Olympic wake-up call: McMorris, Toutant and Parrot soar into slopestyle final – CBC Sports

Mark McMorris says he’ll pull out all his toughest tricks in his bid for a second Olympic slopestyle medal.

The 28-year-old from Regina led a trio of Canadian snowboarders into the slopestyle final at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games on Sunday.

The 2018 Olympic bronze medallist posted the the second-highest score of the day, as Sébastien Toutant qualified in seventh, and Max Parrot in 10th after their two runs.

“To be given a berth into tomorrow’s final and at least have a shot at a medal, that’s most important,” McMorris said.

“Yeah, just trying to put it all together from top to bottom isn’t an easy task.”

WATCH | While You Were Sleeping: Day 1

McMorris is coming off an X Games gold medal in slopestyle only two weeks ago, and will look to return to the podium in the slopestyle final, which you can watch live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app, and CBC Gem on Sunday beginning at 11:10 p.m. ET.

WATCH | Mark McMorris leads trio of Canadians into Olympic snowboard slopestyle final:

Mark McMorris leads trio of Canadians into Olympic snowboard slopestyle final

9 hours ago

Duration 7:46

Mark McMorris qualified in second place, Sebastien Toutant qualified in eighth place and Max Parrot qualified in tenth place, as all three Canadians advanced to the men’s snowboard slopestyle final at the Beijing 2022 Olympics. 7:46

Canadians miss podium in women’s moguls

For the first time since 2002, there will not be a Canadian on the women’s Olympic moguls podium.

Chloé Dufour-Lapointe — the 2014 Olympic silver medallist — was the top Canadian, finishing in ninth place with a score of 72.96 in the second round of the three-round final.

Sofiane Gagnon, a 22-year-old Olympic rookie from Whistler, B.C., had made it into the second round, but fell on her run and did not finish.

Justine Dufour-Lapointe , Chloe’s sister, did not advance to the second round, crashing in her run. Although the two-time Olympic medallist did not technically finish, she called for another pole to finish her run down the hill.

WATCH | Justine Dufour-Lapointe crashes out of moguls competition:

Justine Dufour-Lapointe crashes out of moguls competition

4 hours ago

Duration 2:57

The 2014 Olympic champion lost control during her run in Final 1 at Beijing 2022. 2:57

“Life is not always so easy. But I just want to make sure everyone at home knows that I never gave up,” an emotional Justine Dufour-Lapointe said after her run.

“I fought over those past four years, so hard, to give you that Justine [that] was willing to take risks, and ski with fire and dignity, and that’s the only thing tonight I did. It’s not an easy one, but I’m going to keep smiling through it.”

Morris, Homan steal a win for Canada

I’ll just let John Morris contextualize last night’s match for you: “We grabbed a win from the depths of defeat in that one. That was a wild one.”

No kidding.

Rachel Homan and Morris were pushed to the brink against the Czech Republic in mixed doubles curling.

But the Canadian duo made one clutch shot after another down the stretch, forcing an extra end, and stealing two points to come away with a thrilling 7-5 win at the National Aquatics Centre — a.k.a. The Ice Cube.

WATCH | Highlights: Homan, Morris win a thriller in mixed doubles

Highlights: Homan, Morris steal victory for Canada in mixed doubles curling

7 hours ago

Duration 13:20

Canada’s Rachel Homan and John Morris defeats Czech Republic 7-5 in an extra end. The Canadian mixed doubles curling duo improve to 5-2 and are tied for second place with Great Britain. 13:20

Down by one point going into the final stone of the eighth end, Homan delivered with a draw for two – with their play clock winding down – to send it to an extra end.

Although the Czechs had the hammer, Canada was unfazed stealing two in the extra end, leaving the Czechs without much of a shot on their last rock.

“That was probably the most dramatic curling game I’ve ever been a part of,” Morris said.

The Canadians now carry a 5-2 was record and control their own fate to make it into the semifinal, with two round robin matches to go.

The pair are back on the ice at 7 a.m., ET, where they can clinch a playoff berth with a win against the Australians — who themselves had a wild day. 

Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt originally withdrew from their Sunday match against Switzerland over a positive COVID-19 test, only to be allowed to compete at the last minute and come away with the country’s first ever win in Olympic curling.

Bloemen falls short in 5,000 metres

Calgary’s Ted-Jan Bloemen failed to reach the podium in a tough 5,000 metre race.

The 2018 Olympic silver medallist in the event started strong, getting out ahead of the lead pace by the 1,400-metre mark.

But the 35-year-old couldn’t keep it up, finishing in 10th place, 10.27 seconds behind world-record holder Nils van der Poel of Sweden, who set an Olympic record en route to the gold medal.

“I don’t know what happened,” a dejected Bloemen said, adding he executed his race plan.

“I’m really confused. I don’t understand it. I don’t know what to say.”

Bloemen will have another shot at a podium, skating the 10,000 metres on Feb. 11, in a race which he is the defending Olympic champion. The 25-year-old van der Poel is also competing and is expected to medal, being the current world record holder at the distance as well.

WATCH | Canadian speed skater Ted-Jan Bloemen finishes 10th in men’s 5,000m:

Canadian speed skater Ted-Jan Bloemen finishes 10th in men’s 5,000m

6 hours ago

Duration 7:55

Two-time Olympic medallist Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada placed 10th in the men’s speed skating 5,000m final with a time of 6:19.11. 7:55

Keegan Messing update

He’s en route!

Keegan Messing passed his fourth and final PCR test and is on his way to Beijing from Montreal.

He will arrive in Beijing in time to compete in the men’s program, despite missing the men’s singles portion of the team event. He’s set to skate in the men’s singles event on Monday at 8:15 p.m. ET.

Blouin falls just short of podium

Laurie Blouin narrowly missed out on a second Olympic slopestyle medal.

The 25-year-old from Quebec City, and 2018 Olympic silver medallist, finished fourth in the final posting a score of 81.41.

“I’m stoked but I was so close. I need to be proud of myself,” Blouin said after the competition.

Blouin will also compete in the big air competition next week. She made the final at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, but fell on her first jump and after failing to land her second and scoring 39.25, didn’t attempt a third.

However she won the gold medal in the event at the world championships last year, as well as a gold at the 2019 X Games.

WATCH | Quebec’s Laurie Blouin just misses landing on Olympic snowboard slopestyle podium:

Quebec’s Laurie Blouin just misses landing on Olympic snowboard slopestyle podium

13 hours ago

Duration 2:26

2018 Olympic silver medallist Laurie Blouin of Stoneham, Que., finished in fourth place in the women’s snowboard slopestyle final at the Beijing 2022 Olympics. 2:26

Canadian powers it out in skiathlon 

Olivier Léveillé was the top Canadian in the men’s 30-kilometre skiathlon.

The 20-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que., finished 31st in the race in one hour, 23 minutes and 42 seconds.

“It went well. It’s a tough course but I tried to go at my pace,” Léveillé said. “Definitely in that second half, the pace really picked up. I didn’t reach my goal, I wanted a top-30. But I’ll have other chances.”

Antoine Cyr, 23, from Gatineau finished in 42nd, and 21-year-old Remi Drolet from Rossland, B.C., did not finish the race, having been lapped by the leader.

Russian Olympic Committee racers Alexander Bolshunov and Denis Spitsov took the top two places on the podium. Heavy medal favourite Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, of Norway, finished in a shocking 40th place.

Strong winds force postponement of men’s downhill

The men’s alpine skiing downhill event is now scheduled for 11 p.m. ET on Sunday as strong winds postponed the event from its originally scheduled time.

Broderick Thompson, Jack Crawford and Brodie Seger are the three Canadians competing.

The third practice session was also scrapped because of the wind, but both Thompson and Crawford put up strong times in their respective sessions. Crawford finished fifth in the first training run, with Thompson posting the third-best time in the second run.

WATCH | Canada’s Broderick Thompson finishes 3rd in downhill training run:

Canada’s Broderick Thompson finishes 3rd in downhill training run

2 days ago

Duration 1:02

Broderick Thompson from Whistler, B.C., completes his Olympic alpine downhill training session with a time of 1:43.92. 1:02

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