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Hardware Haul: Looking back at Canada’s 26 Beijing Olympic medals

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By on Sport
Hardware Haul: Looking back at Canada’s 26 Beijing Olympic medals

While the Canadian Olympic Committee did not set medal targets for the 2022 Beijing Games, the country exceeded expectations in at least one key department.

Canada finished with 26 medals, four more than American data company Gracenote predicted.

The only downside was a gold reduction — Canada stood at the top of the podium four times, after being in double digits in gold the past three Winter Olympics. It was Canada’s fewest number of gold medals since it won three in Lillehammer in 1994.

Canada had four gold, eight silver, 14 bronze and eight fourth-place finishes.

Canada fell three medals short of its record total of 29 from the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and finished fourth in the total medal count — down one spot from four years ago.

However, considering Canada has been one of the most locked-down countries during the pandemic, Beijing should be viewed as a relatively successful Games on the field of play.

Here’s a trip down memory lane, putting the spotlight on all of Canada’s medal wins.

Weidemann captures Canada’s first medal

Canadian speedskater Isabelle Weidemann picked up Canada’s first medal with bronze in the women’s 3,000 metres on Day 1 of competition.

The 26-year-old from Ottawa finished with a time of three minutes 58.64 seconds at the Ice Ribbon oval.

Weidemann knew she had a medal with the top time heading into the final pairing of Irene Schouten of the Netherlands and Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida. Schouten skated to the top of the podium in an Olympic-record time of 3:56.93, followed by Lollobrigida at 3:58.06.

No Canadian woman had won a long-track medal since the 2010 Olympics.

“I’m pretty overwhelmed. I was very nervous today, but was so pleased how the race went and to bring home a medal … I was shaky at the start and by four laps in I could feel the fight,” said Weidemann.

“I have a big family and so many friends and staff here, people that believed in me for so long. I am so happy to be bringing something back for them.”

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Kingsbury narrowly misses out on second gold in a row

Canadian freestyle skier Mikael Kingsbury has been dethroned.

Kingsbury, the defending champion, settled for moguls silver with a score of 82.18 after being upset by Sweden’s Walter Wallberg in the final.

Wallberg, the last skier down the hill, posted a stellar score of 83.23 to knock Kingsbury off the top podium spot.

“I tried to put the pressure on Walter, but he answered very well,” Kingsbury told CBC.

Japan’s Ikuma Horishima claimed bronze with a score of 81.48.

Kingsbury won moguls gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and silver at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

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Parrot gives Canada first gold in snowboard

Less than three years after beating cancer, Canadian snowboarder Max Parrot is an Olympic champion.

Parrot, from Bromont, Que., won the men’s slopestyle event on Day 3 to give Canada its first gold medal at the Beijing Games.

“For the past four years, a lot of things have happened with cancer, beating cancer and with COVID, harder to train, travelling, it’s harder than before,” Parrot, who jumped up from his silver-medal showing at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, told CBC.

“So many challenges for the past year. To be up here with the gold means so much.”

Regina’s Mark McMorris won bronze, matching his result from the past two Olympics. China’s Su Yiming took silver.

Read the full story.

Boutin earns fourth career Olympic medal

An emotional Kim Boutin added to her impressive Olympic short-track speedskating resume with a bronze medal in the women’s 500 metres.

The native of Sherbrooke, Que., won three medals at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics — bronze in the 500 and 1,500 and silver in the 1,000 — and got the nod to be Canada’s flag-bearer at the Closing Ceremony.

But there also are terrible memories from four years ago as Boutin received online hate messages and death threats after she was elevated to bronze in the 500 when Korean star Choi Min-jeong was penalized for contact.

“I feel like if we were seeing me eight months ago, I was not that Kim,” Boutin told CBC. “I felt that process, where I am right now. To feel in the eyes of my coaches that I was there. For me, that was the goal — to be happy on the ice, and I was. I’m proud of myself and I’m proud of how they could manage how I was at that time.”

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Canada wins first ski jumping medal in Olympic history

Canada has captured its first ski jumping medal in Olympic history, taking bronze in the mixed team event.

Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes’ final jump sealed the bronze for Canada in an event making its Olympic debut.

Abigail Strate, Matthew Soukup and Alexandria Loutitt were Canada’s other jumpers.

“This medal for ski jumping in Canada kind of brings light to our sport and reminds people that our sport is real and there are Canadians who can be successful in it,” Loutitt said. “I was inspired by watching the Olympics and I can only imagine how inspiring it could be to see someone win a medal.”

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Dubois skates to silver

Canadian short-track speedskater Steven Dubois won a silver medal in a thrilling men’s 1,500-metre race.

