Translation of must-read article from La Presse celebrating all Olympians

I read an article in La Presse yesterday that Olympian Audrey Robichaud had shared on Twitter (@AudreyRobichaud). It is one of my favourite articles about the 2014 Olympic Games.

I'm not sure of the legality of reproducing a newspaper article but my objective is only to share it with as many people as possible. Since the article is in French, I wanted to allow non-French speaking people the opportunity to read the message in the article.

Thank you to Jean-Pascal Beaupré for writing Les "sans-médaille". Click here to read the (better written) original article if you understand French.

I am not a translator or a journalist so my apologies that this will not give the article justice. The photo below which appears in La Presse is credited to Lionel Bonaventure, Agence France-Presse.

Les "sans-médaille" 

(literally translated as The "without medal"

it sounds better in French)

Luck did not smile for all the athletes during the Olympic Games, with some returning
home empty-handed, like the members of Canada 3 four-man bobsleigh 

They don't return home with a medal around their neck. Without a podium, they will be relegated to the dungeon of Olympic history.

These athletes, however, deserve more recognition for their brilliant performances during the Games.

It's true that everyone's attention is dedicated to the medal count. The Canadian Olympic Committee program is named Own The Podium.

For the majority of athletes, however, owning the podium is not their reality. No medals and no major sponsors to ensure their financial future.

There are those who grazed the podium like Brady Leman (4th in ski cross), Jean-Philippe Le Guellec (5th in biathlon sprint) or Maxence Parrot (5th in slopestyle). The most frustrating result, so close and yet so far. 

There are those who were supposed to defy the odds, those who could hope for a medal if all the stars aligned in their favour, namely Marie-Michèle Gagnon (9th in alpine slalom) or Valérie Maltais (short track speed skating). 

Sometimes, with equal talent, it's simply a contest of circumstances - injury, fall, soft snow, disqualification, judges' scores... - that separates the winners from the non-medallists. Sometimes the podium worthy are so numerous that chance is the determining factor. The unfortunate in this category include Erik Guay (10th in downhill) and Alex Harvey (cross-country skiing). 

Then there is the majority, those athletes who arrived in Sochi to reinforce Pierre de Coubertin's message: "the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." Although they dream of winning a medal, the majority of the competitors who qualify for the Olympic Games are fully conscious that their chances of reaching their dream of medalling are almost nil. They know where they stand due to their World Cup performances during the four year cycle between the Games. They'll finish 20th, 30th or 40th, outside of the television viewers' radar. 

Of course, surprises and small miracles will happen. Favourites will fall opening the door for the overlooked (Charle Cournoyer's bronze). A competitor inspired by the occasion of the Games will lift his/her performance and come out of nowhere to win a medal (American Andrew Weibrecht in Super-G). This is the exception that proves the rule. 

It's natural to extol the athletes who reached the podium, but in doing so, we oftentimes have the tendency to leave the others behind who also are part of the world elite, who also made the same sacrifices to become la crème de la crème. When we are 5th, 10th or 20th in the world, especially in very competitive sports like cross-country skiing and alpine skiing, should we not be amazed by these performances? 

So the next time we are impressed, with good reason, by the accomplishments of the Dufour-Lapointe sisters, Denny Morrison or Patrick Chan, let's also have an respectful thought for those who performed in the shadows of their winning teammates, Audrey Robichaud (10th), Mathieu Giroux (19th) or Gabrielle Daleman (17th) who left Sochi with their small happiness.

How Canada's 1988 Olympic team is as good as our 2014 team

I heard or read somewhere that we're no longer the 1988 Olympic team that didn't win a gold medal. Canada's 2014 Olympic team has a winning attitude and we will no longer accept that lacklustre performance from 1988.

I'm not saying that I'm a fan of this winning attitude that has especially surfaced this year, but this comment made me curious. How many medals could we have gotten in 1988 with the "Own The Podium" funding, support and mentality of 2014?

In 1988, we won 5 medals - two silver (Brian Orser and Elizabeth Manley in figure skating) and three bronze (Tracy Wilson & Robert McCall in figure skating and Karen Percy winning two in alpine skiing).

Looking at the events available in 1988 with the 2014 results for those events, today's athletes would have won 5 medals - three silver and two bronze. We still would not win a gold medal at our home Olympics.

I couldn't believe it!

How could our "Own The Podium" 25 medals in 2014 equal 5 medals in 1988? The answer is that the Olympics have changed, not necessarily Canada's performances. The new 2014 events like slopestyle, halfpipe and team events weren't there, but neither were women's bobsleigh, women's hockey, NHL players, curling, freestyle skiing, snowboard or short track speed skating.

Which members of our 2014 team would have won medals in 1988 events? Patrick Chan, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir would have won their silvers in figure skating, Denny Morrison would have won his silver and bronze in speed skating; and Jan Hudec the bronze in Super-G.

Luckily, looking at the 2010 Olympics results, that team would have won two gold medals in 1988. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir in ice dance and Christine Nesbitt in speed skating. In total the 2010 team would have won seven medals in 1988.

There are two messages I am coming away with looking at these numbers. The first is that our team results have not changed much in the traditional Olympic sports. Twenty of our 25 medals in 2014 were won in events that were not part of the Olympics in 1988.

The other eye-opening realization is how little women's events there were in 1988. Women competed in 5 of the 10 sports: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating, luge and speed skating. They did not compete in biathlon, bobsleigh (won gold in 2014), hockey (won gold in 2014) and ski jumping. Nordic combined still does not include women.

Looking at the results in more detail brings some interesting findings.

Here are the medal tables for 1988 and 2014 (in order by total medals rather than the official manner of ranking by gold medal).

In 1988

1. Soviet Union 29
2. East Germany 25
3. Switzerland 15
4. Austria 10
5. West Germany 8
6. Finland 7
7. Netherlands 7
8. Sweden 6
9. USA 6
10. Italy 5
11. Norway 5
12. Canada 5

5 more with less than 5 medals
= 17 nations, 138 medals

In 2014

1. Russia 33
2. USA 28
3. Norway 26
4. Canada 25
5. Netherlands 24
6. Germany 19
7. Austria 17
8. France 15
9. Sweden 15
10. Switzerland 11

16 other countries with less than 10 medals
= 26 nations, 295 medals

The countries who have increased their medal counts the most are Canada (5 to 25), USA (6 to 28),  Norway (5 to 24) and Netherlands (7 to 26).

With the number of medals doubling, it's natural that Canada (and others) would win more medals in 2014 than in 1988.

What would the medal table look like if we compare the 2014 results with the events available in 1988? (removing men's hockey with lack of NHL players)

2014 results in 1988 events (1988 number in brackets)

1. Netherlands 22 (7)
2. Norway 15 (5)
3. Russia 14 + Latvia 2 + Kazakhstan 1 (Soviet Union 29 minus 1 hockey gold=28)
4. Austria 14 (10)
5. Germany 14 (East 25, West 8)
6. USA 9 (6)
7. Sweden 7 (6 minus 1 hockey bronze = 5)
8. Switzerland 6 (15)
9. Canada 5 (5)
10. Italy 4 (5)
11. France 4 (2)
12. Slovenia 4 + Croatia 1 (Yugoslavia 3)
13. Poland 4 (0)
14. Czech Republic 3 (Czechoslovakia 3)
15. Japan 3 (1)
16. South Korea 2 (0)

The interesting stats coming out of this table is that not surprisingly Soviet Union and East Germany numbers have decreased with the political changes since then.

In 2014, Netherlands have tripled their medals -  all of them in speed skating (one in short track and the rest in long track). Only two of those events were not available in 1988 (short track and team pursuit for long track).

Norway results also have tripled. Twenty-one of their 26 medals in 2014 involved cross-country skiing (including biathlon and nordic combined).

