Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Winter Olympics notebook: Canadian women say sorry for celebrations

Saturday 27 February 2010 01:00 GMT
Comments

Ice Hockey: Canada's women's team have issued an apology following their over-zealous celebrations after their 2-0 victory against the United States in the gold medal match.

Their joy at winning the match spilt out of the dressing room and on to the ice where the players drank champagne and smoked cigars. "The members of Team Canada apologise if their on-ice celebrations, after fans had left the building, have offended anyone," read a team statement. "In the excitement of the moment, the celebration left the confines of our dressing room and shouldn't have. The team regrets that its gold medal celebration may have caused the IOC or the Canadian Olympic Committee any embarrassment."

The executive director of the Olympic Games, Gilbert Felli, said: "If they celebrate in the changing room, that's one thing, but not in public. We will investigate." Marie-Philip's two goals gave the hosts their eighth gold of the Games, while Finland took the bronze medal, defeating Sweden 3-2.

Rochette takes bronze after death of mother

Figure Skating: Canada's Joannie Rochette won the bronze medal in the women's free skate just four days after her mother's death from a heart attack. "I don't see myself as a hero or anything like that," Rochette proclaimed afterwards. "I just went out there and did what my mother would have wanted me to do. When I got all those messages [of support] I realised how much people were inspired by this, but I did this first of all for myself because my mother taught me to think of myself first. I feel proud and the result did not matter. I'm happy to be on the podium. It was a lifetime project for me and my mum and we achieved that."

Rochette's bronze also put Canada back on the podium for the first time since the 1988 Games in Calgary. The favourite Kim Yu-na of South Korea shrugged off pressure to win gold emphatically, the 19-year-old beating Mao Asada of Japan by a massive 23-point margin.

What to watch this weekend

Today

*Alpine Skiing (men's slalom)

All eyes will be on the Glasgow-born Ghanaian Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, aka "The Snow Leopard."

(9.45pm, BBC 2, Eurosport)

*Curling (men's gold & bronze medal games)

It's Canada v Norway for gold, and Sweden v Switzerland for bronze.

(11.00pm, BBC 2, Eurosport)

*Bobsleigh (men's four-man)

Team GB compete, but Germany and the US are favourites.

(10.40pm, BBC 2, Eurosport)

Tomorrow

*Ice Hockey (men's final)

The final event of this year's Games.

(8.15pm, BBC 2, Eurosport)

*Closing ceremony

The conclusion of the Games from Vancouver's BC Place Stadium.

(1.00am, BBC 2, Eurosport)

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in