Sochi, while you were sleeping: Charles Hamelin falls out

Canada started the day with an Olympic record at the speed skating oval, but it ended with several crashes eliminating Charles Hamelin and Marianne St. Gelais. On the final lap in his 500-m heat, Hamelin had a large lead but crashed on his own in the second last turn. Be it the ice conditions playing a factor or just bad luck, it was the end of Hamelin’s chance to defend his Olympic gold in the event.

Charles Hamlin is down, again. On his own, again. He won’t repeat in the 500. Brutal ending for him. Three falls in Sochi: Relay, 1000, 500.

— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) February 18, 2014

Charles Hamelin falls again, on his own, in the 500. He’s out. Holy cow.

— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) February 18, 2014

Unreal part of Hamelin’s fall is that he was in the lead, with a lap to go, and he just went down on his own. Had only daylight when he fell

— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) February 18, 2014

The day wasn’t much better for his girlfriend and fellow Olympian Marianne St.-Gelais, who fell in her 1000-m heat. St.-Gelais tried an early inside pass, but couldn’t maintain her line. She crashed out and finished the race a few laps behind the leader.

Poor St-Gelais. The kid just can’t buy a win in #Sochi hopefully things turn around for her soon — Andrew DiRienzo (@littelitaly93) February 18, 2014

 

St. Gelais way too aggressive there. And that’s the result. — Jason Davidson (@JasonD79) February 18, 2014

 

What a disastrous Olympics for the speedskating couple Marianne St-Gelais and Charles Hamelin. 3 falls combined. It’s unexplainable — Chicco Nacion (@chicco_n) February 18, 2014

Despite losing two medal favourites so early on Tuesday, it wasn’t all bad news at the speed skating oval. In the women’s 3000-m speed skating finals, Canada finished in third place, but a disqualification to the Chinese team meant Team Canada—and Marianne St. Gelais—will bring home a silver medal from Sochi.

Good job girls silver in the relay! @mastgelais @droletmarieeve @pookaleany pic.twitter.com/N39cmWhYoc

— Francois Hamelin (@FrankHamelin) February 18, 2014

Happy gals @mastgelais @valemaltais @droletmarieeve @pookaleany just won SILVER in women’s 3000m relay #cbcolympics pic.twitter.com/71SMYiPErv

— MoniKa Platek (@MonikaPlatek) February 18, 2014

Back in the individual competition, it may have only been the women’s 1000-m heats, but that didn’t slow down Valérie Maltais who broke the Olympic record.

Short track: @valemaltais has set an Olympic Record in heats at the ladies’ 1000m | #WeAreWinter pic.twitter.com/JaPOxwkNIi — CDN Olympic Team (@CDNOlympicTeam) February 18, 2014

Canada’s Valerie Maltais crushes her heat, finishes first by a huge margin #shorttrack #Sochi2014 — Willie Cornblatt (@WillieCornblatt) February 18, 2014

Her teammate Marie-Ève Drolet finished third in her heat, when the top two advance, but a disqualification to a competitor in her race pushed her up to second place. On the men’s side in 500-m speed skating, Charle Cournoyer won his heat, as did Olivier Jean.

A gut-wrenching fall by @Speedskater01. Charle Cournoyer & @olijeanmtl are through for @CDNOlympicTeam, but I’m still sad :( #GoCanadaGo — G aka Gurjeet Singh (@GurjeetS87) February 18, 2014

Away from the oval, news wasn’t great in men’s snowboard cross. Canada’s Kevin Hill was running in second in the semi-finals and looked poised to advance until a late crash took him out. It was the same kind of day for fellow Canadian Chris Robanske, who was looking strong in the quarter-finals until he crashed too.

Heartbreak for Robanske, he overcame the start to get into a top 3 position but crashes out. #WeAreWinter — CDN Olympic Team (@CDNOlympicTeam) February 18, 2014

Canada’s Kevin Hill after crashing out of semi final SBX. #Sochi2014 pic.twitter.com/rnAyj46pe2

— Paul Waldie (@pwaldieGLOBE) February 18, 2014

Dispatches from Sochi: (Be sure to follow: @ChasGillis, @JonGatehouse, @kmqyvr, @KrRutherford and @reporterchris)

Jonathon Gatehouse: True champions, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir skate their hearts out to silver

Charlie Gillis: Canada vs. the U.S.: An inevitable showdown in women’s hockey

Wake up! Still to come today: bobsleigh, Denny Morrison and hockey playoffs

Canada’s two-man bobsleigh teams didn’t win a medal in Sochi, but now it’s the women’s turn. Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse are the defending Olympic champions and look like strong contenders to repeat. The first two heats take place today, starting at 10:15 a.m. EST/7:15 a.m. PST.

It’s not often the Canadians care about a hockey game between Switzerland and Latvia. The winner of this match-up, however, will face Canada in the men’s quarter-finals, so think of it as a scouting report. The puck drops at noon EST/9 a.m. PST.

Denny Morrison already has a silver and bronze medal, but he can make history today. No Canadian has had a podium finish in 10,000-m speed skating since Frank Stack won bronze at Lake Placid in 1932. The Koreans and Dutch may be heavy favourites, but Morrison has surprised us twice already in Sochi.