It would be interesting to study these countries' focus on those disciplines. Do they fund them almost exclusively? Are their athletes not medalling in the other sports due to lack of funding, participation/interest or support?

In contrast to Netherlands and Norway who had their improved performance in the traditional Olympic sports, Canada's and USA's numbers show that the newer sports are geared to North Americans. Seventeen of USA's 28 medals are in events that were not available in Calgary while 20 of Canada's 25 medals are.

What is Canada's medal count by sports in 2014?
Alpine Skiing 1 (in 10 events)
Biathlon 0 (in 11 events)
Bobsleigh 1 (in 3 events)
Cross-Country Skiing 0 (in 12 events)
Curling 2 (in 2 events)
Figure Skating 3 (in 5 events)
Freestyle Skiing 9 (in 10 events - 4 events with double medals)
Hockey 2 (in 2 events)
Luge 0 (in 4 events)
Nordic Combined 0 (in 3 events)
Short Track Speed Skating 3 (in 8 events)
Skeleton 0 (in 2 events)
Ski Jumping 0 (in 4 events)
Snowboarding 2 (in 10 events)
Speed Skating 2 (in 12 events)

This table also shows which sports have multiple events/medals. Netherlands excelling in speed skating that offer 12 events (32 possible medals by country) means they win more medals than someone who would excel in hockey and curling with 2 events each (and one entry per country).

To extend the comparison between 1988 and 2014, the Calgary Games offered demonstration sports which included curling, moguls, aerials and short track speed skating. We won fourteen medals including 2 in curling, 2 in freestyle and 10 in short track.

Adding only these three sports, our total is 19 medals. If we add the figure skating team event, women's hockey and the NHL players, we can easily add three more. There was no comparing data found for snowboard, halfpipe and slopestyle so let's remove those 2014 medals.

Taking all of these factors into consideration, this leaves us with:

20 medals in Sochi compared to 22 medals in Calgary

Are the new sports more popular in North America and so, it's natural that we do better in them? Do we have better facilities for these sports? The Dew Tour and NHL based in North America definitely benefits North Americans in hockey, freestyle ski and snowboard sports.

Does Own The Podium funding help the new sports more? Not necessarily here's the breakdown of their funding (newer sports in bold):

1. freestyle skiing $3.25M
2. alpine skiing $2.98M
3. hockey $2.8 (includes men's, women's and sledge)
4. bobsleigh/skeleton $2.45M
5. snowboard $2.45M
6. cross-country skiing $1.97M
7. curling $1.89M
8. short track speed skating $1.87M
9. long track speed skating $1.67M
10. ski cross $1.47M
11. luge $1.09M
12. figure skating $0.97M
13. biathlon $0.23M

Click here for more detail.

Ideally wanting to believe that doping is minimal in Canada, are the newer sports less likely to benefit from performance enhancing drugs or blood doping? I don't believe that doping would help moguls, curling, short track or skeleton as much as it would long track speed skating, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing or biathlon? I can not be naive enough to believe that just because there are minimal positive test results in Sochi that there is minimal doping happening. I really hope that Canadians don't. I would rather see a clean 10th place finish than a tarnished podium finish.

The lifestyle of our Olympians in 2014 is probably also much better with the increased funding. More athletes in 2014 can devote their time to training and competing (and sometimes studying) whereas in 1988, the athletes probably needed to fund a lot more of their costs. Of course, the cost of equipment, travel and competing has increased as well.

Some of that extra support could account for our improved performance in many sports where national best finishes were reached. It would be interesting to look at top 10 results in 1988 and 2014 and see those improvements.

Increased funding and support is the necessity of sports nowadays in order to compete with the increased funding and costs in sports around the world. Without Own The Podium and similar programs supporting our athletes, Canadian results may not be what they were in 2014, even for sports in which we are known or expected to dominate.

In the end, saying the 25 medals won in 2014 is a much better performance than the 5 medals won in 1988 is short-sighted and insulting to the Calgary team. Taking everything into consideration, the two team performances are quite similar and both quite impressive.

2014 Olympic Schedule Week 2

Here is the Week 2 schedule.

Medal ceremonies televised daily on Ici RDI at 11am and 9pm.
(Check your local channel lineup - Rogers Toronto channel 612/613HD)
CBC is livestreaming.

Daily Olympic Primetime on CBC - Daily highlights (with athlete interviews and analysis)
7-10pm local except in Atlantic (8pm) & Newfoundland (8:30pm)

Enfin Sotchi En 60 minutes, Marc Durand vous fera revivre une journée Olympique. Ici-Télé chaque soir 17h et 23h commençant samedi soir.

Medal events in gold/bronze (or red when Canadian medal potential)
Qualification rounds, first runs, round robin games, figure skating short programs are in black.

All events are available live online at olympics.cbc.ca as well as video on demand.

Monday February 17

Biathlon Men's 15km Mass Start 00:55-2am TSN rescheduled from Sunday
***Jean-Philippe LeGuellec, Brendan Green, Nathan Smith

Snowboard Cross Men 1:55am-3:30am SN finals: 4:25-5:30am SN (4:30-5:30am CBC)
***Chris Robanske, Rob Fagan, Kevin Hill, Jake Holden

Hockey Women - Semifinal USA vs Sweden 7:30am CBC

Aerials Men Qualifications 8:30am SN Finals 12:15pm SN
***Travis Gerrits
(or watch at the Milton Sports Centre. Click here for more details)
Bobsleigh Two-Man Heats 3&4 9:15am SN1 10am CBC
***Chris Spring/Jesse Lumsden, Lyndon Rush/Lascelles Brown, Justin Kripps/Bryan Barnett 

Biathlon Women - 12.5km Mass 10am-11:20am (no Canadians) 10am SN (4-5pm CBC)

Figure Skating Ice Dance Free 10am-1:35pm TSN
***Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir, Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje, Alexandra Paul & Mitchell Islam

Curling Women - Canada vs Korea 10am-1pm TSN2 (7pm SN)

Hockey Women - Semifinal Canada vs Switzerland 12pm CBC (7:30pm TSN)

Ski Jumping Men - Team Event - 12:00pm SN1 (3-4pm CBC)
***Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, Dusty Korek, Trevor Morrice, Matthew Rowley

Tuesday February 18

Curling Men's or Women's Tie Breaker 00:00am CBC 5am TSN2

Ski Halfpipe Men Qualification 1:15am Final 4:30am

***Mike Riddle, Justin Dorey, Noah Bowman, Matt Margetts

Alpine Skiing Women - GS Run 1 2am SN (2pm CBC) Run 2 5:30am SN (6:30am CBC)

***Marie-Michèle Gagnon, Marie-Pier Préfontaine, Erin Mielzynski, Ellit Terwiel, Britt Phelan

Hockey Men Qualifications Playoff 3am CBC 7:30am and 12noon

Short Track Speed Skating - Ladies' 3000m Relay, 1000m heats & Men's 500m heats 
4:30-6:30am TSN (5:30am CBC)

***Relay: Valerie Maltais (+1000m) Marianne St-Gelais (+1000m), Marie-Eve Drolet (+1000m), Jessica Hewitt, Jessica Gregg

***Charles Hamelin, Olivier Jean, Charle Cournoyer

Nordic Combined Long Hill/10km 4:30am SN (no Canadians)

Speed Skating Men - 10000m 8-11am (no Canadians)

Bobsleigh Women Heat 1 & 2 (of 4)

***Kaillie Humphries & Heather Moyse, Jenny Ciochetti & Chelsea Valois

Wednesday February 19

Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom 12:15am-6am CBC & SN (11amCBC)
Qualification and Finals schedule
***Jasey-Jay Anderson, Michael Lambert, Matt Morison
***Caroline Calvé, Ariane Lavigne, Marianne Leeson

Alpine Skiing Men - Giant Slalom Run 1 2am CBC Run 2 5:30am TSN
***Morgan Pridy, Phil Brown, Trevor Philp

Hockey Men Quarterfinals 3am TSN Sweden vs Slovenia, 7:30am  CBC Finland vs Russia, noon CBC Canada vs Latvia, noon TSN2 USA vs Czech Republic

Cross-Country Skiing Ladies Team Sprint Classic Semis 4:15am Final 6:45am TSN2
***Dasha Gaiazova, Perianne Jones

Curling Women Semifinals 5am CBC Canada vs Great Britain; Sweden vs Switzerland (SN1)

Cross-Country Skiing Men Team Sprint Classic Semis 5:05am Final 7:15am TSN2 (10:15am CBC; highlights 4pm CBC)
***Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw

Speed Skating Women 5000m 8:30am TSN2
***Ivanie Blondin

Biathlon Mixed Relay 9:30am SN1
***Megan Imrie, Rosanna Crawford, Brendan Green, Scott Perras

Figure Skating Women Short Program 10am TSN (highlights 3pm CBC)
***Kaetlyn Osmond, Gabrielle Daleman

Curling Men Semifinals 10am Sportsnet Canada vs China; Great Britain vs Sweden

Bobsleigh Women Heat 3 11:15am Heat 4 12:23pm SN1
***Kaillie Humphries & Heather Moyse, Jenny Ciochetti & Chelsea Valois

Thursday February 20

Ski Cross Men Seeding 2:45am CBC Finals 4:30am CBC Finals schedule
***Brady Leman, Chris Del Bosco, Dave Duncan

Nordic Combined Team 3am Sportsnet Ski Jump (CBC 3:30am), 6am CBC Cross-Country (no Canadians)

Curling Women Bronze Medal Game 3:30am TSN Great Britain vs. Switzerland

Hockey Women Bronze Medal Game 7am TSN Sweden vs Switzerland

Curling Women Gold Medal Game 8:30am CBC Canada vs Sweden
***Jennifer Jones, Kaitlyn Lawes, Jill Officer, Dawn (Askin) McEwen

Ski Halfpipe Ladies 9:30am Sportsnet 12:15am Sportsnet (3pm CBC)
***Roz Groenewoud, Keltie Hansen

Figure Skating Women Free Program 10am TSN (highlights 3pm CBC)
***Kaetlyn Osmond, Gabrielle Daleman

Hockey Women Gold Medal Game 12noon CBC Canada vs USA

Friday February 21

Ski Cross Ladies Seeding 2:45am CBC Finals 4:30am CBC Finals Schedule
***Marielle Thompson, Kelsey Serwa, Georgia Simmerling

Curling Men Bronze Medal Game 3:30am TSN Sweden vs China

Hockey Men Semi Finals 7am TSN Sweden vs Finland

Alpine Skiing Women Slalom Run 1 7:45am Sportsnet Run 2 11:15am Sportsnet
***Marie-Michèle Gagnon, Marie-Pier Préfontaine, Erin Mielzynski, Elli Terwiel, Britt Phelan

Biathlon Women Relay 8:30am Sportsnet
***Rosanna Crawford, Megan Imrie, Zina Kocher, Megan Heinicke

Curling Men Gold Medal Game 8:30am CBC Canada vs Great Britain
***Brad Jacobs, Ryan Fry, E.J. Harnden, Ryan Harnden

Speed Skating Team Pursuit 8:30am TSN2 (Men's & Ladies quarters, Men's semis)
***Christine Nesbitt, Ivanie Blondin & Brittany Schussler
***Mathieu Giroux, Lucas Makowsky & Denny Morrison

Short Track Speed Skating Men's 500m, Ladies' 1000m, Men's 5000m relay 11:30am TSN
***Charle Cournoyer and Olivier Jean qualified for 500m quarters
***Valerie Maltais and Marie-Eve Drolet qualified for 1000m quarters
***Canada qualified for B final in Men's 5000m relay
Event detailed schedule, click here.

Hockey Men Semi Final Canada vs USA 12noon CBC

Saturday February 22

Snowboard Parallel Slalom Qualifications 12:15am CBC Finals 4:15am-6:15
***Jasey-Jay Anderson, Michael Lambert, Matt Morison
***Caroline Calvé Ariane Lavigne, Marianne Leeson
***Full event schedule, click here.

Cross-Country Skiing Ladies 30km Mass Start Free 4:30am TSN (6:15am CBC)
***Dasha Gaiazova, Perianne Jones, Chandra Crawford, Emily Nishikawa, Heidi Widmer

Alpine Skiing Men - Slalom Run 1 7:45am Run 2 11:15am (Sportsnet/CBC)
***Phil Brown, Mike Janyk, Trevor Philp, Brad Spence, Morgan Pridy

Speed Skating Team Pursuit - Finals 8:30am CBC
***Christine Nesbitt, Ivanie Bondin & Brittany Schussler
***Mathieu Giroux, Lucas Makowsky & Denny Morrison

Biathlon Men Relay 9:30am Sportsnet
***Jean-Philippe Le Guellec, Nathan Smith, Brendan Green, Scott Perras

Hockey Men Bronze Medal 10am CBC

Bobsleigh 4-man Run 1 (of 4) 11:30am Sportsnet Run 2 1pm CBC
***Team Rush: Lyndon Rush, David Bissett, Lascelles Brown, Neville Wright
***Team Spring: Christopher Spring, Ben Coakwell, Jesse Lumsden, Cody Sorensen
***Team Kripps: Justin Kripps, Bryan Barnett, James McNaughton, Tim Randal

Sunday February 23

Cross-Country Skiing Men - 50km Mass Start Free 2am CBC
***Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, Lenny Valjas, Ivan Babikov, Graeme Killick, Jesse Cockney

Hockey Gold Medal Game 7am CBC

Closing Ceremony 11am CBC

The Best Part about the Olympics...Sharing it with family

About ten years ago, I was at a conference where Vince Poscente was the keynote speaker. He has a great story that I will share at the end of this post. He is an Olympian speed skier, author and motivational speaker.

He now shares his Olympic story as a motivational speaker for businesses with many great messages stemming from his experience of following his dream to the Olympics. I have read his books and subscribe to his email newsletter.

I especially loved this week's newsletter that I wanted to share. You can subscribe and read past posts on his website.

---

Written by Vince Poscente

"Time and again, after delivering an Olympic keynote speech, the question most asked: What was the best part of competing at the Olympics? The answer is always the same. “It was great to share it with family.”

Maybe this makes perfect sense, since, at your deathbed, family is what matters most.

Of the 3,000 athletes competing in Sochi, a couple of hundred will go home with medals and the rest have a nice little participant souvenir. Medal or not, sharing with family is a true highlight.

You’ll hear plenty of stories from the Olympics. Heartwarming stories like Alex Bilodeau’s credit to his brother Frederic for the daily inspiration he displayed while dealing with Cerebral Palsy.

You’ll never hear stories about the Mitchel Malyks in Sochi. Mitchel placed 26th in the men’s luge singles. The only media sound bite that could be picked up is Mitchel (18) is the youngest competitor in his event. The true story is one of family pride.

His father John is a long time family friend. We basically adopted John when he moved to Alberta. When I was the executive director of Alberta Luge, John became my right hand man. Along with my brother, we all were roommates in the years leading up the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary in 1988. John volunteered the Olympic Organizing Committee in luge. He even competed in some smaller races. Fast forward to the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

John flew his entire family to Sochi to cheer their Mitchel on. Did they hope Mitchel would medal. Of course. But what mattered to them was the family experience. I can’t speak for Mitchel, but chances are, this is what he will cherish from his time at Sochi.

It's reported, NHLers, Jamie Benn, Patrice Bergeron, Ryan Getzlaf, Roberto Luongo, Mike Smith and coaches Mike Babcock and Lindy Ruff aren't bringing family over because of fears of terrorism. That’s a shame since their experience will only be with teammates.

