Team Canada’s Triumphs and Losses

Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Starting with a fiery opening ceremony in the Beijing National Stadium, the 2022 Winter Olympics flew by in a blast of triumph, loss, and perseverance. Team Canada won a total of 4 gold medals, 8 silver medals, and 14 bronze medals, placing 11th overall. Notwithstanding the medal count, Canada had many successes in this Winter Olympics. From ice hockey to speed skating, the Canadian athletes fostered a sense of pride across the country.

In speed skating, three medals have been won by athletes Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin, and Valerie Maltais. On February 5th, Isabelle Weidemann won the first medal for Canada of this Winter Games, a bronze in the women’s 3000-metre speed skate. Two other Canadians Valerie Maltais and Ivanie Blondin finished 12th and 14th, respectively. Weidemann then won a silver medal in the women’s 5000-metre speed skate. The only speed skating gold was in the women’s team pursuit. The team was composed of Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin, and Valerie Maltais. 

Canada has not been nearly as successful in Alpine skiing, but James Crawford snagged the bronze in the Men’s Alpine Combined Slalom after Austria and Norway landed gold and silver respectively.

Biathlon and Cross-country skiing have not yielded any medals for Canada, although Canada did participate in multiple events.

Two bobsleigh medals have been awarded to Canada in the Women’s Monobob and the 4-man bobsleigh. Christine De Bruin won bronze in the Women’s Monobob, only two-tenths of a second behind the United States’s Meyers Taylor, coming up just short of silver. Cam Stones, Ryan Sommer, Justin Kripps, and Benjamin Coakwell worked together to land third in the 4-man event.

Curling, surprisingly, has been lacking in medals this winter, as only the Canadian men’s team made it to the podium. The men’s curling team received the bronze medal, falling behind Great Britain and Sweden. Jennifer Jones in the women’s competitions was disqualified after tying with China and Great Britain, not making enough points to get on the podium.

While some amazing Canadian figure skaters have skated and danced on the ice, they simply could not place in the top three of competitors. Madeline Schizas performed very well as the youngest on the Canadian team, at only 19 years old. Other skaters included Roman Sadovsky and Piper Gilles. 

Freestyle skiing has held four medals for Canada, two silver and two bronze, in two different competitions. In the men’s moguls, Mikael Kingsbury came up behind Walter Walberg of Sweden, earning himself a silver medal, his third Olympic medal. In mixed team aerials Marion Thénault, Miha Fontaine, and Lewis Irving joined together to win bronze. This was the first medal in the past five Olympics, since 2002, that Canadians have won in this event. In women’s Freeski halfpipe, Cassie Sharpe got the silver, and Rachael Karker the bronze.

In ice hockey, Canada’s women’s team dominated their side of the competition, while the men’s team did not do as well. The women have beaten Switzerland, Finland, the Russian Olympic Committee, the USA and Sweden. Undefeated, they grabbed the gold medal, beating the US in the Gold medal game, 3-2. Canada and the United States have met at the final game for hockey nearly every Olympics. The Canadian team has won five while the American team has only won two. Hockey fans across Canada celebrated the win in Beijing, excited to continue the gold streak after losing in 2018. 

The Canadian men’s hockey team beat Germany and China, but lost to the US and Sweden. They were eliminated in the quarterfinal game, so they will not receive an Olympic medal for the first time since 2006. 

Luge and Nordic combined have had no Canadian medals to speak of, after coming nowhere near the podium in most of the events.

Short-track speed skating has been a medal-ridden sport for Canada this year. Kim Boutin received the bronze medal in the women’s 500-metre short-track speed skate. Steven Dubois received the other bronze medal, in the men’s 500-metre short-track speed skate. In the men’s 1500 metre short-track speed skate, he also achieved a silver medal for Canada. Dubois, with Charles Hamelin, Maxime Laoun, Pascal Dion, and Jordan Pierre-Gilles, won the gold from the men’s 5000-metre relay. In the men’s 1000m, Laurent Dubreuil won the silver medal, coming onto the podium in the event he is historically less skilled in. Another silver came from the women’s mass start event, where 2022 medalist Ivanie Blondin scored another medal.

Despite there being no Canadian Skeleton medalists, Mirela Rahneva, a slider from Ottawa, reached a career-best. She came in fifth with a four-minute, nine-second run, moving up seven spots from her final placement in the 2018 Pyeongchang games. 

Canada won its first Olympic medal ever in ski jumping, from the mixed team who won bronze. Alexandria Loutitt, Matthew Soukup, Abigail Strate, and Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes formed  the bronze-winning Canadian mixed team. Loutitt, Soukop and Strate are all first-time Olympians, Boyd-Clowes being the only one with prior Olympic experience. Yet, these four beat all previous Canadian ski jumping teams.

Canada has had a great run in snowboarding, with a gold, a silver and four bronze medals. Max Parrot won the gold in men’s snowboard slopestyle, and before that, a bronze medal in men’s snowboard big air. Meryeta O’Dine competed in two events as well, the women’s snowboard cross and the mixed team snowboard cross, the latter with Eliot Grondin. In the women’s snowboard cross, she was only half a second off the time of American athlete Jacobellis. Then in the men’s snowboard cross, Meryeta’s mixed team partner Eliot Grondin won the silver for Canada. Finally, Mark McMorris snagged a bronze medal as well in the men’s snowboard slopestyle.

The Olympics are a well-watched event, with over 70 per cent of Canadians watching CBC/Radio-Canada’s Beijing Olympic coverage. These numbers are up 11 per cent from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games. The most-watched event this winter Olympics was the women’s gold medal hockey game between Canada and the United States.