Hockey and curling playoffs FTW!
It's starting to get exciting! The end is quickly approaching, with hockey and curling playoffs, as well as multiple relay events.
Alpine Skiing
The men have their two giant slalom runs today, with the combined time determining the winner. The first run starts at 11:00, followed by the second run at 14:30.
Biathlon
The mixed relay has quite the interesting set-up. Each of the 4 teammates make 3 laps around the track (2km for the 2 women, 2.5km for the 2 men), with 2 rounds of shooting in the middle. There are 3 spare bullets that can be used, but any misses past add on a loop around the 150m penalty lap. Canada’s team will have Rosanna Crawford, Megan Imrie, Brendan Green and Scott Perras. Racing starts at 18:30.
Bobsleigh
The women will have the last 2 heats today for their event. Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse sit in 2nd after the first 2 heats, only 0.23 seconds behind the American leaders. Jennifer Ciochetti and Chelsea Valois are in 13th right now, 2.17 seconds behind the aforementioned Americans. Heat 3 starts at 20:15, followed by Heat 4 at 21:25.
Cross-Country
The team sprint also has a very interesting set-up. The two teammates take turn skiing 1.5km legs, 3 each for a total of 9km. The fastest total is the winner. The semifinals are done in heats of 10-15 teams, where the top 5 advance to the finals. Canada will have Dara Gaiazova and Perianne Jones in the ladies event, while Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey will take on the men’s event. The ladies will have their semifinals at 13:15, and the finals at 15:45. The men will have their semis at 14:05, and their finals at 16:15.
Curling
It’s finally time for the semifinals!!! The winners today will go on to the gold-medal matches, while the losers will have to fight for the bronzes. Jennifer Jones and her girls will be taking on Great Britain today, while Swedish ladies will face Switzerland. Both the women’s games start at 14:00. Meanwhile, Brad Jacobs and his men will face China, while the Swedish men will face Great Britain. Both the men’s games start at 19:00.
Figure Skating
It’s still not done yet, the ladies still need to go! Gabrielle Daleman and Kaetlyn Osmond will represent Canada in the ladies event, which starts at 19:00 today with the short programs.
Ice Hockey
Now it’s really getting fun, isn’t it? The women have the day off today, and it’s a good thing they do, because the men’s quarterfinals will have the spotlight. The first game at 12:00 will face Sweden against Slovenia, followed by the hard-to-predict Finland-Russia matchup at 16:30. The two winners of those games will face each other in the semifinals. The two 21:00 games will feature USA against the Czech Republic, and Canada versus the Latvian team that upset Switzerland yesterday. Once again, the two winners of the 21:00 games will face each other in the semifinals.
Snowboard
The parallel giant slalom has two athletes racing at the same time on parallel courses, going head-to-head for the fastest finish. The best times in the qualification rounds advance to the elimination-style final rounds. On the ladies side, we have Caroline Calve, Ariane Lavigne and Marianne Leeson representing Canada. Meanwhile, the Canadian men will be Matthew Morison, Michael Lambert, and incumbent Vancouver 2010 gold-medallist Jasey Jay Anderson.
The start times for each round will alternate between the men and women. The ladies have qualifications at 9:15, 1/8 finals at 13:00, quarterfinals at 13:48, semifinals at 14:15, and finals at 14:31. The men will have qualifications at 9:42, 1/8 finals at 13:12, quarterfinals at 13:54, semifinals at 14:18, and finals at 14:35.
Speed Skating
The ladies will skate the 5000m today, with Ivanie Blondin being the only Canadian in the running. Races start at 17:30.
For lots of coverage, be sure to check out the official Sochi Olympics, CBC Olympics, and Team Canada Olympics websites.
Canada go!