The 24 Hours Roller Montreal’s dates have been decided. The event will take place during the weekend of August 7th & 8th.
The 24 Hours Roller Montreal, which takes place in beautiful Parc Jean Drapeau, will attract over 1000-skaters to take part in the 24-hour inline skating team relay.
Roller & inline speed skating greats Chad Hedrick and Shane Dobbin recently commented on roller & inline speed skating’s role in helping them and other skaters achieve world and Olympic levels in long track speed skating; Shane Dobbin on his road to Vancouver.
After winning the 2005 Canadian 300-metre inline skating championship, he was invited to try out for the Own the Podium recruitment program, aimed at introducing athletes to long-track speed skating for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
The following note is from Michael Chambers- President, Canadian Olympic Committee;
I write to inform you that the President of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), Mario Vázquez Raña, at the recent PASO General Assembly in Guadalajara MEX, announced that all of our Pan American only sports will be on the programme of the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, that is:
Baseball
Bowling
Karate
Racquetball
Roller Sports
Rugby (recently added to the 2016 Olympic programme)
Softball (Women)
Squash
Water Skiing
Unfortunately, it appears unlikely that Men’s Softball will be placed on the Guadalajara programme.
For your information, it was also announced that the sport of Basque Pelota will be on the 2011 Pan American Games programme, however the sport of Basque Pelota does not have membership in the COC.
I would like to congratulate our Member Pan American NSFs on the confirmation of their inclusion in the sport programme of the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara.
Jordan Belchos has come and gone a long way since his roller speed skating competitive days.
Belchos, a former roller speed skating who represented Canada at the World Roller Speed Skating Championships and at the Pan American Championships, participated in 2005’s ‘Own The Podium’. The program’s aim was to recruit top talented athletes from other sports into Olympic winter sports. The ultimate aim was for the athletes to stepping onto the podium at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Belchos was one of a number of inline/ roller speed skaters who were selected to be tested and trained. Ultimately, only a few skaters from the roller/ inline speed skating crop remained in the program, including Jordan Belchos, Andrew Godbout, Meaghan Buisson, and Dean Arndt.
Jordan Belchos has been representing Canada on the long track speed skating circuit for a few years now, including in World Cup competitions. This weekend, he competed in the Netherlands and last weekend in Germany.