BEIJING 鈥� From speedy skating to monobob's debut, here are five things to know Sunday from the Beijing Winter Olympics:
DUBOIS DOUBLES DOWN
Canada's Steven Dubois is getting the hang of Olympic competition. Four days after he won a silver medal in the men's 1,500-metre short-track skating event, the 24-year-old sped to bronze in the men's 500-metre event. While he may have a slightly lower profile than some of the decorated veterans on Canada's short-track team, Dubois has emerged as a star at his first Olympics -- surprising even himself. Had he been told two weeks ago he'd be bringing home two individual medals, "I would have said it's nonsense," he said.听
MIXED RESULTS
Both Canada's men's and women's Olympic curling teams needed positive results Sunday to get their medal hopes back on track. Brad Gushue got one, Jennifer Jones didn't. Gushue's team posted a comfortable 10-5 win over reigning Olympic champion John Shuster of the United States. A four-point steal in the second end gave Canada full control, and Gushue improved to 3-2 heading into a match against Italy on Monday. Jones, however, dropped an 8-4 decision to Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni in women's round-robin play. Jones gave up back-to-back two-point steals before Tirinzoni ran her out of rocks in the 10th end. Canada fell to 1-3, and needs to win its matches against Russia and Britain on Monday to make a realistic playoff push.
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CAN'T CATCH KAILLIE
As she has done many times before in Canadian colours, bobsledder Kaillie Humphries outraced the pack in the first two heats of the monobob competition. Humphries, who now represents the United States, posted a total time of two minutes 9.10 seconds in her two trips down the track. That was 1.04 seconds quicker than her closest competitor, Christine de Bruin of Stony Plain, Alta. Despite the gap between her and Humphries, de Bruin put herself in a strong medal position entering Monday's final two heats. Humphries won two gold and a bronze in two-women competition for Canada at previous Olympics before changing allegiances after the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
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WAITING GAME
Russian figure skating star Kamila Valieva continues to practise as she awaits a decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport on whether she will be allowed to compete in the upcoming women's event. At issue is a drug test taken in December that was flagged on Monday for traces of a banned heart medication. An expedited hearing was scheduled for Sunday, with a ruling expected sometime Monday. Valieva helped the Russians win gold in the figure skating team competition, an event in which Canada finished fourth. If a decision is made to strip Russia of its gold and reallocate the medals in that event, it likely won't come until after the Olympics.
JACKSON MAKES HISTORY
American Erin Jackson has become the first Black woman to climb an Olympic speedskating podium, and she made it all the way to the top. Jackson posted a time of 37.04 seconds to win the gold medal in the 500-metre long-track event over Miho Takagi of Japan and Angelina Golikova of the Russian team on Sunday. The 29-year-old former inline and roller derby skater joins fellow American Shani Davis as the only Black athletes to win speedskating medals at the Olympics.听
-- With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2022.
The Canadian Press
