Harvey on high heading into Olympic Games

If there is Canadian Olympic history to be made on the cross-country ski trails in Pyeongchang, chances are the tracks to the podium will belong to Alex Harvey.

The 29-year-old from Saint-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que., saved his best of the World Cup season for the last event before the Olympics, winning silver in the 15-km mass start freestyle race Sunday in Seefeld, Austria. He finished in 31 minutes 39.3 seconds, more than a second behind winner Dario Cologna of Switzerland. Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby was third.

Harvey is gaining momentum and heads to Pyeongchang as a serious podium threat. No Canadian male has ever won an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing.

“The plan was to use the weekend for good training, get tired and then recover and get a boost heading into the Olympics,” said Harvey. “It is definitely better heading to the Olympics coming off a silver medal than a 40th place.”

LUGERS SIXTH IN RELAY

Canadian lugers wrapped up the World Cup season with a sixth-place finish in the team relay Sunday in Sigulda, Latvia. The race solidified the Canadians at third overall.

FINAL NOMINATIONS

With the alpine and crosscountry skiing Olympic team announcements coming Monday, Team Canada will finally be set.

So far, with 12 of the 14 teams announced, there are 106 men and 94 women on the squad. Crosscountry will add seven men and four women, while the makeup of the alpine team isn’t yet known.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM

The Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team blanked a Korean University men’s team 4-0 on goals by Marie-Philip Poulin, Bailey Bram, Renata Fast and Haley Irwin.