CAF, Base Atheletes shine at World Military Games

It was a podium triple-play as the Canadian Armed Forces team captured two bronze medals and silver medal at the recently completed 2015 Sixth CISM Military World Games.

This year’s Games, held Oct. 2 to 11 in Mungyeong, South Korea, saw the CAF’s all-time medal count grow to 12 (three gold , one silver, six bronze) since our involvement in the quadrennial competition began in 1985.

In triathlon, it was a happy 42nd birthday for Maj Martin Lamontagne-Lacasse of 35 Canadian Brigade Group when he won the third and final medal on the last day of the Games.

He wrapped himself in the Canadian flag and celebrated after completing the 1.5 kilometres swim, 40 km of cycling and 10 km run in 2:01:57.

“The race was a huge challenge for me and my victory wouldn’t have happened without some strong teamwork and team play,” said Maj Lamontagne-Lacasse.

“Our strategy was to protect the two fastest runners to get us to the podium and it worked.”

Cpl Hugues Boisvert-Simard of 22nd Régiment and Les Voltigeurs de Québec captured bronze in the fencing competition’s individual men’s épée on Oct. 5, defeating Germany’s Stephen Rein.

It was Cpl Boisvelt-Simard’s second podium finish in three months after a third-place performance at the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games.

Pte Angelica Bertucca, a reservist from 25 Field Ambulance in Toronto, celebrated a third place finish in Taekwondo, women’s Bantam category on Oct. 8.

It was Pte Bertucca’s first ever appearance at a Military World Games.

“To the athletes – you have made Canada proud,” said Cmdre Mark Watson, Director General CF Morale and Welfare Services.

“Many of you competed against Olympians in your fields of athleticism and held your own…In all cases your displays of sportsmanship, fair play and pride in our country and military and what we stand for were omnipresent.”

CFB Esquimalt athletes shine in South Korea

Eight men and women from CFB Esquimalt were among 8,700 competitors from 110 countries that competed in the 6th CISM Military World Games.

Here’s how our competitors did:

— Soccer —

Midfielder LS Liam Chambers, Fleet Diving Unit Pacific, scored for the CAF in a 2-1 loss to Guinea on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

LS Chambers led Canada’s attack in a back-and-forth match that saw the opposition open the scoring in the 16th minute, and then strike for the winning goal just one minute after the halftime break.

Canada went winless in its five games in South Korea, opening the tournament with a 3-0 loss to Brazil on Sept. 30, followed by a 5-0 defeat to Egypt four days later, a 9-0 loss on Oct. 9 against Oman, and final tournament play a 3-2 loss to the United States.

Also representing Canada’s team were defender Lt(N) Landon Zeeman, Naval Officer Training Centre, and midfielder Lt(N) Demetris Mousouliotis, Canadian Fleet Pacific.

— Basketball —

Canada and shooting guard SLt Conor Duke, Halifax Class Modernization West, erased the disappointment of five consecutive losses to open the men’s basketball competition with a 93-88 win over Germany in its final game with SLt Duke scoring 19 points.

Canada finished the basketball competition in 7th place with an earlier 72-58 loss to Germany, a 98-66 defeat to South Korea, 84-32 loss to Brazil and 98-55 and 106-46 defeats to the United States.

— Swimming —

SLt Emily Wood, HMCS Regina, and Pte Claire Bortolotti, Canadian Health Services Centre Pacific, pushed our women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team to a sixth place finish in the final on Oct. 10.

SLt Wood was also part of the mixed medley relay team that won its first two races but lost in the finals.

Also representing the base was OS Marjolaine Plante.

— Triathlon —

Our 13-member triathlon team was the fourth largest at the Games and included LCdr David Dallin.

After six hours of combined racing, LCdr Dallin and the CAF team were edged out from a bronze medal in the team competition by the United States by a margin of just 58 seconds.

LCdr Dallin placed 84th out of 96 total starters.

— Golf —

Canada’s men’s golf team had a narrow miss at a podium spot, finishing just one stroke behind Team USA who took bronze. Of special note was Maj Cameron Lowdon of CFB Winnipeg, who shot an impressive fourth-round 74.

Peter Mallett
Staff writer