Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue are likely to retire soon. If they do, they'll go out on top with yet another gold in ice dancing. (Olga Besnard | Dreamstime.com)
Day 11 of competition at PyeongChang is in the books and even with a couple mishaps, (we'll get into those) Canada is in great shape.
With 8 gold, 5 silver, and 6 bronze, the True North Strong and Free now has 19 medals and sits third overall, behind only Norway and Germany. And while repeating their first in gold medals finish from Vancouver 2010 is likely out of reach (Norway's looking pretty impressive), Canada has an excellent chance to get more medals than ever at a Winter Games.
There are five more days of competition to grab at least eight more medals and hit a total of 27. And with more skating, curling, bobsleigh, skating, and hockey to come, some might say it's almost a lock. Let's look at the amazing performances that got the country here, and preview what's to come next!
Dancing like stars
Golden to the end, Moir and Virtue were unstoppable in PyeongChang. (Getty Embed)
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir were already two of the greatest-ever figure skaters from Canada. But after setting a new world record under pressure yesterday, they might even rightly call themselves the country's best, period. They added to their earlier team skating gold medal with a gold in ice dancing. To win it, they had to beat an earlier skate by French duo Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron that briefly set a new world record itself. Whoa! Still, as they've always been, Virtue and Moir were up to the task. With an incredible 122.40 score, the pair will leave PyeongChang double gold winners. What a way to end their Olympic careers!
A golden tribute
Cassie Sharpe had special inspiration going into her awesome routine. (Getty Embed)
Women's halfpipe skier Cassie Sharpe was as crisp and accurate as her name. She grabbed gold in super-convincing fashion — her two runs were the only two scores over 95 points posted by any skier. It was an emotional win for Sharpe.
In the 2000's, Canadian halfpipe pioneer Sarah Burke lobbied hard to get her sport added to the Olympics on 2014 at Sochi. She succeeded, but never got to compete — she died in 2012 during a training accident. Six years later, Sharpe paid tribute to Burke, telling CBC that "She's always on our minds, she's always with us."
Slipping and falling away?
Oops! Valerie Maltais's slip cost her 3000m relay team, but she'll have a chance at redemption in the 1000m relay on Thursday. (Getty Embed)
Canada's news wasn't all great yesterday. Speed skaters Marianne St-Gelais, Kim Boutin, Valérie Maltais, and Kasandra Bradette had a medal locked up in the 3000m relay until they were penalized due to a crash and removed from the podium.
Go time for Rachel Homan and her curling team. (Getty Embed)
Meanwhile, curler Rachel Homan and her team are in real trouble. A year ago, Homan went undefeated to capture the women's international title in Beijing. But after losing 7-5 to China, her team must win both of their remaining games to reach the medal round. Can she regain her confidence in time? If anyone can, we think it's her!
Up next...
Can Kaillie Humphries make it three-in-a-row? Her thrilling event happens tomorrow! (Getty Embed)
Either way, there's no shortage of exciting stuff to follow in PyeongChang, and you won't have to stay up super-late to see it! Rachel Homan's must-win match versus Great Britain is at 7:05 p.m. EST tonight. Gabrielle Daleman and Katelyn Osmond skate in the women's short program at 8:00 p.m.
And for you early risers, tomorrow is another big day! Kaillie Humphries will go for her third-straight Olympic gold in women's bobsleigh at 8:00 a.m. EST, and the men's hockey quarterfinals has Canada versus Finland at 7:10 a.m.
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