Olympic voice looks into the future
TV host Russell offers up six storylines to watch for in 2017
Scott Russell has officially recovered from the marathon grind of hosting seven hours of live Olympic programming for 17 days straight in Rio de Janeiro.
And while the face of the CBC Olympics is still marvelling over how Canada overachieved in Rio (22 medals, 16 of them won by women), he oozes excitement over a return to winter sports coverage in a nation that traditionally excels on snow and ice.
“We consider ourselves a winter sport nation first and foremost,” Russell told Postmedia during a recent trip to Calgary.
“I think there are some tremendous stories.”
Here are Russell’s Top 6 Olympic storylines to watch heading into the 2016-17 World Cup season:
1. Figure skating: “The reemergence of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. Maybe the greatest ice dancers of all time. They still have a little bit of a taste in their mouths by not winning that gold medal in Sochi in 2014, beaten by Meryl Davis and Charlie White. They’re back. They want to set the bar ever higher. They’ve got new coaching — David Wilson along with Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon. So it’s very important for them to have a great season and they’re already showing signs. They’re riveting.”
2. Speedskating: “Ivanie Blondin in the mass start. The event will make its debut at the Pyeongchang Olympics. She’s the world champion. She’s had two great seasons in the mass start. She’s a great skater. Tremendously competitive. Speed Skating Canada might want to pin their hopes on how she does going forward. I think it will be really interesting to see how that goes.”
3. Freestyle skiing: “Canada has produced so many medals over the years in freestyle skiing. The centrepiece guy is Mikaël Kingsbury. Most prolific freestyle skier of all time; won all those World Cups. He’s won the world championships. He’s after the Olympic gold medal. Alex Bilodeau denied him last time (in 2014). I think the King is really someone to really watch.”
4. Curling: “Curling is a great story, in particular women’s curling. No rink has ever repeated as Olympic champion in curling (it’s only been in the Games since 1998). Jennifer Jones still has the rink together, but she’ll be challenged, you would think, by Rachel Homan of Ontario. Is now the time for Rachel Homan to step up and get the job done?”
5. Short-track speedskating: “We’ve seen Charles Hamelin have such a wonderful career and Marianne St-Gelais. They’re still going. The question being, can they sustain that kind of momentum for more than a year now? Charles is 32, still a force in the sport. Marianne had a wonderful season. But can she sustain it? There are some young ones coming up in short track. Sasha Fathoullin would be one of those. Sam Girard would be another. I think that’s a pretty good story to watch to see if they can get through to Pyeongchang in 2018.”
6. Skiing: “Alpine Canada needs good news. Can Dustin Cook bounce back after missing a season with injury? Is Marie-Michèle Gagnon ready to be a consistent star? Does Erik Guay still have what it takes to chase the one thing he lacks — an Olympic medal?