Sporty's Olympic Report #8 - Men's hockey, Curling, Bobsleigh, Short and Long Track Speed Skating...
There have been many comments about the state of Team Canada, poor finishes and all that. Pfft! We were just warming up! A slew of medals in recent days have brought us to our highest medal total and our highest gold medal count has already been broken with the men's gold medal hockey match yet to go.
In women's curling Cheryl Bernard's rink entered the finals on a high and having finished higher than honestly expected. Against reigning champion Anette Norberg of Sweden, there were higher expectations now that she'd done so well. Tightly played up until the final end, Cheryl's rink lost in an extra end. She just couldn't pull it out the way she'd done all week, having won more than her fair share in extra ends apparently. Cheers ladies - you made us proud - Bernard, Darbyshire, O'Connor, Bartel and Moore, silver medallists from Calgary!
Speed skating is a sport in which so much depends on such split second decisions. In short track, these decisions can result in disaster for both you and your competitors. In the men's 500m race, Canada had 2 athletes up against US star Apolo Anton Ohno and Korea's Sung Si-Bak. Charles Hamelin had had a tough start to his Olympics and was favoured to win. A two-podium finish was a result of the DQ of Ohno. Gold to Hamelin (cheered on excitedly by his gf Marianne St.-Gelais, herself winner of two silver medals) and bronze to Francois-Louis Tremblay. Redemption for a men's team that had struggled until this day. To top off their Olympics, Charles got back on the track with brother Francois, Tremblay, and Olivier Jean to win gold for the second time in the men's 5,000m relay!
Hurray for the men's short track team and kudos to Charles Hamelin!
Men's long track skaters were also looking for some success after disappointing finishes by Denny Morrison and Jeremy Wotherspoon. A tough slog brought them to the final of the men's pursuit. A gold medal performance against the US would bring back some confidence. With both long track and short track teammates cheering them on, the pursuit team of Denny Morrison, Lukas Makowsky and Mathieu Giroux led the US start to finish to win the gold medal. So happy for Denny, Lukas and Mathieu - cheers gents!
Jasey Jay Anderson had been favoured in the two Olympics up to Vancouver in the parallel giant slalom (snowboard). Although favoured in Vancouver, everyone knew that he was just waiting for his chance to shine - two misses in the previous Olympics had to have unnerved him just a little. 20th in the first qualification run, one might think he just didn't have it. On to the finals. Up against rival Benjamin Karl of Austria, JJ was behind to start out with, but ate up the course to edge out the Austrian for the gold. Finally a gold for the man who led everything going into each of the past two Olympics. Congratulations Jasey Jay - and aren't those kids of his just the cutest? :)
4 man bobsleigh was finishing at the Whistler Sliding Centre with both Canadian sleds, the US Night Train and the two German sleds in contention. After disappointing 1st & 2nd heats, Pierre Lueders team laid down impressive 3rd and 4th runs to move them into 1st. Strong German contender sled #1 with veteran Andre Lange moved them down into 2nd, with Canada 1 and USA 1 yet to come. Canada 1 with Lyndon Rush was ahead entering the last few turns, but couldn't hold the lead to finish 2nd behind the Germans. The famous 'Night Train', USA 1 had the last chance to bring in the gold, and as the favoured team, they did not disappoint. USA 1 flashed down the track to win the first gold medal in 4-man bobsleigh for the US in 62 years. (take heart Leafs fans!)
A shout out for Maria Riesch of Germany, winning her second gold medal of these games in the women's slalom!
Also kudos to Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong of Ghana - the only Winter Olympian from his country, Kwame's goal was to not finish last in his event, the slalom. Mission accomplished, Kwame finished 47th of 48 racers. Congratulations Kwame!
For Canadians, Friday was gearing up for the men's semi-final hockey match against Slovakia. In this tournament, Slovakia had already upset both Russia and defending champion Sweden. Could Canada be next? For two periods, Canada kept the pedal down and pushed the Slovaks. But the Slovaks played their game, Halak was awesome in net and seriously, does Zdeno Chara ever come off the ice? 3-0 with 10 minutes left and a date with the USA, who had beaten Finland earlier, looked assured. But (having had heartburn all day) I watched the Slovaks beat Russia and they were still in the game, they still had game-breakers out there... And boom, Canada starts getting a case of the nerves, over-commits on D and suddenly it's 3-2 with 3 minutes left... Heart palpitations commence. Scrambly play and a massive save from Roberto Luongo that will give Marian Hossa fits for days to come and Canada squeaks its way into the hoped for gold medal match up against the US. Super Sunday again - hope it turns out better for Team Canada this time. This Smurf will be seated in front of the big screen in her jersey, scarf and mitts cheering wildly. Go Canada Go!
