Day 10: Remarkable ups and downs for Canadians

Day 10 in Vancouver proved to be a remarkable day of highs and lows for Canadian athletes, in what is proving to be a remarkable Winter Games.

Kristina Groves added some more hardware to her Vancouver 2010 collection today as she scooped up silver in the women’s 1,500m event with a time of 1:57.14, only 0.25 seconds behind Dutch skater Ireen Wust.

Groves, who won a silver medal in the 1,500m four years ago, won bronze medal last week in the 3,000m event and narrowly missed the podium in the 1,000m event.

“I’m happy with the result obviously, but to be honest with you I really wanted to win, it was really close,” she told CTV. “I just kind of faded on that last turn. I’m still really happy… I think it will feel good eventually.”

Canadian teammate Christine Nesbitt, was favoured for the gold but faded down the last stretch and finished sixth with a time of 1:58.33.

Winnipeg’s Cindy Klassen, gold medal winner in 2006, placed 21st with a time of 2:00.67. Fellow Winnepeger Brittany Schussler placed 35th with a time of 2:04.17.

In curling action, it took only seven ends for the Canadian women to defeat the Americans 9-2.

Cheryl Bernard remains the only undefeated skip in the tournament as Canada improved to 5-0 in the round robin while the Americans fell to 2-6. The win puts Bernard’s rink in first place facing China later Sunday night and Sweden on Monday afternoon.

Kevin Martin, Canada’s men’s skip, claimed first place after his rink’s seventh-straight win, defeating Switzerland 6-4.

On Monday, Canada will take on the 2006 bronze medallist U.S. rink, who is struggling at 2-5 in tournament play.

In the men’s super combined, Montreal, Que., native Ryan Semple was the top Canuck, placing 15th with a time of 2:52.13.

Teammates Michael Janyk placed 26th while Louis–Pierre Helie of Berthierville, Que., had a finish time of 2:51.58 which put him in 30th position.

First year Olympian Tyler Nella of Toronto, Ont., came in 32nd place with a time of 2:52.65.

Men’s ski cross proved to be disappointing for Canada’s Chris Del Bosco, who was the favourite to win gold. He placed fourth after falling on the final jump on the gold-medal race.

Teammate David Duncan was injured in his first training run at Cypress Mountain and broke his collar bone ending his Olympic gold medal hope. Brady Leman was set to replace Duncan but he too suffered from a leg injury. Davey Barr was brought in as a last minute substitute.

Barr had a spectacular race despite not having sufficient time to train and yet, found himself racing in the small final with a 6th place finish.

Contender Stanley Hayer of Canada didn’t make it past the quarterfinals. He bumped into another skier during his heat and he failed to qualify for the next heat.

In the highly anticipated Canada versus U.S. hockey game, the American goaltender Ryan Miller lead his team to the 5-3 win over Canada.

Seemingly never recovering from the first U.S. goal less than two minutes into the first period, the home team was constantly playing catch-up.

Despite great attempts during the final minutes of the third period, Miller was a brick wall that could not be penetrated.

Team Canada will take on Germany Tuesday in an attempt to make their way into the quarterfinals, where they would face Russia.

Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette faced heartbreak of another kind on Olympic Day 10. Rochette’s mother died from a heart attack early Sunday morning after only just arriving in Vancouver Saturday to watch her daughter compete.

Canadian team officials said Therese Rochette, 55, died suddenly after being rushed to Vancouver General Hospital.

At about 1:15 p.m. PT, Sunday, Rochette stepped onto the ice for practice.

Officials said Rochette will still compete on Tuesday in the women’s short program at the Pacific Coliseum.

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By: Kaitlin Kettle
Posted: Feb 21 2010 10:46 pm
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Filed under: Winter Games
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