U.S.-Canada hockey sets Canadian TV viewership record

Sunday night’s U.S.-Canada men’s hockey game was the most-watched sporting event in Canadian television history, according to Canada’s CUME index.

Peaking at 13 million viewers, the game was watched in part by nearly two in three Canadians, or 21.5 million viewers (64.3% of the Canadian population), beating the previous record: The Salt Lake City 2002 gold medal hockey game featuring the same two teams (10.3 million).

-- Times wire services

Broadcasters under fire

Two broadcasters are facing criticism for derogatory comments made about American figure skater Johnny Weir.

The Quebec Gay and Lesbian Council has demanded a public apology from French-language broadcaster RDS after one commentator said Weir hurts figure skating’s image and another said Weir should be made to take a gender test. The remarks were “outrageous” and “homophobic,” CQGL said.

Weir is aware of the comments, agent Tara Modlin says. Weir has repeatedly avoided questions about his sexual orientation in the past, saying it’s no one’s business and it has no bearing on what he does as an athlete.

-- associated press

Bobsled track to be altered

Bobsled officials will shave ice in several tricky curves on the super-fast Olympic track, hoping the changes will make it easier to navigate.

After four-man bobsleds from Croatia and Latvia crashed during supplemental training on Monday, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation postponed the remainder of the practice session. The decision was made after a meeting with representatives from 11 sliding nations near the 13th turn, the track’s toughest section, close to the spot where Canada’s Lyndon Rush crashed in the two-man event.

The plan is to shave an inch or more of ice in that curve, dubbed “50-50” -- as in chance of making it through -- and in a few other areas. Coaches say the changes are considered relatively minor.

By shaving a bit of ice, which is not uncommon on newer tracks like this one, four-man teams will have more room to maneuver through the challenging chicanes and give drivers more margin for error.

-- associated press

Ski jumping

Perhaps the only sport in which the U.S. had no shot for a medal was this one. And conventional wisdom was correct. The U.S. finished 11th of 12 teams and did not make it to the final round in the team event. The team was made up of Anders Johnson, Peter Frenette, Taylor Fletcher and Nick Alexander.

The gold went to the Austrian team of Wolfgang Loitzl, Andreas Kofler, Thomas Morgenstern and Gregor Schlierenzauer. Germany was awarded the silver and Norway picked up a bronze.

Cross-country skiing

Norway’s team of Peter Northug and Oeystein Pettersen won the gold in men’s team sprint. Germany got the silver and Russia was awarded the bronze. In this event, a two-man team goes three laps around a 1.6 kilometer course. The U.S. team of Torin Koos and Andy Newell finished ninth.

In the women’s team sprint, Claudia Nystad and Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle won the gold for Germany. Sweden won the silver and Russia got the bronze.

The U.S. team of Caitlin Compton and Kikkan Randall finished sixth.

Curling

The U.S. men’s team was officially eliminated from medal contention after receiving a 7-2 thrashing by Canada early Monday. The U.S. lost its first four matches, three of them in extra ends. They fell to 2-7 after an 11-5 loss to China (2-6) on Monday night. Canada, which hasn’t lost a match, is the heavy favorite in the medal round. The U.S. women did not play Monday.

-- John Cherwa