Competing in his first Canadian Francophone Games, William Kennedy, 17, of Whitehorse earned a silver medal last week in Edmonton.
“It was really hot that that day, it was pretty tiring,” said Kennedy. “I was pretty dehydrated by the end.”
Kennedy finished ahead of a Team Ontario runner in the 3,000-metre race to win the silver with a time of 11:07. Team Quebec took the gold.
A member of the Whitehorse Running Team, Kennedy also took fifth-place finishes in the 400- and 800-metre races, but was not thrilled with these performances.
“I’m not going to run them ever again probably,” said Kennedy of his 400- and 800-metre races. “I’m a long-distance runner; I just wanted to try them out.”
The Canadian Francophone Games take place every three years and are open to anyone between 13 and 18 who is capable of expressing themselves in French.
“It was fun,” said Kennedy. “I got to meet a lot of people so it was worth the trip.”
Team Yukon was the second smallest team at the event with 11 competitors. Northwest Territories had the smallest with just four athletes.
About 1,200 people from every province and territory (except Nunavut) participated at the games.
However, the Games were not just about athleticism.
Three of Yukon’s team members competed in three art competitions, the artistic creation, the limited time and the masterpiece.
Yukon’s Katie Link had the best success of her team in the art events, taking fourth in the artistic creation event with a sculpture called Evolution. The art pieces from the artistic events were incorporated into the closing ceremonies of the Games.
The 2011 Canada Francophone Games will be held in Sudbury, Ontario. However, those games are off the radar for Kennedy, who will exceed the age limit by then.
Instead, he is training for Canada’s Summer Games taking place next year in P.E.I.
“It is my main goal to make that team,” said Kennedy.
Results:
Athletics
Midget Male
Tyler Wynnyk: 4th place Shot Put, 4th place
Discus, 10th place Long Jump, 13th place
100m
Juvenile Male
William Kennedy: Silver Medal 3000m, 5th
place 400m, 5th place 800m
Midget Female
Simone Kitchen: 6th place 400m, 10th place
100m, 6th place in semi-final
Jesse Bouchard: 9th place Shot Put, 10th place
Discus, 13th place Long Jump
Badminton
Male Single
Both Jerome Belanger and Logan Godin par
ticipated in their respective preliminary pool
but didn’t advance to the finals.
Female Double
Jeannette Carney and Sara Kennedy partici
pated in the preliminary pool and advance in
the finals. They finished in 6th place overall.
Visual Arts
Katie Link, sculpture
Emilie Meredith, acrylic painting
Xavier Binette, graffiti arts
Artistic Vision — Theme: sculpture called
“Evolution” (three hours)
Katie Link, 4th place
Xavier Binette, 17th place
Emilie Meredith, 30th place
Limited Time — Theme: The Francophone
Games (90 minutes)
Katie Link, 18th place
Xavier Binette, 18th place
Emilie Meredith, no ranking
Masterpiece — Theme: none (six hours)
Katie Link, 14th place
Elimie Meredith, 22nd place
Xavier Binette, 29th place