Paralympic wake-up call: Last-shot win helps Canada to wheelchair curling semifinals
Here's what you may have missed on Day 6 of the Beijing Paralympic Games
Canada's wheelchair curling team will play for a medal at the Beijing Paralympics.
It took the final rock in the last of the 10 round robin matches, but the Canadian squad was able to secure a spot in the semifinal by defeating Norway 7-6 on Thursday.
The Canadians agonizingly lost 4-3 to China four years ago on the last rock, but secured a 7-3 victory over the defending Paralympic champions in their opening draw of the 2022 Games.
Both semifinals are set for Friday at 1:35 a.m. ET, with Sweden (7-3) and Slovakia (7-3) competing in the other matchup.
The Norwegian side had a 6-4 lead heading to Canada's last throw of the match. But fourth Jon Thurston, of Dunsford, Ont., kept cool, calm and collected to remove the lone opposition rock from the board while adding one of Canada's for a three-point eighth end.
Canada, led by skip Mark Ideson, would have made it to the semifinals either way, given the results of the later draw. By downing Norway and securing a 7-3 preliminary-round record, however, they kept control of their own destiny and moved to the playoffs on a three-match winning streak.
Now, at the very least, Ideson, third Ina Forrest, who served as Canada's co-flag-bearer in the opening ceremony, and second Dennis Thiessen will have an opportunity to defend the country's PyeongChang 2018 bronze medal.
Since then, alternate Collinda Joseph and Thurston replaced 2018 team members Marie Wright and alternate James Anseeuw in the national team.
WATCH l Canada downs Norway in wheelchair curling to punch semifinal ticket:
Canada started and ended its round robin campaign on a high.
They captured four wins in a row at the start, downing defending champion China, Switzerland, Latvia and the United States. The last three games saw the Canadians edge Great Britain, Estonia and Norway.
Read more about the Canadian wheelchair curling team clinching a semifinal spot.
Here's more of what you missed on Wednesday night and Thursday morning in the Beijing Paralympics:
Canadians struggle in alpine, Finland wins 1st-ever gold
It was a close call, but Finland finally has a Paralympic champion in alpine.
Santeri Kiiveri edged American Thomas Charles Walsh by just 0.04 seconds in the men's standing giant slalom race to claim the first gold medal of a Finnish Para alpine skier.
Canada's Alexis Guimond took part in the event but didn't finish his first run.
On Saturday, the 22-year-old Gatineau, Que., native captured the men's standing super-G bronze medal for his first Paralympic podium.
Paralympic rookie Logan Leach, of Lumbay, B.C., was eighth after his first run of the men's visually impaired giant slalom event with a time of 1:05.85 but didn't finish his second run.
Leach has earned a top-10 finish in the super combined (sixth), super-G (seventh) and downhill (ninth) races at his first Games.
Kiiveri, a 21-year-old two-time Paralympian, claimed his first career medal with a silver in the men's standing super combined event on Monday.
Sweet 16
Austrian Para alpine skier Johannes Aigner has been enjoying a great deal of success at the Beijing Paralympics.
At just 16 years old, he won the men's visually impaired giant slalom event for his fourth medal in the Chinese capital. In the same race, Brian Rowland, of Merrickville, Ont., was 12th.
On Saturday, Aigner also struck gold in the men's visually impaired downhill event.
The Paralympic debutant then added a super combined silver on Sunday and a super-G bronze on Monday.
Here's a quick look at other Day 6 events in Beijing:
