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Canada is poised for a big day at the Winter Paralympics
No Canadian athlete won a medal today in Beijing — the first time that’s happened at these Games. Day 7 could be quite the opposite, as several Canadians look capable of reaching the podium in individual events. Plus, a pair of Canadian teams can guarantee themselves a medal with a victory in their semifinals.
Here’s what to watch on what should be an eventful Thursday night and Friday morning:
Para hockey: Canada can set up another gold-medal showdown with the U.S.
The Canadian team shouldn’t have much trouble with its semifinal at 11:05 p.m. ET vs. South Korea, which it beat 6-0 in the group stage. Expect to see a gold-medal rematch vs. the defending-champion United States, which is playing China in the other semifinal. Read about how the Canadians are approaching the medal round here.
Wheelchair curling: Canada gets another crack at China in the semifinals
The Canadians clinched their playoff spot in dramatic fashion last night, with Jon Thurston scoring three with the final rock of Canada’s final round-robin game for a 7-6 win over Norway. Canada (7-3) placed fourth in the opening stage, setting up a semifinal rematch vs. top-seeded China at 1:35 a.m. ET.
The Chinese beat Canada in the semis at the 2018 Paralympics en route to winning gold, while Canada went on to take bronze. But the Canadians got a measure of revenge in this year’s tournament opener, defeating China 7-3. The other semifinal pits Slovakia vs. Sweden.
Biathlon: Mark Arendz goes for his 11th Paralympic medal
The 32-year-old has won medals in both his biathlon competitions so far at these Games, taking gold in the men’s standing middle-distance event and bronze in the short-distance. He’ll try to make it 3-for-3 when his long-distance race goes at 11:40 p.m. ET.
Collin Cameron will also try for his third medal of the Games when the men’s sitting event goes at 9:30 p.m. ET. He’s reached a pair of cross-country skiing podiums already in Beijing to raise his career total to five Paralympic medals (all bronze).
In the women’s standing race at 11:20 p.m. ET, Brittany Hudak goes for her second medal of the Games after skiing to bronze in cross-country’s long-distance event. She took bronze in her long-distance biathlon race at the 2018 Paralympics.
Alpine skiing: Canada has multiple contenders in the women’s giant slaloms
In the standing category, 22-year-old Mollie Jepsen is going for her sixth Paralympic medal after adding a downhill gold in Beijing to the four medals she won at the 2018 Games. One of those was a bronze in the giant slalom. Jepsen also took bronze in the giant slalom at this year’s World Para Snow Sports Championships, where she reached three podiums.
Competing against Jepsen is Alana Ramsay, who’s already won a pair of medals in Beijing to run her career Paralympic total to four (all bronze), and Paralympic rookie Michaela Gosselin, who’s looking for her first medal.
In the sitting category, Katie Combaluzier should challenge for a podium spot after taking silver in the giant slalom at the world championships, where she matched Jepsen by winning three medals.
Racing starts at 7:30 p.m. ET, and each giant slalom competition consists of two runs.
Snowboarding: Canadians look to build on their breakthrough
Tyler Turner and Lisa DeJong won Canada’s first-ever Paralympic medals in this sport when they took, respectively, gold in the men’s snowboard cross and silver in the women’s on Day 3. They’ll both try for another medal in the banked slalom events, which start at 10 p.m. ET. DeJong took silver in this discipline at World Para Snow Sports Championships in January and Turner got bronze.
Competing against DeJong is Sandrine Hamel, who took bronze in the banked slalom at the world championships. Alex Massie, who races in a different men’s category than Turner, won silver at the worlds.
More on the Paralympics
Catch up on everything you may have missed from Day 6 here. Read more about Canadian cross-country star Brian McKeever ahead of the final solo race of his remarkable career here. See the medal standings here.
How to watch live events
They’re being streamed on CBC Sports’ Beijing 2022 website, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem. See the full streaming schedule here, including links to watch events when they go live. You can also catch Paralympic action daily on the CBC TV network. See the full TV schedule here. Read more about CBC Sports’ Paralympic coverage plans here.
WATCH | What you missed on Day 6 of the Paralympics:
Canada’s wheelchair curling team continued their gold medal charge with a tight 7-6 victory over Norway. The Canadian Para ice hockey team gears up for a run to the gold-medal game. First up, South Korea in the semifinals. Catch up on what you missed overnight with CBC Sports’ Jacqueline Doorey. 3:14
Quickly…
Major League Baseball and its players have reportedly reached a tentative deal to end the lockout. This news broke just before our publish time, so the details were just starting to roll in. But, reportedly, assuming the agreement is ratified, a full 162-game season will be played starting April 7 and players can report to their spring-training camps as early as tomorrow. Read more details as they become available here.
The British government seized control of a famous soccer team from a Russian oligarch. The sanctions placed on Roman Abramovich today as punishment for his close relationship with Vladimir Putin included a freezing of his assets in Great Britain. Among those is the Chelsea soccer team, which Abramovich said he was putting up for sale after Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine. The British government is allowing Chelsea to continue playing in the English Premier League, but many of the club’s activities are restricted. It can’t sign players or even sell tickets or merchandise. The process of selling the team is now subject to government approval as well. Read more about Britain’s move here.
Brad Gushue’s team remained the only unbeaten one at the Brier. An extra-end win over Jason Gunnlaugson’s rink today improved Gushue and company to 7-0 and clinched first place in Pool B with one game left in the opening stage. Pool A has a three-way tie at the top with Kevin Koe’s Alberta team, Brendan Bottcher’s defending-champion Team Canada and Matt Dunstone’s wild-card rink all 6-1. The opening stage wraps up tonight, and the top three teams in each pool advance to the playoffs. Read more about today’s action at the Brier here.
Novak Djokovic is missing another big-time tennis event because of his refusal to get vaccinated. The 20-time Grand Slam winner already chose not getting a COVID-19 shot over playing in the Australian Open. Now he’s unable to play in the prestigious Indian Wells tournament in California because the United States, like Australia, requires foreign visitors to be vaxxed. So the world No. 2 will miss tennis’ “fifth major,” which is getting started this week, along with the Miami Open, beginning March 21. Read more about the continued turbulence Djokovic is experiencing this year here.
You’re up to speed. Talk to you tomorrow.
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