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After a flurry of medals over the preceding 48 hours, Day 5 was a quiet one for the Canadians in Pyeongchang. No medals, only a few events, and a whole lot of wind.
There will be plenty of action tonight and tomorrow with several Canadians in the medal hunt (more on that in a bit) but for now we have men’s curling, and Kevin Koe’s quest to win a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal for his country.
Koe’s rink out of The Glencoe Club in Calgary began round-robin play Wednesday, overcoming a pair of tough tests against Italy and Great Britain to move to 2-0.
The Italians were a frustrating opponent (they’d go on to stun the Swiss later in the day), playing strategically through the early ends in order to keep the score low and force tough, do-or-die shots later on. Italy’s defensive approach ultimately forced Koe and his sweepers to hit a difficult double takeout in the 10th end, which the 43-year-old nailed to ensure a 5-3 win.
It wasn’t a walk in the park against Great Britain, either. Some Canadian errors led to a steal in the sixth and allowed the Brits to make a game of it, as they trailed by only one going into the late ends. But Koe had the hammer in the 10th and the Brits were unable to execute a necessary hit-and-roll, which allowed Canada to pick up the victory, 6-4.
Next up for Team Koe is Thursday’s clash with Norway before playing the host South Koreans on Friday.
Meanwhile, Canadians Tristan Walker and Justin Snith had high hopes of claiming a medal in doubles luge, but came up short in fifth place, only four-tenths of a second off the podium. They’ll be back on their sled Thursday in the team relay.
And at Gangneung Oval, Kaylin Irvine (23rd place) and Heather McLean (25th in her Olympic debut) finished near the wrong end of the pack in the women’s 1,000-metres. Of course, for McLean, this was more of a warm-up session. She’s better known for her prowess in the 500-metres which goes Sunday morning.
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Prominent Canadians in action on Day 6 (all times Eastern):
• Women’s curling, Canada vs. South Korea — Feb. 14, 7:05 p.m.
Canada vs. Sweden — Feb. 15, 6:05 a.m.
Rachel Homan’s rink begins its quest for Olympic curling gold Wednesday, as it takes on South Korea before playing Sweden less than 12 hours later. Homan’s team out of the Ottawa Curling Club — including third Emma Miskew, second Joanne Courtney, and lead Lisa Weagle — was on form at the most recent world championship, going undefeated on its way to a gold medal, and may be the most talented women’s rink ever assembled. (And the team features a pretty good alternate in 2010 silver medallist Cheryl Bernard.) Canada is the defending champ (Jennifer Jones’ rink won gold in 2014) and has medalled every year since women’s curling became an Olympic sport in 1998.
• Alpine skiing, Women’s giant slalom — Feb. 14, 8 p.m.
Like all alpine skiing events at these games, the women’s giant slalom has been delayed until Wednesday night due to dangerous conditions. That means Canadians Candace Crawford and Valerie Grenier have had to wait around to make their Olympic debuts. Neither is expected to medal, but the experience for the youngsters — Crawford is 23 and Grenier is 21 — will be invaluable.
• Figure skating, pairs free skate — Feb. 14, 8:30 p.m.
After placing third in Tuesday’s short program, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are firmly in the medal hunt going into Wednesday’s back half of the pairs competition. Overcoming the teams ahead of them — China and the Olympic Athletes from Russia — will be a stiff challenge, but you can be sure the Canadian duo will be up for it in what may be the final program of their careers. Fellow Canadians Julianne Seguin and Charlie Bilodeau (in 12th place after the short program), and Kristen Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro (13th) will also skate Wednesday.
• Alpine skiing, men’s downhill — Feb. 14, 9 p.m.
Wind gusts as high as 80 km/h at Jeongseon Alpine Center have delayed this competition for days, but it appears that it will finally take place Wednesday. There are four Canadians in the field — Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Broderick Thompson, Benjamin Thomsen, and James Crawford. Osborne-Paradis will be competing in his fourth — and perhaps last — Olympics, and posted the fastest time in the first training session at Jeongseon last Thursday.
