Sochi Watch: Day 3

Feb 10, 2014 | Sports

By Victoria Quiroz

On Feb. 10, it’s the third day of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games. At approximately 11:30 A.M. EST, the Netherlands pushed Canada out of its first place ranking, taking the gold, silver and bronze in the Men’s 500m Speed Skating race. Before the upset Canada led in the medals counter with two golds, two silvers and one bronze. Then, almost three hours later at 2:20 P.M., the Canadians regained their lead in the medals counter, taking on another gold and silver in Men’s Freestyle Skiing Moguls.

It will be a family affair during the men’s 500m speed skating medal ceremony, as Dutch twins Michel and Ronald Mulder are awarded their gold and bronze medals. Fellow Team Netherlands skater Jan Smeekens will bring home the silver.

Canada pulled in its third gold medal when Charles Hamelin won the 1500m Men’s Speed Skating Short-Track early Monday morning. Hamelin finished the track with a time of 2:14.985, beating out Tianyu Han of the People’s Republic of China and Victor An, of Russia. Han and An won the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Photo courtesy of the Canadian Olympic Committee

Hamelin competing in the short-track race. Photo courtesy of the Canadian Olympic Committee

Hamelin’s gold adds to his already impressive list of wins, including two golds at the 2010 Vancouver games (500m race and the Men’s Team 5000m Relay) and a silver (again in the Men’s Team 5000m Relay) at Turin in 2006.

France was the big winner in the Men’s 12.5 km Biathlon, with Martin Fourcade and Jean Guillame Beatrix clinching the first and third places. The Czech Republic’s Ondrej Moravec rounded out the group with his silver.

Day 3 of Sochi Highlights

Women’s Hockey
Both the U.S and Canadian teams won in their respective games against Scandinavian teams. The U.S beat the Swiss team 9-0 while the Canadians beat the Finnish 3-0. Now the long-time rivals will meet the morning of Wednesday Feb. 12.

Women’s Curling

Photo courtesy of the Canadian Olympic Committee

Canada’s Jennifer Jones during the match against China. Photo courtesy of the Canadian Olympic Committee

Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, and Russia all won their opening round robins. The final scores were:

Canada/China:9-2

Switzerland/USA: 7-4

Sweden/Britain: 6-4

Russia/Denmark: 7-4

Men’s Curling
Early on Monday Canada, Britain, China and Sweden all won their opening round robins. The final scores were:

Canada/Germany: 11-8

Britain/Russia: 7-4

China/Denmark: 7-4

Sweden/Switzerland: 7-5

Later on in the day Norway, Denmark, Switzerland and Sweden won. The final scores were:

Norway/USA: 7-4

Denmark/Russia: 11-10

Switzerland/Canada: 5-4

Sweden/Britain: 8-4

Men’s Freestyle Skiing Moguls
Four Canadians qualified for the moguls. They included 2010 Vancouver 2010 champion Alexandre Bilodeau, reigning moguls world champion Mikaël Kingsbury, Marc-Antoine Gagnon, and Philippe Marquis.

Alexandre Bilodeau. Photo Courtesy of the Canadian Olympic Committee

Alexandre Bilodeau. Photo Courtesy of the Canadian Olympic Committee.

 

Mikaël Kingsbury. Photo courtesy of the Canadian Olympic Committee

Mikaël Kingsbury. Photo courtesy of the Canadian Olympic Committee

As of around 2:20 P.M. EST, Canadians Alexandre Bilodeau and Mikaël Kingsbury have won the gold and silver medals in Men’s Freestyle Skiing Moguls. Russian skier Alexander Smyshlyaev will take home bronze. Canadian Marc-Antoine Gagnon finished in fourth place.

Men’s Biathlon
Martin Fourcade and Jean Guillame Beatrix of France took home gold and bronze in the Men’s 12.5 km Biathlon. Ondrej Moravec of the Czech Republic won silver.

Canada’s highest ranking athlete in the biathlon was Nathan Smith, in 11th place.

Men’s 500m Speed Skating
The Dutch swept the finals in men’s 500m speed skating. Twins Michel and Ronald Mulder placed first and third, respectively, with Jan Smeekens coming in second.

Women’s Super Combined 
Germany’s Maria Höefl-Riesch continued her reign over women’s super combined skiing, winning the gold medal once again. Austria’s Nicole Hosp and the United States’ Julia Mancuso came in second and third, respectively. Canada’s only representative in the super combined, Marie-Michéle Gagnon placed 21st.

Michele-Marie Gagnon.  Photo courtesy of the Canadian Olympic Committee

Marie-Michéle Gagnon. Photo courtesy of the Canadian Olympic Committee.

Team Figure Skating
The Canadian figure skating team was awarded the silver medal Monday morning. The team’s score was made up from the following athletes: Kaetlyn Osmond (Lady), Kevin Reynolds (Man), Kirsten Moore-Towers (Pairs), Dylan Moscovitch (Pairs), Tessa Virtue (Ice Dancing), Scott Moir (Ice Dancing), Meghan Duhamel (Figure Skating), Patrick Chan (Figure Skating), and Eric Radford (Figure Skating).

The gold and bronze medals were won by the Russian Federation and the United States of America.