Canadian Winter Olympic teams enthused for 2022 Beijing Games
Much is expected from Canada's veteran snowboarding team as the Beijing Winter Olympics approach.
The team, revealed Wednesday, is expected to be the "strongest team in all of snowboarding".
The Canadians, who brought home four medals at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, are looking to build on that number as all four previous medalists — Sébastien Toutant, Max Parrot, Mark McMorris and Laurie Blouin — are back for another medal run.
Toutant, the lone gold medalist, will defend his gold in men's big air and will also compete in slopestyle.
Snowboard analyst Craig McMorris, the older brother of Mark, told CBC News that the Canadians should be a "force".
"I think it is the strongest team in all of snowboarding, especially in male slopestyle and big air with Max Parrot, Sebastien Toutant and Mark McMorris all returning for their third Games," he said. "The skill is there. And the veteran wisdom and experience is there as well."
On the women's side, Quebec City's Laurie Blouin, who won slopestyle silver at the Pyeongchang Olympics, will lead the women's contingent in both slopestyle and big air.
On Monday, 16 Canadian long-track speedskaters were nominated to Team Canada for Beijing 2022.
Canada has won 37 Olympic medals all time in long-track speedskating, more than in any other sport at the Winter Games.
Composed of eight men and eight women, the speedskating group includes a reigning Olympic champion, a reigning world champion, multiple other world championship medalists, and a women's team pursuit squad that has been unbeatable so far this season.
Meanwhile, a team of four women and three men will represent Canada in cross-country skiing at Beijing 2022.
The years since Pyeongchang 2018 have been a time of great turnover for cross-country skiing in Canada. The only returning athletes from the last Olympic team are Cendrine Browne and Dahria Beatty on the women's squad.
As Canada's official national winter sport and perhaps its greatest contribution to world sport, Canada's hockey team is always favored to win gold.
Unfortunately, the NHL (National Hockey League) and NHLPA (National Hockey League Players' Association) have decided not to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympic men's hockey tournament due to a COVID-19 surge before Christmas.
The NHL had to postpone 98 games because of coronavirus outbreaks on teams. On Wednesday, the league announced it would play 95 of those games in the time frame that had been set aside for the Olympics.
However, the Canadian women's hockey team will be stepping onto the sporting world's biggest stage in Beijing from Feb 4-20.
"The next chapter in women's hockey history is about to be written," Hockey Canada tweeted. "Following in the historic footsteps of those before them, 23 women will set out on a journey to bring home Olympic gold for Canada."
Canada's women's Olympic team features 13 players who won a silver medal at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea; six who won gold at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia; and two players who captured gold on Canadian ice at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
In Beijing, the women's hockey tournament will take place Feb 2-16 at the National Indoor Stadium and Wukesong Sports Centre. Canada will aim for its fifth gold medal overall and first since 2014 when it opens preliminary-round action against Switzerland on Feb 3.
"It is a tremendous honor and accomplishment to be chosen to represent your country at the Olympics," said Tom Renney, chief executive officer of Hockey Canada.
David Shoemaker, the CEO and secretary general of the COC, which is responsible for mounting Team Canada's effort in Beijing, said they're worried about Omicron, but at the same time, they're learning from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic experience and heeding all the guidance they can from medical experts.
"We're confident that these Games can still be scheduled safely. But we're taking it day by day," Shoemaker told CBC on Dec 31.
The agencies contributed to this story.
