Canadian prodigy overjoyed after retaining the title for her country. PHOTO: REUTERS
The self-same Marielle Thompson, now 21, retained the title for her country Friday- and for Whistler - when she led Kelsey Serwa to a Canadian one-two in Sochi.
Following McIvor’s injury-forced retirement from the sport in 2012, Thompson and her team mates felt honour-bound to keep the Olympic title in their country. “It’s really great to keep it in Canadian hands,” Thompson told reporters after her victory at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. “I got to watch Ashleigh win off my couch, watching her on TV,” she said.
Sisters Justine and Chloe Dufour La Pointe came first and second in the women’s moguls, while Alex Bilodeau and Mikael Kingsbury took the top two steps on the podium in the men’s event.
The ski cross triumph involved more than a little team work, Thompson said. “In the first turn I gave her a little space because she called inside. We definitely tried to help each other; I’m not going to cut her off. That’s just how we went the whole way down.”
Swedes relieved after claiming Curling bronze
World champions Sweden were relieved to have something to show for their Olympic campaign after beating China 6-4 on Friday in a dramatic extra end to take the bronze medal.
It was Sweden’s first men’s medal since curling was brought back into the Olympic programme in 1998 and followed a fourth place finish for skip Niklas Edin’s team four years ago.
“A fourth place again would have been expensive for all of us, as human beings, curlers and as a team as well,” Edin told reporters. “It was mostly a big sigh of relief,” he said of his emotions after the victory over China which follows a silver won by Sweden’s women on Thursday.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2014.
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