Every afternoon, Olympic enthusiast Drew Berner tracks the talking points from the the day’s competitions. Here’s our recap of day eight at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
Make It Two for Morrison
One of Canada’s feel-good stories of the Sochi Olympics feels even better as speed skater Denny Morrison locked up a bronze medal in the men’s 1,500m. Morrison rode a wave of emotion after also claiming the silver medal in the 1,000m race, making good on teammate Gilmore Junio’s decision to give up his spot so Morrison—a stronger medal contender—could represent Canada. Here’s hoping Team Canada has an extra flag handy so Morrison and Junio can share flag-bearer duties at the closing ceremony.
Charles Hamelin Misses Another Golden Opportunity
The Hamelin brothers have had a hard time staying on their feet after Charles’ gold medal in the men’s 1,500m short track speed skating—his first race of the games. His brother Francois took the 5,000m relay team out of contention Thursday with a fall, before Charles—favoured in all four of his short track events—took a spill in the 1,000m quarterfinal Saturday. The ice on the short track has been an issue in Sochi, with many of the events, particularly the women’s 500m final, being tainted by crashes, but hopefully it won’t be a factor in the remaining events. Tuesday brings the men’s 500m and women’s 1,000m qualifying, as well as the women’s 3,000m relay finals—Canada should be a medal contender in all three.
US Men Outlast Russia in Cold War Classic
American TJ Oshie played spoiler against the home team Saturday, notching four goals in the shootout to lead his squad over the Russians. The match was a nailbiter between two of the tournament’s top teams, and even though it will matter little in the overall standings, both teams played as if the gold medal was on the line. Russia looked to have taken the lead in the third period on a bullet off the stick of Fedor Tyutin, but the goal was disallowed when refs noticed the net was dislodged while the puck went in—at least the Americans won’t be crying foul for once.
In another surprise ending, tournament upstarts Switzerland shut out the highly skilled but well-aged Czech Republic—the Swiss have been very competitive against top-tier teams in the past few years, pushing Canada to a shootout in the round robin of the 2010 Olympics. Canada plays Finland tomorrow in their final opening round game, hoping to maintain their perfect record and score a bye through the next round.
Canada’s Curlers Right on Target
Canada didn’t invent curling, it just perfected it. While the men’s curling team stumbled early, losing two of its first three matches before settling down, Jennifer Jones’ women’s quartet has clearly dominated at every turn, going 7-0 after beating the Russians on Saturday. Jones and co. already have a date for the semifinals, but have one more round robin contest against Team USA Sunday. Meanwhile, Brad Jacobs and the men’s team held off Great Britain to extend their record to 5-2 with Sunday’s match against the Americans remaining.
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