Olympic stock watch: Brad Gushue is peaking at the right time
2006 gold medallist wins final Grand Slam before Canadian trials
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Olympic stock watch: Gushue up, Hanyu down
Call it the calm before the winter storm. We'll soon be buried in Olympic sports events as the World Cup seasons in skiing, snowboarding, speed skating and the like kick into high gear ahead of the Beijing Games. But this was a relatively quiet weekend, with only two major winter events taking place — a curling Grand Slam and a figure skating Grand Prix. Here's whose stock is pointing up and whose is down coming out of those:
Up: Brad Gushue
The 2006 Olympic men's curling champion seems to be peaking at the right time. He beat Scotland's Bruce Mouat 5-2 in the final yesterday to win the National — the last Grand Slam tournament before the Canadian Olympic trials begin on Nov. 20.
This is Gushue's first Slam title since 2018, and it solidifies his status as one of the favourites for the trials, along with 2014 Olympic gold medallist Brad Jacobs, 2017 trials winner and four-time Brier champion Kevin Koe, and reigning Brier champ Brendan Bottcher. Gushue defeated Koe in the National semifinals. Bottcher fell in the quarter-finals to Mouat. Jacobs, who reached the final of the previous Slam (he lost to Mouat) didn't qualify for the quarters.
Down, technically, but really still up: Bruce Mouat and Tracy Fleury
You know things are going well when merely reaching the final of a star-studded tournament feels like a letdown. But that's how hot Mouat has been running. Before losing yesterday's National final to Gushue, the 27-year-old Scottish skip had won three consecutive Slams — two last April in the Calgary bubble, and then the season opener two weeks ago. Mouat also took silver at the men's world championship and won the mixed doubles world title last spring. That's a heck of a run, and Mouat's rink is currently No. 1 in the world according to Ken Pomeroy's statistical rankings system. They'll be strong contenders for Olympic gold this February.
Fleury might be the women's equivalent of Mouat right now. Like the Scotsman, the 35-year-old Manitoban is often overshadowed by glitzier names but just keeps delivering results. Fleury also lost her final at the National yesterday, to Sweden's Anna Hasselborg. But she won the previous Slam, beating six-time Scotties champ Jennifer Jones in the final. Fleury's rink is up to No. 2 in Pomeroy's women's rankings — behind Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni, winner of the last two world championships, and ahead of Canadian stars Rachel Homan and Kerri Einarson, who met in the last two Scotties finals. Fleury is showing she's capable of giving them those two and Jones a run for their money at the trials. Read more about the women's and men's finals at the National and watch highlights here.
Up: Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron
All eyes at figure skating's Italian Grand Prix were on the four-time world ice dance champions as they returned to competition after skipping the pandemic-marred 2020-21 season. They didn't miss a beat, defeating three-time world championship medallists Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States to win gold. Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus, the only Canadians competing at this Grand Prix stop, placed seventh in the dance.
With 2018 Olympic ice dance champs Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada now retired, Papadakis and Cizeron (the silver medallists in Pyeongchang) look like the team to beat in Beijing. They'll compete again at the Nov. 19-21 Grand Prix stop in their native France.
Up: Russian women
The country that claimed the top two steps on the Olympic women's figure skating podium in 2018, and all three at the 2021 world championships, just keeps churning out talent. Anna Shcherbakova celebrated her 17th birthday in March by winning the world title, and was joined on the medal stand by Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (24) and Alexandra Trusova (now 17). Last month, 15-year-old Maya Khromykh beat Shcherbakova at an event in Budapest.
Shcherbakova struck back at the Italian Grand Prix this weekend, rallying from third place after the short program with a personal-best score in the free skate that allowed her to leapfrog Khromykh for the gold. Read more about all four events at the Italian Grand Prix and watch highlights here. Watch That Figure Skating Show's Dylan Moscovitch and Asher Hill break down Shcherbakova's performance here and Papadakis and Cizeron's below.
