Victoria Pratt (1991 Ontario University Athletics gold medal)
Excerpt from York University Lions Athletics: Victoria Pratt & Page 2
OUA CHAMPIONSHIPS
OUA Individual Gold Medallists
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1991 - France Gareau (60m, 300m), Lesley Tashlin (60m hurdles), Nicole Masil (600m, 1000m), Nicola McLeod (high jump), 4x400m relay (Andrea Hastick, Vicky Pratt, Nicole Masil, Nicola McLeod)
OUA First-Team All-Stars
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1991 - France Gareau (2), Andrea Hastick, Nicole Masil (3), Nicola McLeod (2), Vicky Pratt, Lesley Tashlin
© York University
Excerpt from Studio USA, on Sunset Strip 1999: Victoria Pratt
Victoria was born and raised in Chesley, Ontario, a small town north of Toronto. Extremely athletic as a very young child, she began her lifelong love of competitive sports playing soccer with the town league. She started jogging in grade school, joined a regional track team at 15 and quickly became a star in a wide variety of track and field events. Intense training and competition led to numerous prizes, including a medal at the 1990 Canadian Track & Field Championships.
© Studios USA
Excerpt from StudiosUSA 5/17/00: Victoria Pratt, transcript on VictoriaPratt.com
StudiosUSA exclusive interview
5/17/00
how do you keep yourself so fit? have you ever competed?
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i competed in track all through high school and university fitness has always been... not just a passion but it's been a lifestyle for me and it's not something that like every new year let's try to get back in shape no, it's an everyday thing it's a part of my life and i love it i workout pretty much everyday. and it was hard... you know while working those long hours and over in new zealand the gyms closed down so much earlier and it was alot harder to work out but i just had to plan it a little more carefully i would get up in the morning before work and go for a run and sometimes that meant getting up at three thirty or quarter to four because my pickup was twenty to five and you know, you just do it and haul your tired butt out of bed and you put on your shoes and you go (laughs) and, uh, some people think maybe it... it's obsessive or something but i feel... i feel *good* when i do it you know, i feel really good... and i like the fact that i don't have to diet... ...and catch up because it's just, it's just a lifestyle i try to eat well and stay healthy all the time it's just something i can maintain so i run in the mornings and then maybe four or five times a week i would go to the gym after work or on weekends i would go to the gym and just do quick weights for maybe twenty minutes i don't really need to be any bigger it's just a matter of maintaining and when i'm home, when i'm here... kickboxing! (laughs) oh! yes! yes! yes! (laughs) oh, i love it. i looove it. i just get such a rush from it you know, i ran track for years and years and years. and people would always say you know i'd read in these running magazines the people get this endorphin high and i'd think, well, you know what, i really like it and i feel good afterwards but i don't get a big high off of it. and uh, you know what? i get that from kickboxing i mean, i like to think i'm in good shape but sometimes in the middle of these classes i'm there by my bag with my hands on my knees thinking oh, no, i'm not going to make it through but you do you push through it and i drive home so euphoric just feeling *so* good... it feels good it's just such a rush (interviewer asks what part about it?) i don't know....... that's gotta be part of it... that's gotta be part of it, but there's something about kickboxing about just... taping up your hands like a ritual taping up your hands and putting on those gloves and then just letting loose yeah... open up a (?)cannon and letting loose... (laughs) letting loose for an hour it's just WOW...
© StudiosUSA
Excerpt from Ask Men 2003: Victoria Pratt
Victoria Pratt
"I've been exercising all my life... I was a long sprinter. The ones that hurt!" -Victoria Pratt
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When Victoria Pratt was born on December 18, 1970 in Chesley, Ontario, the residents of the tiny Canadian town had no way of knowing that they had a future Amazon Queen with a blue belt and swift legs in their midst. Something of a tomboy in her youth, Victoria nurtured her athletic side and became an accomplished runner by the time she entered Toronto's York University one year ahead of the rest of her class. While there she ran on, competing in the Commonwealth Games while consistently making the Dean's list.
