of 3,575 points, 372 points above the previous record. Also during the year, he won Gold Medals in the M60 age group in the BC 55+ Games in the Pentathlon, with 3,369 points, and in the Throws Pentathlon, with 3,295 points.
Non-Stadia Events – “Ed Whitlock Awardâ€
W60 Johanna Flipsen
The winner of the Ed Whitlock Award is Johanna Flipsen, from Leduc, AB. In the WMA Championships in 2015, Johanna won a Gold Medal in the W60 20K Road Race Walk (91% age graded) and a Silver Medal in the 10K Road Race Walk (90% age graded). Both of these were Canadian age group records. In September, she also set a Canadian W60 age group record in the 5K Road Race Walk.
2 Responses
All great winners! Back in the day, we here in the Great White North referred to that jumping technique as the “Brill Bend” and not the “Fosbury Flop”.
I met and jumped against Debbie in1997 at the Master’s outdoors National Championship in San Jose. She tied the world’s record at 1.72m. Her technique was pure artistry. Congratulations, Debbie!
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