The Canadian Press
A veteran group of decorated figure skaters and moguls star Mikael Kingsbury earned Canada its first gold medals of the Pyeongchang Olympics.
Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont. clinched Canada top spot in the team figure skating competition today after finishing third in the women’s free skate, before teammates Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the ice dance segment of the event.
“I didn’t want to let my team down,” Daleman said. “I just skated with all my heart and just was in the moment completely.
“I have such an incredible, strong team,” she noted.
“Not only are we strong as individuals and as a team, but also as a country, and I really am glad with what we’ve done, and we stepped up and made Canada proud this week.”
Daleman’s 137.14-point performance added eight points to Canada’s cumulative score, bringing it up to 63.
Olympic Athletes from Russia were second at 58 and the U.S. was third with 53.
Daleman’s performance clinched gold because neither Russia or the U.S. could catch the Canadians once Virtue and Moir stepped on the ice.
Although the Canadian ice dancers could have taken it easy with gold a sure thing, the pair put in a beautiful performance, taking the top spot in the free dance with 118.10 points.
That brought the Canadians final score up to 73, well ahead of the competition.
Later, Kingsbury, 25, of Deux-Montagnes, Que. captured his first Olympic title, winning the men’s moguls with a dominant score of 86.63 in the third and final run.
Australia’s Matt Graham took silver (82.57) while Daichi Hara captured bronze (82.19).
Marc-Antoine Gagnon of Terrebonne, Que. finished fourth (77.02).
Kingsbury, the World Cup leader and Sochi Games silver-medallist, was the top qualifier after scoring 86.07 points Friday.
He’s won six-straight World Cup season titles and is on track for a seventh.
That boosts Canada’s medal count to seven (two gold, four silver, one bronze)–one behind Norway.
Canada’s figure skating gold medal was set up by three-time world champion Patrick Chan earlier in the day.
He placed first with a score of 179.75 in the men’s free program, keeping the veteran Canadian team in first place and setting the stage for Daleman.
Chan, Virtue, Moir, and pairs skaters Eric Radford and Meagan Duhamel all are competing in what likely will be their final Olympics and had targeted gold in the team event, knowing they could give each other a golden send off.
Within an hour of the figure skating gold, Canadian snowboarder Laurie Blouin earned silver in the women’s slopestyle.
Sporting a black eye after a nasty crash in training a few days ago, Blouin overcame high winds to nail a clean second run for 76.33 points.
The reigning world champion from Stoneham, Que., Blouin was second behind American Jamie Anderson, who scored 83.00 on her first run.
Enni Rukajarvi of Finland took bronze (73.91).
“Now I’m here in second place, I just don’t believe it,” said Blouin. “It’s a dream come true.”
Brooke Voigt of Fort McMurray, Alta. finished 21st while Spencer O’Brien of Courtenay, B.C. was 22nd.
The start of the competition was delayed for about 75 minutes due to the conditions at windswept Phoenix Park.
In mixed doubles curling, Canada moved within a victory of gold, and assured itself of at least a silver, with an 8-4 win over Norway in the semi-final.
Ottawa’s John Morris and Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes downed Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten for their seventh win in eight outings.
But it was a nail-biting affair with the Canadians leaving early points on the ice.
After four ends, Canada led 3-2 but Lawes was curling at 41 percent while Morris was at 81 percent.
“I was obviously a little bit frustrated with not being able to finish it off with my last rock,” said Lawes.
“I tried not to get too frustrated and let it bug me.
“And John was a huge support,” she added. “He just kept saying, ‘Be patient. Let’s figure it out. We’ve got eight ends.
“We can use all eight so let’s just take our time here.'”
Lawes rallied to finish the game curling at 74 percent. Morris finished at 82 percent.
Up 5-4, Lawes delivered with her last rock in the seventh with a hard-sweeping hit-and-stick for three–and some much-needed breathing room.
Canada will face Switzerland for the gold medal tomorrow while Norway takes on a Russian team for bronze.