In Albertville, the host committee organized a family hosting exchange. My folks stayed at a family’s home in Bourge St. Maurice. We stay in touch with them to this day. Families communing with families – the quintessential Olympic experience.

What motivates you to succeed in your business?

In your life?

Chances are… if you boil it down… family is what will drive you to the Olympic principles of excellence."

---

Here is Vince's story as I remember from his talk (that I wrote just prior to the 2008 Olympics):

When he was younger, he had a friend ask him if he wanted to go luging at Lake Placid. Vince believed in trying everything once so he went. While there they met the Canadian luge team. They dreamed of being on the Canadian team but were told that they couldn't just pick up a sport and become Olympians. Many years later, the Olympics are in his hometown in Calgary. He's in the stands for the opening ceremonies. He tells the story of watching the Canadian team entering the stadium. The crowd goes nuts. He says the noise in his head went silent as he watched his buddy walk in with the Canadian team. His friend followed his dream, trained hard and made the Canadian luge team.

Vince was 26 years old at the time and he decided that he wanted to compete in the Olympics. The next Olympics were in France. Speed skiing was a demonstration sport. Vince was a recreational skier, but he had a dream. The way he tells the story is that he did what his competitors were not willing to do. That's how you get ahead (in business - as he now addresses the business world).

To make a long story short (and if you ever have the chance to hear him tell the story live, it is definitely worth it) he made the final round and had been faster than the others going into the last run. As I was listening to him tell the story (and he showed the video), I remembered it. I came home and checked my old videotapes. There it was. Not in the middle of an episode. I started recording as his turn was coming up. I was watching it live and remembered being so excited (more than 10 years later, I still had it on tape). Unfortunately, he caught an edge and did not win.

He continues the story by saying how depressed he was afterwards, until he overheard his dad on the phone telling a friend: "those Olympics Games were the greatest experience of my entire life. I'm so proud of my kid". He was proud not because of the result but because of the "journey of integrity" that it took to get there. To be able to strive to that excellence. It's the path we take to get there.

I can understand the importance of results. Countries spend a lot of money sending athletes, coaches and officials to the Olympics. We have more important issues that perhaps our money should be spent on. But the Olympics represents dreams, passion, dedication and compassion. It brings a country together with our hopes, our disappointments and our triumphs.

The thrill of victory ... the agony of defeat

The past couple of days have been about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

The day started yesterday with Marie-Michèle Gagnon dislocating her shoulder in a crash during the slalom part of the Super Combined. She had recently won a combined race, so hopes were high. I was worried that her Olympics was over, but she insists that she will race the Giant Slalom and the Slalom. This is the epitome of #GiveYourEverything.

Next up was the 1500m short track speed skating, Charles Hamelin's reportedly weakest event. The timing of this event was perfect so I could watch it with my daughter before she went to school, including the "Marianne St-Gelais cam" showing her watching Charles' race. My daughter (along with the rest of Canada) loved her (them) at the 2010 Olympics. What an amazing moment, culminated with the medal ceremony and playing of O Canada.

I had plans on watching the biathlon which was slated to be televised on Sportsnet. I was working on my laptop with Sportsnet on the background when I realized that the race should have started. Sportsnet was showing the second moguls qualification where no Canadians were competing. I check the livestream, and sure enough I missed the start of the biathlon and there is Jean-Philippe Le Guellec in the lead group! He completes the first shooting round first (3rd at the interval), and then leads out of the second shooting.

We have a Canadian leading an Olympic biathlon event possibly for the first time and no television station is showing it. Are the telecasts that rigid that we can't recognize that no Canadians are in the second moguls qualification that we can't switch to see a Canadian leading a biathlon? Luckily CBC showed the full race in the afternoon and Enfin Sotchi on Radio-Canada showed the highlights including the first half.

Biathlon is extremely popular in Europe and I have watched livestream of events on the biathlon youtube station where there was little or no screen time for our Canadians (with the huge exception of Jean-Philippe winning a World Cup last year). To see this today:

Jean-Philippe getting screen time with his name at #1 at an Olympic Game was incredible!

I understand that CBC won't switch away from a Canadian women's hockey game but introducing freestyle ski fans (where moguls was being shown) to the sport of biathlon is the choice I would have taken as producer of the Olympics. I'm sure my friend who produced the 2010 and 2012 Olympics would disagree with me, which is why he was there and I am here. My view is probably in the minority.

Unfortunately, Le Guellec ended up slipping on an ice patch going downhill around a corner while leading, fell and broke a ski. A Ukrainian technician would help him get another ski but he would fall out of contention. It's still an amazing story and achievement. His race went from the thrill of leading to the agony of the crash.

Heartbreak would be followed by elation once again with the moguls competition. We were almost guaranteed a double podium performance, but anything can happen in moguls. When I attended the 2010 Olympics, there were two runs - one qualification and one final. This time around, there were two qualifications (top 10 in first qualification went straight to the final with the top 10 in the second qualification). Those 20 would compete in the first final with the top 12 advancing.  The 12 would be cut down to 6 after the second final. The super final which included three Canadians would determine the medalists.

As a spectator, I would have loved so many runs when I was in Vancouver. I only saw the competitors race twice. I took photos of the Canadians in their qualification rounds except for Alexandre Bilodeau who I chose to video. During the final, I wanted to stay in the moment, so put my cameras away. Two runs seemed to go so fast, although we spent most of the day at the mountain.

Today's competition brought back so many memories, but also so much tension. Having to complete four runs this time to keep advancing or medal meant there was so little room for error. It came so close to a Canadian sweep of the podium with Marc-Antoine Gagnon in 4th and Philippe Marquis in second after the first final and finishing 9th. I'm sure that you all know that Alexandre Bilodeau put in the "best run" he's ever skied to win gold. Mikaël Kingsbury who had been dominating on the World Cup circuit the past couple of years son silver.

The thrill of victory and agony of defeat continued today. Kaya Turski was considered a favourite for gold in the ski slopestyle event until she was injured last August. She made a remarkable recovery from a serious knee injury to win the X Games a few weeks ago but Olympic glory was not meant to be for her this time. She didn't advance past the qualifications but she knows that "this moment doesn't define her".

Another Canadian in the final Yuko Tsubota crashed hard in her second run reportedly breaking her jaw. The strength of her first run gave her a strong 6th place finish.

Dara Howell was also a Canadian favourite for the event and she did live up to expectation. She won the gold with Kim Lamarre winning bronze in the event. Although they weren't allowed to wear Sarah Burke stickers on their helmets, her memory was present at the competition and in post race interviews #CelebrateSarah!

I'm sure everyone has seen much media attention for the medals won. To read a great article about Jean-Philippe Le Guellec's race, click here. To view his race, click here.

It's the view from the valleys that makes us truly appreciate the view from the mountain tops. Without experiencing the agony of defeat, the thrill of victory wouldn't be so sweet.

Last Night I Dreamed....an Olympic ideal

This post was started on Wednesday Feb 5th

I used to often blog about my dreams, because I love the dreams I have. I often dream about my favourite athletes and bands/artists, being at concerts or sports events. For me, what I've heard often works, that what you think about (or are passionate about) is what you dream about. 

I also love double dreaming when I dream that I wake up from a dream - and remember both. Those are the best!

Often times, I dream of things that end up happening which is entertaining (or freaky). I don't mean I dream of things I have control over and end up making happen. It would be easy to dream of going ice skating and lacing the skates up the next day. I mean that I dream of something that doesn't involve me and it later happens.

I have neglected my original blog since starting Olympic Hearts so haven't been writing about my dreams lately, but I woke up yesterday (Tuesday) having dreamed that a Canadian cross-country skier had medaled. I wish I had written it down because now the details fail me. It's not surprising with the Olympics occupying my mind that I would dream of the Olympics, and not necessarily worth blogging about.

