Olympic wake-up: What you might have missed from the Winter Games
Canada's curlers are on a roll, plus moguls qualifiers and team figure skating
By Benjamin Blum, CBC Sports
The opening ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics started at 6 a.m. ET on Friday, but the Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea have already been underway for some time.
You read that correctly. Events took place on Wednesday and Thursday — including several at intimidatingly late hours for Canadians — before the lighting of the cauldron.
Fortunately, there's a team of dedicated (read: overcaffeinated) journalists that are standing on guard for thee. Here is a quick recap of all the important news from the Olympics you might have missed:
Mixed doubles curling
Canada's mixed doubles curling duo of Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris are on a three-game winning streak after dropping their opening match of the Games. Lawes capped off the team's win over Finland on Thursday with a five-ender. There was a perfect six-ender in the Switzerland-U.S. match, which apparently is a thing that happens in mixed doubles.
Count 'em: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamCanada?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamCanada</a> in the 6th end and that's the game.<br><br>Lawes and Morris improve to 3-1 in the mixed doubles tournament at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PyeongChang2018?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PyeongChang2018</a><a href="https://t.co/mqsnh5LvNM">https://t.co/mqsnh5LvNM</a> <a href="https://t.co/WTrI9bCwkB">pic.twitter.com/WTrI9bCwkB</a>
—@CBCOlympicsFigure skating team event
Patrick Chan's shaky short skate was good enough for a third-place spot, but Canada vaulted into first overall thanks to a strong routine from pairs team Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford. The duo were impressive skating to a cover of U2's With or Without You, and Israeli skater Alexei Bychenko's Hava Nagila routine was certainly memorable.
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Moguls qualifiers
Canadian Mikael Kingsbury qualified in top spot for the men's final. Philippe Marquis, who's competing despite tearing his ACL less than a month ago, will join Kingsbury in the medal round. On the women's side, Andi Naude, Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Audrey Robichaud each secured spots in the final.
Chloe Dufour-Lapointe and Marc-Antoine Gagnon will both have one more chance to reach the finals.
What else happened?
Canadian snowboarder Laurie Blouin fell hard at the end of her slopestyle training run and was taken off the hill on a sled. The 21-year-old was taken to hospital, but later returned to the Olympic Village with a team doctor.
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Forty-five Russian athletes hoping to still compete at these Olympics had their appeals denied by sports' highest court. Three gold medallists and several ex-NHL players are among the excluded athletes.
What's coming up Friday?
Opening ceremony: The official beginning of the Games featuring the parade of nations, plenty of speeches and the end of the torch relay. CBC Sports is showing the ceremony live at 6 a.m. ET and again at 7 p.m. ET.
More curling: Lawes and Morris (3-1) take on Switzerland at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Snowboard slopestyle: Men's qualification begins at 8 p.m. ET and will feature Canadian medal contenders like Mark McMorris and Max Parrot. The duo are among the best in the world, but they aren't exactly best pals.
With files from The Canadian Press