Canada claimed one of the two Olympic titles in the sport that matters most in the host nation, beating the US 2-0 in the women’s hockey final on Thursday to join the US and Germany atop the gold medal standings.
Kim Yu-na of South Korea won one of the most highly anticipated titles of the Vancouver Games with a magnificent free program to secure the women’s figure skating competition by 23 points from Japan’s Mao Asada. Canada’s Joannie Rochette took bronze just days after her mother died of a heart attack.
Three days after conceding its “Own the Podium” program might have been overly ambitious for the overall medal count, a resurgent Canada is back in contention to top the gold medal count at the Vancouver Games.
PHOTO: AFP
Canada, Germany and the US each picked up their eighth gold medals of the Games on Day 14, while Norway improved its haul to seven when Marit Bjoergen became the first triple gold medalist here by anchoring her team to victory in a cross-country relay.
NORDIC COMBINED
PHOTO: AFP
The US won their first ever gold medal in the Nordic sports when Billy Demong and Johnny Spillane finished with gold and silver in a Nordic combined large hill competition that was marred by bad weather at the Whistler Olympic Park. The snow and rain that forced a restart of the ski jump section cut any advantage for the stronger jumpers.
Demong clinched the victory by winning the 10km cross-country leg in 25 minutes, 32.9 seconds.
At Cypress Mountain, Alexei Grishin landed two clean jumps in men’s aerials to earn Belarus its first gold medal of the Games.
PHOTO: AFP
US aerialist Jeret “Speedy” Peterson took silver, ahead of China’s Liu Zhongqing.
The Canadian men’s hockey team had to beat Slovakia yesterday to reach the gold medal match, but their convincing win over Russia on Wednesday has the locals buoyant again, helping overcome the shock of an earlier loss to the US.
With men’s and women’s into the curling finals, where they’re expected to deliver gold medals in the second national sport, Canada could lift its gold medal count into double figures.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Most attention was on downtown Vancouver, where Marie-Philip Poulin scored two goals and Shannon Szabados made 28 saves as Canada beat the US in a battle between the two most dominant teams in women’s hockey.
“This is an incredible moment,” goaltender Szabados said. “I looked up in the stands and saw a sign that said: ‘Proud to be Canadian.’ That’s what I am today.”
Unbeaten Canada advanced to the gold medal match against Norway in men’s curling with a 6-3 win over Sweden, while the Canadian women will play defending Olympic champion Sweden after ousting world champion China in the semi-finals.
POPULAR PANTS
The Norwegian men, wearing the colorful diamond-print pants that have become the fashion statement of the Vancouver Games and made them a Facebook hit, beat Switzerland 7-5 in the other semi-final.
Norway, with more medals than any other country in the history of the Winter Games, is making a comeback after a disappointing Olympics in Turin, where it only won two gold four years ago.
Bjoergen has contributed almost half those, and added a bronze medal, to lift her career haul to six Olympic medals and set a national women’s record for the Winter Games.
Bjoergen led the 4x5km cross-country relay to victory over Germany and Finland, crossing in 55 minutes, 19.5 seconds.
“It has been so great, I would never have dreamed of one gold medal and now I have three, so this has been a wonderful Games,” she said. “It was a big day for me and the last lap was awesome. I’m flying.”
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