Although there are still a few days left in the Sochi Winter Olympics, it’s been a wild ride for Canadians. It’s hard not to be proud of the men and women who have trained for this moment.
Some moments have overshadowed others, such as Alex Bilodeau defending his gold from Vancouver, but every athlete deserves praise for their efforts. Here’s a recap of the dreams Canadians are achieving in Sochi:
Day 1: In the first medaled event, Norway took home the gold in the biathlon men’s 10 km sprint. The closest Canadian was Jean-Philippe Le Guellec who came in fifth, who trailed 10 seconds behind the leader. Norway continued to dominate with a gold and bronze in cross-country women’s 15 km skiathlon. Canada’s closest came in 42nd.
Canada won its first medal in the inaugural men’s slopestyle snowboarding event. Mark McMorris made history and won bronze. Two other Canadians cracked the top 10, but weren’t able to bring home medals.
Canada’s next win came in the freestyle skiing women’s moguls. Canada had four skiers in the top twelve; three of them sisters. Justine Dufour-Lapointe went on to win the gold medal for Canada, with her sister Chloe earning the silver medal. American Hannah Kearney got the bronze, but she was visibly disappointed.
Day 2: The best Canada could do in men’s downhill skiing was tenth, as Matthias Mayer from Australia took home the gold in that event. Canada’s Spencer O’Brien was a gold medal-hopeful in the new event, women’s slopestyle, but she wasn’t able to get it done. O’Brien finished last in the final round.
Canada showed off its talent in the team figure skating competition. Figure skating pair Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir and Patrick Chan helped Canada win silver. Russia won gold with spectacular performances, including one from 15-year-old Yulia Lipnitskaya, who was first in the ladies short program.
Day 3: Canada continued to dominate in the moguls. Canada came close to winning all three of the medals in men’s moguls, but Russian Alexandr Smyshlyaev got bronze and stopped the podium sweep. Mikael Kinsbury received silver and Alexandre Bilodeau repeated his golden victory from 2010 – the first mogul skier to do so.
The other big story of the day was in the men’s 1,500 m short track speed skating. Canadian Charles Hamelin added another gold medal to his collection and nobody was happier than Hamelin’s girlfriend, fellow Olympian Marianna St-Gelais. After the win they sealed it with a kiss, like they did four years ago in Vancouver.
Day 4: Canada almost pulled off another podium sweep when Dara Howell won the gold in women’s ski slopestyle. Fellow Canadian Kim Lamarre got the bronze, while American Devin Logan got the silver. Howell dedicated her gold medal to Sarah Burke, a Canadian freestyle skiing pioneer who died two years ago.
Canada came close to medals in women’s luge, but didn’t make it. Canadians Alex Gough and Kimberley McRea came in fourth and fifth, trailing the dominating German athletes, as well as Erin Hamlin from the United States.
The big news of the day came from someone who didn’t win a medal. American snowboarder Shaun White came up short of the podium for the first time in the past two Winter Olympics. The two time gold medalist had dominated the halfpipe in the past, but this was not his day.
Day 5: For the second time in the Sochi Winter Games, Canada placed just outside the podium in luge. Justin Snith and Tristan Walker came in second in the men’s doubles, coming up just short of a medal.
The Canadian women’s hockey team met its strongest competition of the games to date, when they played the United States. Canada beat Switzerland on Saturday and Finland on Monday, but the U.S. proved the be a challenge. Canada met it, barely coming away with a 3-2 win.
The big story of the day was Denny Morrison in the men’s 1,000 meter speed skating. Morrison had fallen in Olympic qualifying, but teammate Gilmore Junio gave up his spot, believing Morrison had a better shot at winning. Junio was right, and Morrison was able to win the silver medal. He’s now working on a campaign to get Junio to carry the Canadian flag at the closing ceremonies.
Day 6: Thursday was the calm for Canada amidst all the Olympic hype. Canada didn’t win any medals on the fifth day of competition, but there were still some highlights.
The men’s curling team, who had struggled in few games earlier, won a close match against Denmark. The men’s hockey team played their first game, beating Norway 3-1. The first period was scoreless, but Canada stepped it up with two goals in the second.
The women’s curling team continued to dominate, winning two games on Thursday. That pushes the teams record to 6-0 in Sochi.
In the men’s ice skating, Patrick Chan put himself in strong position. He held a strong second place with a score of 97.52, putting him within striking distance of Japanese Yuzuru Hanyu, who scored a spectacular 101.45.
Day 7: Patrick Chan had a chance to overcome the Japanese leader on Day 6, but had a few stumbles which cost him. Regardless, Chan was able to end the medal draught for Canada, and won the silver. Chan apologized into the camera for not getting the gold.
The men’s curling team continued their upswing with a 10-4 win over Norway. The men’s hockey team also showed some major strength, as they topped Austria 6-0. Jeff Carter led the way with three goals for Canada.
Day 8: Charles Hamlin’s girlfriend didn’t have a big celebration on Day 8. Hamlin had a good shot at a medal, but he fell in the quarter finals.
Denny Morrison was able to get a second medal, winning a bronze in men’s 1,500 m speed skating.
Canada started out strong in the medal standings during the week, but started to fade near the end. At the end of Day 8, Canada sits at fourth with four gold, five silver and three bronze.