• Women’s hockey, Canada vs. United States — Feb. 14, 10:10 p.m.
This is the big one. Well, at least until the next big one. One of these two teams will almost certainly take home gold from this tournament (Canada’s won four in a row), and while Wednesday night’s clash won’t decide who does, it will give one team a big leg up on the other. Of course, barring a massive upset, this likely won’t be the last time these two sides meet at these games. But the rivalry between them is bitter, and the winner of this game will have an easier path to gold. Expect an intense affair.
• Men’s snowboard cross, 1/8 finals — Feb. 14, 11:30 p.m.
Quarter-finals — Feb. 15, 12:04 a.m.
Semifinals — Feb. 15, 12:25 a.m.
Final — Feb. 15, 12:41 a.m.
While Mike Robertson (silver, 2010) is the only Canadian to ever medal in men’s snowboard cross at the Olympics, several Canadians will be in the mix at Pyeongchang during one of the most fun events to watch, in which the unexpected is prone to occur. Kevin Hill, Baptiste Brochu, and Christopher Robanske are all ranked in the top 22 on the World Cup circuit this season and could make some noise. Eliot Grondin, ranked No. 47, rounds out the Canadian field.
• Speed skating, men’s 10,000-metres — Feb. 15, 12:05 a.m.
After winning silver in the 5,000-metres, Ted-Jan Bloemen will go for his second medal of the games in the 10,000 Thursday. Born in Netherlands, Bloemen transplanted to Canada in 2014 and has been racing for his adopted home ever since. He set the current world record in the 10,000 in 2015, and won silver in the event at the 2016 world championship. He finished just off the podium in fourth at the 2017 worlds. Toronto’s Jordan Belchos, who finished sixth at the 2017 worlds, will also be racing.
• Men’s hockey, Canada vs. Switzerland — Feb. 15, 7:10 a.m.
Team Canada begins round-robin play Thursday morning against the Swiss. Without NHLers in attendance, it’s a bit difficult to handicap the podium favourites in Pyeongchang. But it’s a hockey tournament, so there will no doubt be a fair amount of pressure on the Canadian men. Canada went 3-0 in pre-tournament play, with two easy wins over hockey minnows Latvia and Belarus, and a tougher test in a 4-1 victory over Sweden. Ben Scrivens will likely be Canada’s starting goaltender to begin the tournament. And while the team is expected to score by committee, former NHLers Derek Roy, Wojtek Wolski, and Rene Borque could be standouts.
• Luge, team relay — Feb. 15, 7:30 a.m.
After finishing fourth at Sochi 2014 — only a tenth of a second behind the bronze medal-winning Latvians — Canada will try to reach the podium in Pyeongchang when the team relay luge gets underway Thursday. If that’s going to happen, Alex Gough — who won singles bronze Tuesday — will no doubt be a big part of it. Canada has two team-relay silver medals on the World Cup circuit so far this season.
Sportsnet dispatches from Korea
Gough’s luge bronze medal was a long time coming — Kristina Rutherford tells you why.
Kristina also takes you behind the scenes of Shaun White’s gold-medal triumph in the men’s halfpipe Wednesday, the troubling sexual harassment lawsuit he’s loathe to talk about, and everything in between.
Continue to bask in our country’s curling glory with this one from Shi Davidi, who has the story of Canada’s gold medal-winning mixed doubles duo Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris.
Shi also talks to professional hockey journeyman Eric O’Dell, who’s been through four NHL organizations, one in the KHL, and now the Canadian Olympic team.
And, finally, Shi takes an interesting look at Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik, the North Korean figure skating pair with a Canadian connection.
Around the web…
Speaking of the North Koreans, The New York Times has a fascinating piece on the 230 cheerleaders the reclusive country has sent to the Games — otherwise known as Kim Jong-Un’s “army of beauties”.
Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair’s excellent film critic, ruminates on what an openly gay Olympian like Adam Rippon means to him now, and how much it would have meant when he was young.
From Sports Illustrated, the story of U.S. skier Bryan Fletcher’s childhood battle with leukemia.
