Sask. Olympians contribute three medals to Team Canada's total

Team Canada arrives at the Closing Ceremony during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China on Sunday, February 20, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, COC, Mark Blinch

Saskatchewan was represented by six Olympians at this year's winter games; hauling in three medals for Team Canada.

The Olympic Winter Games in Beijing have drawn to a close. Canada finished with 26 medals – four gold, eight silver and 14 bronze – to rank fourth behind Norway (37), The Russian Olympic Committee (32) and Germany (27).

Remember, gold medals are weighed more heavily into the equation than are total medals won. Canada’s four gold was the lowest since the 1994 games in Lillehammer, Norway, but Canadian athletes did haul in a record number of bronze medals. The Canadian Olympic Committee says all but one of the 215 athletes from this country were able to fully compete in their events as Keegan Messing didn’t make it to China in time for the figure skating team event.

One of those gold medals belongs to Saskatoon’s Emily Clark. Team Canada edged their rivals from the U.S. 3-2 to win the tournament. Clark scored two goals and added an assist through the team’s seven games en route to gold.

Mark McMorris continued to add to his snowboarding legacy. The 28 year old from Regina claimed bronze in the men’s snowboard slopestyle event. McMorris scored an 88.53 on his third run to finish third. Fellow Canadian Max Parrot took gold with a score of 90.96. McMorris would later finish 10th in snowboard big air.

Regina’s Ben Coakwell was part of the bronze medal winning four-man bobsleigh team piloted by Justin Kripps. The team finished with a time of 3:55:08 just 0.79 off the lead.

Moose Jaw’s Graeme Fish skated one of his best races of the season in the men’s 10,000 metre speed skating competition finishing with a time of 12:58:80 and was the top Canadian in the event. Sweden’s Nils van der Poel turned in a world record pace (12:30:74) to win gold.

White City, Saskatchewan’s Marsha (Hudey) Sweeney was the top Canadian finisher in the women’s 500 metre speed skating competition. The 31-year old turned in a time of 38.79, just 1.75 seconds off the lead. She was just ahead of fellow Canadian Brooklyn McDougall. Erin Jackson from the United States won gold.

Adam Cracknell of Prince Albert was a part of the Canadian men’s hockey team that lost in the quarter finals of the tournament to Sweden. Technically it’s a 6th place finish for Canada.