Updated: After skating a near flawless routine, Duhamel and Radford finished second in the team pairs event with a score of 73.10. Russian skaters Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov were first with a score of 83.79. China, Italy and the U.S. also finished in the top 5.
Original story:
Sudbury's contingent at the Sochi Olympics won't have to wait long to get in the Games: Lively's Meagan Duhamel and skating partner Eric Radford hit the ice just after noon today.
They'll be skating in the short program for the new team figure skating event, in which the top 10 figure skating countries in the world compete as a collective. The event has one entry each from men's and women's singles, pairs and ice dance.
Top spot is worth 10 points, second is worth nine, while third is worth eight points. Only the top five from the first round today advances to the next round.
Teams are allowed to substitute for the long program, so Duhamel and Radford may not skate the long program so they can concentrate on their individual competition, which begins Saturday.
Sudbury's Rebecca Johnston begins her Olympics on Saturday, when the women's hockey team takes on Switzerland in preliminary round action in Group A. Canada, gold-medal winners in Vancouver in 2010, is a medal favourite again along with the U.S. After the Swiss, they face Finland on Monday, then their main rivals, the Americans, on Wednesday.
The hockey quarterfinals go Feb. 15, the semifinals on Feb. 17, with the gold medal game scheduled for Feb. 20.
Sudbury's Devon Kershaw begins his Sochi Games on Feb. 11 when qualification for the men's sprint take place. Cross-country events extend to almost the end of the games, with the Men's 50k Mass Start Free event taking place Feb. 23.