In women's curling Cheryl Bernard's rink entered the finals on a high and having finished higher than honestly expected. Against reigning champion Anette Norberg of Sweden, there were higher expectations now that she'd done so well. Tightly played up until the final end, Cheryl's rink lost in an extra end. She just couldn't pull it out the way she'd done all week, having won more than her fair share in extra ends apparently. Cheers ladies - you made us proud - Bernard, Darbyshire, O'Connor, Bartel and Moore, silver medallists from Calgary!
Speed skating is a sport in which so much depends on such split second decisions. In short track, these decisions can result in disaster for both you and your competitors. In the men's 500m race, Canada had 2 athletes up against US star Apolo Anton Ohno and Korea's Sung Si-Bak. Charles Hamelin had had a tough start to his Olympics and was favoured to win. A two-podium finish was a result of the DQ of Ohno. Gold to Hamelin (cheered on excitedly by his gf Marianne St.-Gelais, herself winner of two silver medals) and bronze to Francois-Louis Tremblay. Redemption for a men's team that had struggled until this day. To top off their Olympics, Charles got back on the track with brother Francois, Tremblay, and Olivier Jean to win gold for the second time in the men's 5,000m relay!
Hurray for the men's short track team and kudos to Charles Hamelin!
Men's long track skaters were also looking for some success after disappointing finishes by Denny Morrison and Jeremy Wotherspoon. A tough slog brought them to the final of the men's pursuit. A gold medal performance against the US would bring back some confidence. With both long track and short track teammates cheering them on, the pursuit team of Denny Morrison, Lukas Makowsky and Mathieu Giroux led the US start to finish to win the gold medal. So happy for Denny, Lukas and Mathieu - cheers gents!
Jasey Jay Anderson had been favoured in the two Olympics up to Vancouver in the parallel giant slalom (snowboard). Although favoured in Vancouver, everyone knew that he was just waiting for his chance to shine - two misses in the previous Olympics had to have unnerved him just a little. 20th in the first qualification run, one might think he just didn't have it. On to the finals. Up against rival Benjamin Karl of Austria, JJ was behind to start out with, but ate up the course to edge out the Austrian for the gold. Finally a gold for the man who led everything going into each of the past two Olympics. Congratulations Jasey Jay - and aren't those kids of his just the cutest? :)
4 man bobsleigh was finishing at the Whistler Sliding Centre with both Canadian sleds, the US Night Train and the two German sleds in contention. After disappointing 1st & 2nd heats, Pierre Lueders team laid down impressive 3rd and 4th runs to move them into 1st. Strong German contender sled #1 with veteran Andre Lange moved them down into 2nd, with Canada 1 and USA 1 yet to come. Canada 1 with Lyndon Rush was ahead entering the last few turns, but couldn't hold the lead to finish 2nd behind the Germans. The famous 'Night Train', USA 1 had the last chance to bring in the gold, and as the favoured team, they did not disappoint. USA 1 flashed down the track to win the first gold medal in 4-man bobsleigh for the US in 62 years. (take heart Leafs fans!)
A shout out for Maria Riesch of Germany, winning her second gold medal of these games in the women's slalom!
Also kudos to Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong of Ghana - the only Winter Olympian from his country, Kwame's goal was to not finish last in his event, the slalom. Mission accomplished, Kwame finished 47th of 48 racers. Congratulations Kwame!
For Canadians, Friday was gearing up for the men's semi-final hockey match against Slovakia. In this tournament, Slovakia had already upset both Russia and defending champion Sweden. Could Canada be next? For two periods, Canada kept the pedal down and pushed the Slovaks. But the Slovaks played their game, Halak was awesome in net and seriously, does Zdeno Chara ever come off the ice? 3-0 with 10 minutes left and a date with the USA, who had beaten Finland earlier, looked assured. But (having had heartburn all day) I watched the Slovaks beat Russia and they were still in the game, they still had game-breakers out there... And boom, Canada starts getting a case of the nerves, over-commits on D and suddenly it's 3-2 with 3 minutes left... Heart palpitations commence. Scrambly play and a massive save from Roberto Luongo that will give Marian Hossa fits for days to come and Canada squeaks its way into the hoped for gold medal match up against the US. Super Sunday again - hope it turns out better for Team Canada this time. This Smurf will be seated in front of the big screen in her jersey, scarf and mitts cheering wildly. Go Canada Go!