Beyond the Podium: What you need to know about Sochi today

WATCH: Patrick Chan’s silver medal should be cause for celebration, instead Chan was apologizing to Canadians for not breaking a so-called curse. Allison Vuchnich reports

Canada grabbed one medal on Friday. Despite a low medal count, the day saw many other successful outings for Canadians.

Patrick Chan began the men’s free skate program with the weight of a nation on his shoulders. After going into Vancouver as the gold medal favourite and coming up short, Chan has been waiting for his moment in Sochi. On Friday, it finally came. Chan made it to the podium this time, with a silver medal around his neck – his second of the Olympics after he was part of the Canadian team that won silver in the team event earlier this week.

The result was bittersweet for Chan, as the path to gold was paved for him just before he stepped on to the ice. The only skater ahead of him going into Saturday’s competition was Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu. The two skaters’ scores were virtually impossible for the rest of the field to catch. Hanyu performed one spot ahead of Chan on Saturday. The 19-year-old Japanese star didn’t look as graceful as he usually does and fell twice during his routine. At that point, it was clear that Chan could capture gold with a clean run.

Unfortunately, Chan slipped twice as well and wound up finishing five points behind Hanyu overall. The bronze medallist, Denis Tan of Kazakhstan was a full 20 points behind Chan. The mixed emotions were evident on Chan’s face after the scores were announced. He was happy to finally land on the Olympic podium in the men’s event, but disappointed with himself for not being on top of it.

Other Canadian highlights

The Canadian men’s hockey team performed up to expectations on Friday, disposing of lowly Austria 6-0.

Jeff Carter had a hat trick, while Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and Ryan Getzlaf all added a goal each in the lopsided victory, while Roberto Luongo got the shutout. After taking on two countries not known for hockey – Norway and Austria – Canada will get their biggest test of the preliminary round on Sunday when they take on Finland at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT.

In the only curling match featuring Canada on Friday, Brad Jacobs, Ryan Fry, E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden defeated a strong Norway team in convincing fashion, 10-4. The win was the team’s third straight and now their record stands at 4-2 with three round robin matches remaining.

Sarah Reid and Mellisa Hollingsworth had strong showings for Canada in women’s skeleton. After the first two runs on Thursday, Reid was sitting in 7th place and the reigning Olympic bronze medallist Hollingsworth was sitting in a disappointing 16th. Neither had a realistic chance of reaching the podium on Friday but they still came out strong.

In the first heat of the day, and third overall, Reid had the fourth fastest run of the field, while Hollingsworth had the tenth fastest. In the final heat, Reid and Hollingsworth tied for the second fastest run of all competitors. Reid finished in 7th. Hollingsworth jumped a few spots and landed in 11th.

The first two men’s skeleton runs also went on Friday, with two Canadian representatives. John Fairbairn finished in 11th after the first run, while Eric Neilson was one spot behind him in 12th. They both had stronger second runs, as Fairbairn moved up to 8th. Neilson remained in 12th. That’s where they sit heading into the final two runs on Saturday.

In ski jumping, a sport traditionally not one of Canada’s strongest, three Canadians were able to qualify for the next round of competition on Friday. In a field of 51 skiers, the top 40 qualified. Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes was Canada’s top performer, finishing 19th. Matthew Rowley and Trevor Morrice snuck into the second round, finishing 38th and 40th, respectively. Dusty Korek, the fourth Canadian competitor, just missed qualifying, with a 42nd-place finish.

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Disappointments 

There weren’t any unpleasant surprises on Friday, as the poor Canadian results came in sports that are not the country’s strongest.

No Canadians were expected to reach the podium, or come close for that matter, in the women’s 15 km individual biathlon. But Megan Imrie (30th), Megan Heinicke (51st), Zina Kocher (63rd) and Rosanna Crawford (67th) would’ve liked to have seen better results in the field of 84 skiers.