Down: Yuzuru Hanyu
The winner of the last two Olympic men's figure skating gold medals was scheduled to make his Grand Prix season debut this week at the NHK Trophy in his native Japan. But Hanyu announced Friday that he was pulling out because of an ankle injury. It's unclear whether he'll be able to return in time for his other Grand Prix assignment, the Nov. 26-28 Rostelecom Cup in Sochi, Russia. If he can't, there will be doubts about Hanyu's quest to become the first figure skater in 86 years to win a third individual Olympic gold medal. Read more about his injury here.
Quickly...
Shalane Flanagan ran her sixth major marathon in seven weeks. Normally, the majors begin with the Tokyo Marathon in late February/early March, followed by Boston and London in April, then Berlin, Chicago and New York in the fall. This year, the pandemic forced organizers to cram them into a 43-day window. Flanagan, a 40-year-old American who took silver in the 10,000 metres at the 2008 Olympics and won the New York City Marathon in 2017, decided to run 'em all, starting with Berlin on Sept. 26 and ending yesterday with New York. She completed the unprecedented challenge in style, running a 2:33:32 — her best time of the series. Canada's Lanni Marchant had a great day in New York too, finishing 11th in the women's race with a time of 2:32:54. The 37-year-old, who ran the 10,000 and the marathon at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was running her first marathon since being sidelined with a hip injury that required multiple surgeries and caused her a lot of agony over the last five years. Read more about that here.
Only one Canadian team made the Major League Soccer playoffs. The Vancouver Whitecaps held on for a 1-1 draw at home vs. Seattle last night to clinch their first playoff spot since 2017. Vancouver, which was last in the Western Conference on Aug. 8 but climbed to sixth, will face No. 3 seed Kansas City in the first round of the playoffs, which begin Nov. 20. Montreal finished 10th in the Eastern Conference, two points out of a playoff spot, while Toronto ended up 13th.
The National Women's Soccer League playoffs got underway. The six-team tournament's two quarter-final matches were played yesterday. The Washington Spirit defeated the North Carolina Courage 1-0, while the Chicago Red Stars beat Gotham FC 1-0 to end American great Carli Lloyd's career. Chicago's semifinal opponent on Sunday is the top-seeded Portland Thorns, who feature Canadian national-team captain Christine Sinclair on the pitch and former Canadian national-team goalie Karina LeBlanc in the front office after hiring her as GM last week.
Also...
RIP Angelo Mosca. The five-time Grey Cup champion and Canadian Football Hall of Famer, who died Saturday at the age of 84, was one of the most beloved — and also meanest — players in CFL history. A prime example was his out-of-bounds (literally and figuratively) hit on Willie Fleming that knocked the star B.C. Lions running back out of the 1963 Grey Cup game, helping send Mosca's Hamilton Tiger-Cats to victory. After the game, Lions QB Joe Kapp refused to shake Mosca's hand. The bitterness between them still burned nearly a half century later when the septuagenarians appeared together on stage during a Grey Cup week luncheon in 2011. As a bit, Kapp tried to give Mosca a handful of flowers, to which the latter replied "stick it up your a--." When Kapp stuck the sad-looking bouquet in Mosca's face, Mosca smacked him in the head with his cane before Kapp dropped Mosca with a hard right hand to the jaw. You can watch that incredible moment here and read more about Mosca's remarkable life here.
And finally…
Josh Allen > Josh Allen. Yesterday, for the third time in NFL history, two players with the same name faced each other on opposite sides of the ball. The clear favourite to prevail was the Josh Allen who plays quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. He rolled into Jacksonville as an MVP contender who'd led his team to a 5-2 start. The "other" Josh Allen, who specializes in rushing the passer for the Jaguars, was lining up for a 1-6 team with one of the league's worst defences. But he made life miserable for his more-famous namesake, intercepting one of Buffalo Josh Allen's passes, sacking him once (the first time in NFL history a defender has done that to a QB with the same name) and recovering his fumble on a key play in Jags territory with just over five minutes left. That helped Jacksonville, which was a two-touchdown underdog, hold on for a stunning 9-6 upset. Read a roundup of Sunday's NFL action here.
You're up to speed. Talk to you tomorrow.
