What to watch in Olympic sports this weekend
CBC
This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here.
The opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics is exactly four weeks from today. Several Canadian medal contenders are competing this weekend — while at the same time trying desperately to dodge COVID-19 so they don't jeopardize their eligibility to compete in China. Here's your guide to who and what to watch:
Canadian figure skating championships
This year's event, which is being held without spectators in Ottawa, doubles as the final audition for the Olympic team. Canada has earned three entries in the ice dance event in Beijing, two in both pairs and men's singles, and one in women's singles. Canada will also compete in the team event. The senior nationals, which take place today and tomorrow, will help decide who gets to fill those spots.
Unfortunately, Canada's Olympic medal chances don't look great. Several medal winners from 2018 hung up their blades — including ice dance gods Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir — and the program is still trying to rebuild. Canada's best hope for the podium in Beijing is the dance duo of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. They took bronze at the world championships last March and were the only Canadians to qualify for this season's Grand Prix Final, which ended up getting cancelled.
Competition in Ottawa opened this afternoon with Madeline Schizas placing first in the women's short skate. The ice dance began at 2:45 p.m. ET and will be followed by the pairs short at 5:30 p.m. ET and the men's short at 6:50 p.m. ET. Watch them all live here. The free skates begin Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Freestyle skiing — moguls
Canadian star Mikaël Kingsbury seemed like a slam dunk for his 10th consecutive World Cup title after winning the season opener in Finland. But Japan's Ikuma Horishima stunned everyone by winning the next two events to seize top spot in the men's standings. This puts Kingsbury in the unusual position of having to actually fight for his World Cup crown, and adds a much-needed dash of drama to the moguls GOAT's quest to repeat as Olympic champion.
Kingsbury came out swinging today on his home turf at Mont-Tremblant, Que., winning the gold medal. Horishima took bronze. They'll tangle again Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.
Freestyle skiing — halfpipe
A tantalizing showdown was brewing for the final World Cup event of the season, taking place tonight at 10 p.m. ET at Mammoth Mountain in California. Reigning world champion Eileen Gu of China is looking to complete a perfect World Cup season with her fourth consecutive victory, and a pair of Canadians had a chance to knock her off. Rachael Karker, who has reached the podium in eight consecutive World Cup starts dating back to 2019 and took silver at last year's world championships, ranks second in the women's standings. Reigning Olympic champ Cassie Sharpe is fifth after returning from a brutal leg/knee injury suffered in a crash a year ago.
However, Canada's top Olympic contenders have been put on ice in an effort to avoid contracting COVID-19, which could jeopardize their eligibility for Beijing. So we won't see Karker, Sharpe or men's World Cup co-leader Brendan Mackay. Same for Noah Bowman (third in the men's standings) and 2021 world championship silver medallist Simon d'Artois (fourth).
Snowboarding
Mammoth is also hosting World Cup snowboard halfpipe and slopestyle competitions on Saturday. The Canadian slopestyle contingent includes back-to-back Olympic bronze medallist Mark McMorris and 2021 world championships silver medallist Seb Toutant, who won last weekend in Calgary. Assuming they qualify for the final, they'll go for medals Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET.
