A pair of female athletes with ties to our region, Mary Spencer & Larisa Yurkiw, posted significant results over the weekend.
At the Canadian Boxing Trials in Nova Scotia, Spencer who was born in Wiarton, won the Women’s 75 kilogram division with a win over Ariane Fortin of Quebec City.
With the victory Spencer, who has family and is a frequent visitor at Cape Croker, gains a berth at the World Boxing Championships in China which are set for May.
The World Championships also serve as the final qualifier for the 2012 Olympic Games at London in which Women’s Boxing will make its debut.
Meanwhile, Yurkiw was nowhere near winning at the World Cup Super G Sunday in Cortina, Italy, getting a ” DNF ” after skiing off line and missing a gate.
However, while Yurkiw admits the slip up is disconcerting, the far greater story is that after a 2 year absence due to injury, Yurkiw has skied her way back to the World Cup level in Alpine skiing.
I’m sure it’s been done before, but how many athletes get to the very peak of their sport, get injured, and then spend more than 2 years grinding their way to get back to that level ?
Yurkiw talks after about the progression of retuning, in fact far more than her actual results, these days.
With the Italian Super G behind her, Yurkiw will stay in Europe, competing in Switzerland, first at a Europa Cup race this week and then returning to the World Cup stage the following week.
I’m Fred Wallace