Hall overcomes odds to capture Olympic bronze

The Beijing Olympics are in the books, and from a West Island perspective, the most heartwarming and inspirational story had to be that of Pointe Claire’s Tom Hall.

Only those in the know concerning Hall’s chosen sport of canoeing are aware of how far the 26-year-old paddler came in his quest to first qualify for the Olympics, and ultimately win a bronze medal for Canada in the C-1 1,000-metre event. Over the span of several weeks leading up to the Games, Hall, who learned and honed his paddling skills under the guidance of the Pointe Claire Canoe Club, was forced to overcome his self doubts while facing three sudden-death situations in order to simply earn a spot at Beijing. First, he had to qualify a boat for Canada in the C-1 1,000-metre event at the Olympic qualifications at the Olympic Basin, which he did. He then was top Canadian in the C-1 1,000-metre event at a World Cup paddling competition in Szeged, and finally and most importantly, beat rival Mark Oldershaw in a sudden-death tiebreaker at another World Cup event in Duisberg, Germany. Not only did Hall beat Oldershaw in Duisberg, he won the race, his first ever World Cup triumph.

At the Games, he struggled in his preliminary heat, but eventually earned a place in the final, where he captured the bronze in dramatic fashion, coming from behind with a tremendous sprint at the conclusion of the race. Besides Hall, other area athletes or those who trained in the West Island who competed at the Games included Émilie Heymens, who picked up silver in the women’s 10-metre platform diving competition. Heymens, a Greenfield Park resident, trained at the Pointe Claire Diving Club under the watchful eye of Yi Hua Li. It was Li who guided West Island native Anne Montminy to a pair of medals at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

Other local athletes who competed but did not earn medals at the Games included Hank Palmer, who spent most of his formative years in Pierrefonds and Dollard des Ormeaux before moving to LaSalle, and who ran lead off for the Canadian 4X100-metre relay team that finished sixth with a season-best time of 38.66. Beaconsfield’s Stephanie Horner and Tobias Oriwol of the Pointe Claire Swim Club were part of the swim team while Baie d’Urfé native Rhian Wilkinson was on the women’s soccer team that lost to the United States in the quarter-final. Pointe Claire’s Tracy Little was on the women’s synchronized swimming team that finished in fourth place while Nathaniel Miller, a Dollard des Ormeaux native, Beaconsfield’s Justin Boyd along with West Island native Devon Diggle were part of the men’s water-polo squad that finished 11th overall. Andrew Willows of the Pointe Claire Canoe Club finished sixth with partner Richard Dobler in the men’s K-2 500-metre kayak event while Beaconsfield’s Oliver Bone finished 29th overall in the men’s 410 sailing competition.