The road to the London Olympic Summer Games continued for a number of Kamloops-based athletes on Saturday.
In St. Felicien, Que., world champion Catharine Pendrel secured her fourth Canadian Mountain Bike Championship title.
Pendrel, who lives and trains in Kamloops, pulled away to win in one hour 30 minutes 22 seconds, followed by Marie-Helene Premont of Chateau Richer, Que. Emily Batty of Brooklin, Ont., won the bronze.
Pendrel won her first national title in St. Felicien in 2009.
“This is a great venue,” she commented. “It wasn’t an easy victory, because I knew that Marie-Helene was anxious to win on her home ground. I had a little bobble in the middle of the race, but everything went really well for me and this is a great win as part of my build up for the Olympics.”
Max Plaxton of Victoria won his second men’s title in a battle with seven-time winner Geoff Kabush, who also is from Victoria.
Meanwhile, at Foote Field in Edmonton, a number of competitors from the National Throws Centre in Kamloops made podium appearances at the Donovan Bailey International meet.
Dylan Armstrong, a Kamloops native who will be one of Canada’s top medal hopes in London, won the shot put with a final throw of 21.02 metres.
Armstrong, who has been on a vigorous schedule of late that has taken him to Europe and back to North America a couple of times, has a season-best throw of 21.50. His career-best is 22.21.
“I’m extremely happy with that performance,” Armstrong told the Edmonton Journal. “Anything over 21 metres at this stage of the game is really good. I’ve got some really hard training ahead of me.”
American Ryan Whiting was second in the eight-man field, at 20.71, while Justin Rodhe, a Bainbridge, Ohio, native who now is a Canadian citizen and trains in Kamloops, finished third at 20.42.
American Christian Cantwell was fourth, at 20.36.
“I’m really surprised to throw that far,” Armstrong told reporters. “That’s just really good for me.
“I’ve been training really hard through this, I’m a little big sluggish through this, so it’s a good sign. I’m sore, my muscles are sore.”
Sultana Frizell of Perth, Ont., who also trains in Kamloops, won the women’s hammer throw with a toss of 69.05 metres. Megann Rodhe, who trains in Kamloops, was fourth, at 62.08.
Kibwé Johnson, an American who also trains in Kamloops, won the men’s hammer throw with a toss of 74.75m.
Next up is the Canadian championships in Calgary, June 27-30.
The Olympic Games open in London on July 27.
