Canadian coaching has lost one of its leaders, and the sport of track and field one of its most eloquent voices. Geoff Gowan died in Halifax on Thursday night at the age of 83 after a lengthy struggle with Parkinsons disease. Gowan was a member of both the Order of Canada and Canadas Sports Hall of Fame, and to track and field fans was an articulate broadcaster who "could turn a phrase as easily as any Olympian clears a hurdle," said longtime CBC producer Terry Ludwick. "He taught Canadians how to watch track and field," said Ludwick, now a broadcasting executive with the CBC. "He could sum up victory and defeat in such human terms, but with technical expertise that could be understood by a schoolboy or schoolgirl. And he had such a great sense of humour and great appreciation for the athletes that he covered. His articulation was such that its almost difficult to watch track and field now without hearing a British voice." The native of Ravenglass, England, travelled the globe covering track and field, covering countless Olympics and world championships. Ludwick remembers being in the broadcast boost with Gowan for the high jump at one particular meet. "We showed three or four replays for each competitor. One particular athlete went over and they werent successful and the bar went down. And we showed three or four replays, and towards the last one Geoff said And no matter how many times we show this replay, the bar will not stay up," Ludwick recalled, with a laugh. Gowan also dedicated much of his life to coaching development, and was technical director and president of the Coaching Association of Canada from 1972 to 96. In his 25 years with the national organization, he was instrumental in developing the National Coaching Certification Program, considered to be among the best coaching education programs in the world, and the program that has helped developed more than a million Canadian coaches. "Geoff was an outstanding leader in Canadian sport, and influenced thousands of athletes, coaches, and colleagues in sport management and the media. He has been a friend, role model, and mentor to myself and many others in Canadian sport, and will be deeply missed," CAC chief executive officer John Bales said in a statement. A lasting tribute to Gowans leadership is the annual Geoff Gowan Award, which recognizes lifetime contribution to coaching development. Many of Canadas top coaches have won the award, including Jack Donahue, Doug Clement, Al Morrow, Donald Dion, Charles Cardinal, Andy Higgins, Tim Frick, Allison McNeill, Lyle Sanderson, Dru Marshall and Keith Russell. "He was a really gracious human being," Ludwick said. "As a coach, he understood that in everyone there was a champion that could be coaxed out in whatever walk of life they were." Longtime CBC broadcaster Steve Armitage remembered Gowan as a tireless worker who could put in gruelling 13 and 14-hour days without showing the slightest bit of fatigue. Gowan worked alongside the late Don Wittman covering track and field for 26 years, making for what Armitage called "one of the great combinations in Canadian broadcasting history." "He and Don (who died of cancer in 2008) really prided themselves in never having an argument," Armitage said. "Geoff was so good. He was, in his delivery and in his vocabulary, almost Churchillian," Armitage added. "He would say things and he would say it in such a manner that after you heard it you would just go Wow. How did he come up with that? And his wasnt the shotgun, machine-gun approach to play-by-play. He would use his words sparingly and let the action tell the story." Longtime CBC sportscaster Mark Lee was similarly impressed with Gowans spine-tingling delivery. "His voice crackled with authority when he called track and field," Lee said. "His choice of words was so poetic, and his English accent gave him that distinguished quality that really separated him from the rest of the broadcasters. He was such a scholarly man when it came to track and field. . . but his ability to use his knowledge and distill it into 10 seconds of sterling broadcast quality with a delivery that came right out of Madison Avenue -- he was a really remarkable person that way." Lee remembers being Gowans partner in the booth for one of Donovan Baileys world championship 100-metre victories -- Donovan won the 100 metres at both the 1995 world championships and 96 Olympics. "During the replay, right from the blocks when the gun went off, Geoff counted off One. . . two. . . three. . . four. . . five. . . six. . .seven. . . eight. . . nine. . . 10, and I started leaning into the monitor to watch this," Lee recalled. "He got up to 44 and Donovan crossed the finish line and Geoff said, 44 steps: the first 10 with the explosion of a race engine and the next 15 accelerating leanly and smoothly, with the gait of a gazelle, and then relaxing through the last 10, or whatever. "But he counted every stride to the finish line. And at the end he said 44 strides to victory. It was so simple." Gowan could switch storytelling gears with ease, calling a field event or long-distance race with similar expertise. "It was remarkable to watch an endurance event like a mens 5,000 metres," Lee said. "He would get right inside an athletes head. The cameras would show you these grimacing close-ups and Geoff would tell you that the mind was willing but the body was failing in this case. Or he could tell you in a 400 metres that with 100 metres to go the lactic acid was coursing through a runners quads and his legs were beginning to feel heavy and rubber, and now it was just survival to get to the finish line without tying up and his body crippling him. "It was just a remarkable description of the human body at its best." "This was live too. He would choose these very descriptive passages right off the top of his head in a live broadcast," Lee added. "There are very very few people in this world who can do that." Gowan was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame as a builder in 2002. He also received an honorary doctorate in civil law from Acadia University for his service to sport in Canada. Details on funeral arrangements have not been released.Cheap Hockey Jerseys China . PETERSBURG, Fla. 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Darya Domracheva of Belarus was second, 34.ROSTOV, Russia -- Two goals from Dmitry Poloz gave Rostov its first-ever Champions League point on Wednesday in a 2-2 draw with PSV Eindhoven.Unlucky to concede two goals following deflections in the first half, fortune was firmly on the Russian side in the second as the crossbar and some excellent goalkeeping from Soslan Dzhanaev stopped PSV from claiming the win.Both teams are now off the mark in Group D with a point apiece following opening-day defeats.Just being in the Champions League is something of a fairytale for the team from southern Russia. Rostovs surprise challenge for the Russian title last season saw it compared to Leicester, and the side stunned Ajax 5-2 on aggregate in qualifying.Home fans hoped Rostov could repeat that feat against another famous Dutch team when Poloz gave the hosts the lead in the eighth minute, lifting the ball over goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet off a through pass from AAlexander Erokhin.ddddddddddddThat lead lasted just six minutes, however, as PSV struck back when Davy Proppers shot took a heavy deflection and flew past Dzhanaev.Poloz responded in the 37th with a half-volley from outside the penalty area, but again PSV responded as Santiago Arias effort deflected onto the bar and landed perfectly for Luuk de Jong to head in from point-blank range.PSV dominated the second half and could have scored when Cesar Navas brought down De Jong, leading to a penalty, but Dzhanaev leapt to his left to block the shot. Propper was again unlucky in the 72nd when he hit the bar.Dzhanaev, who is contending for a place in the Russian national team ahead of the 2018 World Cup, was key again late on to stop a shot by 18-year-old substitute Steven Bergwijn. ' ' '