Disappointing defeat for Canada’s mixed doubles curling team to open Olympics
Morris and Lawes fall 9-6 to Norway
GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic Of — The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics don’t officially open until Friday but a couple of Canadians were already in competition mode on Wednesday night.
Doubles curlers John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes opened the Games with a disappointing 9-6 loss to Norway’s Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten.
The event is making its debut in Pyeongchang, and despite Canada’s curling dominance, the country isn’t considered the gold-medal favourite.
Both Ottawa’s Morris, who also curls for the Okanagan-based men’s team skipped by Vernon’s Jim Cotter, and Winnipeg’s Lawes are Olympic gold medallists in curling, but they had little experience playing mixed doubles together prior to winning January’s trials.
Wednesday’s game was a nail-biter to the finish as the Norwegians stole two in the eighth end to seal the victory.
“Obviously wanted to start off with a win, but it’s a long week thankfully,” said Lawes. “We’ll come back stronger.”
Lawes said she and Morris had “a couple key misses here and there.”
“If we can turn those full misses into at least half shots, then we’ll have a little bit more success,” she added.
Morris said he and Lawes are still figuring out the ice.
“The ice was nice and consistent, but I have to make sure I throw to my tolerance a bit more so that if I do miss, it’s not a killer miss,” he said.
Morris, 39, won Olympic gold in 2010 playing third for Kevin Martin. Lawes, 29, won gold in 2014 as vice for Jennifer Jones.
Also on Thursday, Canada’s Manuel Osborne-Paradis posted the fastest time in the first Olympic downhill training session.
Osborne-Paradis, from Invermere, finished in one minute 40.45 seconds in breezy, sunny conditions at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre. He’s making his fourth appearance at the Winter Olympics.
Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud was second in 1:40.76 and Switzerland’s Mauro Caviezel was third in 1:40.90.
Additional training sessions were scheduled for Friday and Saturday ahead of Sunday’s race.
Meanwhile, the other big news from Wednesday was that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, an increasingly prominent figure in the country’s leadership, will be part of the North’s delegation to the South Korean Winter Olympics.
Kim Yo Jong, believed to be around 30, will be the first member of North Korea’s ruling family to visit South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.