NWT/Nunavut
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Pushing the limit
Natalie Dunleavy HAY RIVER - Meghan Fleet finished the 100-metre dash final on crutches last week. "I pushed myself too hard at the end and I fell and hurt my knee," said Fleet of her preliminary race in the NWT Track and Field Championships in Hay River.
Despite injuring her knee running the 100-metre preliminary, the William McDonald school student wanted to claim her sixth place in the final. "She didn't try to make (first place), she just wanted to show she did it," said Jordan Shortt, 13, also of William McDonald, who watched the race. Fleet said next time she would "tone it down and try to be myself," she said. She was upset to have missed out on her next four events. Fleet and other Yellowknife athletes were among 1,238 budding track stars at the meet. Kate Bolivar, of Sir John Franklin high school, was looking for friendly competition. "I've been here the last two years and it's just really fun," she said. Bolivar tried to stay warm on an overcast third day as she waited to compete in the shot put. "I think everyone wants to be outside a lot more and is more into it when it is warmer," she said. To inspire athletes along the way, Sport North sent an esteem team that consisted of national team speed skater Michael Gilday of Yellowknife and Olympian Sharon Firth. Aklavik-born Firth competed in four Winter Olympic Games in cross-country skiing, and competed in the 1,500-metre run at the meet. "It's just to do it and have fun with the kids," said Firth of her race. Firth said although she doesn't train like an Olympic athlete anymore, she hopes the kids will be inspired by her participation. "Not everyone is going to be an Olympic athlete but every kid should have that opportunity to dream," she said.
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