BEIJING, China – Canada is on course for another big medal haul, albeit far more bronze than gold, halfway through the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.

Canada’s team in Beijing has so far won 13 medals (one gold, four silver and eight bronze). It’s tied for fourth with the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), but behind Norway (17) and Germany and Austria (14).

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) has announced that its biggest goal in Beijing is to keep its athletes away from COVID-19. He wants to make sure the athletes get to the starting line, but lets events take their course afterwards.

“The goal was to come here, safely and compete in the events. from there, the athletes will rise to the occasion,” COC athletics director Eric Myles told The Canadian Press.

On Saturday, none of the 215 Canadian athletes had to self-isolate after arriving in Beijing.

Figure skater Keegan Messing missed the team event but landed in time to compete in the men’s singles event. He tested positive in Canada and had to produce the required number of negative tests to travel.

Hockey player Emily Clark was pulled from one game due to an inconclusive test result, but returned to the Canadian roster in time to play the following day.

Myles believes that the additional measures and testing the COC put in place before and after Canada left, beyond what Chinese authorities required, have so far prevented the virus from dashing Olympic dreams.

“Halfway is halfway. There are a lot of things ahead of us, Myles said. We feel safe, but it would be a really big mistake right now to let our guard down. C “That’s the message and the attitude we have right now. We’re not changing anything that we have in place right now.”

Canada’s head of mission says athletes sacrificed too much in the weeks leading up to Beijing to be reckless now.

“They tried so hard,” Catriona Le May Doan said. They knew their families couldn’t be here, but in the last two, three, four weeks before they left, the fact that they all of a sudden had to tell the family, the spouse, the children : ” I have to go “. “I have to isolate myself because that’s what I have to do”, it’s quite incredible. »

The stated goal when Canada hosted the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, was to be the nation with the highest number of total medals won.

The host team placed third with 26 medals, but 14 of them were gold, which was then a record.

The Canadian team had collected five gold, five silver and five bronze at the halfway point en route to a record 29 medals (11 gold, eight silver and 10 bronze) in Pyeongchang, in South Korea in 2018.

The 2022 edition has work to do in the second half of the Beijing Games to reach this gold standard. All other countries ranked in the top 10 in total medals have won at least two gold medals.

Cancer survivor Maxence Parrot of Bromont was Canada’s only gold medalist in the first eight days, winning the men’s snowboard slopestyle event on Day 3. The 27-year-old snowboarder will look for a second medal Tuesday in the big air competition.

Ottawa speed skater Isabelle Weidemann became the country’s first multi-medallist in Beijing with silver in the women’s 5,000m and bronze in the 3,000m.

The International Olympic Committee’s introduction of mixed team events in Beijing for gender mainstreaming was a boost to Canada’s results, with bronze medals in snowboard cross and one in ski jumping.

Compared to some other countries, Canada invests more equally in men’s and women’s high-performance sport, Myles said, making the country medal-ready in mixed events.

Snowboarders Eliot Grondin, of Sainte-Marie-De-Beauce, and British Columbia, Meryeta O’Dine, joined Weidemann in the ranks of multi-medalists on Saturday with bronze in the mixed snowboard cross event.

Grondin also won silver and O’Dine bronze in their individual races.

The first half of Canada’s journey was marked by ups, downs and surprises. Moguls gold favorite Mikaël Kingsbury of Deux-Montagnes couldn’t hide his initial disappointment with the silver medal.

The Canadians finished fourth six times in the opening game, including world speed skating champion Laurent Dubreuil of Lévis, who missed the podium in the 500 meters by three hundredths of a second on Saturday.

Jack Crawford of Toronto was also fourth in the men’s downhill but took the podium with a bronze medal in the alpine combined.

Alberta’s John Morris and Rachel Homan of Ottawa missed a mixed doubles curling semifinal losing at the extra end in their final round robin match.

“There are surprises, disappointments, celebrations and in terms of performance? We are doing well, launched Le May Doan. A lot of podiums have been narrowly missed, which is always difficult. »

It is possible that Canada will move from fourth place to bronze in the figure skating team event. A doping violation by a young Russian star quickly became part of the daily rhythm of the media in Beijing.

The medals have yet to be awarded and the calls will likely drag on during these Games.

The women’s hockey team dominated the Olympic tournament and outscored their opponents 44-5 heading into Monday’s semi-final against Switzerland.

Snowboarding, freestyle skiing, bobsledding, speed skating and short track speed skating are also fertile ground for Canada in the second half of the Games, as long as COVID-19 does not come to trouble- holidays.

“We’re not off the hook,” concluded Myles. This will be the highest priority until we get home. »