Olympic stock watch: Temperatures rise at figure skating nationals
CBC
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Less than a month from the start of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, several of Canada's top medal contenders hit the slopes, ice or track over the weekend. Here's who (or what) saw their stock go up or down based on what happened:
Up: Mikaël Kingsbury
Japan's Ikuma Horishima injected some drama into Kingsbury's inevitable-seeming march to his 10th consecutive World Cup men's moguls title and second straight Olympic gold medal by winning two events in a row last month to steal the World Cup lead. But the GOAT returned to his rightful perch with back-to-back victories on his home turf at Mont-Tremblant, Que., on Friday and Saturday. Horishima finished third in both competitions to slip to second in the standings.
The rivals are slated to square off for the final time before the Olympics this week at Utah's Deer Valley. World Cup moguls events are scheduled there for both Thursday and Friday.
Down: Figure skating fairness (according to some)
The Canadian championships in Ottawa were the final — but not only — audition for the Olympic team. While performances at nationals are taken into account, myriad other factors such as results this season and potential to medal in Beijing go into the decisions on who gets to fill Canada's spots.
For most of the events, there wasn't much difference. Canadian officials awarded the country's three ice dance berths to Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen, and Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha after they finished in that order in Ottawa. The two men's spots went to winner Keegan Messing and runner-up Roman Sadovsky. Canada's lone women's entry was given to 18-year-old Madeline Schizas after she claimed her first national title. Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro landed one of the two pairs spots after winning that event.
The other pairs selection, though, generated controversy. It went to Vanessa James and Eric Radford, despite their withdrawal from the competition after placing fourth in the short program. That didn't sit well with those who felt runners-up Evelyn Walsh and Trennt Michaud earned the spot. But if the goal is winning an Olympic medal, the decision makes sense. James and Radford were the best Canadian pairs duo on the Grand Prix circuit, earning two fourth-place finishes (no Canadians reached the podium in pairs this season). Radford is also a proven Olympic performer, having won bronze in 2018 with former partner Meagan Duhamel before joining up with James prior to this season. Also consider that James and Radford were not at their best in Ottawa, having just returned to the ice after contracting COVID-19 around Christmas.
In the end, we might be splitting hairs here. Canada's chances of winning an Olympic pairs medal don't look great, no matter who goes to Beijing. The country's best hope for a figure skating medal is Gilles and Poirier, who took bronze at the world championships last year and were the only Canadians to qualify for this season's (cancelled) Grand Prix Final. Read more about Canada's Olympic figure skating selections and some of the blowback here.
Down: Bobsleigh certainty
Canada lacks a dominant pilot, but it has several capable of winning an Olympic medal. Heading into the weekend's World Cup races in Germany, Christine de Bruin looked like a good bet. She ranked No. 1 in the women's monobob, which is making its Olympic debut in Beijing, and second in the two-woman event with brakewoman Kristen Bujnowski.
De Bruin stumbled a bit, though, finishing eighth in the monobob and fifth in the two-woman. That dropped her to third in the two-woman standings and way down to fourth in the monobob. That event is going to be wide-open at the Olympics: a tiny number of points separates the No. 2-ranked pilot from No. 6, which happens to be Canada's Cynthia Appiah (she finished fifth on Saturday). Even the new No. 1, American Elana Meyers Tayor, holds a relatively slim lead after her victory Saturday.
Canada's only bobsleigh medal of the weekend came from pilot Justin Kripps. The reigning Olympic two-man co-champion took bronze in that event on Saturday to remain third in the World Cup standings. He's still second in the four-man after placing fifth in that event on Sunday.
