It is Super Sunday, not on a football field, but on snow and ice for Island athletes in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Blueliner Micah Zandee-Hart of Saanicton, who had two assists in the 11-0 quarter-final win over Sweden, and her Canadian women’s hockey teammates will play Switzerland in the semifinals tonight at 8:10 p.m. PT in the Wukesong Sports Centre.
Although the Island is far better known for producing Summer Olympians, a sa国际传媒 victory will guarantee a medal for an Island athlete for the fourth consecutive Winter Games following Comox freestyle skier Cassie Sharpe’s gold at Pyeongchang 2018, Central Saanich hockey-player Jamie Benn’s gold at Sochi 2014 and Victoria Sports Hall of Fame inductee Paralympic skier Lauren Woolstencroft’s five gold medals at Vancouver 2010.
Forward Adam Cracknell of Victoria and his NHL-less Canadian men’s hockey teammates beat Germany to open in Beijing and are looking to get back on track following the loss to the U.S. They play host China this morning at the National Indoor Stadium. There is also a unique Island connection to the Chinese team with the swift former Victoria Grizzlies forward Eddie Yan and former Cowichan Valley Capitals defenceman Zimeng (Simon) Chen, son of Capitals owner Ray Zhang, skating for the overmatched host team in the Beijing Games.
On the snow, Darcy Sharpe of Comox opens qualifying runs tonight at 9:30 p.m. PT in men’s snowboarding big air at Shougang. The final is Monday at 9 p.m. PT.
Teal Harle of Campbell River, who grew up swooshing down Mount Washington with the Sharpe siblings, opens qualifying in men’s skiing slopestyle tonight at 8:30 p.m. PT at the Genting Snow Park. The final is Monday at 4:30 p.m. PT.
Harle, who won big-air bronze in the Winter X Games heading into Beijing and was considered an Olympic medal threat in that event last week, crashed three times and is looking to make up for that in slopestyle.
“I’m still super bummed when I think about it because I had a decent shot at a medal if I hadn’t crashed,” Harle said from Beijing. “But it is all over and done with. It’s all about slopestyle now.”
The 25-year-old Islander came close in slopestyle in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and placed fifth, just 2.40 points off the podium.
“In our sport, four years is a long time,” said Harle. “Things change quickly and the sport has progressed so much since then.”
Foreign fans are not allowed for these Olympics, but Harle carries his family’s lessons with him across the Pacific.
His father, Shane Harle, operated a ski school on Mount Washington and Teal progressed because of it. Teal’s aunt Shawnee Harle won two national championships in basketball as a guard in Kathy Shields’ University of Victoria dynasty of the 1980s and has been to the Summer Olympics twice as Canadian team assistant coach. She is now a mental fitness coach.
“Mount Washington has a special place in my heart since I grew up there and had so many great days on that hill,” said Teal Harle, whose summer passion is working as a fishing guide, an avocation he inherited by growing up Campbell River, which bills itself as the salmon capital of the world.
“My dad starting up a ski school on Mount Washington helped a lot too for sure — living on the mountain and skiing every day. I’m definitely very thankful to my parents for making that huge sacrifice for me and my brother to chase our dreams. And Shawnee has helped a lot throughout my career with mental toughness and stuff. She is super supportive of everything.”
The Mount Washington showstopper is Cassie Sharpe, who has overcome a year of injury, and will look to defend her Olympic title in women’s ski half-pipe beginning with the qualifying rounds Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. PT with the final scheduled for Thursday at 5:30 p.m. PT at the Genting Snow Park.
