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Pique's 2022 Winter Olympic Blog: Feb. 16

Canada faces off against the U.S. for women's hockey gold tonight, while Whistler's Marielle Thompson steps into the ski cross start gate
Megan Lalonde
Megan Lalonde
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Sarah Fillier #10 of Team Canada scores her second goal of the night against Emma Soderberg #30 of Team Sweden during the second period at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games on Friday, February 11, 2022. Photo by Andrew Lahodynskyj/COC

The Olympics might be starting to wind down, but Canada's medal haul continues to grow. 

Canada picked up even more speed skating medals in the past couple of days, including two golds! Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann won in the women's team pursuit, while legend Charles Hamelin joined Steven Dubois, Pascal Dion and Jordan Pierre-Gilles to stand on top of the podium in the men's 500 metre relay event! (A relay where teammates literally push each other in place on a handoff. Literally, so fun to watch.)

Slopestyle gold medallist Max Parrot is taking home another piece of hardware after winning a bronze medal in the big air final on Feb. 15.

After falling on his first run but pulling it together for his final two attempts, he earned a two-run combined score of 170.25. He was the only Canadian to stand on the podium in that event—which featured more than a few riders throwing down 1800s 🤯—after Mark McMorris finished 10th, and Whistler local Darcy Sharpe finished 12th.

In the women’s event, Whistler local Jasmine Baird was the top Canadian finalist with her seventh-place ranking, followed by teammate and podium-favourite Laurie Blouin in eighth. The third Canadian snowboarder, Brooke Voigt, was knocked out of the competition after finishing 21st in qualifiers.

Whistler Valley Snowboard Club was also represented in the women’s field: Rong Ge, who competes for China, finished fifth in finals, while Kamilla Kozuback, riding  for Hungary, didn’t make the cut for finals after ranking 17th in qualifiers. Whistler-based Team USA rider and two-time Olympic gold medallist Jamie Anderson also failed to make the cut for finals, ranking 15th after a pair of falls in the qualifying round. 

All of the snowboard events have been a blast to watch this year, and not just because of the level of riding they've offered. One of the best parts has been seeing all the heartwarming group hugs and camaraderie between riders—proof that snowboarding is, at the end of the day, about way more than results and contests. 

Moving to the sliding track, pilot Chris Spring and brakeman Mike Evelyn were Canada’s top sled in the two-man bobsleigh race, finishing in seventh place just 2.37 seconds off the pace. Teammates Justin Kripps and Cameron Stones followed in 10th after four runs, while Canada’s third sled, comprised of Taylor Austin and Daniel Sunderland, finished in 20th. They'll be back on track for the four-man race on Friday night B.C. time. 

The excitement is also ramping up today, as Sea to Sky skier and defending gold medallist Cassie Sharpe drops into the halfpipe for women's freestyle skiing qualifiers starting at 5:30 p.m., while Whistler ski cross champ Marielle Thompson will step into the start gate for seeding races starting at 7:30 p.m. (I'm seeing a sibling theme emerge here...) The finals for that event are set to run at 11:10 p.m., with elimination races in between. 

Mixed in with those mountain sports, Team Canada is set to face off against their U.S. rivals for women's hockey gold, with puck drop scheduled for 8:10 p.m. PST. They're Canada's only hope for a hockey medal this time around, after our men's team was eliminated following their loss to Sweden in the quarterfinals earlier today. 

So far, Canada is sitting fifth in the overall medal counts, with a total of 18. Broken down, that's 11 bronze, four silver and three gold. We know there'll be at least one more medal added to that tally following tonight's game, but we (and Justin Bieber, apparently) are going to have to wait on the edge of our seats to find out what colour.