Olympic roundup: What Canada did on Day 3
Last Updated: Monday, February 15, 2010 | 2:21 AM ET
By John Molinaro, CBC Sports
Finally!
It took more than 34 years to do it, but a Canadian has won Olympic gold on home soil. Freestyle skier Alexandre Bilodeau's name entered sports history books Sunday when he grabbed first place in the men's moguls at the Vancouver Games.
No Canadians won gold at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, and the country was shut out again at the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary.
But Canada's gold drought ended when Bilodeau, a 22-year-old native of Rosemère, Que., beat out Australia's Dale Begg-Smith, the reigning Olympic champion, to win the moguls final.
Vincent Marquis of Quebec City placed fourth, Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau of Drummondville, Que., was fifth and Maxime Gingras of St-Hippolyte, Que., placed 11th.
"It will be one of those Paul Henderson moments: 'Where were you when Alex Bilodeau won the first gold medal on Canadian soil?'" said Michael Chambers, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Bilodeau was understandably beaming with pride after his historic victory, but he was also thinking of his Canadian Olympic teammates, hoping his accomplishment can inspire them.
"It's just the beginning, I think," Bilodeau said. "There are so many Canadians coming up in the other sports. … I'll be in the stands cheering for them. I don't think I really realize it. It's too good to be true."
Bilodeau wasn't the only Canadian athlete to reach the medal podium on Sunday.
Groves skates to bronze
Kristina Groves won Canada's first Olympic speedskating medal of the Games, capturing bronze in the women's 3,000 metres. The 33-year-old Ottawa native won her second career individual Olympic medal and third overall.
Stephanie Beckert of Germany was matched with Groves in the marquee pairing, overtaking the Canadian down the stretch to win silver.
The second-last pair, Beckert and Groves waited anxiously as 2006 gold medallist Ireen Wust of the Netherlands competed with Germany's Daniela Anschutz Thoms. Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic set a track record of 4:02.53 to capture gold.
"It was great," said Groves. "Honestly, at the end of that race I was really happy with how I skated, but I didn't think it was going to hold up at the last pair. I thought they'd beat me. It was a great and wonderful surprise for me that my time stood up."
There was also some disappointment for Canada on Sunday as Jessica Dubé of Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover, Que., and Bryce Davison of Huntsville, Ont., finished sixth after the short program in the pairs figure skating competition.
Anabelle Langlois of Gatineau, Que., and Edmonton's Cody Hay sit seventh.
Other Canadian results from Sunday:
- Men's biathlon, 10-kilometre sprint — Jean-Philippe Le Guellec of Quebec City placed sixth overall with a time of 24 minutes 57.6 seconds and one missed target. It's the best-ever result by a Canadian male biathlete.
- Men's luge, individual event — Calgary's Samuel Edney finished seventh overall after four runs in a time of three minutes and 14.84 seconds. Jeff Christie and Ian Cockerline, both of Calgary, finished 14th and 20th. Edney's placing is a new high for a Canadian in men's singles competition.
- Nordic combined — Jason Myslicki of Thunder Bay, Ont., was 43rd in the ski jump (137.0 metres) and 40th in the 15-kilometre cross-country ski race (27:20.7) to place 45th overall.
