It's been 30+ years since Canada took this long to win gold at Winter Olympics
One week after the Olympic Opening Ceremony took place in Milan, Team Canada is still searching for its first gold medal.
If that strikes you as an unusually long time to wait, that’s because it is.
The last time it took Canada a week to win its first gold medal at a Winter Olympics was Albertville 1992. And if Canada doesn’t secure another medal on Friday, which seems likely, it’ll be the country’s longest wait for gold since Calgary 1988, which was the last time our country failed to win a single gold medal throughout the entirety of the Games.
Canada has seven medals to date, three silver and four bronze. And there have been some performances to be proud of.
But while Canada racked up three medals on Thursday, it was also the most disappointing day so far from a gold-medal perspective.
Mikaël Kingsbury celebrates silver (Darren Calabrese/COC)
Freestyle skier Mikaël Kingsbury, a legend in the moguls event, came as close to winning gold without winning it. He finished in a first-place tie, but took silver based on a tiebreaker.
It was a similar story for Canada’s Eliot Grondin, who missed taking home gold in snowboard cross by a mere 0.03 seconds.
Courtney Sarault now has two medals in Milan (Leah Hennel/COC)
In short track, Canada had two of five skaters in the final of the women’s 500m, but only Courtney Sarault secured bronze. It was the Canadian’s second medal of the Winter Olympics, after winning silver with the mixed relay team.
Then, William Dandjinou, expected to be a breakout star for Canada in these Games, finished fourth in the men’s 1,000m despite leading most of the race.
The good news is, there’s plenty of time left for Canada to start collecting gold.
There are nine days left of competition after Friday, with four more gold medals left to be handed out in the sports of hockey and curling. There are also six more gold medals up for grabs in short track, where Canada is a threat to win in every race. Kingsbury will also get a second crack at gold, as dual moguls makes its Olympic debut this weekend.