Beijing Olympics Today: Canada’s medal count hits the double digits with four trips to the podium

Good morning! Canada marked its best day of the 2022 Winter Games so far with four trips to the podium. The country’s total medal count climbs to 12.

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Here’s what happened overnight:

• Canada’s Eliot Grondin has grabbed a silver medal. Grondin finished second in men’s snowboard cross at the Beijing Olympics, coming 0.02 seconds behind Austria’s Alessandro Hammerle in a photo finish.
• Canadian speed skater Isabelle Weidemann won silver in the women’s 5,000 metres, her second medal of the Beijing Olympics. She also won bronze in the women’s 3,000 – Canada’s first medal of the Games.
• Toronto’s Jack Crawford won bronze in men’s alpine combined on Thursday after narrowly missing out on a medal in his first two events of the Games.
• Canada’s mixed aerials team won bronze at the Beijing Olympics. The Canadian trio of Marion Thénault of Sherbrooke, Miha Fontaine of Lac-Beauport, Que., and Quebec City’s Lewis Irving finished with a total of 290.98 points to edge out fourth-place Switzerland.
• Elizabeth Hosking from Longueuil, Que., placed sixth in women’s snowboard halfpipe. Calgary’s Brooke D’Hondt, making her Olympic debut, placed 10th. The 16-year-old D’Hondt is the youngest member of Canada’s Olympic delegation at the Beijing Olympics. American Chloe Kim successfully defended her Olympic title in the event, throwing down a 94.00 in her first run en route gold.

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• Canadian figure skater Keegan Messing placed 11th in men’s singles at the Beijing Olympics, just three days after he arrived in China. Nathan Chen of the United States claimed his maiden Olympic title when he won the gold in the event.
• Russian figure skating sensation Kamila Valieva showed up for her scheduled practice on Thursday, despite Russian media reporting the 15-year-old had tested positive for a banned substance. The legal issue that could affect the medalists in the team figure skating competition has caused the award ceremony to be delayed. Canada placed fourth in that event.
• Claude Julien will coach Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey team after all. Hockey Canada announced the 61-year-old has been cleared to travel and will rejoin the squad behind the bench in Beijing afterThursday’s tournament opener against Germany.
• Canada’s Brad Gushue defeated Norway’s Steffen Walstad 6-5 in men’s round robin play. Skip Jennifer Jones will lead the Canadian women’s team into its round robin opener Thursday against South Korea’s Eun-jung Kim.
• American Mikaela Shiffrin will start in Friday’s super-G race at the Beijing Olympics, a U.S. Ski team spokeswoman said on Thursday, after considering pulling out of the event following early exits from her specialist events.
• Former NHL forwards Lucas Wallmark and Anton Lander scored to help Sweden beat Latvia 3-2 on Thursday in each team’s opener at the Olympic men’s hockey tournament.
• The Russian ice hockey team started its defence Wednesday of the Olympic men’s gold medal with a 1-0 win over Switzerland in Beijing.
• Russian Olympic Committee women’s ice hockey player Maria Pechnikova has tested positive for COVID-19 at the Beijing Olympics.
• Germany sweeps the Olympic luge events as its relay team won gold on Thursday. Natalie Geisenberger, Johannes Ludwig, Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt rocketed down one after the other, finishing with a track record time of 3:03.406.
• China’s largest social media platforms, including Weibo and Douyin, said they have deleted tens of thousands of posts for abusing athletes and spreading rumours on the Winter Olympics, in an effort to clean-up “illegal” chatter around the Games.

Globe on the ground

The Globe’s James Griffiths writes about Michael Nakagawa, also known as DJ Naka G, who’s working to give the Beijing Olympics a soundtrack to remember.

The first big doping case at the Beijing Olympics involves one of its biggest stars, 15-year-old Kamila Valieva of the Russia Olympic Committee. Cathal Kelly writes that Russia returns to its black-hat glory, but it is still unclear how the situation might play out in coming days.

Canadian skier Jack Crawford gushes about a ‘childhood dream’ come true. Cathal Kelly writes that the 24-year-old from that noted skiing hothouse, Toronto, has been quietly (and now loudly) putting in one of Canada’s notable performances at these Games.

U.S. snowboarder Chloe Kim is a golden ray of sunshine at a gloomy Beijing Olympics, writes Cathal Kelly, describing Kim as “the people’s champion”.

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Nathan Chen left no doubt that he’s the world’s best male figure skater, writes Rachel Brady. With a long program set to Elton John’s Rocket Man (he’s a popular artist at these Games!) and popping with five quadruple jumps, the American blew away the competition for gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Thursday.

Where Canada stands

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What’s on today and tomorrow

Thursday, Feb. 10

8:30 p.m. ET Snowboard, men’s halfpipe, final 🥇

10 p.m. ET Alpine skiing, women’s super-G 🥇

Friday, Feb. 11

1:05 a.m. ET Curling, women, round robin Canada vs. Japan

2 a.m. ET Cross-country skiing, men’s 15 km classic style 🥇

3 a.m. ET Speed skating, men’s 10,000 m 🥇

4 a.m. ET Biathlon, women’s 7.5 km sprint 🥇

6 a.m. ET Short track, women’s 1,000 m quarter-final

7:05 a.m. ET Curling, men, round robin, Canada vs. Switzerland

7:37 a.m. ET Short track, women’s 1,000 m, final 🥇

8:10 a.m. ET Ice hockey, women’s quarter-final, Canada vs. Sweden

8:55 a.m. ET Skeleton, men’s individual run 4 🥇

8:05 p.m. ET Curling, women, round robin, Canada vs. Sweden

9 p.m. ET Snowboard, mixed snowboard cross team, quarter-final

9:50 p.m. ET Snowboard, mixed snowboard cross team, final 🥇

11:10 p.m. ET Ice hockey, men, Group A, Canada vs. United States

As seen at the Games:

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Canadian Mark McMorris, who won bronze in the men’s snowboard slopestyle event on Monday, poses on the slopes with his friend and “right hand man” cinematographer Adam Burwell.

Which event are you waiting for at the Winter Games? E-mail us at audience@globeandmail.com and let us know.