Good afternoon! Canada scored four medals this morning – one being Canada’s first gold of the Beijing Olympics.
Gold medalist Max Parrot celebrates during a medal ceremony for the men's snowboard slopestyle event in Zhangjiakou, China, Feb. 7, 2022.Aaron Favila/The Associated Press
Here’s what happened overnight and this morning:
- Canada dominated the men’s snowboard slopestyle competition, with Max Parrot winning gold and teammate Mark McMorris claiming bronze.
- Canada won a surprise bronze medal in the mixed team ski jumping competition on Monday at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Canadian short-track speed skater Kim Boutin also won a bronze medal in the women’s 500 metres.
- Switzerland’s Beat Feuz won the Olympic gold in men’s downhill on Monday morning, while Toronto’s Jack Crawford just missed a medal position.
- Canada’s mixed doubles curling team is making an early exit: John Morris and Rachel Homan will not qualify for the playoffs after dropping an 8-7 decision to Italy’s Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini.
Megan Oldham competes during the women's freestyle skiing Big Air qualification round, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing.Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press
- Canadian Megan Oldham placed first in the women’s freestyle skiing big air qualification round, handily booking a ticket to the final.
- Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has denied that she ever accused anyone of sexual assault. The International Olympic Committee will proceed with a meeting with the three-time Olympian during the Beijing Winter Olympics, but details of the meeting will not be shared in advance.
- Canada misses out on a team skating medal as the Russian Olympic Committee took home the first skating gold of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
- U.S.-born Chinese skier Eileen Gu is not the first to represent another country at the Beijing Olympics, nor the only one.
- Canada beat the Russian Olympic Committee 6-1 in women’s hockey after an hour-long game delay over unprocessed COVID-19 tests.
- Canadian speed skater Ted-Jan Bloemen’s first race – the 5,000-metre – went terribly wrong on Sunday, leaving the 35-year-old unsure if he can bounce back before the next one.
- Japanese skating star Yuzuru Hanyu’s legion of fans won’t get a chance to litter the ice with the iconic plush toy that has ties to Canada but ominous tones in China.
Where Canada stands
Globe on the ground
Now cancer-free, Canada’s Max Parrot takes Olympic gold with run of a lifetime in snowboard slopestyle, writes Rachel Brady.
James Griffiths writes about why Winnie the Pooh dolls won’t be thrown onto the ice by adoring fans when Japanese figure skating star Yuzuru Hanyu goes for a record-breaking third consecutive gold medal this week at the Beijing Games.
U.S.-born Chinese skier Eileen Gu made her Olympic debut on Monday in the women’s big air qualification round. She is not the first to represent another country at the Beijing Olympics, nor the only one, writes James Griffiths.
Canada missed out on a team skating medal this weekend: Canada’s Eric Radford and Vanessa James came fourth in the pairs skate, and Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier took third in the ice dance, while 18-year-old Madeline Schizas placed third after smashing her season’s best in the women’s free skate with a flawless performance.
Columnist Cathal Kelly writes that while every Winter Olympics starts off star-challenged, Canada’s NHL hockey players should be filling that celebrity vacuum.
Rachel Homan of Canada and John Morris of Canada react after losing their mixed doubles round robin curling match against Italy, Feb. 7, 2022.ELOISA LOPEZ/X06751
Canada is facing a crisis of curling confidence: “My fellow Canadians, our long national nightmare is not yet over. The Olympic curling does not work. The latest victims of what is starting to feel like a curse are the mixed-doubles pair of Rachel Homan and John Morris,” writes Cathal Kelly.
Cathal Kelly: Complaining at the Olympics? That’s nothing new. What’s changed is our perspective.
Columnist John Doyle writes that the spectacle of the opening ceremony on Friday was “mildly impressive but coldly so, everything about it overshadowed, not just by COVID-19 protocols, but by the fact that China is loathed as an authoritarian state that blithely engages in human-rights violations.”
What’s on today and tomorrow
Monday Feb. 7
12:25 a.m. ET, Alpine skiing, women’s giant slalom, run 2 🥇
3:30 a.m. ET, Speed skating, women’s 1500 m 🥇
4 a.m. ET, Biathlon, women’s 15 km individual 🥇
6:30 a.m. ET, Short track, women’s 500 m, quarter-final
6:44 a.m. ET, Short track, men’s 1000 m, quarter-final
7:05 a.m. ET, Curling, mixed doubles, semi-final
7:20 a.m. ET, Short track, women’s 500 m, semi-final
7:20 a.m. ET, Short track, men’s 1000 m, semi-final
7:41 a.m. ET, Short track, women’s 500 m, final 🥇
7:51 a.m. ET, Ski jumping, mixed team, normal hill, final round 🥇
7:52 a.m. ET, Short track, men’s 1000 m, final 🥇
Tuesday, Feb. 8
1:05 a.m. ET, Curling mixed doubles, bronze medal game
1:30 a.m. ET, Snowboard, women’s parallel giant slalom
1:48 a.m. ET, Snowboard, men’s parallel giant slalom
2:06 a.m. ET, Snowboard, women’s parallel giant slalom
2:15 a.m. ET, Snowboard men’s parallel giant slalom, quarter-final
2:24 a.m. ET, Snowboard, women’s giant slalom, quarter-final
2:30 a.m. ET, Snowboard men’s giant slalom, final 🥇
2:36 a.m. ET, Snowboard, women’s giant slalom, quarter-final
2:43 a.m. ET, Men’s parallel giant slalom, final 🥇
3:00 a.m. ET, Cross-country skiing women’s sprint freestyle qualification
3:30 a.m. ET, Biathlon men’s 20 km individual, final 🥇
3:50 a.m. ET, Cross-country skiing, men’s sprint freestyle qualification
5:30 a.m. ET, Cross-country skiing, women’s sprint freestyle quarter-final
5:30 a.m. ET, 1500m speed skating, men’s 🥇
5:55 a.m. ET, Cross-country skiing men’s sprint freestyle, quarter-final
6:25 a.m. ET, Cross-country skiing women’s sprint freestyle, semi-final
6:35 a.m. ET, Cross-country skiing men’s sprint freestyle, semi-final
6:47 a.m. ET, Cross-country skiing women’s sprint freestyle, final 🥇
6:50 a.m. ET, Luge women’s single, run 3
7:00 a.m. ET, Cross-country skiing men’s sprint freestyle, final
7:05 a.m. ET, Curling mixed doubles gold-medal game
8:35 a.m. ET, Luge women’s single, run 4 🥇
8:30 p.m. ET, Snowboard women’s halfpipe qualification
9:15 p.m. ET, Alpine skiing women’s slalom, run 1
10:00 p.m. ET, Freestyle skiing men’s big air, final 🥇
10:00 p.m. ET, Snowboard women’s snowboard cross seeding
11:30 p.m. ET, Snowboard men’s halfpipe, qualification
COVID-19 and the Games
- Of all of COVID-19′s cruelties, the necessity of distance has caused particular angst throughout the curling community. This is a sport built around closeness, from the pregame handshakes between opponents, to the postgame drinking sessions, in which the winners typically buy the losers a round.
Looking for more up-to-the-moment COVID-19 news? Check out our coronavirus newsletter, sent weekdays and Sundays.
As seen at the Games:
Which event are you waiting for at the Winter Games? Email us at audience@globeandmail.com and let us know.
Correction: An earlier version of this newsletter incorrectly stated that Canada scored three medals this morning - it was, in fact, four medals.