The 24-year-old native of Terrebonne, Que., moved up from the back of the pack in a rare 10-man final — it was slated to feature seven skaters but was expanded because of penalties — to take silver behind South Korea’s Hwang Daeheon.

It was so crowded at the start that skaters had to line up in two rows — six in front and behind them.

“You can’t really make a mistake (with 10 skaters) … If you make a mistake, you get pushed out, you’re done basically. There’s no advancement in finals,” Dubois told CBC. “I knew I had to be in front, be protective, so that’s what I did. I found an easy way to the front, follow the Korean guy and make sure to protect to the end.”

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O’Dine takes bronze in snowboard cross

Four years after her Olympic dream ended before it started, Canada’s Meryeta O’Dine won a bronze medal in women’s snowboard cross.

The 24-year-old native of Prince George, B.C., missed the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics after she suffered the fifth concussion of her career in training just two days before she was scheduled to compete.

“It’s honestly pretty surreal right now,” O’Dine told CBC. “I came in here with a pretty big mission. Of course, in this sport, absolutely anything can happen. It can be anyone’s day. I just kept on telling myself it was going to be my day today. I really worked on everything I could. I came in with a lot of vengeance definitely from the last Olympics.”

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Grondin edged out for gold in snowboard cross

Canada’s Eliot Grondin won a silver medal in men’s snowboard cross, falling just short of gold in a dramatic big final.

Three-time reigning World Cup champion Alessandro Haemmerle beat out Grondin in a photo finish, with the Austrian crossing the line two hundredths of a second ahead of the Canadian.

Grondin leaned forward on the final slope to try to outstretch Haemmerle and went tumbling into the snow — giving it his all for gold.

“Pretty unreal. I don’t even realize it yet,” Grondin told CBC. “My first Olympic Games was in 2018, I was 16 and had no expectations for myself over there. The last few years, just the momentum I’ve been carrying, all the experience and being on the podium last year a lot and winning my first World Cup … was a big boost of confidence. Just to leave here with a medal, it’s unreal. I can’t believe it.”

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Weidemann returns to podium

Canadian speedskater Isabelle Weidemann won an Olympic silver medal in the women’s 5,000 metres.

The 26-year-old from Ottawa collected her second medal in Beijing after a bronze in the 3,000 metres.

“It went by really fast. I was trying to control it, and think about my technique, but I lost track of the laps. I was trying to find a rhythm, but it was a fight,“ said Weidemann.

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Crawford gives Canada first alpine ski medal since 2014

Canada’s Jack Crawford won a bronze medal in the alpine combined event.

It marked Canada’s first Winter Games medal in alpine skiing since Jan Hudec took bronze in the Super-G in 2014 in Sochi.

Crawford becomes just the fourth Canadian male skier to win an alpine medal at the Olympics. He is the first to do so in the combined — an event no longer on the World Cup circuit.

“Honestly, I don’t think I did the best job,” Crawford told CBC. “Coming into the slalom, I hadn’t skied it in a really long time and I wasn’t 100 per cent sure how the slope was going to feel. I just trusted what I’ve been doing in downhill and Super-G and I tried to bring the same approach. Luckily, I was able to put together a run that kept me on the podium.”

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Aerials team leaps to bronze

Canada won a bronze medal in the mixed team aerials freestyle ski event.

Marion Thenault of Sherbrooke, Que., Miha Fontaine of Lac-Beauport, Que., and Lewis Irving of Quebec City lifted Canada to its 11th medal of the Games in the new event.

The United States captured gold, while China won silver. Canada beat out Switzerland for bronze.

It marked Canada’s first Olympic aerials medal since 2002.

“It’s an incredible feeling just to show what we’re capable of doing,” Thenault said. “As a team, I think we’re getting very strong. It’s only the beginning for us I think but it’s a really big boost.”

Read the full story.

O’Dine, Grondin team up for bronze

Canada has secured a spot on the inaugural Olympic podium for Mixed Team Snowboard Cross, winning bronze.

It was the second medal for both Grondin and O’Dine at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Grondin, of St-Romuald, Que., won the silver in men’s snowboard cross while O’Dine, of Prince George, B.C., earned bronze in the women’s snowboard cross.

This is the first time the mixed event has been contested at an Olympic Games. It features a two-person relay race consisting of one male and one female competitor per team. Each race begins with four boarders from different teams leaving the gates simultaneously. As the first boarder traverses the course, the teammates prepare themselves at the top of the hill.

The male teammates go first and once their official times are logged the female competitors will be released from the starting gate at corresponding staggered times. The first team to have both competitors cross the finish line, barring contact infractions and/or disqualifications, is the winner.

