Moncton gets to host another international competition.

It has just been announced that Moncton, New Brunswick (or Monkey-Town, as I like to call my hometown) will host the 2009 Ford World Men's Curling Championship. Competition will take place from the 4th to 12th of April at the Moncton Coliseum, home of the Wildcats. Something tells me that the legendary Russ Howard, a key member of the Olympic Gold Medal-winning curling team and current resident of Moncton, had something to do with this...just a hunch.

Moncton has hosted a number of sporting events as of late. In 2006, the CHL held its annual Memorial Cup tournament in the Hub City. The CIS University Cup was held at the Coliseum in 2007, and will return next year (will the UNB Reds repeat as champions?).

But the biggest event of them all will be the IAAF World Junior Championship in Athletics in 2010. The City of Moncton and l'Université de Moncton have joined forces to host this event, and a brand-spankin' new, 10 000 seat outdoor stadium is being constructed on the U de M campus.

Looks like Monkey-Town will be buzzing with sports people in the coming years. Yay!

Perdita Felicien wins silver at Worlds

Perdita Felicien is finally on the upswing after disaster struck three years ago.

Felicien was in the final of the 100m hurdles at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens. She was expected to win gold for Canada, but she tripped. In that split second, Felicien saw her Olympic dreams vanish and she was left injured. Her injuries kept her out of commission for months and her confidence was shattered. She didn't even qualify for the finals for the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

Fast forward to the summer of 2007 and things are different for Felicien. She won Nationals, captured the silver at last month's Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, and now she placed second at the 2007 World Championships in Japan - on her 27th birthday, no less.

"This silver is like a gold for me. I just wanted to bring something to Canada," she said following her race.

Felicien has her eyes firmly set on next year's Olympic Games in Beijing, China. She may not be favoured to win gold at the Games in August 2008, but I have a feeling that she will turn heads with her performance.

Nothing like crashing in the finals at the Olympics to make you want to win it all the next time around.

And I hope that she shows everyone that she still has what it takes to be a champion.