Quite literally.
The two Olympians relocated to Victoria last year, drawn by the all-year training weather, the support provided by the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence, and uniquely important to them 鈥� the hammer-throw cage at Lambrick Park Secondary.
The two will be featured, among a starry field, in the annual Victoria International Track and Field Classic from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at UVic鈥檚 Centennial Stadium. This being an Olympic year, the meet takes on added significance heading into the Canadian trials for Rio next month in Edmonton.
Lambrick Park is becoming the hub of the hammer in sa国际传媒 because of its cage.
鈥淭he Lambrick high school kids come out and watch us sometimes because [Lambrick Park track and field coach Tom Turnbull] tells them who we are,鈥� said Frizell, the 31-year-old native of Perth, Ont., who competed in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics.
鈥淚t helps bump up our sport,鈥� said Frizell, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist at Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014 and Pan Am Games silver and bronze medallist at Guadalajara 2011 and Toronto 2015.
鈥淎nd we love the environment here . . . especially no snow.鈥�
Hammer is a unique field sport.
鈥淢y first coach gave me a field-sobriety test,鈥� recalled Frizell, with a smile.
鈥淗e said if you can spin this fast, and still walk a straight line, you can be a hammer thrower. I was a figure skater and used to spins, so I easily passed.鈥�
The Steacys, meanwhile, seem to be overtaking the Island. Heather, a 2012 London Olympian, is part of the well-known Lethbridge sporting clan that includes older brother and fellow-Olympic hammer-thrower James Steacy.
Heather鈥檚 sister-in-law, Ashley Steacy, is married to her brother Sean and is part of the Langford-based Rio Olympics-bound Canadian women鈥檚 sevens rugby team.
鈥淲e see each other more around Victoria than we did in Lethbridge,鈥� said Heather Steacy, 28.
Being an Olympic year gives everything a heightened level of consequence.
鈥淵ou try to relax and not get too excited because of what year it is,鈥� said Frizell.
The biggest field duel Sunday afternoon at Centennial Stadium will be between huge Canadian Rio-hope and defending world champion high jumper Derek Drouin of Sarnia, Ont., and Mike Mason of Nanoose Bay. Drouin won gold at both the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth and 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games with Mason taking bronze in Glasgow and silver in Toronto.
Also featured will be defending world championship women鈥檚 800-metre silver-medallist Melissa Bishop of Eganville, Ont., and American great and three-time Olympic gold-medallist 400-metre runner Jeremy Wariner.
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