Americans Nick Baumgartner and Lindsey Jacobellis won the gold and Italy’s Omar Visintin and Michela Moioli claimed silver. Italy’s second team of Lorenzo Sommariva and Caterina Carpano finished fourth.

There was some drama in the final as O’Dine and Carpano collided mid-way through the second leg, giving Jacobellis and Moioli a wide gap to race for the gold. Both O’Dine and Carpano were able to finish the race with the Canadian coming in ahead to claim the bronze.

“Oh it was so stressful. When the crash happened they just kept [showing it on the big screen]the first two [Jacobellis and Moioli] and I had no idea what was going on,” Grondin told the CBC in the mixed zone after the win.

“I didn’t know if she was OK, or anything. So I was just waiting and hoping she was fine and that she kept going. And then I saw her name on the split times and I said, ‘come on.’ Then she jumped to the finish line and I was like, ‘we did it.’ It’s crazy, unreal.”

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Dubois takes second medal in Beijing

Canadian short-track speedskater Steven Dubois is back on the Beijing Olympic podium for a second time after winning a bronze medal in the men’s 500 metres.

The 24-year-old native of Terrebonne, Que., also won silver in the 1,500 metres after missing out on the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics when he was named an alternate.

“Honestly, I think it was relief,” Dubois told CBC when asked about the 500 bronze. “I trained the whole year and before that too just for the 500. This is my specialty. I was super happy. It was disbelief for the 15 and now it’s relief for the 5 because I knew I was strong in the 500 and I showed what I can do.”

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De Bruin slides to bronze as Humprhies wins monobob

Former Team Canada bobsled star Kaillie Humphries, now representing the United States after an acrimonious split from her previous squad, dedicated her latest Olympic gold to her new country after winning in monobob’s debut at the Beijing Games.

“This is for USA, honestly,” Humphries told NBC after Monday’s event. “Thank you guys for supporting me, backing me. This team has been absolutely incredible. I am so honoured to bring back the gold medal to the United States of America.”

Canada’s Christine de Bruin captured bronze — the country’s 15th medal at the Games.

American Elana Meyers Taylor overtook de Bruin on the final run to take silver, finishing 1.54 seconds behind Humprhies and .22 ahead of the Canadian.

“I’m so shocked. I can’t believe this just happened,” de Bruin told CBC.

“My first ever World Cup race, I got last place. So (having) bronze right now is just insane.”

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Weidemann helps Canada end gold drought

Canadian long-track speedskaters Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valerie Maltais won the gold medal in the team pursuit after beating Japan in a thrilling final.

Japan’s Nana Takagi fell on the final turn with her team in the lead, allowing Canada to post the victory in an Olympic record time of two minutes 53.44 seconds.

“I have no words,” Weidemann told CBC. “It’s just so surreal right now. We knew we had a strong team and we knew we could fight today, but this is just unbelievable for us.”

It was Weidemann’s third medal in Beijing — she won silver in the 5,000 metres and bronze in the 3,000, with the third-place finish marking Canada’s first trip to the podium at the Games.

Read the full story.

Parrot shrugs off controversy, wins bronze

Canada’s Max Parrot locked up his second medal of the Beijing Olympics with a bronze in the men’s Big Air snowboarding even.

The Cowansville, Que. native also won gold in the men’s slopestyle earlier in the Games.

“It was a really hard final, the level was just through the roof,” Parrot told CBC. “I’ve never seen such a big final with so many (attempts) landed pretty much perfectly by so many of the riders tonight.”

Parrot’s strong performance came after some controversy in slopestyle with replays showing the judges missed an error by the Canadian.

Mark McMorris, who won bronze in slopestyle, later told CBC in an interview he thought he had the run of the day and would have liked to win a medal of a different colour. He later apologized to Parrot in person and on Twitter.

Read the full story.

Hamelin makes history with relay gold

Charles Hamelin entered the record book as the Canadian men’s short-track speedskating 5,000-metre relay team won a gold medal.

Hamelin, Steven Dubois, Pascal Dion, Jordan Pierre-Gilles and reserve Maxime Laoun (who raced in the semifinals) teamed up to win Canada’s 18th medal at the Games. It was Canada’s third gold.

South Korea was second and Italy was third.

In what was Hamelin’s final Winter Games race, the 37-year-old from Sainte-Julie, Que., tied long-track speedskater Cindy Klassen’s Canadian Winter Olympic record with his sixth career medal — including four gold.

“I just think if you love what you do and if you put the work in, anything is possible. I think I’m proof that if you do it and you love it, you can do anything,” Hamelin told reporters. “Finishing with these guys on the podium with the gold medal is a big statement for everyone. Believe in your dreams and go for it.”

