Bring on the winter competitions and let the Games begin! 👏👏👏
Olympics Edition
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Figure Skating ⛸ Team Events
One of the most anticipated sports of every Olympic Games is ON this weekend with the Figure Skating Team Event!
This event allows each country to select one team or competitor from each category – men’s and women’s singles figure skating, pairs figure skating and pairs ice dance – to compete for a combined total score.
The pressure is on for Team Canada, who are the defending gold medalists in this event – BUT only ONE skater from the 2018 team has returned to these Games, the other five have all retired since. Eric Radford, who once skated with Meagan Duhamel in pairs figure skating, is back with a new partner.
It will be up to the next generation of Canadian skaters to show the world that Canada is still a figure skating powerhouse, with the likes of Russia and the U.S. eager to top the podium.
Make sure to catch the Team Figure Skating action all weekend long on CBC Sports.
Cross Country Skiing 🎿
Did you know skiing was one of the ORIGINAL events at the first Winter Olympics? At the time, only men competed, but now women dominate the sport!
This weekend, the women will take on the 7.5km + 7.5km Skiathlon. Unsurprisingly, the top competitors in this event hail from Norway and Sweden – I’m sure there are PLENTY of places to train in those countries. Imagine the view? In another lifetime could I be a Norwegian cross-country skier…?
Norway has been the most successful country in this events history. Having won 121 medals in skiing since the very beginning of the Winter Olympics.
And the skiathlon is a MONSTER, with athletes skiing back-to-back 7.5km stretches. I’m tired just thinking about it! The skiers ski classical in the first stretch, and then can ski freestyle in the second stretch.
SO will Norway take this event? Or will another country rise from the lower ranks to medal? Catch the Women’s Skiathlon Saturday at 2:45am ET on CBC Sports.
Speed Skating ⚡️
Let’s hit the ice! It’s time for some speed skating!
Canada has some POWERHOUSES in speed skating and I can’t wait to watch two of the nation's best skaters kick off the meet at these Olympic Games. It all starts with the women’s 3000m race on Saturday at 3:30am ET followed by the women’s 1500m event on Sunday at 3:30am ET.
Canada’s Isabelle Weidemann and Ivanie Blondin are the two Canadian women to watch in the individual events.
Ryan Watson @r_watson_
#Speedskating at the #Beijing2022WinterOlympics is set to kick off with the #Womens3000m on Saturday February 5. This event is the first of 14 speed skating events throughout the games from February 5th to 19th #TorontoObserver @TorontoObserverWeidemann heads to her second Games as the top-ranked woman in the World Cup long distance standings. After a stellar performance at World Cups in Poland, Norway and Calgary, Weidemann is a true medal contender in this event. Weidemann won silver in two of the three 3000m races held this fall and a silver in the lone 5000m race.
Blondin is a two-time world champion and three-time world silver medallist in the mass start. Qualified in five events, she’ll have the busiest schedule of any Canadian speed skater in Beijing, which will be her third Olympic Games. She’s also won World Cup medals in the 1500m, 3000, and 5000m over the course of her career.
This should be fun! Make sure to tune in to the women’s 3000m and 1500m races, Saturday and Sunday on CBC Sports!
Freestyle Skiing ⛷ Moguls Final
As the Olympic Games remind us every year, human beings can do some incredible things on skis.
Look out for two of the Dufour-Lapointe sisters, Justine and Chloé. They’re back and looking to add to their medal collections. Justine is moving closer to her quest to win a third consecutive Olympic medal while Chloé is making freestyle skiing history.
Justine secured the 10th and final automatic qualifying spot for Sunday’s first of three finals, topping the Canadian women’s contingent with a score of 71.45.
Chloé just missed advancing directly to the final, placing 11th with 70.31 points while becoming the first Canadian woman to compete in freestyle skiing in four Winter Games. Sofiane Gagnon of Whistler, was the 14th of 25 finishers and will join her teammate on Sunday battling for the remaining 10 spots in the first final.
Australia’s Jakara Anthony led the opening round of women’s qualifying with a score of 83.75 followed by defending Olympic gold medalist Perrine Laffont of France with 81.11. American Jaelin Kauf rounded out the top three with 79.15 points.
SO there are a lot of amazing competitors heading into Sunday. You’re not going to want to miss it. Tune in to the moguls qualifications Sunday at 5am ET AND the moguls finals Sunday at 6:30am ET on CBC Sports!
👀 Must-see Event: Snowboard Slopestyle Final 🥇🥈🥉
Things are about to get LIT with the Women's Slopestyle Final this weekend, but first up are the qualification runs starting TONIGHT! 👏
Expectations are high for Zoi Sadowski-Synnott as she is the overall favourite in this competition and looks to improve on her bronze medal from 2018. The 20-year-old is fixated on becoming New Zealand's first-ever Winter Olympics gold medalist. She first caught my eye in PyeongChang in the Big Air as she stood out among her competitors with a stunning performance. But I must say, she faces some stiff competition from American Jamie Anderson.
The fun continues as gold-medalist Anderson looks to top the podium. She has had great success in freestyle competitions and won the gold medal in the first-ever women’s slopestyle event in 2014. With her eyes set on making history with a three-peat in the slopestyle, she won’t make it easy on Sadowski-Synnott.
Three Canadians, Jasmine Baird, Laurie Blouin and Brooke Voigt will begin their Olympics with these qualification rounds. Blouin is one to watch in this competition as she won silver in 2018. She is currently ranked fourth in the world rankings for slopestyle. Check her out on her first day of practice ⬇️:
This is a relatively new competition and I am SO EXCITED to see how the athletes do down this course of jumps and rails. They will be scored by the judges on the basis of originality, amplitude and quality of tricks. So bring out the grinds, grabs, spins and flips because I am ready for it ALL!
Catch the Snowboarding - Women's Slopestyle Qualifications tonight at 9:45pm ET and be sure not to miss the gold medal final Saturday at 8:30pm ET on CBC Sports.
Canada Watch | Women’s Hockey 🇨🇦
The Canadian women’s hockey team opened its Olympics with a 12-1 victory over Switzerland on Thursday in Beijing and I’m so ready to watch this team shine throughout the rest of the tournament.
Over the past dozen years, Marie-Philip Poulin’s goal-scoring heroics have proven crucial to Canada’s most important women’s hockey victories.
With Poulin held to one assist in her team’s opening win over Switzerland, the Canadians proved something equally valuable: they have the depth to overwhelm opponents without relying on their captain to carry the load.
Twelve different players registered points for Canada including six Olympic rookies AND Sarah Filler, Natalie Spooner and Claire Thompson all came out of the game with five points. The Canadians also outshot the Swiss 70-15 (shocked emoji). I’m always in awe when I watch Canada absolutely dominate on the world stage. Switzerland is ranked No.5 and it was a walk in the park for the red and whites.
There’s a chance Canada might have a harder time against Finland on Friday. Just one spot behind them in the rankings (Canada is No.2 and Finland is No.3), the Finnish side kept the game a lot tighter against the U.S. than the Swiss were able to do against Canada.
BUT I do think Canada is going to claim their second win of these Olympics. And judging by their star power and offensive prowess, I ALSO think it’s going to be a high scoring game.
This is not a team you want to miss. Let’s see if Canada can keep those shots on net high in their upcoming games.
Team Canada returns to action on Friday at 11:10pm ET against Finland and then again on Sunday against ROC at 11:10pm ET. Make sure to tune in on CBC Sports!
TV Guide
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