Your guide to an action-packed Olympic sports weekend
Brier begins, Shiffrin eyes record and plenty more
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With hardly a break through the weekend, you can completely immerse yourself in Olympic sports, including Canadian and world championships. Here's what and how to watch:
Curling
The Brier, Canada's men's curling championship, gets going with its first draw on Friday at 7 p.m. ET in London, Ont. The winner both goes on to compete at the world championship, which begins on April 1 in Ottawa, and gains an automatic berth to the 2024 Brier as Team Canada. Since 2016, just three skips have so much as reached the Brier final, with defending champion Brad Gushue taking four titles to Kevin Koe's two and Brendan Bottcher's one. Ken Pomeroy, who rose to fame for his college basketball analysis but also produces curling models, ranks Gushue as the top men's player in the world, with Bottcher fourth and Koe eighth. Koe beat Bottcher in the Alberta qualifying final, meaning Bottcher will enter as a wild-card rink. Another wrinkle for Gushue is Curling Canada's clarification today that if he doesn't win again, he'll have to make changes to his team due to residency rules. Read more about the Gushue dilemma here.
If you're looking for someone to upset the apple cart, Pomeroy's model lists Manitoba's Matt Dunstone as the sixth in the world. Fellow Manitoban Reid Carruthers, ranked 11th, is another underdog candidate.
CBC Sports' That Curling Show, featuring six-time Scotties champion Colleen Jones and curling reporter Devin Heroux, returns tonight with a full Brier preview show featuring Gushue and Ben Hebert, who plays lead for Bottcher. Watch it live on CBC Sports' YouTube tonight at 7 p.m. ET or on CBC Gem as of Friday at 9 a.m. ET.
Alpine skiing
The big story here is Mikaela Shiffrin, who will have chances each of the next three days to tie and possibly break Ingemar Stenmark's career record of 86 World Cup victories. This weekend's Norway World Cup presents three speed events — super-Gs on Friday and Sunday, downhill on Saturday — which aren't necessarily Shiffrin's strengths. But the American still posted the fastest downhill training time on Wednesday, and she managed a super-G silver at worlds among her three medals. Laurence St-Germain, the Canadian who stunningly topped Shiffrin for slalom gold at worlds, won't be in the field. Friday and Sunday's races begin at 4:20 a.m. ET, while Saturday's is at 4:50 a.m ET.
The men, meanwhile, resume their World Cup season in Aspen, Colo., with downhills on Friday (1:20 p.m. ET) and Saturday (12:50 p.m. ET) followed by a super-G on Sunday (11:50 a.m. ET). Canada's Jack Crawford, the reigning super-G world champion, and Cameron Alexander, who scored downhill bronze, are both set to compete. All of the skiing will be carried live across CBC Sports digital platforms.
Speed skating
Canadians collected their first medals of the world championships today — and they did it in style, racing to gold in both the women's and men's team sprint, a non-Olympic event. The trio of Brooklyn McDougall, Carolina Hiller and veteran Ivanie Blondin outpaced the favoured Americans by 0.28 seconds to take top spot in the women's race, while Christopher Fiola, Laurent Dubreuil and Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu stunned the locally favoured Dutch on their home ice. Earlier, Valerie Maltais placed fifth in the women's 3,000 metres — one spot ahead of Olympic bronze medallist and teammate Isabelle Weidemann. Blondin was 10th. Meanwhile, two-time Olympic medallist Ted-Jan Bloemen, who was born in the Netherlands but represents Canada, placed 18th in the men's 5,000m.
WATCH | Canada's McDougall, Hiller, Blondin claim women's team sprint gold at worlds:
Action from the Heerenveen track picks back up on Friday at 1 p.m. ET on CBC Sports' digital platforms, when the trio of Weidemann, Blondin and Maltais will look to complete their perfect team pursuit season before Dubreuil takes aim at defending his 500m world title. All medal races will be called by Olympic speed skater Anastasia Bucsis and Signa Butler. Read more about today's results here.
Snowboard and freestyle ski world championships
The ongoing events taking place simultaneously in Bakuriani, Georgia, begin a final weekend of action with the men's and women's snowboard halfpipe finals on Friday at 1 a.m. ET. The lone Canadian in either field is Elizabeth Hosking, who at 21 is already a two-time Olympian, improving from 19th place in 2018 to sixth in 2022. The current season has been Hosking's best yet, with a pair of World Cup silvers propelling the Quebec native to the Crystal Globe, awarded to the season's top points performer. The snowboard big air competition, which goes Sunday at 5 a.m. ET, is devoid of most familiar names but features two Canadians: Olympic silver medallist Laurie Blouin and 22-year-old Nicolas LaFramboise.
The skiers round out their schedule with halfpipe and big air on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, at 1 a.m. ET. Canada has three entries each in the men's and women's halfpipe final. Big air qualification goes tomorrow. You can watch all the finals across CBC Sports digital platforms.
Rugby sevens
The World Series rolls into Vancouver with an even number of women's and men's teams set to compete in Canada for the first time. Canadian fans, though, are unlikely to see a medal winner, with both squads sitting firmly in rebuilding stages following a swath of injuries and retirements after the Tokyo Olympics. The women's team, once a consistent weekly podium threat, is now ranked 10th in the world. The top four teams, excluding France, at the end of the season, qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but though that was once Canada's goal, co-captain Olivia Apps admits it "does seem a bit far for us."
Canada's men are also struggling, ranked 14th and having recently endured an eight-game losing streak. With the World Series tour reducing its number of core men's teams from 16 to 12 next season, the Canadians are firmly in danger of relegation. Live coverage of both tournaments will be available across CBC Sports platforms beginning Friday at 12:05 p.m. ET. Read more about Canada's teams in this piece by CBC Sports' Marcus Rebelo.
Other offerings
CBC Sports will also carry live action from the final weekend of the Canada Winter Games, in addition to the world junior figure skating championships and the Biathlon Cup. For details on what's available on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app, CBC Gem and the CBC TV network, see the full streaming and broadcast schedule here.
