Liam Brearley's historic bronze adds to heavy medal finish for Canada to close out the Youth Olympics
Gravenhurst snowboarder wins 3rd of Games, most ever by a Canadian at Games
LAUSANNE — Canadian athletes saved their best single-day medal haul at the Youth Olympics for last.
The medal rush started early on Wednesday with the men's hockey team defeating Finland, 4-2, for bronze, and was capped with Liam Brearley's third medal of the Games, a bronze in snowboard big air.
The 16-year-old from Gravenhurst, Ont., is the first Canadian to win three medals at a single Youth Olympics, having won silver and bronze earlier in the Games.
With his mother, sister and grandmother watching, Brearley electrified his family and the crowd of onlookers by soaring and spinning through the air and then stomping his landing during all three final runs.
WATCH | Brearley brings home bronze:
The three medals on the final day brought Canada's medal total at Lausanne 2020 to eight.
Against Finland in hockey, Canada scored two goals a minute apart early in the first period and never looked back, scoring an empty-netter late in the third to seal the win. The strong performance to leave with a medal came just 24 hours after a disappointing semifinal loss to the Americans.
Head coach Gordie Dwyer said after the defeat his team would play with Canadian pride in the third-place game, that it was "the Canadian way" to fight until the end.
As a part of the Youth Olympics, many competitions included countries participating with each other in what they called mixed National Olympic Committee events. All of the mixed events were gender equal.
The last NOC event at the Games included mixed doubles curling.
WATCH | Canadians claim curling gold:
Torbay, N.L. curler Nathan Young, who skipped Canada's mixed team at the Youth Olympics, was paired with Hungarian curler Laura Nagy.
The two found instant chemistry in the event and found themselves in Wednesday's gold-medal game.
Nagy, who is the daughter of a well-known Hungarian husband and wife curling duo, was brilliant throughout the event. So too was the Newfoundland and Labrador skipper.
Young's poise and confident demeanour shone in the most pressure-packed moments in the championship game.
Young and Nagy bolted out to an insurmountable 7-0 lead over a duo comprised of Russian and French curlers — despite their opponent's late surge, Young and Nagy held on for a 9-5 victory to claim Youth Olympic gold.
The gold medal does not count in Canada's overall medal tally, however, as the two were competing under the Olympic flag.