HIGH ACHIEVERS: Hammer thrower Sultana Frizell heads class of 2025 for Perth and District Sports Hall of Fame induction

By Martin Cleary

Sultana Frizell was filled with boundless energy as a young girl.

But her mother, Darlene Bevridge, had the solution for directing her daughter’s enthusiasm for life – recreational sports.

“She made sure my butt was in sports 24/7,” Frizell said in a phone interview on Thursday. “I was an only child. I needed a team sport to play with others and an individual sport for self-motivation.”

That parental formula led to her playing boys’ baseball and figure skating until she got to high school at 14 years old.

When she entered Perth and District Collegiate Institute for Grade 9, she discovered a full variety of sports. She played basketball and volleyball, and tried out for track and field in the spring because there was “no way I was going to run” for soccer.

“My first track meet was in Carleton Place and I threw shot put. A teacher for Opeongo High School came to me and said if I’d like to continue doing it, I should go see Joe Burke (a coach with the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club),” added Frizell, who has been a registered massage therapist in the Bedford District of Halifax since last June.

She thought track and field was a good idea for her growth and found it to be “a life-changing” decision.

In high school, Frizell was a master of the throws for local, regional and provincial meets. At the OFSAA high school provincial championships, she won a combined 10 gold, one silver and one bronze medals in shot put, discus and javelin.

That caught the attention of NCAA university coaches and recruiters. She attended the University of Georgia (2003-06) on an athletic scholarship for three years and won one SEC title.

But it was that other field event – hammer throw – that turned Frizell into an accomplished, medal-winning international athlete. (The hammer throw isn’t part of the high school schedule).

Frizell was a member of the Athletics Canada national team for an incredible 17 years (2002-18). She qualified for two Summer Olympics, won two gold medals in three Commonwealth Games appearances including breaking the meet record, captured silver and bronze medals at the Pan Am Games, threw in three world championships, was a seven-time national women’s hammer champion and a six-time Royal Canadian Legion youth field-event gold medallist.

All those achievements have not been lost on her hometown of Perth.

When the Perth and District Hall of Fame inducts its class of 2025 on May 25, Frizell will be front and centre and in attendance for the ceremony at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 244. She will be welcomed into the hall along with athlete Keith Cavanagh (boat racing), builder Neil Fennell (fastpitch softball), and Erin Gillespie and John Paul Nagle (figure skating team).

“It’s about time,” the personable Frizell said with a hearty laugh, when asked for her reaction about entering her hometown sports hall of fame.

“It’s quite unexpected and I love it. I enjoy representing Perth as best I can. It’s a nice honour for me. I’ll try to come back for this in person.”

When Frizell was inducted into the Athletics Ontario Hall of Fame in 2023, she was unable to attend as she was being visited by special friends, who played a significant role in her athletic development as she trained in British Columbia.

Perth was the foundation of Frizell’s athlete journey. If she wasn’t playing a sport and advancing through the various competitive levels, she was being helped by the Legion, the town council and a variety of sponsors, including some who were anonymous.

“The Legion was the cornerstone of my athletic career. They represented me and gave me a javelin,” explained Frizell, who was thankful for the branch organizing fundraisers to buy her throwing equipment.

“They financially supported me for many years, mostly in high school and early international years. They’re a small branch, but if I needed a shot put or a javelin, they’d find a way to make it happen. And Perth financially supported me, too. There was definitely a community-support system.”

As Frizell prepared for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she won the gold medal with a competition record throw of 71.97 metres, firefighters in Perth passed around their boots to collect money for her.

“I didn’t know I was doing anything special (in high school track and field) until I got recruiting letters from the U.S.,” Frizell said. “I just liked doing track. At the beginning, I just liked throwing things far.”

Frizell had numerous athletic scholarship offers from universities along the American east coast. She left Georgia after three years and moved to Ottawa, where she worked three jobs to support herself and her drive to make the Canadian Olympic team for Beijing in 2008.

The Beijing Olympics were her first major Games and she placed 33rd in qualifying with a best throw of 65.44 metres. She missed being in the top 12 for the final round by almost four metres. At the 2012 London Olympics, she was three metres outside the 12th and final qualifying position at 67.45 metres.

Despite all her training and lead-up competitions, her two Olympic qualifying days were simply “bad days.”

“You can prepare all you want, but when it comes down to execution, some days are better than others,” Frizell reasoned.

The Commonwealth Games certainly went significantly better for Frizell as she captured gold medals at the 2010 Games in Delhi with an unmatched toss of 68.57 metres and the 2014 Games in Glasgow with a record-shattering 71.97-metre throw.

In her final international competition, she was fourth at the 2018 Games in Gold Coast, Australia, with a throw of 63.94 metres, which was 1.09 metres from the bronze medal.

Her second gold medal and a competition record saw Frizell selected as the Canadian flag bearer for the closing ceremony at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

“I loved the Commonwealth Games. I won the event, but in general it was a really fun event to go to. We were always located next to fun Commonwealth countries,” Frizell said with a laugh.

“The (host) cities always knew who you were and why you were there. You don’t see that at world championships. It felt like the Commonwealth Games were a big to-do. I feel the whole city shut down to watch all the events.”

Frizell also had success at the Pan Am Games, winning the silver medal in 2011 with a best toss of 70.11 metres in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the bronze at 69.51 metres in Toronto. She also competed in three world championships, notching 10th place in 2009 at Berlin with a throw of 70.88 metres.

“I had a passion and love of track and field,” Frizell summarized. “It wasn’t a business for me. I wanted to max my potential. I was the first (Canadian) woman to throw more than 70 metres. That was a big landmark and I wanted to see how far I could take it.

“I loved what I did, seeing how far I can go. Seventy-five metres was my best and that was probably the end of my potential. It was nice not to go out with an injury. I’m proud of my journey and how far I went.”

Frizell held the Canadian women’s hammer record at different distances from 2008 to 2022. Her best-ever throw was 75.73 metres on May 22, 2014.

KEITH CAVANAGH, athlete, boat racing

An international outboard boat racer in the hydroplane and utility classes, Cavanagh was one of the best during the 1950s. He was recognized by the Canadian Boating Federation in 1954 for his outstanding achievement in the outboard A-Z for attaining a speed of 40 miles an hour, which was a Canadian one-mile class record. Cavanagh, who was sought after by his peers for his overall expertise, also was a 12-time Canadian national and high-point champion in the A stock hydro and utility classes from 1956-59.

NEIL FENNELL, builder, fastpitch softball

Fennell created the Perth International Fastball Tournament (Perth Shootout) in 1990 and during its 11-year run became one of the pre-eminent fastball competitions in North America, attracting national teams from the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Denmark. The tournament raised more than $140,000 for charities in Perth and area. Fennell was inducted into the International Softball Congress Hall of Fame in 2002.

ERIN GILLESPIE & JOHN PAUL NAGLE, team, figure skating

As the first members of the Perth Figure Skating Club to compete at the Canadian championships, Gillespie and Nagle won the bronze medal in ice dance during the 2002 juvenile nationals in St. John’s. They had been skating together for only seven months when they won the first Canadian championship medal for the Perth club.