(ATR) Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada’s first ever Olympic gold on home soil in the men's moguls freestyle skiing, ending a 34-year wait stretching back to the 1976 Montreal Games.
The 22-year-old beat defending champion Dale Begg-Smith of Australia into second place on Vancouver's Cypress Mountain.
"I had it, I took it and now I belong to history. I don't think I realise it, but I belong to history," he was quoted by AFP.
Canada had previously failed to win gold at two home Winter Olympics, Montreal in 1976 and Calgary in 1988.
Bilodeau victory led to celebrations in downtown Vancouver where tens of thousands of Canadians gathered Sunday in the sunny weather, with temperatures reaching 10c.
There were huge crowds at the cauldron near the downtown waterfront. Olympic organizers say they are considering replacing the chain-link fence with a more photogenic security barrier following complaints that it obstructs clear views of the cauldron.
Alpine Skiing Gets Underway
The men's Olympic downhill race, the blue riband event of the Vancouver Games, is scheduled to start at 10.30am local time following a postponement of two days due to adverse weather conditions in Whistler.
It’s one of six gold medals on offer on day three of Olympic competition.
Organizers originally scheduled men's downhill for Saturday but wet and warm weather forced a change in plans. The weather for Monday favors the event although there is a possibility of snow or rain in the afternoon.
There will be a new Olympic champion in the event as 2006 gold medalist Antoine Deneriaz of France retired from competition. The Swiss pair of Didier Cuche and Carlos Lanka are the favorites after World Cup wins this season.
Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Robbie Dixon and Erik Guay carry Canada’s medal hopes. All three rank in the world’s top 25 downhill skiers.
Other titles to be won on Monday include: women's cross country skiing 10km; men's cross country skiing 15km; men's snowboard cross, figure skating (pairs free skating), and men's speedskating 500m.
Disappointment for Snowboarding Fans
Vancouver 2010organizers have cancelled general admission standing room tickets toCypress Mountain Olympic snowboard cross events scheduled for today andTuesday.
VANOC said heavy rain in the last 48 hours had made the standingroom area at the venue, which can accommodate 4,000 people, unsafe forspectators. “The rains washed away almost a foot of snow in the areawhere the standing room area was to be located,” said a statementreleased Monday.
Tickets for the Olympic men's and ladies' snowboard cross events will be refunded.
Loch Wins Luge
Germany's Felix Loch, 20, won the men's luge in an emotional finale to the event that was overshadowed by the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili on the eve of the Games.
Loch, the 2008 and 2009 world champion, won by a massive margin, clocking 3 mins 13.085secs over four runs - 0.679secs ahead of German compatriot David Moeller and Italy's Armin Zoeggler who won silver and bronze.
Olympians in Biden Motorcade Accident
Peggy Fleming, a figureskating gold medalist at the 1968 Games, and former bobsled championVonetta Flowers received minor injuries Sunday when U.S. vice presidentJoe Biden's motorcade was involved in a crash at the Vancouver Olympics.
Biden'slimousine was not involved in the accident which happened en route tothe U.S. women's ice hockey team defeat China, his spokesman Jay Carneysaid in a statement.
Chinese figure skating hopes
Pair figure skating will take place in primetime for North American audiences. The Chinese duo of Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo are favorites with three world titles. German couple Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, winners of the 2008 and 2009 world championships, are also expected to provide a tough challenge.
Medal Table
The U.S. top the medal table with six medals. Germany rank second (4) and France are tying with Canada in third spot (3). France have two golds, the most of any country so far.
Weather
Vancouver – Mostly cloudy; high 10c, law 7
Whistler—Sunny in the morning with possibility of precipitation in the afternoon; high 3c, low -3c
Cypress Mountain – Mostly cloudy; high 2c, low -2c
With reporting from Mark Bisson and SamSteinberg
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