Day 12: Canadian trail leads to ski cross gold, men’s hockey win

 

Ashleigh McIvor represented the lone Canadian medal of the day as she finished a stellar round of qualifying to earn the gold medal in the ladies’ ski cross finals at Cypress Mountain on Tuesday.

An entire nation breathed a sigh of relief as the Canadian men’s hockey team dismantled any worries by defeating Germany 8-2 in the playoff qualification round on Tuesday night at Canada Hockey Place.  

Here is how the rest of the Canadian athletes fared on the day:   

Ladies’ ski cross finals

McIvor outraced the competition to take home the gold medal in the event, proving that her petitioning to International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge was worthwhile.  She wrote an essay to Rogge to convince him that ski cross should be an Olympic event, and she did not disappoint.

The Whistler, B.C., native led during each qualifying run and never looked back from there. It was Canada’s third medal in any freestyle skiing discipline.

Fellow Canuck Kelsey Serwa also had a strong day, finishing in fifth place overall.  Teammates Julia Murray and Danielle Poleschuk, neither of whom advanced to the   finals, wound up in 12th and 19th place respectively.

Men’s hockey: playoff qualifications

Jarome Iginla scored two goals and new linemate Eric Staal added three assists as the Canadian men’s hockey team defeated Germany 8-2 to advance to the quarterfinals against Alexander Ovechkin and team Russia on Wednesday night.  

The newly formed line of Iginla, Staal and Sidney Crosby showed some great chemistry in combining for six points on the night, and Rick Nash scored his first goal of the tournament.

Roberto Luongo started in front of the home fans and made 21 saves on 23 shots.

Curling: women’s round robin sessions 11-12

Team Canada skip Cheryl Bernard and her rink needed extra ends to squeak out a victory against a weaker Great Britain rink led by Eve Muirhead.

After 19-year-old Muirhead’s rink tied it up at 5-5 in the tenth end, Bernard and the Canucks came through with a steal in the 11th end to seal the victory. 

In the later game, 43-year-old Bernard and Team Canada used a four-point sixth end to defeat Russian skip Anna Sidorova and her rink 7-3.

With the wins, the Canadian women have clinched first place and will next face Switzerland in the semifinals on Feb. 25 at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.

Curling: men’s round robin session 12

Kevin Martin and his Canadian rink stole four points in the seventh end to force Team China skip Rui Liu to concede with the score 10-3.

With the victory, Martin’s team clinched first place after the round robin with an unblemished 9-0 record.

Figure skating: ladies’ short program

Joannie Rochette of Canada skated with a heavy heart on Tuesday after the passing of her mother this past Sunday, but managed to put together a sparkling routine that placed her in third heading into Thursday’s ladies’ free skating finals at the Pacific Coliseum.

Rochette scored a personal best of 71.36 to give her a shot at a medal, and Quebec’s Cynthia Phaneuf finished her routine in 14th place.  

Alpine skiing: men’s giant slalom

It was a disappointing day for the Canadian contingent in the qualifying and medal round of the men’s giant slalom event at Whistler Creekside on Tuesday.

Erik Guay was the top Canuck, finishing in 16th place with a total time of 2:39.63, while fellow countrymen Robbie Dixon, Patrick Biggs and Brad Spence ended the day in 24th, 35th and 42nd place respectively.

Although Guay had the second-best time during run two, it was still not enough to make up for his 29th place finish after his first run.

Biathlon: women’s 4×6 km relay

Zina Kocher and her Canadian teammates finished the women’s biathlon 4×6 km relay in an unfortunate 15th place.  The home nation’s biathlon team continued its less than stellar showing at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and has not won a medal in any event.

Bobsleigh: women’s two-man heats 1 and 2

Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse blistered through the course at The Whistler Sliding Centre as Canada 1 set a track record during their first run of the women’s two-man bobsleigh event on Tuesday.

Moyse and Humphries’ time was 53.19, which was 0.09 seconds faster than the second place team from Germany.

Canada 1 held their lead after their second run as well, finishing the first two heats in first place overall.

Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown piloted Canada 2 to a strong fourth place finish after the first two heats.

The Canadians look poised to take home at least one medal when they compete in the final two heats on Wednesday night.

About this article

By: Rod Perry
Posted: Feb 24 2010 3:56 pm
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Filed under: Winter Games
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