GORE BAY—Daryl Leighton, a Gore Bay resident and officer with the Manitoulin Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), has brought home four medals (including two gold, a silver and a bronze medal) from the annual Can-Am Police-Fire Games.
“This was the 40th anniversary of the games and the first time they were held in Ontario since 2004 and the first time in Canada since 2008,” said Mr. Leighton. This year’s Games took place in Thunder Bay from July 16-24.
Competing in the Masters A Group, age 40-44, Mr. Leighton won two gold medals, one each in the high jump and triple jump, a silver medal in the 200-metre race and bronze medal in the 100-metre race.
“I first heard about these games a couple of years ago,” said Mr. Leighton. “I heard this year’s games were in Thunder Bay and we have friends there we wanted to visit, so we decided to make a little vacation out of it.”
Mr. Leighton noted, “I competed in the track and field events which were all held in one day. We left for Thunder Bay on the Monday and came back on Friday morning.”
“The whole city of Thunder Bay was really excited and into the event,” said Mr. Leighton. “There were a total of 571 competitors and thousands of spectators on hand.” The participants represented 18 US states and seven Canadian provinces, as well as Australia, England and Ukraine.
Numerous competitors registered for multiple events, which resulted in a total of 1,880 event entries.
There were more than 500 volunteers and about 100 sponsors who came on board to make the event a great success.
Hundreds of athletes are drawn from the ranks of professional and volunteer fire fighters, law enforcement, EMS, corrections and border services personnel from across North America to compete in an unparalleled array of competitive and social events throughout the city. Spouses of emergency personnel are also eligible to compete.
After an impressive opening ceremony, the Games showcased an array of athletic events as diverse as pistol shooting, basketball, power lifting, track and field, cycling, golf, slow pitch and volleyball. Others, like Texas Hold ‘em and the Chili Cook-Off demand skills of a different sort.
