Olympic wake-up call: Jennifer Jones' streak ends, Mark McMorris sounds off about scoring

Catch up on the latest news and results from Canada's athletes at Beijing 2022, including the women's curling team suffering a loss to Japan, and snowboarder Mark McMorris's comments on a judging error that helped teammate Max Parrot to slopestyle gold.

Japan beat Canada 8-5 in women's curling Friday

Canada’s skip Jennifer Jones, left, and Kaitlyn Lawes look on during preliminary round curling action against Japan on Friday. The team suffered its first loss of the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games on Friday, which also marked Jones' first-ever loss as an Olympian. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

Jennifer Jones saw her unbeaten streak at the Olympic Games come to an end on Friday, with an 8-5 loss to Japan.

The six-time Canadian champion and two-time world champion struggled to make shots, curling 66 per cent, while Japanese skip Satsuki Fujisawa was dominant helping Japan steal three points through the first five ends.

Canada moved to 1-1 on the tournament, and will face Sweden (1-1) next on Friday at 8:05 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action on the CBC Sports app, CBC Gem or at CBCSports.ca.

WATCH | Jones suffers 1st loss at Olympics as Canada falls to Japan:

Fish places 6th in 10,000m

Graeme Fish was the top Canadian in the men's 10,000 metres, but no racer was a match for Sweden's Nils van der Poel who broke his own world record en route to his second gold medal of the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games.

Van der Poel was by and far in another class on Friday, winning the race by a wide 13-second margin over Dutch skater Patrick Roest, and posting faster times in each of his remaining five laps.

To watch van der Poel's world record performance, or anything else you missed overnight, you can watch full replays of all Olympic events here.

The 24-year-old Fish, from Moose Jaw, Sask., finished in 12 minutes 58.8 seconds in his Olympic debut.

Calgary's Ted-Jan Bloeman, the defending Olympic champion in the event, finished in eighth place.

During the race, Bloemen was seen communicating back to his coach – which is rare in the sport.

Speaking with CBC Sports' Anastasia Bucsis, Bloemen said he was trying to gauge whether to ease up to save energy for the team pursuit qualification on Sunday.

WATCH | Canadian speed skater Graeme Fish finishes 6th place in 10,000m:

McMorris sounds off on snowboarding scoring

Mark McMorris, who won a bronze medal in the men's slopestyle event earlier this week, is criticizing the judging in the event which saw fellow Canadian Max Parrot win gold.

Parrot missed a grab on one of his jumps, but the error was missed by the judges, so the Canadian wasn't penalized for it in his score.

Read more about what McMorris and Parrot had to say to CBC Sports' Myles Dichter in his story here.

McMorris and Parrot will be competing once more these Games. The men's big air qualification is scheduled for Monday.

Gagnon makes Olympic return

Marie-Michèle Gagnon finished in 14th place in the women's super-G in her Olympic return.

The 32-year-old from Lac-Etchemin, Que., was the top Canadian, finishing in one minute 14.65 seconds. These are her third Olympics, having missed the 2018 PyeongChang Games due to injury.

Toronto's Roni Remme skied to 24th place, despite injuring her hand in training just before her run. She pushed through, improving on her 37th place finish in the super-G from four years ago. 

Both Canadians will compete in the women's downhill, which you can watch beginning on Friday at 10 p.m. ET.

Léveillé cracks top-30

Olivier Léveillé from Sherbrooke, Que., was the top Canadian in the men's 15-kilometre classic cross-country ski race on Friday, finishing 29th.

The top-30 finish was the 20-year-old's best placing of these Beijing Games thus far. He finished in 40 minutes and 52 seconds.

Fellow Olympic rookie Rémi Drolet of Rossland, B.C., finished in 33rd place, while Gatineau, Que., native Antoine Cyr rounded out the Canadian contingent in 37th.

Lunder improves in 7.5k biathlon

Emma Lunder was the top Canadian in the women's 7.5-kilometre biathlon sprint, finishing in 32nd place.

The 30-year-old from Vernon, B.C., missed only one of her shots in the race, and improved on her 54th place finish in the event at PyeongChang 2018.

Calgary's Meagan Bankes finished in 77th place, Sarah Beaudry from Prince George, B.C., placed 80th, and Emily Dickson of Burns Lake, B.C., finished 81st.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Murray is reporter for The Canadian Press. He spent nearly a decade with CBC News based in Iqaluit, then joined the Parliamentary Bureau until his departure in October 2024. A graduate of St. Thomas University's journalism program, he's also covered four Olympic Games as a senior writer with CBC Sports.

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