BEIJING — COMPLETING THE COLLECTION
Ottawa speedskater Isabelle Weidemann can now boast an Olympic medal of every colour around her neck. Weidemann teamed with Ivanie Blondin, also of Ottawa, and Valérie Maltais of Saguenay, Que., to win the women's team pursuit final over Japan in an Olympic-record time of two minutes 53.44 seconds. Weidemann is only the second Canadian long-track speedskater to win more than two medals at a single Games. Cindy Klassen won five medals in the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. Maltais, meanwhile, is only the third speedskater to win an Olympic medal in both short track and long track, joining American Eric Flaim and Jorien ter Mors of the Netherlands.
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GUSHUE SPLITS HIS GAMES
Brad Gushue faced two severe tests in the men's curling competition on Tuesday but only passed one. The Canadian skip showed a steady hand in a the earlier challenge against Team China. Gushue delivered a tap against two in the 10th end as Canada escaped with a 10-8 victory. In the later game against Russia, Canada managed to scored a pair in the 10th to force an extra end but could only watch as Russian skip Sergey Glukhov drew to the button with the final rock and claimed a 7-6 victory. Canada (5-3) sits third in the round robin, just ahead of Russia (4-4) and the U.S. (4-4).
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TEAM CANADA SURVIVES EARLY SCARE
The Canadian men's hockey team advanced to the Olympic medal round with a 7-2 win over China. Despite the decisive score, the Canadians were actually on their heels for much of the opening 20 minutes and were fortunate to escape the first period with a 2-1 lead. In the opening minutes of the game, Canadian goaltender Matt Tomkins was forced to stop Tyler Wong on a breakaway and repel Spencer Foo on a penalty shot. Canada will need a much better effort if it hopes to beat Sweden in Wednesday's quarterfinal.
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ANOTHER PODIUM FOR PARROT
One excellent run was all Canadian snowboarder Max Parrot needed to pick up his second medal of the Beijing Olympics. Parrot added to the gold he won last week in men's slopestyle with a bronze in Tuesday's big air. Parrot, from Bromont, Que., wiped out on his first jump, but landed a huge cab 1800 on his second attempt. He went conservative on his third jump with a 1620, but it was enough to get him on the medal podium. He was in the silver position until Mons Roisland of Norway knocked him down a spot on the second-last jump of the event. China's 17-year-old star Su Yiming was outstanding on his first two jumps and had gold wrapped up before his final run. Regina's Mark McMorris was 10th, while Vancouver's Darcy Sharpe was 12th.
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GU NOT QUITE GOOD ENOUGH
Eileen Gu came up just short in her bid for a second Olympic gold medal. The American-born freestyle skier, who is competing for her mother’s home country of China, was eighth entering the final run of the women's freeski slopestyle, but rocketed her way up the standings and onto the podium with a final run score of 86.23 points. She had to settle for silver, as her score was just short of Swiss skier Mathilde Gremaud's second-run tally of 86.56 points. Gu, a breakout star in China at these Games, won gold in the women's big air last week.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2022.
The Canadian Press
