Hello hello! Canada’s medal count stands at 18 after the Canadian short-track speed skating team nabbed a gold medal in men’s 5,000-metre relay. Plus, the much-anticipated women’s hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States is scheduled for tonight at 11:10 p.m. ET.
Canadian speed skaters Charles Hamelin, Pascal Dion, Steven Dubois and Jordan Pierre-Gilles celebrate after winning gold in men's 5,000-metre relay.EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/Reuters
Here’s what happened overnight:
- Canada’s short-track speed skating team has won a gold medal in the men’s 5,000-metre relay. It’s Charles Hamelin’s sixth medal, who becomes Canada’s most decorated male Winter Olympian and joins Cindy Klassen as the only other Winter Olympian with a half-dozen podium finishes.
- The much-anticipated women’s hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States is scheduled for Wednesday at 11:10 p.m. ET. This will be the sixth time, out of seven opportunities, that Canada and the U.S. have met in the women’s gold medal game.
- Canada is heading home from the Olympics without a men’s hockey medal for the first time in 16 years. The team was eliminated after falling to Sweden 2-0 in the quarterfinal match.
- Canada’s Max Moffatt placed ninth in men’s freeski slopestyle at Beijing Olympics, earning 70.40 points in his third run to finish in the top 10 at the international event on Wednesday.
- Finland launched an offensive assault to overpower Switzerland 4-0 on Wednesday and claim the Olympic women’s ice hockey bronze medal, their fourth in the event.
- Canadian skeleton athlete Jane Channell said she would commission a special helmet that she would only wear at the 2022 Winter Games if she made Canada’s Olympic team. Now she had the opportunity to wear this prized possession, heavily steeped in mythology, in Beijing.
Jane Channell, of Canada, slides during the women's skeleton run 1 at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing.The Associated Press
- Canada’s Jennifer Jones improved her playoff chances at the Beijing Games on Wednesday by topping American Tabitha Peterson 7-6. Meanwhile, compatriot Brad Gushue secured a top-four finish as the men’s curling round robin session was completed on Wednesday, qualifying for the playoffs.
- Canadian speed skaters Kim Boutin and Courtney Sarault failed to qualify for the women’s 1,500-metre final. Boutin and Sarault finished third and fourth, respectively, in their semi-final heats.
- Curler Rachel Homan tweeted that she’s struggling with her 8-7 loss to Italy in mixed doubles. “Being completely honest because I know many athletes have felt this but I’m in the deepest of black holes wishing we could have found another centimetre for Canada,” she said.
- The International Olympic Committee said the doping case of American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, who missed the Tokyo Olympics because of a one-month ban, is different from that of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva at the Beijing Games. Meanwhile, Valieva listed two legal oxygen boosters on an anti-doping control form before her drug case at the Olympics erupted.
- Ukrainian cross-country skier Valentyna Kaminska has been suspended after testing positive for an anabolic androgenic steroid and two stimulants at the Beijing Winter Olympics, the International Testing Agency said on Wednesday.
- The United States is out of the men’s hockey tournament at the Olympics in stunning fashion after suffering a surprise 3-2 loss to Slovakia in a shootout on Wednesday. The win sets Slovakia up for a chance for its first medal in the sport.
- Freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy wishes his final Olympic run didn’t have to come in China – a country with a troubling human-rights record where same-sex marriage is not recognized. “I don’t think countries should be allowed to host the Games when they have things happening that are so egregious, and there are insane human rights atrocities happening,” Kenworthy said.
- China’s aim to make an Olympic splash with its digital currency, thwarted by a COVID 19-induced decision to exclude foreign spectators, has been taken up instead by a captive audience of locals unable to use their usual digital payment apps.
- Canada’s Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valérie Maltais share how they turned their team chemistry into an Olympic speed skating gold.
Globe on the ground
The Globe’s James Griffiths reports that Hong Kong’s COVID-19 outbreak is embarrassing Beijing in the middle of the Olympics. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the local government to “prioritize its task to control” the outbreak as COVID-19 infections continue to rise – and distract from the successes of the Winter Olympics.
For some players, the Canada vs. U.S. women’s hockey game - set for 11:10 p.m. ET – will be their first shot at Olympic gold. For others, it’s the latest of many. For all, it’s a test of the comradeship they’ve been building in Beijing, reports The Globe’s Rachel Brady.
Where Canada stands
What’s on today and tomorrow
Wednesday, Feb. 16
8:05 p.m. ET Curling, men, round robin, Canada vs. Britain
8:30 p.m. ET Freestyle skiing, women’s, halfpipe, qualification
9:30 p.m. ET Alpine skiing, women’s alpine combined, downhill
10:30 p.m. ET Freestyle skiing, women’s ski cross, seeding
11:10 p.m. ET Ice hockey, women, gold medal game, Canada vs. United States 🥇
11:30 p.m. ET Freestyle skiing, men’s halfpipe, qualification
Thursday Feb. 17
1 a.m. ET Alpine skiing, women’s alpine combined 🥇
1:05 a.m. ET Curling, women, round robin, Canada vs. Denmark
2:10 a.m. ET Freestyle skiing, women’s ski cross, final 🥇
5 a.m. ET Figure skating, women’s singles, free program 🥇
7:05 a.m. ET Curling, men, semi-final
8:30 p.m. ET Freestyle skiing, women’s halfpipe, final 🥇
11:10 p.m. ET Ice hockey, men, semi-final
As seen at the Games:
Curler Jennifer Jones shares an empowering message about being “Canada’s oldest female winter Olympian” after her critical win against the United States on Wednesday.
Which event are you waiting for at the Winter Games? Email us at audience@globeandmail.com and let us know.