Five stories to watch on Saturday - The Globe and Mail

Canada's Ivanie Blondin reacts after winning the gold medal and setting an Olympic record in the speedskating women's team pursuit finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Feb. 15, 2022, in Beijing.The Associated Press

Canadian podium contenders in mass start race

The chaotic speed-skating mass start race, in both the men’s and women’s disciplines, will go on Saturday. The roller-derby-esque style race has a few Canadian medal hopefuls in the field, including Ivanie Blondin, who helped win a gold for Canada in the women’s team pursuit, and, on the men’s side, Jordan Belchos and Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu who won silver and bronze medals in the mass start event at the 2020 world speed-skating championships.

Canada's Noah Bowman performs a trick at the Beijing Olympics at Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, China, on Feb. 17, 2022.DYLAN MARTINEZ/Reuters

Canada with a couple of medal hopefuls in men’s halfpipe

The men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe event will hand out hardware Saturday with a couple of top Canadian contenders in the field. Vancouver’s Simon d’Artois is expected to be right in the mix for a podium finish. He won a silver medal in the halfpipe at the 2021 Winter X Games. As well, Calgary’s Noah Bowman could also threaten for a medal. He was a bronze medalist at the 2019 world championships.

Sweden's Niklas Edin throws a rock during a men's curling semi-final match between Canada and Sweden at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb. 17, 2022.Brynn Anderson/The Associated Press

Gold medal being awarded in men’s curling

Saturday will mark the end of the men’s curling competition with the gold-medal match being handed out. Canada’s Brad Gushue, who won gold in this same event in 2006 in Turin, unfortunately wasn’t able to reach the championship game again after Canada fell to Sweden 5-3 in the semi-finals. Instead, the gold medal will come down to a battle between Niklas Edin of Sweden and Britain’s Bruce Mouat.

Vanessa James and Eric Radford, of Canada, compete in the pairs team free skate program during the team figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics on Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing.David J. Phillip/The Associated Press

Pairs figure skating event concludes

Saturday will mark conclusion to the figure-skating competition at the Beijing Olympics with the pairs free skate. The new Canadian pair of Eric Radford and Vanessa James are expected to be the top Canadian team in the field, but given the fact they two just came together for this season – and they also both tested positive for COVID-19 at the 2022 Canadian Championships ahead of the Games – expectations are relatively muted for them.

Christine de Bruin and Kristen Bujnowski of Canada start during a 2-woman bobsled training at the Winter Olympics on Feb. 17, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing.Pavel Golovkin/The Associated Press

De Bruin possibly going for another medal

Monobob bronze medalist Christine de Bruin has a shot to collect another medal on the sliding track – this time with a partner. De Bruin and brakewoman Kristen Bujnowski are expected to contend for a spot on the podium in Saturday’s two-woman bobsled event. De Bruin won bronze medals in the two-woman race at the 2019 and 2020 world championships.

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Five stories to watch on Saturday - The Globe and Mail
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