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Canada reclaims women’s hockey gold

When we talk about Marie-Philip Poulin, the word “clutch” gets used a lot.

But after her remarkable two-goal performance against the United States to help Canada reclaim Olympic gold in Beijing by a score of 3-2, it’s probably time we come up with something a little stronger, eh?

Exceptional. Generational. Superhuman. The GOATest of all GOATs… There may not actually be a word that can accurately encompass the greatness of the Canadian women’s captain when it comes to Olympic hockey.

Since making her Olympic debut at age 18 in 2010, Poulin has played in four gold-medal matchups — all against Team USA — and has scored in all four.

Read the full story.

2014 ski cross champ Thompson back on podium

Canada’s Marielle Thompson won a silver medal with a great comeback in the women’s ski cross final.

It was Thompson’s second career Olympic medal in the event after taking gold in 2014 in Sochi.

The 29-year-old native of Whistler, B.C., gave Canada its 20th medal in Beijing.

Thompson rallied in the second half of the four-woman race, overtaking Fanny Smith of Switzerland and Daniela Maier of Germany to take silver.

Read the full story.

Sharpe, Karker share halfpipe podium

A pair of Canadians have clinched spots on the podium in women’s halfpipe freestyle skiing.

Cassie Sharpe of Calgary won the silver medal with a score of 90.75 while Rachael Karker of Erin, Ont. won the bronze with a score of 87.75 on Thursday.

China’s Eileen Gu, an American-born teenager representing her mother’s homeland, captured gold and collected her third medal of the Games with a score of 95.25.

Sharpe, the reigning Olympic champion in the event, was only bested by China’s Gu — who won the gold and her third medal of Games with a blistering score of 95.25. Sharpe’s run was highlighted by a pair of 1080 spins in her second trip down the course, the first time an athlete completed the feat in an Olympic competition. The 29-year-old missed most of the 2021 season after suffering a torn ACL, MCL and fractured femur and barely had any time to get up to speed before the Olympics.

“Absolutely, I doubted it,” Sharpe told CBC. “Actually, yesterday was a year to the day I had surgery. That was definitely in my mind and it was playing heavy on my heart. But all the pieces I’ve put together over the last few months have really just led me to this moment and I’m so glad they came together.”

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Dubreuil makes most of second chance

It was sweet redemption for Laurent Dubreuil.

The Canadian long-track speedskater won a silver medal in the men’s 1,000 metres, six days after finishing fourth in his best event — the 500 metres.

“I figured out I was in the shape of my life and I just had a bad day six days ago,” Dubreuil told CBC. “I just skated a bit heavy. I gave myself 24 hours, but it probably took me 72 to get over it. I showed up here today knowing I wasn’t a favourite, but I could do it. Had good legs and just needed to skate a bit smoother, a bit more relaxed. I managed to do that while going faster. It was really good execution today and I’m really happy about it.”

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Gushue bounces back for bronze

An emotional Brad Gushue ensured Canada would not go home empty-handed from an Olympic curling competition for the first time.

The Newfoundland and Labrador skip beat reigning Olympic champ John Shuster of the United States 8-5 in the bronze-medal game.

“We all wanted it real bad. You know, no quit,” Gushue said during a CBC interview in which he was fighting back tears. “We weren’t at our best, but good enough.”

Gushue was on the Olympic podium for a second time after winning gold in 2006 in Turin.

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Blondin gets silver after sprint to finish

Canada’s Ivanie Blondin won a silver medal in a thrilling women’s mass start,

Irene Schouten of the Netherlands overtook the Ottawa-born Blondin after the final turn of te 16-lap race to capture her third gold medal of the Games after winning the 3,000 and 5,000 metres. Schouten finished just six-hundredths of a second ahead of Blondin.

“It was pretty crazy. I think with actually two to go, I got grabbed by the hips and pulled back,” Blondin told CBC. “I fought to keep my position to be able to set myself properly for the last lap. I do think I went a tiny bit too early. I think if I was maybe a tiny bit more patient, I could have grabbed on the inside. But it is what it is. At this point, I’m happy to be on the podium and represent my country the way I know I can.”

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Kripps and Co. give Canada one more bronze

Driver Justin Kripps led Canada to a bronze medal in the four-man bobsled event on the final day of the Olympics.

Kripps, Ryan Sommer, Cam Stones and Benjamin Coakwell held on to third place after carrying just a .08-second lead over the fourth-place sled from Germany in the final run. The Canadians ended up six-hundredths of a second ahead of Germany’s Christoph Hafer after leading by just .01 seconds at the penultimate interval.

“Absolutely huge. I’m at a loss for words. The boys did amazing and I couldn’t be happier,” Kripps told CBC.

Read the full story.

— With files from The Canadian Press

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