Field of Play: Chasing the Miracle Marathon
Insiders from the distance running ranks agree that Wilson Kipsang, who knocked 15 seconds off the marathon world record on Sunday, has the potential to capture global attention.
Field of Play: The heroes we left behind
CBC Sports Weekend host Scott Russell and Canadian athlete ambassadors of Right To Play, Perdita Felicien and Adam van Koeverden made their exit from Liberia, where they couldn't help but reflect on what they'd been able to accomplish in six short days in the field.
Field of Play: Attraction of sport not lost in Liberia
CBC Sports Weekend host Scott Russell discovers that sport has a role to play in war-torn Liberia, where Right To Play rebuilt a school and athlete ambassadors offer encourgement.
Field of Play: The power of a gathering place
Travelling with Right to Play, Scott Russell and Canadian athletes Perdita Felicien and Adan van Koeverden ventured deep into the countryside of the Republic of Benin, where the entire district gathered to watch the first ever Olympians to visit their modest soccer field.
Field of Play: Soccer can be educational tool in Africa
Travelling with Right to Play, Scott Russell discovers the benefits of soccer and how it has helped not only break down gender barriers but also its role in helping to educate children in Africa.
Field of Play: Sport speaks volumes in Benin, West Africa
With the help of organizations like Right To Play, the notion of sport and play promoting healthy learning and development in young people is catching on in Benin, West Africa.
Field of Play: In Africa, out of my comfort zone
It's a journey I've wanted to make ever since I heard about the charitable organization Right to Play. And now on the eve of a visit to Benin and Liberia, two of the poorest countries in West Africa, I admit to a tremendous feeling of anticipation but also of trepidation.
Olympics
IOC doping fight is Thomas Bach's biggest challenge
As the newly elected IOC president, Thomas Bach's biggest challenge will be to prove that what happens at
the Olympics is real and that it
still has meaning and value in the fight against doping.
Olympics
Field of Play: 3 decisions will determine future of Olympics
Canadian five-time Olympian Charmaine Crooks is bound for Argentina to witness three enormous decisions that will determine the future of the Games and the global sporting landscape, writes Scott Russell.
Show Jumping
Field of Play: Spruce Meadows and the master's touch
When it comes to grandiose sporting events hosted in Canada it's hard to top the Spruce Meadows Masters. To be successful on this enormous field of play, the horse must live up to its potential, but it can only do so with the master's touch.
Olympics
Field of Play: Canadian sliders bulking up for Sochi
In a sport of motorcycle helmets, spiked shoes and grunts of extreme exertion, Canadian sliders are intensifying their training in the run up to the Sochi Olympics.
Olympics
Field of Play: Canada Games & great expectations
Two-time Olympic medallist Ryan Cochrane, like so many other great Canadian athletes, learned to live up to the great expectations at the Canada Games, writes Scott Russell.
Olympics
Field of Play: Canada's silver sisters of diving
Canada's Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion, fresh off a silver medal at the FINA world championships on Monday, have blossomed into the mainstays of an evolving Canadian diving program.
Field of Play: Mascot brings meaning to Pan Am Games
To the kids who are attracted to him, Pachi the porcupine is as much a symbol of sport as he is the official mascot of the Toronto 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games.
Field of Play: Someone to look up to
AthletesCAN has formed Team Next to help 67 young Canadian athletes pursue their dreams with financial assistance and formal mentoring from six accomplished sports stars.
Field of Play: Pan Am pool potential
First you have to build it. Then if it's big enough and long enough, maybe you can find some great swimmers willing to take the plunge.
Field of Play: Making the Father's Day connection
It's Father's Day and it's a perfect time to reflect on the place where many of us have made the first and longest lasting bonds with our dads, finding that common ground out there that spans the generations which naturally threaten to separate us.
Field of Play: Where soccer is sacred
CBC Sports kicks off its coverage of the FIFA Confederations Cup this weekend in Brazil, where soccer is a sport of near sacred significance.
Show Jumping
Field of Play: Captive to horsepower
From Spruce Meadows to the Calgary Stampede to the great thoroughbred racing facilities on both sides of the border, summer's a time to marvel at horsepower and their riders, writes Scott Russell.
Field of Play: Watching Alex Despatie grow
Alexandre Despatie ends his diving career beloved by many Canadians. He has, before our very
eyes, transformed himself from "The Little Prince" into the king of diving
in this country and well beyond.
Field of Play: Heaven is a "tinny"
If I had to trust one thing to transport me to my concept of heaven, my old tin boat would most definitely be it.
Olympics
Field of Play: Defining Canada's Olympic prospects
In Vancouver we had them for two days. We were afforded the undivided attention of the men and women who will go for gold while flying Canadian colours at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, now about nine months away.
