Olympic roundup: What Canada did on Day 11
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 | 2:19 AM ET
By John F. Molinaro, CBC Sports
Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir entered the third and final segment of the Olympic ice dance competition in the lead, then refused to relinquish that gold-medal position.
The young Ontario skaters won Canada's first-ever Olympic ice dance gold medal with a dazzling performance in the free dance Monday night, on Day 11 of the Vancouver Olympics.
They posted a score of 110.42 points, boosting their total to 221.57. Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States took the silver, scoring 107.19 in the free dance and a total of 215.74.
Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia claimed the bronze with a free dance mark of 101.04 and an overall score of 207.64.
Virtue and Moir's victory marks the first time a North American duo has won Olympic gold in the event, and it's Canada's first medal in ice dance since Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall won bronze at the 1988 Calgary Games.
Virtue, from London, Ont., and Moir, from nearby Ilderton, left the ice with a lead of almost six points over the eventual silver medallists, but they had to wait for the Russians to skate before knowing for sure that they had won.
Virtue, 20, and Moir, 22, began the day with a 2.6-point lead over the Americans and extended that margin with a moving performance to the romantic and lyrical music of Mahler's Symphony No. 5.
Davis and White, who skated before the Canadian leaders, threw down the gauntlet with a flawless performance of their own, to music from The Phantom of the Opera. Like the Canadians, they included a hands-free lift in their program, with Davis balancing precariously on White's back after a series high-speed rotations.
It was easily the best performance of the night — until Virtue and Moir hit the ice.
Grace under pressure
With the Canadian ego collectively stinging from a series of Olympic disappointments — most notably a men's hockey loss Sunday to the U.S. — Virtue and Moir did everything in their power to prevent the Americans from snatching the gold away in front of a home crowd.
While there would have been plenty of reason to be nervous, the youthful pair — the youngest ever to win ice dance gold — exhibited grace under pressure, performing intricate spins, synchronized rotations and a complicated hands-free lift to perfection.
They shattered their previous personal best of 208.80 points, set at the 2008 world championships, where they finished second.
Canada's other team of Vanessa Crone of Aurora, Ont., and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., finished in 14th place, earning a free dance score of 85.29 for a total of 164.60.
Also on Monday, Team Canada whipped Finland in the semifinals of the women's hockey tournament.
Canada could have scored more goals but it ran into a wall in Finnish goalie Noora Raty, who called her outing her best game yet. She stopped 45 of the 50 shots Canada fired at her. Meanwhile, Canadian goalie Shannon Szabados faced only 11 shots.
Canada held a 2-0 advantage after the first period and 3-0 after 40 minutes. Haley Irwin scored twice, while Caroline Ouellette and Cherie Piper scored the other goals.
The Canadian women have outscored the opposition 46-2 in their four games in Vancouver and have run their Olympic win streak to 14 games, dating back to their loss in the 1998 final to the United States in Nagano, Japan.
Canada will play the U.S. in the gold-medal game Thursday after the Americans crushed Sweden 9-1 in Monday's other semifinal.
Canada clinched a playoff spot in women's curling with a decisive 6-2 win over Sweden. In what was billed as a potential preview of the of the Olympic gold-medal match, Canada easily slid past Sweden's reigning gold medallist, Anette Norberg.
Canadian skip Cheryl Bernard's rink had been criticized for not having enough international experience heading into the Games.
"Our lack of international experience is probably over now," Bernard said after Monday's game. "That for us is a really good thing because that was kind of a monkey on our back coming in here, that we didn't have any."
In men's curling, Canadian Kevin Martin's rink defeated the U.S. 7-2. Martin, John Morris, Ben Hebert and Marc Kennedy clinched their eighth straight victory after stealing a point from the U.S. in both the sixth and seventh ends.
In the men's aerials skiing competition, all three Canadians in the qualifying round advanced to the two-jump final, which take place Thursday.
Veteran aerialist Steve Omischl was considered Canada's best contender heading to Vancouver. The 31-year-old from North Bay, Ont., has won four world championships and is making his third Olympic appearance.
Omischl scored 116.73 points on his first jump and 117.73 on his second, finishing in eighth place with a cumulative total of 233.88. After two jumps, the top 12 aerialists of 24 in the qualifying round advanced to the final.
Calgary's Warren Shouldice had Canada's best showing on the night, finishing sixth with a cumulative total of 235.93 points. The 26-year-old pulled off an excellent first jump, scoring 122.79.
He narrowly avoided a fall on the landing of his second, pulling up his hand before touching the snow. The quick reflex saved a score of 113.14.
Calgary's Kyle Nissen made it three for three for Canada, with a cumulative score of 233.71 through two aerial jumps. The 30-year-old Calgarian finished ninth to advance to Thursday's final.
Other Canadian results from Monday:
- Cross-country skiing, men's team sprint final: Team Canada (Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey) finished fourth in 19:07.3.
- Cross-country skiing, women's team sprint final: Team Canada (Daria Gaiazova, Sara Renner) seventh in 18:51.8.
- Ski jumping, men's team competition: The Canadian squad of 22-year-old Stefan Read, Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, 18, Trevor Morrice, 18, and Eric Mitchell, 17, failed to advance to the final, finishing last in the 12-team first round with 294.6 points.
