Good morning! Canada nabbed a bronze medal in mixed snowboard cross overnight, Team Canada’s 13th medal overall. Plus, a knee grab is stirring controversy in men’s slopestyle ahead of the Big Air event tomorrow night. Here’s what you missed while you were sleeping.
Canada's Meryeta O'Dine and Eliot Grondin celebrate their bronze medal in mixed team snowboard cross at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, China on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean KilpatrickSean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Here’s what happened overnight and this morning:
- Canada’s Eliot Grondin and Meryeta O’Dine won a bronze medal in mixed snowboard cross. Meanwhile, Australia’s Belle Brockhoff was taken off the snowboard cross course by stretcher after she fell during the mixed team quarterfinal.
- The United States beat Canada 4-2 in the men’s preliminary round group A match. Canada’s final round-robin game is on Sunday against China, while the Americans are set to meet Germany.
- Canada’s world champion speed skater Laurent Dubreuil narrowly missed the podium on Saturday in his specialty race. China’s Gao Tingu won the gold in an Olympic record time of 34.42 seconds.
- Ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier are in sixth place after the rhythm dance. The duo compete in the free skate on Sunday evening ET.
- Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg defeated Canada’s Jennifer Jones 7-6 in women’s curling. Earlier Wednesday, Jones dropped an 8-5 decision to Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa – making it the first time Jones has lost a match at an Olympic Games. Canada’s men’s team also fell just short to the Swedes on Saturday with a 7-4 defeat.
- Canadian gold medallist Max Parrot’s Olympic win is under scrutiny by fans and Olympic judges. Angles of the first jump of his winning run show him grabbing his knee when the judges scored his run as though he’d grabbed his board – a key element in the event.
- Germany captured its sixth gold medal in Olympic sliding events. Canada’s Mirela Rahneva, the first-run leader, finished fifth in skeleton.
- Canadian ambivalence over Beijing 2022 seems to be playing out in TV viewership for the Games, with CBC posting initial ratings that are down sharply from previous Winter Olympics and even last summer’s Tokyo Games.
- Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will find out Monday if she can compete at the Olympics in the women’s competition, which starts a day later. Valieva tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine in Russia in December. She won a gold medal in the team event five days ago, before the test result was known, and is scheduled to compete as an individual Tuesday.
Team Canada figure skaters Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier compete in the rhythm dance event during the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing on Feb. 12, 2022.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
Globe on the ground
James Griffiths reports that Winter Games host may boast of achievements inside and outside competition, but others note lower international TV audiences, COVID-19 fatigue and lingering political tension.
Griffiths also writes about Dinigeer Yilamujiang, the Uyghur cross-country skier who lit the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony to much controversy.
A few lazy zone clearances and some iffy goaltending, and that’s how Canada’s men’s hockey team loses 4-2 to the United States, a team it should have beat, writes Cathal Kelly.
In an interview with The Globe’s Rachel Brady, Canadian speed skater Laurent Dubreuil talks about narrowly missing the podium in the 500 metre race. “It was a good race. It just wasn’t good enough,” said Dubreuil. “Fourth in the world is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Where Canada stands
What’s on today and tomorrow
Saturday, Feb. 12
8:05 p.m. ET Curling, men, round robin, Canada vs. United States
Sunday Feb. 13
12:45 a.m. ET Alpine Skiing, Men’s giant slalom 🥇
1:05 a.m. ET Curling, women, round robin, Canada vs. Switzerland
4 a.m. ET Biathlon, women’s 10 km pursuit 🥇
6 a.m. ET Short track, men’s 500 m quarterfinal
6:35 a.m. ET Short track, women’s 3,000 m relay finals 🥇
7:09 a.m. ET Short track men’s 500 m, finals 🥇
8:10 a.m. ET Ice hockey, Men, group A, Canada vs. China
8:05 p.m. ET Curling, women, round robin, Canada vs. ROC
8:15 p.m. ET Figure skating, mixed ice dance, free dance 🥇
8:30 p.m. ET Freestyle skiing, women’s slopestyle, final 🥇
11:10 p.m. ET Ice hockey, women, semifinal
As seen at the Games:
The Globe and Mail
Which event are you waiting for at the Winter Games? Email us at audience@globeandmail.com and let us know.