Osmond’s bronze breaks record
Canada has now collected more medals than in 2010 Games in Vancouver
GANGNEUNG Kaetlyn Osmond’s medal isn’t just bronze. It’s recordbreaking bronze.
It’s the second medal of a fabulous Olympics for the figure skater from Newfoundland, who trains in Edmonton under coach Ravi Walia. And it’s the 27th medal of these Games for Canada, one more than Vancouver’s tally in 2010.
The ski cross women Kelsey Serwa and Brit Phelan set the table with a double podium and Osmond put the nation over the top, giving Canada a record haul, with more to come.
The gold went to Alina Zagitova and silver to another Olympic Athlete from Russia, Evgenia Medvedeva, as they continue their battle for world dominance.
Osmond was strong, powerful and in control the whole time. She scored 152.15 points for the long program and 231.02 in total. That was just over eight points out of first place.
The bronze will pair nicely with team event gold. And that’s what her teammate Gabrielle Daleman will be cherishing, after her Olympics took a disastrous turn in the long program. Already trailing in seventh place after she put a hand down on a triple jump in the short program, the 20-year-old over-rotated the second triple jump, toe loop, in her opening combination on Friday, and it got much, much worse from there. She scored just 103.56 points and tumbled down the standings.
“I’m heartbroken, to be honest. That’s not me. That’s not how I skate. I’ve been very strong and consistent at nationals, team event, every day of practice. But it’s sport, you have good days and bad days. And unfortunately today wasn’t my day. I don’t know if it was nerves, if it was pressure that got to me. But at the end of the day I’m human and today was not my day.”
She said she would just have to cry it out, that there was nothing positive she could take from that skate.
One of her two coaches, Lee Barkell, said she can do the combination in her sleep, and he knew at that moment she was going to be in for a long, long program.
Daleman fell three times, wobbled though another landing, doubled a triple Salchow and dropped three jumps from planned combinations.
It was a nightmare, and she was completely and understandably distraught, crying before she even got off the ice.
“We don’t have any answers at the moment. My gut reaction is that after the little thing on the toe loop, her face changed, got cautious and slow and overthinking too much instead of putting it into autopilot, which is uncharacteristic for her.”