Last night I dreamed that one of our alpine skiers crashed. I remember who it is, but don't want to say. What was remarkable though in my dream was that when this athlete entered the media room, everyone stood up and gave him/her a standing ovation.

We are so focused on winning medals now. I just heard the Canadian Olympic Committee President once again talking this morning on CBC about wanting Canada to win the most medals. I don't want to hear it anymore! Don't get me wrong, of course I want my favourite athletes to win medals but I fear that we'll forget those who don't medal. I would love some of my favourite athletes who will not medal get some recognition as well. They won't medal not because they aren't as talented as our Canadian medalists, but perhaps because their sport is more competitive around the world or is better supported in other countries.

I was so happy in my dream to see the effort of this alpine skier being rewarded even without a medal.

By the way, I'm sure many are thinking it's Erik Guay (he would deserve an ovation), but it's not so no crashing energy going his way please!

This was the end of my dream post. I wasn't sure whether to post it. Is it okay for me to not be okay with "owning the podium". If we don't own the podium, then all my favourites don't win medals. I think my problem isn't so much with owning the podium, but rather talking about owning the podium. The continual talk about being #1 is bringing everyone's expectations up and I worry that even if we aren't #1 overall, Canada will be disappointed.

For me, competing in an Olympic Games is still such an amazing feat! I am always so excited to see/hear who is representing Canada at the Games. Canadian trials are so exciting yet heart-breaking.

As I continued my thoughts on my dream, I saw this article shared on Twitter.

"Bruce Kidd: Focus on medals could be setback to Olympic, anti-doping movements". Click here to read the article.

How perfectly timed.

The article talks about the emphasis on winning from the 1980's that produced the performance-enhancing drugs that the Dubin Commission uncovered.

This was also the time when a Toronto Star journalist called Brian Orser a loser for winning a silver medal ("Orser Magnificent - but still a loser" was the headline). The article talked about who cares if he tried his best, he's still a loser. That prompted a letter to the editor from yours truly and many other Canadians. It's one thing to say that someone lost a competition but another altogether to call someone a loser.

I thought we had gotten away from that type of mentality, but the tearful admission by Melissa Hollingsworth feeling like she let the country down in 2010 when she finished off the podium in skeleton tells me we haven't. It shows that we are perhaps going back to the winning is everything mentality. Luckily Melissa got a lot of support from people and so did Jared Connaughton in 2012 when the 4x100m relay team was disqualified.

In the article, Bruce Kidd a 1964 Olympian says:

"Today the pursuit of the podium is as narrow as it was in the 1980's. Like Dubin a generation ago, I worry that it distorts the meaning of the Olympic Movement and amateur and Olympic sports." 

"I was always taught to believe that the overwhelming purpose of the Olympic Movement was to enhance education for global citizenship. Sport was considered the vehicle for that education, not the end in itself." 

"[In 2010], we should have focused our energies on welcoming the world in the context of the difficult issues of the day rather than preparing loudly to beat the pants off them."

I think Own the Podium is wonderful to get the country interested in the Olympics and to support the Olympic-level athletes.  If we don't win medals, the fans won't get as excited and perhaps want to go out and participate in sports. However, there is a fine line that I feel we are sometimes crossing over.

I'm not saying that athletes should want to "participate" in the Olympics. "We are not here to participate but to win" says the COC President. I don't want our athletes to participate but to compete. I feel that the emphasis on winning at the moment goes against the words of Pierre de Coubertin "The important thing in life is not triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

There is a fine line however with doing everything we can to be ready to win and flaunting it in every press conference.  The first time I heard it I thought it was wonderful. Athletes are getting the support they need and are given a better chance to podium. I now cringe when I keep hearing it - it sounds un-Canadian to me.

When the COC President exclaims that Canada likes the new mentality of Own The Podium, I think, not all of us. I love the support Own The Podium gives the athletes, not the cockiness that is accompanying it. I think the Canadians who support our athletes like Hollingsworth and Connaughton also don't believe that the medal is the most important thing. Many Canadians recognized their effort and that they are human. Some days things go perfectly and yes we should celebrate that but on other days they don't and we should support that as well.

For years I would hear Canadians criticize American conceit, whereas I feel that we are becoming what we used to not like.

We're not the only country with great athletes, financial support and training facilities. In 2012, Olympic gold medallist Mark Tewksbury, as chef de mission, asked "Why Not Me?" It gave every athlete the belief that they could win. Someone has to win, why not me? In 2014, the message of "we're going to be #1" sounds more like we're the only ones who deserve to win.

Yes, athletes feel supported but do they also feel extra pressure that will make them feel like they need to apologize to the country if the result doesn't match the expectation?

On any given day, anything can happen. Some Canadians will win, some Canadians will podium, some Canadians will have personal bests while others will falter and not perform their best. That is sport!

I woke up from my dream hopeful that we won't forget those personal best performances that will not be on the podium. I was hopeful that those athletes who fought well but came up short of their goal would be recognized for the struggle and the journey. Being an Olympian is something special and every one of our 221 athletes named to Team Canada should be recognized for it.

2014 Olympic Schedule – Detailed with links to others

Are you wanting to watch as many events as possible during the 2014 Olympics? Then this is the schedule for you. The second week of competition is still to follow.

If you're finding this schedule overwhelming, I have published some simpler ones.

Want to see mostly events with Canadian medal potential? Click here.
Want to see a simplified schedule? Click here.
Want to see the hockey, curling and figure skating schedule? Click here.
Want to see the most popular events? Link will be here by Friday.

So bookmark or print the schedule that is best for you and enjoy the Games.

Back to this schedule. If it's not displaying properly, decrease the font size and/or widen your viewing screen. It gives a detail look at the television coverage, as well as what will not be covered live. All events and television coverage will be livestreamed.

This schedule still has a Canada focus however. It only shows hockey and curling matches where Canada is playing. For other games, check the Sochi2014 website for full schedule or cbcsports webite for which ones are televised.

To view by individual event, check sportcafe.ca/events or the middle column on the homepage. The events are in chronological order. The times posted are event time (EST) - not television time.

Medal ceremonies will be televised daily on Ici RDI at 11am and 9pm starting Saturday Feb 8.
(Check your local channel lineup - Rogers Toronto channel 612/613HD) No announcement on whether CBC will be showing the medal ceremonies.

Daily Olympic Primetime on CBC
7-10pm local except in Atlantic (8pm) & Newfoundland (8:30pm)

Enfin Sotchi En 60 minutes, Marc Durand vous fera revivre une journée Olympique. Ici-Télé chaque soir 17h et 23h commençant samedi soir.

Medal events in gold/bronze (or red when Canadian medal potential)
Livestream in teal (when no television coverage)
Qualification rounds, first runs, round robin games, short programs are in black.

