Olympic Roundup: Canada comes up empty on first day of medals in Pyeongchang
Canada was still looking for its first medal after Saturday’s competition at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, but big results from the country’s snowboarders, curlers and lugers suggested that a trip to the podium would not be far off.
Canadian athletes came close, but failed to reach the podium on the first day medals were handed out in South Korea. Samuel Girard of Ferland-et-Boilleau, Que., finished fourth in the men’s 1,500-metre short-track speedskating event, a solid result for the Olympic rookie.
The finish was more disappointing for four-time Olympic medallist Charles Hamelin of Sainte-Julie, Que., who was disqualified in the final for impeding another skater. Hamelin, participating in his last Games, was the defending Olympic champion in the discipline and was considered one of the country’s early medal favourites.
“When you look at the individual distances on the men’s side, there is not a lot of back-to-back medals,” Hamelin said. “It shows how much short track speed skating changes in four years.