Your Olympic Shakedown - Week 1
Article by Matthew Lloyd
Photo by Bradley King on Unsplash
The Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games are now well underway in Italy, with some big Canadian stories already emerging that I wanted to highlight. From student athletes asking for assignment extensions and continued dominance from our women's hockey team (for the most part), to Canada's first medals of the games, we’ve got lots to cover. I also wanted to highlight a unique Olympic sport, the luge, as it is a sport many may not be familiar with. I’ll be highlighting a different sport in each of my two Olympic columns (yes, there's another one coming!) First, let's get to the results.
Medal Moment(s):
At the time of writing this article, Canada has secured 6 medals at the Olympics, with 3 silvers and 3 bronze. This is good enough for 10th place in the overall medal standings, with many of Canada's strongest sports still to come. Let's run through Canada's triumphs thus far:
Speed Skating, Women's 3000m - Bronze Medal, Valérie Maltais
This was Canada's first medal of the games, coming in an event where the home hero Francesca Lollobrigida took a surprise gold medal, much to the delight of the Italian crowd. Upsetting the always-strong Netherlands skaters, Maltais can be proud to have found their way onto the podium alongside Lollobrigida; watch the final 3 pairings (including Maltais) here.
Freestyle Skiing, Women's Slopestyle - Bronze Medal, Megan Oldham
After missing out on qualifying for the slopestyle final in Beijing 2022 by one spot, Megan Oldham was not going to let another opportunity slip out of her fingers. Oldham secured the bronze medal, putting together a final run to secure a spot on the podium despite having "a heavy crash" on her second of three runs in the finals. Oldham also experienced heartbreak in the big air event in 2022, finishing fourth just off the podium. She looks to secure a second medal of the games in that same event, with the finals on February 16th; check out her bronze medal run here.
Speed Skating, Short Track Mixed Team Relay - Silver Medal, Kim Boutin, Florence Brunelle, Courtney Sarault, Will Dandjinou, Steven Dubois, Felix Roussel
If you are looking for an adrenaline rush, look no further than short track speed skating, especially the team events! Canada's mixed relay team captured silver in the event, narrowly missing gold in a thrilling pursuit well worth the watch. Canada's speed skating team at the Olympics includes some of our best athletes, and the short track team's lofty goal of achieving seven medals was openly discussed on the broadcast. I highly recommend watching the finals, linked here.
Figure Skating, Ice Dance Pairs - Bronze Medal, Piper Gilles, Paul Poirier
In a comeback story for the ages that has been described as "the skate of their lives", Canadian ice dancing pair Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier secured a bronze medal in the Ice Dance. After Piper's 2023 cancer diagnosis, the pair had considered retirement after the 2024 World Championship. This event may be a better swan song for their careers on the international stage, as it is likely to be their final dance at this level; check out their waltz that secured their medal here.
Freestyle Skiing, Moguls - Silver, Mikaël Kingsbury
Not many athletes can call themselves the best in their sport, but it would be hard to argue that anyone else has had a better career in moguls than Canadian Mikaël Kingsbury. Kingsbury lost out on a gold medal in a tiebreaker. Both Kingsbury and Cooper Woods tied with the same score, Woods won the turns element, 48.40 to 47.70, to secure his upset victory. The Canadian star became the first freestyle skier to win a medal in the same event at four straight Olympic Games. Kingsbury, winner of 100 World Cup events in the past, will have one more opportunity to medal during the dual moguls event on February 15th. Check out the five best runs from the finals here.
Snowboarding, Snowboard Cross - Silver Medal, Éliot Grondin
Losing out on gold by two one-hundredths of a second in a near photo finish, Éliot Grondin secured the silver medal in a thrilling snowboard cross final. While he expressed disappointment with the 2nd place result, stating "I think maybe 15 metres less, then it would have been different…. But that's life", he lost out to the reigning gold medalist in the event, certainly not something to hang your head over. Watch the final run here. Now, let's shift our focus to this article's sport of focus: the luge.
Winter Olympic Sport Highlight: Luge
One of my favorite events to watch at the Winter Olympics is luge, one of three sliding sports and likely the one you are least familiar with. The other sliding sports, bobsled and skeleton, have attracted a bit more fanfare over the years than luge. This is especially the case for bobsled, due to the fact that Canada regularly medals in at least one of the events, and thanks to the release of the iconic film "Cool Runnings" about the Jamaican Bobsleigh team in the 90s. Luge at the Winter Olympics features one sled where competitors slide down a harrowing track at speeds exceeding the limits of our highways, with only their body movements to guide them. There are 4 runs per event, and the medals are awarded to the top 3 athletes based on their overall times, with each run counting toward the overall total. This format demands consistency, precision, and discipline, as a single major mistake can put an athlete out of the medal conversation despite having 3 other runs to lean on.
Example: These are the last competitors in run 4 of the men's event, just a few days ago.
While one person on a sled going 120+ km/h is enough to make your heart skip a beat, there are also doubles luge teams! This is where competitors are stacked on top of each other in a fashion that ought to make you laugh the first time you see it. Having to rely on the trust of another athlete (one who is directly above or below you) adds yet another layer of insanity to the equation, showing just how elite these athletes truly are. Have a look here for an example of what adding another person to the sled looks like. The final luge event of the games is a team relay, where both women's and men's solo and double teams compete as a country, chasing the fastest overall time between all 4 runs!
Viral Moments:
Assignment on Ice
One moment early on in the games captured the attention of Canadians from coast to coast has to do with a student-athlete! Madeline Schizas, a member of the Canadian figure skating team, went viral after posting a written plea for an extension on one of her assignments. Schizas had not realized that one of her online assignments had passed its due date, as when she sat down to complete it after competing in the team event, she realized it had already passed. Madeline reached out to her professor, stating the following.
Madeline had posted a screenshot of her email, which was picked up by Canadians across the nation, many of whom were invested in her quest to get her extension. Schizas stated that "I didn't expect anyone to really care… I just thought it was funny." At the time of writing, we can confirm that Schizas was granted her extension, much to the delight of many across the country.
Yes, I Got Bronze, But I Also Cheated On My Girlfriend?
One of the most bizarre stories of the games so far comes from Sturla Holm Laegreid, a Norwegian biathlete who came 3rd in the men's 20-kilometer individual race on February 10th. In an interview with the Norwegian network NRK, Laegried revealed that he had cheated on "the love of his life" and had made the "biggest mistake of his life".
While I am sure the athlete has very strong feelings for his now-ex-girlfriend, there's a lot to unpack here. Unloading this for the world to see, detracting from the sport (and his own teammates' gold medal), and likely making himself look even more of a fool on the international stage; it certainly wouldn't win me back if I were in her shoes. All of this, around a self-admitted 6-month-old relationship that he ruined 3 months into? For what it's worth, Laegreid has since apologized for the statement, saying that he "deeply regrets sharing this personal story on what was a day of celebration for Norwegian biathlon" in a statement provided by the Norwegian team on February 11th. Still, the damage to his own reputation has already been done.
That wraps up our first Olympic Shakedown of the games, with many big moments to come such as bobsled, curling, hockey, additional short track speed skating, and more represent big medal hopes for us canucks. I'll be writing another shakedown for the end of the games in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for more interesting stories, medal moments, and (hopefully) no more athletes admitting to being unfaithful after winning a medal!