Thursday February 6

Snowboard Slopestyle (Qualification) 6-9am CBC [live 1am Men, 5am Ladies]
Moguls Ladies Qualification 9am CBC
Figure Skating Team Event - Men's and Pairs 10:30am-2pm CBC

Livestream (cbcsports.ca):
Snowboard Slopestyle 1am Men, 5am Ladies

Friday February 7

Opening Ceremony Pre-Show 10am CBC
Opening Ceremony 11am CBC, TSN, SN, SN1
Encore 2pm, 7pm CBC

Saturday February 8

Snowboard Slopestyle Men's Semis 12:30am-2:15am CBC
Snowboard Slopestyle Men's Finals 3:45am-5am CBC
***Mark McMorris, Sebastien Toutant, Maxence Parrot
Cross-Country Skiing Ladies skiathlon 5am-6:05am CBC 
Speed Skating Men 5000m 6:15am-9:30am SN (6:30-7:15 CBC)
Hockey Women Canada vs Switzerland 8am CBC (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Moguls Ladies Qualification #2 8:45am SN1

Figure Skating Team Event 9:30am-2:05pm SN (encore 7pm SN)

Biathlon 10km sprint Men's 9:30-10:55am SN1

Moguls Ladies Finals 1-2:30pm CBC

***Dufour-Lapointe sisters

Livestream only (cbcsports.ca):

Luge Men's Runs 1 & 2 9:30am-1:05pm (shown in French 14h30 TVASports)

Ski Jumping Men Qualificatio 11:30am-12:35pm (shown in French 11h30 TVASports)

Sunday February 9

Snowboard Slopestyle Ladies semis 1:25-2:40am TSN
Alpine Skiing Downhill Men's 2:00-4:15am CBC
***Erik Guay, Jan Hudec, Manny Osborne-Paradis
Snowboard Slopestyle Ladies Finals 4:00-5:25am TSN (4:15-5:15 CBC)
***Spencer O'Brien
Cross-Country Skiing Skiathlon Men's 4:55-6:45am TSN2 (5:15-5:45 CBC)
Speed Skating 3000m Ladies 6:30-8:30 CBC (6:25-8:35 TSN)
Biathlon 7.5km Sprint Women's 9:25-10:50 TSN (4:30-5pm CBC)
Figure Skating Team Event 10am-1:15pm CBC (encore 7pm SN)
**Patrick Chan, Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir, Kaetlyn Osmond
Ski Jumping Men's 12:25-2:15pm TSN (1:15-2:15pm CBC)
Luge Men's - 2:30-4:30pm CBC (Runs 3&4) [live 9:30am-1:05pm]

Monday February 10

Curling Men's - Canada vs Germany 00:00-2:30am CBC
Alpine Skiing Super Combined Ladies Run 1 Downhill 1:55-3:30am TSN (2:30-4:45am CBC)
Short Track Speed Skating Men & Women heats 4:45-7:30am CBC
***1500m final Charles Hamelin, Michael Gilday, François Hamelin
Curling Women's - Canada vs China 5-8am TSN
Alpine Skiing Super Combined Ladies Run 2 Slalom 5:55-7:10 TSN2 (7:30-8:45 CBC)
***Marie-Michèle Gagnon
Speed Skating Men's 500m 7:55-11:25 TSN2
Moguls Men's 8:55-10:20 SN (9-9:45 CBC)  [live Quali 1- 9am, Qual 2 9:50am]
Luge Women's Run 1 & 2 9:30-12:40pm SN1 (4-5pm CBC)
Hockey Women's Canada vs Finland 10am-12:30pm CBC (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Curling Men's Canada vs Switzerland 10am-1pm TSN
Biathlon Men's 12.5km Pursuit 10:20am-10:50am SN (3-4pm CBC)
Moguls Men's 1-2:35pm Finals CBC
***Mikaël Kingsbury, Alex Bilodeau

Tuesday February 11

Curling Women's - Canada vs Sweden 00:00-3:00am CBC
Ski Slopestyle Ladies Qualification 00:55-2:25am TSN (3:15-3:45am CBC)
Ski Slopestyle Ladies Finals 3:55-5:05am TSN (4-5am CBC)
***Kaya Turski, Dara Howell
Cross Country Skiing Men's and Ladies Individual Sprint Free 4:45-5:50am SN (see livestream)
Snowboard Halfpipe Men's Qualification 4:55-8:05am TSN2
Curling Men's Canada vs Sweden 5-8am CBC
Cross Country Skiing Men's and Ladies Individual Sprint Free 6:45-8:50am SN (see livestream)
Speed Skating 500m Ladies 7:45-11am TSN [Race 1 7:45am Race 2 9:34am]
*(8:45-9:30am and 10:30-11:30am CBC) 
Cross-Country Skiing Men's and Ladies Sprint Free 8am-8:45 CBC (see livestream)
**Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov
Luge Women's Runs 3 of 4 9:30-10:30am CBC
Figure Skating Pairs Short 9:45am-1:25pm SN (2-3pm CBC)
Biathlon 10km Pursuit Women's 9:45-10:50am SN1 (3pm-4pm CBC)
Snowboard Halfpipe Men's Semis 9:55-11am TSN2
Luge Women's Run 4 of 4 11-12:45pm TSN (11:30am-12:30pm CBC)
**Alex Gough
Snowboard Halfpipe Men's Finals 12:30-13:30pm CBC/TSN2
Ski Jumping Ladies 12:45-2:05pm TSN (1:30-2pm CBC)

Livestream cbcsports.ca (also check RDS, Ici Radio Canada, TVASports)
Cross-Country Skiing Ladies - Sprint Free
*Qualification 5am, Quarterfinals 7am, Semifinals 7:56am, Finals 8:22am
Cross-Country Skiing Men - Sprint Free
*Qualification 5:25am, Quarters 7:25am, Semis 8:06am, Finals 8:30am

Wednesday February 12

Alpine Skiing Downhill Ladies 2am-4:10am CBC
Nordic Combined Men's Ski Jumping 4:30-5:20 (no Canadians)
Snowboard Halfpipe Ladies Qualifications 4:45-8:05am SN
Curling Women's Canada vs Great Britain 5am TSN
Nordic Combined Men's 10km 7:25-8:15am (4-5pm CBC) (no Canadians)
Hockey Women Canada vs USA 7:30am-10am CBC (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Speed Skating 1000m Men's 8:55-10:40am TSN (10am CBC)
Luge Doubles 9am-11:35am SN (3-4pm CBC)
**Justin Snith & Tristan Walker
Snowboard Halfpipe Ladies Semis 9:45-11am SN1 (10:30-11:45 CBC)
Curling Men - Russia vs Canada 10am TSN2
Figure Skating Pairs Free 10:45-2pm TSN (12:15-1:45pm CBC)
**Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford, Kirsten Moore-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch
Snowboard Halfpipe Ladies Finals 12:15-1:35pm SN (1:45-2:45pm CBC)

Thursday February 13

Curling Women Canada vs Denmark 00:00-2:30am CBC (encore 10am SN)
Ski Slopestyle Men Qualification 1:10am-3am SN
Skeleton Women's (Heats 1 & 2 of 4) 2:25-4:20 TSN (2:30-4:15 CBC)
Ski Slopestyle Finals Men 4:30-5:45am CBC
Curling Men Canada vs Denmark 5-8am TSN2
Cross Country Skiing 10km Classical Ladies 5:30-6:40 SN1 (11-11:45am CBC)
Short Track Speed Skating Men and Women heats/semis 6-7:15am CBC [live 5am-7:30am]
***500m Finals Valérie Maltais, Marianne St-Gelais, Jessica Hewitt
Biathlon 20km men 8:45-11am SN1 (4-5pm CBC)
Speed Skating 1000m Ladies 8:55-10:40am TSN2 (10-11am CBC)
**Christine Nesbitt
Figure Skating Men's Short 10am-2:30pm TSN
Luge Team Relay 11am-12:30am SN1 (3-4pm CBC)
**Alex Gough, Sam Edney, Justin Snith & Tristan Walker
Hockey Men Canada vs Norway 12-2:30pm CBC (Encore 7:30pm TSN)

Friday February 14

Curling Women Canada vs Norway 00:00-3:00am CBC
Alpine Skiing Super Combined (Downhill) Men 1:55-3:30am SN (3-4am CBC)
Cross Country Skiing 15km Classical Men 4:45-6:55am SN1 (5:30-7am CBC)
Alpine Skiing Super Combined (Slalom) Men 6:15-7:40am SN (8-8:45am CBC)
Skeleton Men (Heats 1&2) and Women (Heats 3&4) 7:15-12:30 SN1 (10-11:45am CBC)
Aerials Ladies Qualification 8:30am-10am TSN2 (No Canadians) (8:45-9:45am CBC)
Biathlon 15km Women 8:45-10:55am Sportsnet
Figure Skating Men's Free Program 10-2:30pm TSN
**Patrick Chan
Hockey Men Canada vs Austria 12-14:30pm CBC (7:30pm TSN)
Aerials Ladies Finals 12:25-13:35 TSN2 (No Canadians) (3-4pm CBC)
Ski Jumping Large Hill Men (Qualification) 12:30-1:35pm SN1 (4-5pm CBC)

