When I first met Patrick Chan, he was peering over the Hershey Centre rink boards from the ice with only his eyes in sight. He was 10 years old but looked eight, maybe less, at the Canadian national junior championships. As a juvenile, the category on the lowest rung, he took a bronze medal. His […]
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Seguin and Bilodeau: not a medal but a win
Perhaps you could call the Olympic debut of Julianne Seguin and Charlie Bilodeau a happy ending to a pressure-packed road. Perhaps even more so a happy beginning. The fetching young team finished eighth in the pair free skate this week in Pyeongchang, and ninth overall, under the watchful eye of veteran coach Josee Picard. Picard […]
An emotional Olympic pair final
You can’t make this stuff up. No Hollywood writer could have conjured up such a load of emotion and tears and effort and heart as the Olympic pair final. It was epic. Bruno Massot looked so apologetic after he had doubled a triple Salchow in the short program the previous night. He felt as if […]
Keegan Messing, speechless
VANCOUVER Keegan Messing got the call late Saturday night, hours after the men’s final at the National Skating Championships. His coach, Ralph Burghart called him to tell him that yes, he was on Canada’s Olympic team and he’d better be ready to pack his bags for Pyeongchang next month. Because it was so late, Messing, […]
The men's short program in Vancouver
VANCOUVER From the mists of Vancouver finally emerged Patrick Chan. And he is shedding some rust. “It’s slippery,” he said, after he fell on his opening quad toe loop, then sliding unceremoniously on his side. Thinking on his feet, he added a triple toe loop to his triple Lutz, but then stepped out of a […]
The miracle of Elladj Balde
VANCOUVER You have your Patrick Chans, your Kevin Reynolds, your Keegan Messings. All good. But Elladj Balde stole the show in the men’s short program at the National Skating Championships Friday night. He expected nothing. Perhaps no more than a fond farewell. This is his final season as a competitor. He so wanted this season […]
Perfection cometh after the fall
VANCOUVER Close to perfection, judges seemed to say. Not far off it. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir claimed victory in the Latin short dance with a score of 85.12, and that is only .18 short of all they can possibly get if they max out their components and grades of execution. On the other hand, […]
Gabby Daleman taking no prisoners
VANCOUVER Forget the strep throat, the pneumonia, and all of the inflictions that have ever encroached upon Gabby Daleman’s life. The 19-year-old (she’ll be 20 on Sunday), powered her way through the women’s short program at the National Skating Championships on Friday, defying all of it, facing it squarely with her brown eyes. And she’s […]
Duhamel and Radford: another program change
VANCOUVER Timing is everything, isn’t it? If not for a chance few moments on the other side of the world a few weeks ago, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford may not have found the answer to that question that has niggled at their subconscious levels all season: Just why is that Muse routine – so […]
Gabby Daleman: what strength is
VANCOUVER Gabby Daleman, world bronze medalist, never seems to catch a break. She has always had to make her own breaks. And she rides a roller coaster through the rest. You’d think this season that she would have been able to bask in her achievements in Helsinki. But no. At Cup of China, she suffered […]