BEIJING 鈥� A LEGEND'S FINAL FAREWELL
Shaun White couldn't help but hold back tears as he reached the bottom of the halfpipe. The veteran American snowboarder 鈥� a halfpipe legend with three Olympic titles 鈥� fell on the final run of his career while pushing for a podium finish. He lifted up his goggles and waved to the crowd as they cheered him on. His fellow riders lined up to hug him. The 35-year-old, who first won Olympic gold 16 years ago, warned the world this would be his final Olympic event. "I can鈥檛 help but think if I would have hit the podium in third, I would have wanted second," White said. "And if I鈥檇 have gotten second, I would鈥檝e wanted first. It鈥檚 just the fighter in me, and I鈥檓 always hoping for more.鈥� Japan's Ayumu Hirano won gold.听
CANADA SWARMS SWEDEN
The Canadian women's hockey team outclassed Team Sweden in an Olympic quarterfinal on Friday. Brianne Jenner and Sarah Fillier each recorded hat tricks as Canada scored a dominating 11-0 win to move on to the semifinals. Jenner and Fillier each have a tournament-leading eight goals. Also Friday, the United States edged the Czechs 4-1 in another quarterfinal. Both teams must wait for the outcomes of Saturday's games 鈥� Russia versus Switzerland and Finland against Japan 鈥� before they'll know who their opponents will be in Monday's semifinals. The gold-medal game is Feb. 17 in Beijing.
听STREAK BREAKER
Jennifer Jones knew it would be hard to keep the streak alive. The Canadian entered Friday's curling match against Japan at the Ice Cube undefeated 鈥� not just in Beijing, but across her entire Olympic career. Jones ran the table at the 2014 Sochi Games with a perfect 9-0 record in the round robin before sweeping the playoffs for gold. She opened her Beijing account with a victory over South Korea. That 12-match unbeaten run ended when Japan triumphed 8-5. 鈥淚t would be really, really hard to go through undefeated, for sure," Jones said. "It's just such a deep field. We knew that was going to happen." The Canadians dropped to 1-1. They take on Sweden's Anna Hasselborg next.
RUNNING OUT OF GAS
Ted-Jan Bloemen had five days to figure out what went wrong in his first Olympic event, when he faded from medal contention and dropped into 10th in the 5,000 metres. But the Canadian speedskater couldn't prevent a repeat in his signature event. The defending champion in the 10,000 metres was on pace for bronze at one point in the race, but his lap time slowed and he fell further and further behind. He finished eighth. "Halfway through the race, I found out I just didn't have it in me today. It's a pity," he said. It capped off a frustrating week for the 35-year-old from Calgary, who was a medal hopeful in both distances. Bloemen was ill with flu-like symptoms in January. The skater didn't test positive for COVID-19 but lost a couple weeks of training. Graeme Fish, a 24-year-old from Moose Jaw, Sask., was sixth. Sweden's Nils van der Poel won gold while shattering his own world record.
COMING UP SHORT (TRACK)
It wasn't how Canadians Courtney Sarault and Alyson Charles envisioned their day in Beijing. Both short-track speedskaters failed to advance past the quarterfinals of the women's 1,000 metres. Sarault of Moncton, N.B., was third in her quarterfinal, edged narrowly by Belgium's Hanne Desmet at the finish line. Montreal's Charles was last in her race. In the men's 500-metre heats, Jordan Pierre-Gilles of Sherbrooke, Que., and Steven Dubois of Terrebonne, Que., advanced to the quarterfinals. Montreal's Maxime Laoun did not. The men's relay team, led by Charles Hamelin, booked its spot in the 5,000-metre final.听
---
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2022.
The Canadian Press
