Canada's Ski Slopestyle gold medallist Dara Howell celebrates with her gold medal during a ceremony at the Sochi Winter Olympics on Tuesday, February 11, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
February 11, 2014 - 1:39 PM
SOCHI, Russia - Five things to know Tuesday at the Sochi Olympics:
HOWELL STEPS UP — With X Games champion Kaya Turski knocked out of qualifying, someone had to step up for Canada's freestyle team in the women's slopestyle event. Enter Dara Howell, who put down a nearly flawless run in the final to give Canada its fourth gold medal of the Games. Kim Lamarre finished third, giving Canada it's third double-podium finish so far in Sochi.
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LA BELLE PROVINCE — Quebec athletes continue to lead the way for Canada in Sochi, with Kim Lamarre's bronze in slopestyle skiing giving the province six of Canada's nine medals. And there's likely more to come, with Charles Hamelin among those looking to add to Quebec's hardware total. The short-track speedskating star already has one gold medal in Sochi and is skating in three more events.
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JUST MISSED — Alex Gough produced the best Canadian Olympic result ever in luge, but don't expect the Calgary slider to be satisfied. Gough was tearful after racing to a fourth-place finish as Canada still looks for its first Olympic medal in a sport dominated by Europeans. Gough made a mistake on her fist run and couldn't catch up to American Erin Hamlin, who became the first North American to win an Olympic medal in the event. Germany's Natalie Geisenberger and Tatiana Huefner won gold and silver, while Calgary's Kim McRae was fifth.
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WHITE OUT — Snowboard star Shaun White's attempt to win a third straight Olympic half pipe title didn't go according to plan. The American fell on his first run in the final, and then stumbled on a couple of tricks on his second run en route to a fourth-place finish. Switzerland's Iouri Podladtchikov, known as the "I-Pod," won gold. His run featured a 1440-degree whirling jump he nicknamed the "Yolo." It was a disappointing Olympics for White, who earlier backed out of the men's slopestyle event citing concerns over the condition of the course.
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McDREAMY — According to Twitter statistics over a recent 24-hour period, Canada's first medallist is a hearthrob on social media. An image of snowboarder Mark McMorris was the most retweeted globally with more than 16,000 retweets and some 30,000 favourites. The tweet includes the message "Damn Canada took the gold medal for looks this year that's for sure."
CANADA'S MEAGAN DUHAMEL, ERIC RADFORD FINISH FIFTH AFTER PAIRS SHORT PROGRAM
Canada's Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford perform their short program during the pairs figure skating competition at the Sochi Winter Olympics Tuesday, February 11, 2014 in Sochi.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
SOCHI, Russia - Canada's Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are fifth after the pairs short program at the Sochi Olympics.
Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., scored 72.21 points to qualify for tomorrow's free program.
Russia's Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov finished first with 84.17 points, well ahead of Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy with 79.64 points.
Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto capped the program with 70.92 points to finish sixth.
Paige Lawrence of Kennedy, Sask., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask. scored 58.97 to finish 13th.
The top 16 of the 20 pairs qualified for the free program.
Duhamel and Radford, bronze medallist at the 2013 world championships, skated to "Tribute," a piece of music Radford wrote in 2006 after the death of his coach Paul Wirtz. Radford is a pianist who studied at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music.
Canada claimed its first figure skating medal in Sochi on Sunday in the new team event.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014