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SwiSS SkierS Fly To gold
Benjamin alldritt
north Vancouver’s drew neilson placed 11th after coming in second in his first heat but then losing control in the quarterfinals. after his run, neilson went to visit his mother and stepfather in the stands. “he said he had to go wide on one turn,” said mom judy hoy. “so when he went over the next jump he landed on the edge of the blue line . . . in the snow where it had turned quite soft and he said ‘i just buried my board.’ he’s in pretty good spirits. a little disappointed but he was certainly hollering for mike to win his medal. i just put my arms around him and gave him a big hug.” Fellow British Columbian robert Fagan,
balldritt@nsnews.com monday was a big day for Swiss skiers, who won gold in both men’s downhill and the 15-kilometre free crosscountry. didier defago struck first in men’s downhill, leading silver medallist aksel lund svindal of norway. mercurial american star Bode miller won bronze. Canada was held to fifth place with erik Guay, and local medal favourite manuel osborne-paradis came in 17th. elsewhere in Whistler, defago’s countryman dario Cologna finished the 15kilometre cross-country course more than 20 seconds ahead of italy’s pietro piller Cottrer and bronze medallist lukas Bauer of the Czech republic. Canada’s best time came from ivan Babikov, who finished eighth, nearly a minute back. in the women’s 10-kilometre cross-country event, Charlotte Kalla won gold for sweden after holding off estonia’s Kristina smigun-Vaehi. norway’s marit Bjoergen will take home a bronze medal. Canadian madeleine Williams, placed 51st out of 78 skiers. it wasn’t all bad news for Canadian women. our ladies’ hockey team dispatched their swiss opponents by a convincing 10-1 margin, another step on what looks to be another irresistible march to
See Maëlle page 4
See Wotherspoon page 4
photo Jenelle Schneider / Canwest News Service
Live every moment.
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edmonton’s mike robertson leads in his third qualifying run monday.
Canada’s silver surfer Benjamin alldritt
balldritt@nsnews.com Canada added to its medal haul monday when mike robertson won silver in men’s snowboard cross. robertson, 24, was clearly in charge of his three qualifying heats leading up to the final race at Cypress mountain, pulling out in front each time and holding his lead to the end. the albertan looked poised for a repeat performance in the final, fending off challenges from seth Wescott of the United states. the two battled through the middle section of the course and robertson looked to have gained the upper hand, but Wescott surged ahead out of the final turn and took the gold. France’s tony ramoin claimed the bronze.
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Turned on, Tuned in
The opening ceremonies for the VancouverWinter Olympics were watched by more Canadians than any television program in the country’s history, with 13.3 million people tuning in, according to the Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium.The previous record was 10.3 million Canadian viewers for the men’s gold medal hockey game during the 2002 Olympics.The Consortium also estimated that 26 million Canadians representing 78 per cent of the country watched at least some of the televised coverage of Day 1 of the Games on Friday.
CHurCH inTo CHeering North Shore Alliance church is attracting big crowds to its main hall at 23rd Street and Chesterfield Avenue in North Vancouver. The attraction? The Olympic Games on a big screen TV and, on many nights, some free barbecue. See story page 3.
West Vancouver Community Centre
Spirit Square an official 2010 Celebration site Enjoy Live Music & Performance Explore Sport, Space, & Art we s tva n co uve r 2 0 1 0 . c a