Saturday February 15

Curling Women Canada vs Japan 00:00-3am CBC
Alpine Skiing Ladies Super-G 1:55-4:10am TSN (3-4am CBC, 4-4:30pm CBC)
Short Track Speed Skating 4:55-7:55am TSN (6-7:30am CBC) (see livestream)
**Ladies' 1500m Finals: Valérie Maltais, Marianne St-Gelais, Marie-Eve Drolet
**Men's 1000m finals: Charles Hamelin, Olivier Jean, Charle Cournoyer
Curling Men Canada vs Great Britain 5-8am TSN2
Cross Country Skiing Ladies 4x5km Relay 5:30-6:30am SN/SN1 (2:15pm-3:15pm CBC)
Hockey Women Quarter Final 2 7:30am-10am SN (7pm SN1)
Speed Skating 1500m Men 8:25-10:25am TSN (10-10:30am CBC, 3:15-4pm CBC)
Skeleton Men 10am-12pm SN (10:30-12pm CBC)
Curling Women Canada vs Russia 10am-1pm TSN2
Ski Jumping Large Hill Men 12:15-2:15pm SN (12:30-2pm CBC)

livestream cbcsports.ca (also check RDS, Ici Radio Canada, TVASports)
Hockey Women quarterfinal 1 3am
Short Track Speed Skating:
*Ladies' 1500m Heats 5am, Men's 1000m Quarters 5:45am, Men's 1000m Semis 6:46am
*Ladies' 1500m Finals 7:09am, Men's 1000m Finals 7:23am

Sunday February 16

Curling Men Canada vs USA 00:00-3:00am CBC
Alpine Skiing Men's Super-G 1:55am-4:10am TSN (3am-4:15am CBC)
**Erik Guay, Jan Hudec, Manny Osborne-Paradis
Snowboard Cross Ladies 4:15am-5:15am CBC (see livestream)
**Maëlle Ricker, Dominique Maltais
Cross Country Skiing Men's 4x10km Relay 4:55am-7:30am TSN (4:30pm-6pm CBC)
Curling Women Canada vs USA 5:15am-8am CBC
Speed Skating 1500m Ladies SN1 9am-10:50am
Biathlon Men's 15km Mass Start 10am-11am SN (11am-11:45 CBC)
Figure Skating Ice Dance Short Program 10am - 1:45pm TSN
Curling Men Canada vs China 10am-1pm TSN2
Bobsleigh 2-Man (Heats 1&2 of 4) 11:15am-1:35pm SN (3pm-4:30pm CBC)
Hockey Men Canada vs Finland 12pm-2:30pm CBC (encore 7:30pm TSN2)

Livestream cbcsports.ca (also check RDS, Ici Radio Canada, TVASports)
Snowboard Cross Ladies Seeding 2am, Quarters 4:15am, Semis 4:31am, Finals 4:45am
Bobsleigh 2-Man Heat 1 11:15am, Heat 2 12:50pm

Week 2 schedule to follow

2014 Olympics Schedule - Best Canadian Medal Chances Week 1

With Canada attempting to Own The Podium once again, there are numerous medal chances. If I wrote each one down, the schedule would be almost the same as the complete one. Here are a few of those medal chances.

Medal ceremonies will be televised daily on Ici RDI at 11am and 9pm starting Saturday Feb 8.
(Check your local channel lineup - Rogers Toronto channel 612/613HD) No announcement on whether CBC will be showing the medal ceremonies. A medal ceremony is probably amazing no matter what language it is presented in.

If you are French speaking and/or a fan of Objectif Sotchi - Marc Durand will have a one hour recap every evening at 5pm and 11pm on Radio-Canada.

This schedule does not include curling and hockey who have round robin preliminary rounds. Medals will be awarded in week 2. Click here for that schedule.

Events in red show when medals are decided. #GoCanadaGo

Thursday February 6

Snowboard Slopestyle (Qualification) 6-9am CBC [live 1am Men, 5am Ladies] (finals Sat)
Moguls Ladies Qualification 9am CBC (finals Saturday)
Figure Skating Team Event - Men's and Pairs 10:30am-2pm CBC  (finals on Sunday)

Saturday February 8

Snowboard Slopestyle 
Men's Finals 3:45am-5am CBC
***Mark McMorris, Sebastien Toutant, Maxence Parrot, Charles Reid

Figure Skating Team Event
9:30am-2:05pm SN (encore 7pm SN)
(finals on Sunday)

Moguls Ladies 
Qualification #2 8:45am SN1

Finals 1-2:30pm CBC

***Dufour-Lapointe sisters, Audrey Robichaud

Sunday February 9

Alpine Skiing Downhill Men's 
2:00-4:15am CBC
***Erik Guay, Jan Hudec, Manny Osborne-Paradis, Ben Thomsen, and more
Anything can happen in the downhill, you don't want to miss it!

Snowboard Slopestyle Ladies Finals 
4:00-5:25am TSN (4:15-5:15 CBC)
***Spencer O'Brien, Jenna Blasman

Figure Skating Team Event
10am-1:15pm CBC (encore 7:30-10:30 TSN2)
**Patrick Chan, Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir, Kaetlyn Osmond (possibly others will also perform)

Monday February 10

Short Track Speed Skating 
Men & Women heats 4:45-7:30am CBC
***1500m final Charles Hamelin, Michael Gilday, François Hamelin

Alpine Skiing Super Combined Ladies 
Run 1 Downhill 1:55-3:30am TSN (2:30-4:45am CBC)
Run 2 Slalom 5:55-7:10 TSN2 (7:30-8:45 CBC)
***Marie-Michèle Gagnon (possibly Marie-Pier Prefontaine, Erin Mielzynski, Elli Terwiel, Britt Phelan)

Luge Women
Run 1 & 2 9:30am-12:40pm SN1 (4-5pm CBC)
Run 3 & 4 on Tuesday Feb 11

Moguls Men's 
8:55-10:20 SN (9-9:45 CBC)
1-2:35pm Finals CBC
[live Qualification 1- 9am, Qualification 2 9:50am, finals start at 1pm]
***Mikaël Kingsbury, Alex Bilodeau, Marc-Antoine Gagnon, Philippe Marquis

Tuesday February 11

Ski Slopestyle Ladies 
Qualification 00:55-2:25am TSN (3:15-3:45am CBC)
Finals 3:55-5:05am TSN (4-5am CBC)
***Kaya Turski, Dara Howell, Kim Lamarre, Yuki Tsubota

Cross-Country Skiing 
4:45-5:50am SN, 6:45-8:50am SN (8am-8:45 CBC)
Ladies - Sprint Free
*Qualification 5am, Quarterfinals 7am, Semifinals 7:56am, Finals 8:22am
**Chandra Crawford, Perrianne Jones, Dasha Gaiazova, Heidi Widmer, Emily Nishikawa, Amanda Ammar
Men - Sprint Free
*Qualification 5:25am, Quarters 7:25am, Semis 8:06am, Finals 8:30am
**Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov, Lenny Valjas, Jesse Cockney, Graeme Killick

Figure Skating Pairs Short
9:45am-1:25pm SN (2-3pm CBC)
Free program on Wednesday Feb 13
**Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford, Kirsten Moore-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch, Paige Lawrence & Rudi Swiegers

Luge Women's 
Run 3 of 4 9:30-10:30am CBC
Run 4 of 4 11-12:45pm TSN (11:30am-12:30pm CBC)
**Alex Gough, Kimberly McRae

