By Sean Hatchard
Shawn Sawyer had just stepped off a Bulgarian ice surface after his first practice session when he heard the horrifying news.
Sawyer, 16, a rising star in the Canadian figure skating scene, was in Sofia, Bulgaria the day terrorists attacked the United States for an international figure skating competition.
“Our coach just huddled us into a room and we watched the news on TV. At first, I couldn’t believe my eyes,” says Sawyer, who resides on Cartier Street. “It really affected the U.S. skaters, but even for me, it was the first thing I thought of when I came off the ice.”
Despite the distractions, Sawyer managed to capture the Sofia Cup junior event. That was the easy part, however, he still had to get home.
“There were a lot of people saying ‘I’m not going on the plane’ when it was time to leave later in the week,” says Sawyer, also the 2001 Eastern Challenge junior champion.
“But we had to get out of there somehow, so I boarded the plane and just looked at everyone on the plane and looked for anything that didn’t look right.
“We managed to arrive home on the day we were supposed to just because we were lucky. Some skaters from other countries were stranded there for up to a week,” adds Sawyer.
“I couldn’t contact my parents, the phones weren’t working. Nothing was working.”
Although Sawyer arrived in Ottawa on time, his flight from Sofia via Zurich, Brussels and Montreal, was not without incident.
“Security checked my luggage thoroughly and it took so long that I almost missed the plane,” says Sawyer. “And we weren’t allowed to bring our skates on board and the airline lost my skates. I only got them back three days after I was home.”
Another Ottawa athlete who knows all about the dangers of flying is retired sprinter Glenroy Gilbert.
Gilbert, a member of the 1996 4 x 100 metre Olympic gold medal team, was a veteran on the international track and field scene.
“I’ve flown that route (Boston-Los Angeles) many times and it really scared me,” says Gilbert.
As an athlete, you’re always kind of fearful just because of the time you spend in aircrafts and different airlines.”
But Gilbert says he doesn’t think the tragedy will have much of an impact on athletes and their traveling plans.
“At the end of the day, you have to get there and you have a job to do,” he says. “But it’s always at the back of your mind.”
Caroline Assalian, the Canadian Olympic Association’s support staff team captain for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, says athlete security has moved to the front of preparation plans since last month.
Assalian says the COA is working with the International Olympic Committee and Salt Lake City organizing committee to heighten athlete security.
The COA will also have a RCMP liaison, with ties to the FBI and Secret Service, traveling with their teams.“We’re more on guard than we may have been. We’re just not going to put anybody at risk,” says Assalian.
“Some competitions have been cancelled, but we have teams out on the road right now. Our alpine ski team is in Switzerland as we speak.”
As for Sawyer, a frequent traveler who competes all over the world on international assignments, he’ll travel to Japan next month for a grand prix event.
This time, he just hopes his skates make the trip too.
“I never thought something like this could happen when I was flying, but planes have crashed with athletes in them before,” says Sawyer.
“I guess it’s just something you have to deal with.”