分类： sports

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — The Canadian men’s curling team launched their Olympic redemption quest with a nail-biting 7-6 victory over Germany that required an extra end during Wednesday’s opening round-robin session. Skip Brad Jacobs, returning to Olympic ice for the first time since his gold medal performance in Sochi 2014, delivered a clutch final stone that secured the hard-fought win.

The dramatic conclusion saw Jacobs execute perfect precision under immense pressure, deftly removing a German stone from the house while positioning his own rock perfectly in the button for the decisive point. “It’s been a long time for me—I’m cherishing every moment of this,” an emotional Jacobs remarked post-game. “This is spectacular.”

Germany had forced the extra end with a remarkable two-point play on the final shot of the tenth end, tying the score at 6-6 and extending the contest in the evening’s final match at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.

The session featured multiple tight contests, with Italy delivering an upset victory over defending champion Sweden by identical 7-6 margin amid roaring home crowd support. Britain dominated China 9-4 with an end to spare, while the United States narrowly defeated Czechia 8-7.

This opening victory carries particular significance for Canada, traditionally considered curling’s dominant force. The nation faces heightened pressure following the mixed doubles team’s failure to reach semifinals in Cortina. The international curling landscape has undergone significant transformation over the past decade, with Canada’s last Olympic medal in men’s curling remaining Jacobs’ gold from twelve years ago. Since then, Sweden and the United States have captured gold medals while Canada managed only one bronze.

Teammate Marc Kennedy addressed the evolving competitive landscape: “People need to understand how difficult international curling is these days. These teams are good, these players have been around a long time. Many come to Canada to refine their game, and they now match or exceed most Canadian teams. That expectation of automatic medal contention has disappeared—it’s a tough battle out there.”

The women’s curling competition commences Thursday, following Sweden’s mixed doubles victory over the United States in Tuesday’s final.

In a stunning upset on their home track, Italian lugers Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer captured the first-ever Olympic gold medal in women’s doubles luge at the Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Games. The pair, who had not won a single World Cup event this season and were largely overlooked as contenders, delivered a flawless performance under pressure to finish in 1 minute, 46.204 seconds.

The victory came against formidable competition, with German silver medalists Dajana Eitberger (2018 women’s singles silver medalist) and Magdalena Matschina finishing just two-tenths of a second behind (1:46.404). The Austrian duo of Selina Egle and Lara Kipp secured bronze with a time of 1:46.543.

Notably absent from the historic race were several top teams due to restrictive qualification rules. Only 11 sleds were permitted to compete with a maximum of one per nation, excluding world-leading German pair Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal, along with the top American team of Maya Chan and Sophia Gordon. This exclusion sparked controversy within the sport, as four sleds that failed to qualify for the Olympics had outperformed the Italian champions in World Cup standings throughout the season.

The American representatives Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby finished fifth (1:47.565) but earned a permanent place in Olympic history as the first women’s doubles sled to compete in the Games.

Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych has vowed to continue wearing his commemorative helmet during competition at the Winter Olympics despite the International Olympic Committee’s prohibition of the tribute piece. The helmet features images of Ukrainian athletes killed during Russia’s ongoing invasion of his homeland.

The 25-year-old athlete, who made history as Ukraine’s first Olympic skeleton competitor, wore the helmet during Wednesday’s training sessions after being formally notified of its prohibition. The IOC maintains the helmet violates Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter, which prohibits political, religious, or racial propaganda in Olympic venues. Instead, officials have suggested Heraskevych wear a black armband to honor the deceased.

‘These athletes deserve to be on the track,’ Heraskevych stated emotionally during a press conference. ‘Some of them were my friends, and many were part of the Olympic family. With this helmet, we keep their memories alive.’ Among those memorialized are teenage weightlifter Alina Peregudova, boxer Pavlo Ishchenko, and ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov.

The IOC has refrained from confirming whether disciplinary action would follow Heraskevych’s continued use of the helmet. Spokesperson Mark Adams emphasized the committee’s desire to resolve the matter ‘on a human level’ rather than through public confrontation. ‘We really want him to compete,’ Adams stated. ‘We want all athletes to have their moment.’

Heraskevych challenged the IOC’s consistency in enforcement, citing American figure skater Maxim Naumov’s recent display of a photograph honoring his parents, who died in a Washington DC plane crash. Naumov faced no sanctions for his emotional tribute while awaiting scores during his routine. ‘We have the same rules,’ Heraskevych argued. ‘They showed photos when they were waiting for the scores… I don’t see any difference.’

This isn’t Heraskevych’s first political statement at the Olympics—during the 2022 Beijing Games, he displayed a ‘No War in Ukraine’ sign days before Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly thanked the athlete for ‘reminding the world of the price of our struggle.’

The controversy highlights the ongoing tension between the IOC’s commitment to political neutrality and athletes’ growing demands to express human rights concerns. The men’s skeleton competition continues through Friday, with Heraskevych determined to keep his fallen compatriots symbolically present on the track.