Wednesday February 12

Luge Doubles 
9am-11:35am SN (3-4pm CBC)
**Justin Snith & Tristan Walker

Figure Skating Pairs 
Free 10:45-2pm TSN (12:15-1:45pm CBC)
**Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford, Kirsten Moore-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch, Paige Lawrence & Rudi Swiegers

Thursday February 13 

Short Track Speed Skating 
Men and Women heats/semis 6-7:15am CBC [live 5am-7:30am]
***500m Finals Valérie Maltais, Marianne St-Gelais, Jessica Hewitt

Speed Skating 
1000m Ladies 8:55-10:40am TSN2 (10-11am CBC)
**Christine Nesbitt, Kali Christ, Kaylin Irvine, Brittany Schussler

Luge Team Relay 
11am-12:30am SN1 (3-4pm CBC)
**Alex Gough, Sam Edney, Justin Snith & Tristan Walker

Friday February 14

Figure Skating 
Men's Free Program 10-2:30pm TSN
**Patrick Chan, Kevin Reynolds, Liam Firus

Saturday February 15

Short Track Speed Skating 
4:55-7:55am TSN (6-7:30am CBC)
**Ladies' 1500m Finals: Valérie Maltais, Marianne St-Gelais, Marie-Eve Drolet
**Men's 1000m finals: Charles Hamelin, Olivier Jean, Charle Cournoyer

Week 2 schedule to follow

2014 Olympic Schedule - Canada hockey, curling and figure skating schedules

Hockey Canada Women (on CBC)

Saturday Feb 8 8am  vs Switzerland  (encore 7:30pm TSN)

Monday Feb 10 10am vs Finland (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Wednesday Feb 12 7:30am vs USA (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Saturday Feb 15 3am Quarterfinal (not scheduled on television yet)
Saturday Feb 15 7:30am Quarterfinal (encore 7pm Sportsnet ONE)
Monday Feb 17 7:30am and 12 noon Semifinals (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Thursday Feb 20 7am Bronze Medal Game (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Thursday Feb 20 12pm Gold Medal Game (encore 7:30pm TSN)

Hockey Canada Men (on CBC)

Thursday Feb 13 12pm vs Norway (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Friday Feb 14 12pm vs Austria (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Sunday Feb 16 12pm vs Finland (encore 7:30pm TSN2)
Tuesday Feb 18 3am, 7:30am, 12pm Qualification Playoffs (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Wednesday Feb 19 3am, 7:30am, 12pm Quarterfinals (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Friday Feb 21 7am and 12pm Semi Finals (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Saturday Feb 22 10am Bronze Medal Game (encore 7:30pm TSN)
Sunday Feb 23 7am Gold Medal Game (encore 1:30pm CBC)

Curling Canada Women (encore nightly on Sportsnet)

Monday Feb 10 5am TSN vs China
Tuesday Feb 11 12am (midnight) CBC vs Sweden
Wednesday Feb 12 5am TSN vs Great Britain
Thursday Feb 13 12am (midnight) CBC vs Denmark
Friday Feb 14 12am (midnight) CBC vs Norway
Saturday Feb 15 12am (midnight) CBC vs Japan
Saturday Feb 15 10am TSN2 vs Russia
Sunday Feb 16 5am CBC vs USA
Monday Feb 17 10am TSN2 vs South Korea
Tuesday Feb 18 tie-breakers if needed
Wednesday Feb 19 5am CBC and Sportsnet ONE semi-finals
Thursday Feb 20 3:30am TSN Bronze Medal Match
Thursday Feb 20 8:30am CBC Gold Medal Match

Curling Canada Men (encore nightly on Sportsnet)

Monday Feb 10 12am (midnight) CBC vs Germany
Monday Feb 10 10am TSN vs Switzerland
Tuesday Feb 11 5am CBC vs Sweden
Wednesday Feb 12 10am TSN2 vs Russia
Thursday Feb 13 5am TSN2 vs Denmark
Saturday Feb 15 5am TSN2 vs Great Britain
Sunday Feb 16 12am (midnight) CBC vs USA
Sunday Feb 16 10am TSN2 vs China
Tuesday Feb 18 tie-breakers if needed
Wednesday Feb 19 10am Sportsnet Semi-Final
Friday Feb 21 3:30am Bronze Medal Match
Friday Feb 21 8:30am Gold Medal Match

Figure Skating (some CBC coverage during CBC Daytime)

Team Event - Men's and Pairs Thurs Feb 6 10:30am CBC
Team Event - Dance/Ladies Short, Pairs Free
- Sat Feb 8 9:30am-2:05pm am Sportsnet 10:30am-1pm CBC (encore 7pm SN)
Team Event - Men's, Ladies' and Ice Dance Free Sunday Feb 9 10am CBC (encore 7pm SN)

Pairs Short Tuesday Feb 11 9:45am-1:25pm SN (2-3pm CBC)
Pairs Free Wednesday Feb 12 10:45am-2pm TSN (12:15-1:45pm CBC)

Men's Short Thursday Feb 13 10am-2;30pm TSN
Men's Free Friday Feb 14 10am-2:30pm TSN

Ice Dance Short Sunday Feb 16 10am-1:45pm TSN
Ice Dance Free Monday Feb 17 9:55am-1:35pm TSN

Ladies Short Wednesday Feb 19 9:55am-2:30pm TSN (3pm-4pm CBC)
Ladies Free Thursday Feb 20 9:55am-2:10pm TSN

Gala Exhibition Saturday Feb 22 11:25am-2pm TSN (encore 7pm Sportsnet)

2014 Olympic Schedule - Simplified

Here is a simplified schedule of the events that will be shown throughout the day. I have to admit that making a simple schedule for such an elaborate event is a challenge.

Thursday Feb 6
Qualifications Men Snowboard Slopestyle, Ladies Moguls, Figure Skating team event

Friday Feb 7
Opening Ceremony

Saturday Feb 8
Men's Medal Events: Snowboard Slopestyle, Speed Skating, Biathlon
Ladies' Medal Events: Cross-Country Skiing, Moguls
Also: Women hockey, Figure Skating Team, Men Luge, Men Ski Jumping

Sunday Feb 9
Men's Medal Events: Downhill, Cross-Country Skiing, Ski Jumping, Luge
Ladies Medal Events: Snowboard Slopestyle,  Speed Skating, Biathlon
Also medals awarded in Team Figure Skating

Monday Feb 10
Men's Medal Events: Speed Skating, Moguls, biathlon
Ladies Medal Events: Alpine Skiing,
Also: Curling, luge hockey

Tuesday Feb 11
Men's Medal Events: Cross-Country Skiing, Snowboard Halfpipe,
Ladies Medal Events: Ski Slopestyle, Cross-Country, Speed Skating, Luge, Biathlon, Ski Jumping
Also: Curling, Pairs Figure Skating

Wednesday Feb 12
Men's Medal Events: Nordic Combined, Speed Skating, Luge Doubles
Ladies Medal Events: Downhill, Snowboard Halfpipe,
Also: Pairs Figure Skating Medals, Curling, Hockey

Thursday Feb 13
Men's Medal Events: Ski Slopestyle, Short Track, Biathlon
Ladies Medal Events: Cross-Country Skiing, Short Track Speed Skating, Speed Skating
Also: Curling, Skeleton, Figure Skating, Hockey

Friday Feb 14
Men's Medal Events: Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Figure Skating
Ladies Medal Events: Skeleton, Aerials, Biathlon
Also: Curling, Men's Skeleton, Hockey, Ski Jumping

Saturday Feb 15
Men's Medal Events: Short Track Speed Skating, Speed Skating, Skeleton, Ski Jumping
Ladies Medal Events: Alpine Skiing, Short Track Speed Skating, Cross Country Skiing
Also: Curling, Hockey

Sunday Feb 16
Men's Medal Events: Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Biathlon
Ladies Medal Events: Snowboard Cross, Speed Skating
Also: Curling, Figure Skating, Bobsleigh, Hockey

Week 2 to follow.