Olympics
Field of Play: The next Queen of Scotland
Already a world champion, skip Eve Muirhead has put Scotland back on the curling map. That must be a great satisfaction for a talented athlete who turned down golf scholarships from two American universities in order to pursue the sport her father Gordon starred in.
Field of Play: A sanctuary of celebration
We not only mourn the tragic loss of life in the Boston Marathon bombings, but also the fact that that our cherished refuge on the field of play is being threatened.
Paralympics
Field of Play: Andre Viger's legacy lives on
Now that the late wheelchair racer Andre Viger has been pegged for induction
into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, I've had a
chance to revisit his career and reflect on all that he's done. And I've discovered that his legacy is immense.
Figure Skating
Field of Play: 'The Battle' is back
On a day when most of the news made by the national obsession was underwhelming at best, there was some light at the end of the tunnel for those who have affection for ice sport in this country.
Olympics
Field of Play: Canada's shining season
With the Sochi Olympics less than a year away, Canada has established itself as frontrunners when it comes to the medal haul.
Figure Skating
Field of Play: Patrick Chan shines on home ice
Canadian Patrick Chan, who had been enduring a lackluster season until he arrived at the World Figure Skating Championships in London, Ont., seemed reborn in front of the home crowd, delivering a spectacular and record-breaking short skate.
Olympics
Field of Play: In praise of the Winter Olympic acrobats
Freestyle skiing. The very name suggests there's something more being
measured in this sport than distance and time. There's an eye-catching appeal to it. It is a competition, yes, but it is also a spectacle.
Olympics
Field of Play: Calgary Olympics the greatest ever?
It's been 25 years since the wonder of the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Hard
to fathom, but they survive as arguably the greatest Winter Games of all
time. The cast of characters is unrivaled and the fame of those athletes, in many cases, transcended sport.
Olympics
Field of Play: Rocking the Olympic foundation
Canadian Olympians and officials are outraged by an International Olympic Committee executive board recommendation to remove wrestling from the 2020 Summer Games.
Olympics
Field of Play: 1 year out from Sochi, Canada is confident
With exactly one year to go until the opening ceremony for the Sochi Olympics, most of
the buzz has nothing to do with the athletes who will be the stars of the show. But they're out there toiling and, in the case of many Canadians, thriving.
Olympics
Field of Play: Russians strive to recapture lost Olympic glory
The overwhelming impression the emerging Olympic city of Sochi leaves on visitors these days is of a Russian sports machine that's rebuilding in a hurry.
Skiing
Field of Play: Celebrating our last king of Kitzbuehel
Todd Brooker, who is celebrating the 30-year anniversary of his victory on the famed Streif downhill course at Kitzbuehel, Austria this weekend by
broadcasting the event for CBC, is a link to the glory days of Canadian
alpine ski racing.
Field of Play: Speed skating is Canada's beast of burden
Hockey is the sport most Canadians associate with skating glory. But when it comes to delivering the goods year-in and year-out it is speed skating that is Canada's beast of burden. The numbers speak for themselves.
Field of Play: The wonderful world of women in sport
Any way you look at it, Canadian women have dominated sports headlines in this country this year.And
in an arena where the "old boys" are usually at the forefront to the
exclusion of what the girls do, that's encouraging news indeed.
Skiing
Field of Play: Life goes on for ski cross at Nakiska
For the first time since the tragic death of Canadian racer Nik Zoricic, ski cross returns to competition on the world stage this weekend. The World Cup picks up at Nakiska, Alta. in what is an exhilarating but at times, risky pursuit still in its' formative stages.
The Field of Play: Patrick Chan's predicament
From my vantage point, two-time world figure skating champion Patrick Chan is in a bind.He
is no longer the boy wonder. Instead, he's been the leading man for
quite some time. And now, not surprisingly, people are trying to knock
him off his pedestal while others are anticipating his fall from grace.So
when Chan lost a major competition for the first time in almost two
years at Skate Canada last weekend, alarm bells started to ring.
Website offers athletes unique way to attract funding
Most high-performance athletes these days are forced to find creative ways to fuel their dream. Some are forced
to dig into their family's pocket. Others work full- or part-time jobs
while juggling the demands of training. Very few, and only those at the
very top of the ladder, enjoy the benefits of corporate sponsorship.Enter a new way to directly fund athletes called Pursu.it (www.pursu.it).
Olympics2012
A country of team players
The "team" word kept surfacing with reference to Canada at London 2012, reinforcing that this is a country of team players and a group that chose to focus on the success of the entire delegation rather than the near misses of talented individuals.
Olympics2012
Back on Track: Olympic Stadium sessions were electrifying
Usain Bolt was the undoubted star of the show, writes Scott Russell, but others such as Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah and some Canadians, too, made the athletics sessions at Olympic Stadium an electrifying experience.
Olympics2012
Canadian swimmers on ambitious Olympic path
Canada's three-medal performance in the water at the London Olympics isn't an overwhelming total when compared to the glory days of Alex Baumann and Victor Davis, but there seems to be an indication that the tide has finally turned.
