Every afternoon, Olympic enthusiast Drew Berner tracks the talking points from the the day’s competitions. Here’s our recap of day four at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
Nineteen-year-old Dara Howell led wire-to-wire while Kim Lamarre took bronze in the inaugural women’s ski slopestyle as Canada’s athletes took over yet another podium. Montreal’s Kaya Turski was favoured for gold, despite being only six months removed from surgery to repair her thrice-torn ACL, but she crashed twice in qualifying and didn’t make the final round. The two medals brings Canada’s total to nine, temporarily giving them their first-ever lead in the overall medal count—Norway quickly grabbed a handful of cross-country skiing and biathlon medals to jump back in front, though.
Snowboarder Shaun White Goes Home Empty-Handed
“I can’t believe it! Oh my god!” Gold medal-winner Iouri Podladtchikov was as shocked as anyone when America’s perennial snowboard halfpipe winner Shaun White not only missed out on Olympic gold—he’s won the last two—but missed the podium completely. White finished in fourth after nearly snapping his board in his first run and missing a couple of landings on his second. After griping openly about the condition of the halfpipe, fellow American Danny Davis finished a disappointing 10th, but even more disappointing was Canada’s absence from the final round.
Lugers On the Track, Winners In Our Hearts
Calgary’s Alex Gough and Victoria’s Kimberley McRae may have finished just out of the medals—fourth and fifth, respectively—but they both placed higher than any Canadian luger ever has in the Olympics. As usual, Germany dominated the event—Natalie Geisenberger and Tatjana Hufner won gold and silver—while American Erin Hamlin took bronze. Gough will have another chance at the podium in the luge relay—a brand new event that, apparently, Canada is pretty good at—which runs on Thursday.
IOC Bans Tributes to Fallen Skier
Sarah Burke was a pioneer in women’s freestyle skiing before an accident in practice claimed her life in 2012. Snowboarder Torah Bright and fellow skier Roz Groenwoud have sported stickers as a tribute to their fallen friend, but in an incomprehensible decision, the IOC has banned the stickers, calling them a “political statement.” In other words: an organization whose purpose is to conduct “games” think stickers would take away from the “celebration.” The IOC is why athletes can’t have nice things.
India Reinstated; Athletes Give Up Independence
Three Winter Olympic athletes entered the Sochi Games as independents after India was suspended from competition for corruption, but they’ll be able to leave under the flag of their home country. After electing new Olympic officials, India was reinstated by the IOC, an unprecedented move that will be marked by the raising of India’s flag in the Olympic Village before two of the country’s athletes compete Friday.
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