Kaetlyn Osmond wins bronze in women's figure skating

By Benjamin Blum, CBCSports

Canada's Kaetlyn Osmond won bronze in women's figure skating, while Olympic Athlete from Russia Alina Zagitova held off teammate Evgenia Medvedeva in the free program to win gold at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Medvedeva earned silver.

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Osmond earned 152.15 points for her Black Swan routine in the free to bring her total to 231.02; shelanded seven triples jumps, with her only mishap coming on a slight bobble ona triple Lutz.

Both scores smash previous personal bests for the 22-year-old from Marystown, N.L., who also earned gold in the team event where she skated in the short program.

"I felt strong and in the best shape that I've ever been in my entire life ... I can't believe that I ever thought about retiring," Osmond said, referencing the fact that shealmost quit skating after breaking her leg in a training accident in 2014.

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The medal is Canada's 27th of the Olympics, surpassing the previous record of 26 from the Vancouver Games. Osmond, who lives and trains in Edmonton, is the sixth Canadian woman to earn an individual figure skating medal at the Olympics and the first since Joannie Rochette's emotional bronze at the 2010 Games.

"Today I was absolutely terrified all day. I was nervous," Osmond said. "Usually I talk a lot. I didn't talk very much today. But it was really exciting and I felt more prepared than anything out on the ice."

Medvedeva, who skated last, matched Zagitova in the free with 156.65 for her Anna Karenina routine, bringing her total to 238.26. She couldn't surpass her 15-year-old counterpart, who brought her total to 239.57 following a 156.65 in the free skate set to Don Quixote by Leon Minkus.

"I wanted to leave everything out there on the ice," the 18-year-old Medvedevasaid. "I've got no regrets."

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Zagitova's gold is the first of the Games for the Olympic Athletes from Russia, bringing their total to 14 overall.

"I can't believe I am the champion,"Zagitovasaid."There are a lot of titles to win and the Olympics is the biggest."

"I can do more in this sport."

Daleman struggles in free

Gabrielle Daleman didn't fare as well in the free, falling twice on triple Lutzes and again on a triple loop while skating to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. She pushed through to the end of her routine before tearing up, earning 103.56 points and an ovation from a supportive crowd that included many of her Canadian teammates.

"It's just an out-of-body experience when it happens to you," CBCanalyst Kurt Browning said aboutDaleman,who entered the free program in seventh.

"You start searching for the feeling of jumping and rotating and landing. You search for it instead of allowing it to happen and the harder you search for it, the farther you push it away until you're skating into a jump and it feels as if you've never done this before in your life."

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Daleman ultimately placed15th with an overall score of 172.46. The 20-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., guaranteed gold for Canada in the team event with her Gershwin routine, scoring 137.14 to secure the title before the final ice dance program even began.

"Nobody for a second is ever going to think it's because shedidn't try because I don't know anybody that's tougher than she is," Browning said.

Osmond and Daleman, if they stick around, 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.

"We all know that Gabby Daleman is a much, much, much better skater than the one we saw today," CBC commentator Brenda Irving said about the reigning Canadian champion.

With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press