Olympic roundup: What Canada did on Day 2
Last Updated: Sunday, February 14, 2010 | 6:44 AM ET
By John Molinaro, CBC Sports
First, the good news.
Canada claimed its first medal of the Vancouver Games on Saturday when defending Olympic champion Jennifer Heil won silver in the women's moguls.
Skiing in the second-last position, Heil, a 26-year-old from Spruce Grove, Alta., had a strong final run, scoring 25.69 points to beat out American Shannon Bahrke for the silver. But Hannah Kearney of the U.S. captured gold.
Chloe Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal finished fifth in the moguls final and Kristi Richard of Summerland, B.C., finished 20th.
While Heil's achievement was a cause for celebration, it also served as a bit of a letdown as she was considered a strong bet to bring home the gold.
Now, the bad news.
Canada is still searching for its first gold medal on home soil: Canada is the only host of multiple Olympics not to win gold at home, missing out at both the Montreal Summer Olympics in 1976 and again at the Calgary Winter Games in 1988.
Still, Heil justifiably beamed with pride on the podium.
"I wanted the gold. I won the silver," she said, smiling through tears later. "This is Canada's medal."
Heil wasn't the only woman to turn heads Saturday as the women's hockey team thumped Slovakia 18-0 in its Olympic tournament opener.
Amazingly, every Canadian skater but stay-at-home defender Meaghan Mikkelson checked in with a point. Veteran Jayna Hefford of Kingston, Ont., led the way for Canada with three goals and six points, while Meghan Agosta of Ruthven, Ont., also scored three times and added two assists.
"We fed off the crowd right from the beginning," veteran Canadian forward Jennifer Botterill said. "The place was almost packed for the warm-up, which was fun for us. During the game, you feel that energy but you're still focused.
"At the end of the game, when we gave the crowd our stick salute, we took a breath and looked around and thought to ourselves, 'What a crowd.' Even when they gave [Slovakia] a standing ovation just as loud as they did for us, that was special."
Olivier Jean comes 4th
In the 1,500-metre final for men's short-track speedskating, Olivier Jean of Lachenaie, Que., missed the bronze by 0.75 of a second, placing fourth.
Charles Hamelin of Sainte-Julie, Que., finished eighth overall by winning the B-final. Guillaume Bastille of Rivière-du-Loup, Que., was disqualified in his opening heat and did not advance.
Other Canadian results from Saturday:
- Women's 7.5-kilometre biathlon sprint: Megan Tandy of Prince George, B.C., placed 46th overall in a time of 22 minutes 7.7 seconds; Zina Kocher, Red Deer, Alta., was 65th (22:35.8); Rosanna Crawford, Canmore, Alta., 72nd (23:04.6); and Megan Imrie from Falcon Lake, Man., 76th (23.17).
- Luge men's singles: After the opening two runs, Samuel Edney of Calgary is ranked 10th (1:37.547), while Jeff Christie (1:37.785) and Ian Cockerline (1:38.165), also from Calgary, sit 14th and 21st, respectively. The final is slated for Sunday.
- Men's long-track speed skating, 5,000-metre final: Lucas Makowsky of Regina placed 13th with a time of 6:28.71; Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., was 18th (6:33.77).
- Women's short-track, 500 metres: Marianne St-Gelais of Saint-Felicien, Que., advanced to the next round by winning her heat in 44.708 seconds; Jessica Gregg, Edmonton (44.009) and Kalyna Roberge, St-Etienne-de-Lauzon, Que. (44.254), also continue by placing second in their races.
- Women's short-track, 3,000-metre relay: The Canadian team (Jessica Gregg, Kalyna Roberge and Marianne St-Gelais) was second in the semifinals (4:11.476) to advance to the medal race.