Olympics2012
Canada's female wrestlers continue medal tradition
Canadian women wrestlers initially appeared at the 2004 Games in Athens and Canadians have been at the forefront ever since.
Olympics2012
Damian Warner, athletics team provide hope for Rio
As the likes of Despatie, Hayden and Whitfield come towards the end of their Olympic career, Canada will need some younger faces to step up to prominence pointing to Rio and the 2016 Games.
Olympics2012
Twist of fate brings Canada a bronze medal
The doubters were beginning to surface, with no Canadian medals for two days running. Suddenly, at the end of Tuesday evening, high jumper Derek Drouin gave Canadian fans a reason to allow their hopes to soar ever so slightly.
Olympics2012
Ian Millar a constant Olympic presence
Canadian show jumper Ian Millar, quite rightly, took a back seat to teammate Eric Lamaze's gold medal win at the Beijing Olympics. Millar is back in the spotlight, the subject of much international discussion because he's 65 years old and still, apparently, near the top of his game.
Olympics2012
The Games: Actions and words
Sometimes the greatest of athletes speak out on issues that matter to them, and Michael Phelps and Simon Whitfield did just that on Sunday, writes Scott Russell.
Olympics2012
Gold, guts and glory
For Canada, the spectrum of colours was complete. Gold, silver and bronze medals won on the busiest 24 hours of the Games, as well as some gutsy performances.
Olympics2012
Connecting with people lifeblood of Olympics
The great thing about being in the Olympic Park is the chance to connect with the people who are the lifeblood of the Games.
Olympics2012
Name of the game: Armstrong, Zelinka carry Canadian hopes
The heartbeat quickens on the eve of the track and field at any Olympic Games, writes Scott Russell, and shot putter Dylan Armstrong and heptathlete Jessica Zelinka, Canada's best medal hopes, begin their quest on Friday.
Olympics2012
Last call for Clara
Clara Hughes found a fifth place showing in Wednesday's time trial tough to take, but said it was a thrill to be an Olympic competitor once again, and for the last time ever.
Olympics2012
The Games: Les belles medailles de bronze
All six of Canada's athletes involved in podium finishes at the London Olympics have done the bulk of their training in Quebec. It may be a coincidence but, then again, it may not. We've seen this before.
Olympics2012
The Games: Canadians vaulting forward
For Canadian women competing in artistic gymnastics at the Summer Olympics, it has meant generations of being an also-ran country. Not anymore.
With Canada gaining a berth in the team final in London, there is a feeling that inclusion to the sports' inner circle has been achieved.
Olympics2012
The Games: Canada dives into Olympic record books
Clara Hughes gave it a gutsy effort, while Emilie Heymans and Jennifer Abel engineered a landmark performance for the nation's first medal at the London Olympics.
Olympics2012
The Games: What's not to love?
Swimming's top rivalry, a Canadian record from Scott Dickens, and the leadership of Sebastian Coe - Scott Russell says there's a lot to love already about the London Games.
Olympics2012
United Kingdom brings amateur sport to life
There's something about the United Kingdom that says sport. It's just a feeling you get when you visit the place where the Corinthian spirit and the notion of the amateur came to prominence.
Olympics2012
Olympic Games are about living the dream
They are almost here. The days number in the single digits now and the Olympics loom larger than life.London has made itself ready for the thousands of dreamers who are descending upon it even as we speak. And make no mistake the Olympics are unabashedly about hopes and dreams.
Olympics2012
Olympics opening up to female athletes
In the shadow of Parliament Hill on Thursday, as Canada formally
introduced the team that will complete in London this summer, there was
plenty of evidence that females have evolved into an essential part of
the heart and soul of the delegation.
A male will be the flag-bearer
and lead the team into the Olympic Stadium, but on the squad of 277
athletes, nearly 56 per cent are women. Simon Whitfield will indeed be
"Captain Canada." But, for the first time, women make up the bulk of the
team.
Hockey Day
Abegweit Ice: Reflecting on Hockey in Charlottetown
I was just a "kid from away" who had been weaned on the rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. Therefore, my first CBC assignment covering hockey for the supper hour news program "Compass," in Prince Edward Island, specifically Charlottetown, amounted to navigating uncharted waters.
Scott Russell
Scott brings vast experience, passion and knowledge to his role as host of CBC's Sports Weekend on CBC. A 20-year CBC Sports veteran, Russell has covered nine Olympic Games and co-hosted Olympic Morning for Beijing 2008: The Olympic Games. The Gemini-Award winning broadcaster and acclaimed author has also worked as a host and rinkside reporter on Hockey Night in Canada and has covered triathlon, gymnastics, rugby, cross-country skiing and biathlon at several Olympic Games, Pan Am Games and Commonwealth Games.