© Ask Men
Excerpt from Victoria Pratt: The Official Site 5/28/03
Q & A with Mutant X's Victoria Pratt
May 28, 2003
Q) I know that you used to do a lot of running. I also go running as often as possible, but I live in Utah where it can get really cold. I do other indoor exercises, but I think running does a lot of good for my body. What indoor exercises would you suggest I do so I can still stay fit when it's so cold outside?
A) I know what it’s like to live in a cold climate. I grew up in the Snow Belt, north of Toronto in Canada, and I did years and years of running outside. But, if you belong to a gym, the treadmill is amazing - better on your joints than running outside. The stair climber is very good for your glutes, and we all know how important those are. And, the elliptical training machine is wonderful. It’s a cross between a treadmill and a stepper, and that’s my current favorite.
© Mutant X
Excerpt from Prevue Magazine 10/2/03: Victoria Pratt
Heartthrobs
--Shara Rosen Published on: 10/2/2003
"Women should not be intimidated going into a gym. I think it's guys who get intimidated by women in the gym," says Victoria Pratt, the sexy lead in the sci-fi television series Mutant X. The thirty-one-year-old fiery blond has always incorporated fitness into her routine. "I've been exercising all my life. When I was old enough I joined an organized track and field team and we traveled thought the states and went to training camps. I ran 400 and 800-meter hurdles and 600-meter hurdles indoors. I was a long sprinter. The ones that hurt!"
© Prevue Magazine
Excerpt from Knight Ridder Tribune 12/18/06: Victoria Pratt
Victoria Pratt stays on track with role in ABC's `Day Break'
Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Byline: Luaine Lee Publication Date: 18-DEC-06
PASADENA, Calif. _ When actress Victoria Pratt was a little girl her father gave her a pogo stick to keep her from constantly bugging the family to play games. "I'd have a contest with myself to see how many times I could jump without falling off," she says over lunch in a crowded restaurant here. "I remember being in the garage bouncing and bouncing, and my mom saying it was time for dinner. `I can't until I beat my last record.' I had boundless energy."
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She'd been competing in track and field events in her hometown of Chesley, Canada since she was 13. "I ran the 50 the 100, the 400, the 800. I did the long jump and the shot put. I did everything. And I came home with a chest full of ribbons. I remember they invited me to join the track team. That set me on a different course because where I was, I was starting to get a little boy crazy _ you know, pubescent angst. It was constructive for me to channel my energy into track and field work."
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While she's proud owner of a blue belt in Shotokan karate, she admits that her physical expertise has sometimes been a liability. "Training has worked against me at times because I don't think I'm a traditional beauty, though I'm happy with the way I am," says Pratt, who's dressed in black jeans and a white blouse with ruching down the sides. "You see me with short sleeves on, you see muscles, and maybe that's not right for the school teacher. But it definitely helped me get roles that I love and I think that years of training makes you carry yourself in a different way. I've always had a distinctive walk. I walk like a hurdler. I remember when I was in university I had to take this gymnastics class and the coach had trained the Romanian team and she said, `We're dancing, not HURDLING.' It's just the way my body is."
© Knight Ridder/Tribune
Excerpt from Stuff Magazine 1/07: Victoria Pratt
Arresting Beauty
Q: What’s your favorite way to work out?
A: Everyone talks about a runner’s high, but the whole time that I ran track, I maybe had it twice. I didn’t get a true high until I started kickboxing, because it’s so aggressive and exhausting. And when you’re breaking in a pair of gloves, and you go to the grocery store and your knuckles are just a little bit bloody, they look at you like maybe you’ve just killed someone. That is so cool.
© Stuff
Excerpt from Lionsgate Publicity Press Kit 2009: Victoria Pratt
MONGOLIAN DEATH WORM
Victoria Pratt knew from a young age that she wanted to explore the world beyond the boundaries of her small hometown in northern Ontario, Canada. She began her career not as an actor, but as a fitness expert and athlete. She ran track for fifteen years, eventually running for York University, and becoming a national medalist.
© Lionsgate