The men’s 15km classic cross country skiing race, another traditionally weak Canadian sport, also took place on Friday. Alex Harvey, considered Canada’s strongest cross country skier, didn’t even finish after he noticed others skiing flying by him. He was concerned by a problem with the wax on his skis. The three Canadians who did finish were Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov and Graeme Killick who finished 35th, 39th and 65th respectively.

Morgan Pridy made his Olympic debut in the Super Combined event on Friday. The Super Combined features the disciplines of downhill and slalom and uses the combined scores to determine the medal recipients. Pridy was 25th in the downhill portion and 19th in the slalom, for 20th place overall.

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Saturday

There are plenty of medal events on Saturday, but most of Canada’s most prolific athletes won’t be in action.

Medal hopefuls to watch:

Charles Hamelin will look to get one step closer to becoming Canada’s most decorated Olympic athlete ever as he goes for the podium in the men’s 1000-metre short track speed skating event.

• Men’s 1000-metre quarterfinals – 5:45 a.m. ET / 2 :45 a.m. PT.
• Men’s 1000-metre semi-finals – 6:45 a.m. ET / 3:45 a.m. PT.
• Men’s 1000-metre final – 7:20 a.m. ET / 4:20 a.m. PT.
• Hamelin will be joined by fellow Canadians Olivier Jean and Charle Cournoyer in the event.

In another short track speed skating event, the women’s 1500-metre goes Saturday.

• Women’s 1500-metre heats – 5 a.m. ET / 2 .a.m PT.
• Women’s 1500 semi-finals – 6:15 a.m. ET / 3:15 a.m. PT.
• Women’s 1500 final – 7:05 a.m. ET / 4:05 a.m. PT.
• Marianne St. Gelais is Canada’s strongest skater in the event. Two other Canadians, Marie-Eve Drolet and Valérie Maltais, are also competing.

The resilient Marie-Michèle Gagnon is back on the slopes only days after falling and separating her shoulder during the downhill portion of the Super Combined event . The women’s Super G gets under way Saturday.

• Women’s Super G – 2 a.m. ET / 11 p.m. Friday PT.
• Gagnon is joined by teammates Larisa Yurkiw and Marie-Pier Prefontaine in the event.

In long track speed skating, the men’s 1500-metre event is on Saturday. Silver medallist Denny Morrison will be in action again for Canada.

• Men’s long track 1500-metre – 8:30 a.m. ET / 5:30 a.m. PT.
• Morrison will be one of four Canadian long track speed skaters taking part. The other three are Vincent De Haitre, Lucas Makowsky and Mathieu Giroux.

The final two runs of men’s skeleton are both on Saturday.

• Men’s Skeleton Run 3 – 9:45 a.m. ET / 6:45 a.m. PT.
• Men’s Skeleton Run 4 – 11:15 a.m. ET / 8:15 a.m. PT.
• There are two skeleton racers representing Canada. John Fairbairn sits in 8th place heading into Saturday while Eric Neilson is in 12th.

So far at the Sochi Olympics, Canada has not seen strong results from its cross country skiers. The women’s relay team plans to change that on Saturday.

• Women’s cross country skiing team relay – 5 a.m. ET / 2 a.m. PT.
• Canada’s team is made up of Perianne Jones, Daria Gaiazova, Emily Nishikawa and Brittany Webster.

Men’s individual ski jumping competition wraps up with the final event – the large hill – on Saturday.

• Men’s large hill ski jumping 1st round – 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT.
• Men’s large hill ski jumping final – 1:35 p.m. ET / 10:35 a.m. PT.
• Three Canadians will take part in the first round competition and hope to qualify for the final. They are Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, Matthew Rowley and Trevor Morrice.

Other Events

The only non-medal events featuring Canadians on Saturday are three curling matches, as Jennifer Jones‘ women’s team has two and the men, led by Brad Jacobs, have one.

• Women’s curling vs. Japan – 12 a.m. ET / 9 p.m. Friday PT.
• Men’s curling vs. Great Britain – 5 a.m. ET / 2 a.m. PT.
• Women’s curling vs. Russia – 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT.