North Shore News Daily Olympic Paper - Feb. 28, 2010

day17 sun28 Y o u r

N o r t h

S h o r e

G u i d e

t o

t h e

2 0 1 0

W i n t e r

O LY M P I C S

medal rankings

North Shore

9 14 13

2 Germany

10 12 7

3 Canada

13 7

5

4 norway

8

6

8

Defining moment

photo Ric Ernst / Canwest News Service

Live every moment.

1 United States

Canada’s men’s curling team alternate Adam Enright (left), Ben Hebert, Marc Kennedy, John Morris and skip Kevin Martin wave to fans after winning the men’s curling gold medal game against Norway at the Vancouver Olympic Centre Saturday.

About half of Canadians think that the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games is more of a defining moment for the country than the 1972 Summit Series, the Calgary and Montreal Olympics, or Expo ’67, according to an Ipsos Reid survey commissioned by the historical organization Historica-Dominion Institute. About 40 per cent of Canadians said they would fly the national flag during the Games, while a third said they would buy and wear Canadian and Olympic gear.

Martin rink gets golden sweep Allen Cameron

Canwest Olympic Team Kevin Martin took the step Saturday that he’s waited his whole, brilliant curling career to take — to the top of the Olympic podium. The 43-year-old Edmontonian, who’s spent eight years dealing with questions about his loss in the 2002 Olympic final, put those questions to rest at the Vancouver Olympic Centre, skipping Team Canada to a 6-3 victory over Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud in the men’s curling gold-medal game. It was Canada’s 25th medal of the Olympics, surpassing its total from the 2006 Turin Games 24, and making it Canada’s best-ever Winter Olympic performance. Martin, third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert (the team is rounded out by alternate Adam Enright and coach Jules Owchar) also made Olympic history, becoming the first team since curling was reinstated as a medal sport in 1998 to go unbeaten through the tournament.

Not that there wasn’t some tension during Saturday’s win, which played out in front of a celebrity-laden crowd that included actor Donald Sutherland, IOC president Jacques Rogge, Canadian Olympic men’s hockey coach Mike Babcock and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

See Martin page 5

Four-medal saturday Benjamin Alldritt

balldritt@nsnews.com Gold, gold, gold and bronze are Canada’s haul in Saturday’s penultimate Olympic showdowns. Kevin Martin’s curling rink, Deny Morrison’s

team speed skating pursuit squad, Jasey Jay Anderson’s parallel giant slalom efforts and the Canada 1 four-man bobsleigh quartet all swept aside previous black marks

See Dutch page 4

Teamwork wins Gold Let’s be blunt: The Canadian men’s longtrack speed skating squad had disappointed in the individual events until Saturday. But a gutsy combined effort, not to mention two Olympic record times, scored gold and salvaged pride. See story page 4

West Vancouver Community Centre

Spirit Square an official 2010 Celebration site Enjoy Live Music & Performance Explore Sport, Space, & Art we s tva n co uve r 2 0 1 0 . c a