Wong Maye-E/AP
Jennifer Jones just can’t stop winning. With her curling club from Winnipeg, Jones tallied three points in the ninth end, leading to a 8-5 victory over Denmark. With so much pressure on Canadian curlers at international tournaments, Jones and Co. are undefeated after their first four matches and look poised to finish in the top four for the playoffs.
Jennifer Jones is a curling God. Just made a miraculous shot to eliminate a possible steal of 2 for #Denmark. #TeamCanada #WeAreWinter
— Charlie Little (@CharlieLittle11) February 13, 2014
Canada’ Jen Jones hits angle raise hit for 2 to tie DEN @ 3 after 3. @CBCOlympics pic.twitter.com/iixrChYjNZ
— ColleenJonescbc (@cbccolleenjones) February 13, 2014
Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones rink is hot, moving to 4-0 at #Sochi2014 with an 8-5 victory over Denmark today. @TeamJJonesCurl — Darrin Bauming (@DarrinBauming) February 13, 2014
I have no idea why Denmark didn’t shake hands after 9 ends. There’s no way Jennifer Jones would allow three rocks to stay on the ice. — Walter Siu (@waterboy99troop) February 13, 2014
Canada’s hopes for more extreme sports medals didn’t pan out this morning, however. Alex Beaulieu-Marchand went into Sochi hoping for a podium finish in men’s ski slopestyle. His first run in the finals didn’t go as planned.
Oh no! Canadian Alex Beaulieu-Marchand slips on the rail of his first run. Still has a chance on his second. #slopestyle #sochi2014 — SOCHI 2014 (@aphammy) February 13, 2014
Three Americans had huge scores that Beaulieu-Marchand needed to top in his second run if he wanted a shot at a medal. Things were looking great until he crashed again on his third jump.
Oh no. Alex Beaulieu-Marchand falls again in the final of ski slopestyle. Having a great run up to that point. — Steven Davis (@stevendavis) February 13, 2014
Canadian Alex Beaulieu-Marchand finishes 12th (of 12) in men’s ski slopestyle final. #Sochi — Megan Robinson (@RobinsonMegan) February 13, 2014
The Americans swept the podium in the event.
It’s a clean sweep for @USOlympic in the first ever Olympic Men’s #Ski #slopestyle – Gold, Silver and Bronze pic.twitter.com/O1LRz2toK0
— Sochi 2014 (@Sochi2014) February 13, 2014
At the speed skating oval, Marianne St.-Gelais may be in plenty of photos thanks to her iconic kisses with boyfriend and Canadian Olympic legend Charles Hamelin…
Encore une fois. MT @GlobeOlympics: Here’s the kiss: Hamelin embraces Marianne St. Gelais after winning gold in 1500 pic.twitter.com/P4SkMyk0pB — Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) February 10, 2014
…but she’s also a very strong skater herself. In the women’s 500-m short track, St.-Gelais was the lone Canadian to advance to the semi-finals.
In the last short track Q final, Valerie Maltais of Canada, comes 3rd, fails to advance. Just St. Gelais in the 500m semis. #Sochi2014
— Jonathon Gatehouse (@JonGatehouse) February 13, 2014
Phew! Marianne St. Gelais is through to the semi’s, Hamelin & co. are coming up in men’s 1000m. Hold on to your hats!
— Kristina Groves (@kngrover) February 13, 2014
But a third place finish in the semi-finals heat ended her hopes at any Olympic medal.
st gelais did not get thru! what?! #shorttrack @CDNOlympicTeam #olympics #sochi2014
— Jenn H (@pearsnpolkadots) February 13, 2014
Marianne St-Gelais: STILL PROUD!! (Women’s 500m semi-final) #Sochi2014 #speedskating #Olympics2014 #CanadaProud
— Shima Takeda (@shimatee4) February 13, 2014
In his early quarter-finals heat for the 1000-m, Hamelin advanced with ease.
Charles Hamelin wins his heat, with a nifty inside pass. Qualifies for 1000m semis on Sat. #Sochi2014 #TeamCanada
— Jonathon Gatehouse (@JonGatehouse) February 13, 2014
All 3 Canadians (Charle Cournoyer, Oliver Jean & Charles Hamelin) advance to Quarter-Finals for Men’s 1000m Short Track #sochi2014
— SOCHI 2014 (@aphammy) February 13, 2014
Dispatches from Sochi: (Be sure to follow: @ChasGillis, @JonGatehouse, @kmqyvr, and @reporterchris)
Ken MacQueen: Olympian Gilmore Junio and the race he didn’t skate
Jonathon Gatehouse: Figure skating’s tale of two finishes
Charlie Gillis: Meghan Agosta-Marciano’s goals blow down Team U.S.A.
Chris Johnston: Canada surges past U.S. in women’s hockey thriller
Wake up! Still to come today: Patrick Chan, Christine Nesbitt the luge relay and Team Canada hockey
Okay, it’s not exactly a gold medal preview, but who can change the channel when Sidney Crosby and Team Canada take the ice? Their opponents, Norway, have exactly one NHL player: Mats Zuccarello of the New York Rangers. Expect a blowout, but be sure to watch. Puck drops at noon EST/9 a.m. PST
Patrick Chan is back on the ice in Canada’s eternal quest at men’s figure skating gold. If he’s going to beat Russian legend Evgeni Plushenko and Japanese wunderkind Yuzuru Hanyu, Chan will need to go error-free at today’s short program. Expect a lot of quads. Figure skaters take the ice at 10 a.m. EST/ 7 a.m. PST.
The luge relay?! Yes. A new event at the Sochi Games, team’s have one singles male sledder, one female, and one doubles team go down the track. As each sled comes to the bottom, competitors sit up in their sled to hit a pad above which opens a gate at the top of the hill for their teammates to start. The Germans are heavy favourites for gold (big surprise), but Canada’s Alex Gough, Samuel Edney, Tristan Walker and Justin Snith have a good chance at a medal. The sliding starts at 11:15 a.m. EST/8:15 a.m. PST.
Christine Nesbitt reached the top in Vancouver four years ago, winning gold in 1000-m speed skating. Since then, she has struggled to stay on top. Being hit by a car while training on her bike (and breaking her arm) the following summer and being diagnosed as celiac in 2012 didn’t help. But Nesbitt has a chance to follow in the footsteps of Canada’s moguls star Alex Bilodeau and defend her gold medal in Sochi. Tune in at 11 a.m. EST/ 8 a.m. PST.
