Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond wins Olympic bronze medal in women’s figure skating

GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic Of — Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond has won a bronze medal in women’s figure skating at the Winter Olympics.

The reigning world silver medallist from Marystown, N.L., skating to music from “Black Swan,” scored 152.15 in her long program for a combined score of 231.02.

She was also third after the short program.

Osmond’s medal is historic as it boosts Canada’s total in Pyeongchang to 27, an all-time high for the country at the Winter Games.

Russia’s Alina Zagitova, just 15 years old, scored a combined 239.57 to capture gold. Teammate and reigning world champion Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia won silver with 238.26 points.

Osmond, 22, who almost quit skating after breaking her leg in a training accident in 2014, nailed her long program, landing seven triples jumps. Her only mishap was a slight bobble on a triple Lutz.

Canada hadn’t won an Olympic medal in women’s singles since Joannie Rochette claimed bronze at the 2010 Vancouver Games just days after her mom died of a heart attack.

It was a disastrous day for Gabrielle Daleman, who was seventh after the short program. The 20-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., fell three times — on her opening triple toeloop-triple toeloop combination, her triple Lutz, and triple flip.

Daleman, who won bronze at last year’s world championships, was deducted 4.00 points for the falls

Osmond and Daleman will be looked to as leaders of Canadian team that will have to rebuild after these Olympics. Among those retiring are ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who won double gold in Pyeongchang, three-time world champion Patrick Chan, and two-time world pairs champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, who captured bronze.

Osmond and Daleman, along with the retiring veterans, claimed gold in the team event to open these Games.

The Canadian Press