BEIJING — As the penultimate day of the Games, Saturday at the 2022 Winter Olympics is a busy one. Of interest to Canadians will be the men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe event and the speedskating mass start. Additionally, the gold medal will be handed out in the men’s curling competition and the bronze-medal game in the men’s hockey tournament will be played as well.
Here are five things to watch at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, Feb. 19.
Canadian podium contenders in mass start race
The chaotic speedskating mass start race, in both the men’s and women’s disciplines, will go on Saturday. The roller-derby-esque style race has a few Canadian medal hopefuls in the field, including Ivanie Blondin, who helped win a gold for Canada in the women’s team pursuit, and, on the men’s side, Jordan Belchos and Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu who won silver and bronze medals in the mass start event at the 2020 world speedskating championships.
Canada with a couple of medal hopefuls in men’s halfpipe
The men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe event will hand out hardware Saturday with a couple of top Canadian contenders in the field. Vancouver’s Simon d'Artois is expected to be right in the mix for a podium finish. He won a silver medal in the halfpipe at the 2021 Winter X Games. As well, Calgary’s Noah Bowman could also threaten for a medal. He was a bronze medallist at the 2019 world championships.
Gold medal being awarded in men’s curling
Saturday will mark the end of the men’s curling competition with the gold-medal match being handed out. Canada’s Brad Gushue, who won gold in this same event in 2006 in Turin, unfortunately wasn't able to reach the championship game again after Canada fell to Sweden 5-3 in the semifinals. Instead, the gold medal will come down to a battle between Niklas Edin of Sweden and Great Britain's Bruce Mouat.
De Bruin possibly going for another medal
Monobob bronze medallist Christine de Bruin has a shot to collect another medal on the sliding track — this time with a partner. De Bruin and brakewoman Kristen Bujnowski are expected to contend for a spot on the podium in Saturday's two-woman bobsled event. De Bruin won bronze medals in the two-woman race at the 2019 and 2020 world championships.
Pairs figure skating event concludes
Saturday will mark conclusion to the figure skating competition at the Beijing Olympics with the pairs free skate. The new Canadian pair of Eric Radford and Vanessa James are expected to be the top Canadian team in the field, but given the fact they two just came together for this season — and they also both tested positive for COVID-19 at the 2022 Canadian Championships ahead of the Games — expectations are relatively muted for them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2022.
The Canadian Press
