New Zealand wins medal for patience
While Canada’s Olympians remain in the hunt for a record-setting medal haul, other countries are celebrating much smaller victories with the same enthusiasm.
Take New Zealand. On Wednesday, the country feted its first medallist at the Winter Games in 26 years, the drought ending when 16-year-old snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott earned bronze in women’s big air.
The Kiwis had come close to the podium before. Speedskater Peter Michael just missed last week, finishing fourth in the 5,000 metres. But it was SadowskiSynnott who made good, becoming the first New Zealander to stand on an Olympic podium since Annelise Coberger skied to silver in women’s slalom in Albertville in 1992.
The wait for a third medal was much shorter: A couple of hours after the big air final,16-year-old Nico Porteous tacked on bronze in the men’s ski halfpipe.
“I’m so proud to be a Kiwi right now,” Porteous said. “So proud.”
Another notable medal went to Hungary’s men’s 5,000-metre relay team, the surprise winner in the final short-track speedskating event in Pyeongchang. Liu Shaolin Sandor, Liu Shaoang, Viktor Knoch and Csaba Burjan became the first Hungarians to claim Winter Olympics gold.
LEAVE ’EM WANTING MOIR: Just when you though the frenzy surrounding Scott Moir might begin to die down, the Canadian ice dancer stole the show — from the stands — as he took it the women’s hockey final.
Moir — who, along with ice dancing partner Tessa Virtue, was an Olympic darling even before they claimed their gold — sat with fellow figure skaters Patrick Chan and Keegan Messing at the tense gold-medal game, which Canada lost 3-2 in a shootout. Rachel Homan’s curling foursome was seated right in front of them.
Moir was vocal throughout the game, cheering his fellow Canadians and giving the on-ice officials an earful. The everpresent beer in his hand may have played a role.
“Are you kidding me? Wake up!” the native of Ilderton, Ont., shouted — while receiving substantial airtime on the CBC telecast — after Canada was assessed its third straight penalty.
A screenshot of that moment, featuring Moir clad in his Canadian Olympic toque and jacket, arms outstretched, beer in his grip — made the rounds quickly on social media during the first period. One Twitter user repurposed the image to make it look like a Canadian Heritage Moment. It was retweeted nearly 3,000 times in two hours.
GOT IT COVERED: Canadians weren’t the only one glued to the women’s hockey final. Washington Post reporter Chelsea Janes nearly missed her deadline thanks to the dramatic shootout finish.
Janes, covering her first Winter Games, had arrived hoping to watch a CanadaU.S. final.
“When I was growing up, the women’s soccer and hockey teams served as reminders that women’s sports could matter,” she wrote for the Post.
“They were the ones that everyone paid attention to, at least every four years, which wasn’t enough, but was something.”
Used to writing off live events as a beat
Zoi SadowskiSynnott, at 16, broke a 26-year Kiwi medal drought in the Winter Olympics
writer covering baseball’s Washington Nationals, Janes wrote a little bit after each period. But by overtime, she said, she wasn’t writing anymore. She was watching.
“So few games live up to all that you think they will be. This one did. By the shootout, all of us were standing. It was captivating. It was literally breathtaking,” Janes wrote.
As soon as Maddie Rooney made the clinching save for the Americans, Janes got an email asking where her copy was. She missed the medal ceremony, but made deadline.
“Everything turned out fine,” she wrote. “That game will linger as the most memorable and enjoyable I’ve ever covered.”
HEAVY MEDAL: Two people were injured when a giant mock medal was thrown into a crowd at the Holland Heineken House during a celebration of a Dutch bronze in speedskating.
It happened Wednesday night after Sven Kramer, Jan Blokhuijsen, Patrick Roest and Koen Verweij finished third in team pursuit. Dutch media reported that one of the two revelers was taken to hospital as a precaution. The other was treated on site.
Kramer issued an apology on Twitter and wished them both a speedy recovery.