MILAN — For a nation deeply woven into the fabric of the Winter Olympics, the sight of Canada sitting 15^th in the gold-medal standings more than halfway through the Milano Cortina Games sparked concern back home that their campaign had yet to ignite.

Long a giant of winter sport — from Vancouver’s historic 14-gold haul to decades of consistent podium finishes — Canada found itself still searching for its first top-step moment before freestyle skiing great Mikael Kingsbury won the dual moguls on Sunday.

That gold-medal wait was Canada’s longest at a Winter Olympics since the Calgary Games of 1988.

For David Shoemaker, the Canadian Olympic Committee’s chief executive officer, the breakthrough moment marked a shift in momentum. “It’s fair to say we’re not accustomed to waiting this long for a gold medal,” he told Reuters. “I got to congratulate (Kingsbury) and he remarked ‘That’s our first (gold), right?’ And he sort of expressed the feeling we all shared — hopefully that’s the first of several more to come. But there’s a lot of medal opportunities left in this competition.”

Canada has set itself a target of beating the 26 medals it won four years ago in Beijing. As of Monday morning it had nine, putting it 15^th in the medal table in terms of golds and 10^th in overall medals after 10 of 17 days.

But Canada has long been known as a second-week team, a delegation that finds its stride deeper into the Games, especially in sports such as men’s and women’s hockey. “No doubt that the attention of our nation is crystallizing around both our men’s and women’s hockey teams, and so it should,” Shoemaker said. “But our medal hopes continue to be across the sports so there’s still a lot of opportunity in short-track speed skating, certainly we look to our women’s team pursuit in long-track, ski cross, snowboard, slopestyle, freeski, big air, curling.”

Canada did have some near misses as well. Kingsbury’s silver in moguls came down to a tiebreak for gold, while Eliot Grondin missed gold in men’s snowboard cross by three-hundredths of a second.

Canada also suffered early injuries, with Mark McMorris, a triple Olympic snowboarding medalist, missing the big air event after a crash.

The Games featured early gold-medal breakthroughs for Brazil and Australia — countries not traditionally strong in winter sports. “There are more countries that are taking the Winter Games seriously, and therefore it becomes more competitive,” Shoemaker said. “So in an event like snowboard cross to see Britain win the mixed (team event), that’s not something France was accustomed to seeing, or (other powerhouses) Switzerland or Germany or Canada.”

“But from a movement standpoint, to see a Brazilian on top of the giant slalom, I think it’s wonderful,” he added. “I hope it doesn’t come at our expense, but I think that’s a good thing for the Olympic Games long-term.”

Shoemaker is confident Canada will close the Games strong. “We have a medal wall in all of our villages, and that allowed all of the 206 athletes to say, ‘OK, now it’s my turn,’ and I heard that from several athletes who are still yet to compete, and saw that as their inspiration.

“Our team still feels incredibly confident and feels good about our chances in what’s still to come.” — Reuters

GIRONA, Spain — Barcelona was stunned by Girona who roared back to win 2-1 at home in a breathless Catalan derby on Monday, as last season’s champions failed to return to the LaLiga summit, leaving Real Madrid top of the table.

Barcelona struck the woodwork twice in the first half, Raphinha hitting the post before Lamine Yamal fired a penalty against the same upright in added time after Dani Olmo was fouled inside the box.

Pau Cubarsi finally put the visitors ahead in the 59^th minute, rising to head home Jules Kounde’s cross from a short corner, but Girona leveled three minutes later when Thomas Lemar converted from close range after Vladyslav Vanat’s cross caused confusion.

Fran Beltran sealed victory in the 87^th minute, steering home from Joel Roca’s pass as the Montilivi stadium erupted.

Barcelona pushed for an equalizer but could not break through, even after Roca was sent off in added time for a reckless foul on Yamal.

Barca remained on 58 points, two behind Real Madrid, and had lost successive games in all competitions for the first time since October.

“We lacked a bit of everything. We need to be self-critical. We need to improve things and get our act together,” Cubarsi told DAZN.

“After my goal, they scored very quickly to equalize. We got them back into the game too quickly. We need to improve on those goals they score right after we take the lead. Keep your head down and improve.”

Hansi Flick welcomed back Frenkie De Jong and Raphinha from injury after their absence in last week’s 4-0 Copa del Rey semifinal first-leg loss to Atletico Madrid, and Barca duly dominated possession early in the game.

Yet its finishing deserted them. Raphinha dragged wide after surging in from the left, while Yamal was denied from point-blank range by keeper Paulo Gazzaniga following a sharp counter down the right.

Girona was content to sit deep and spring forward, repeatedly testing Barcelona’s high defensive line with the pace of Bryan Gil as the former Tottenham Hotspur winger caused persistent problems for Kounde down the left channel. 

Gil’s surging runs carved out Girona’s best openings before the break. He twice set up Vanat, who was denied by an exceptional Joan Garcia, and the striker then squandered a gilt-edged chance in the 35^th minute, slicing an effort from close range with no defender near him.

Yamal missed from the spot in added time before the break and the contest remained wide open after the interval, finally producing goals in quick succession.

Barcelona broke through in the 59^th minute when Cubarsi rose highest from a short corner. Kounde delivered from the right and the defender twisted his neck to send a towering header into the top-right corner, beyond Gazzaniga’s desperate dive.

Their lead lasted barely three minutes, with Lemar equalizing as Girona seized momentum, pushing Barcelona back, with Garcia producing two outstanding one-handed saves to keep out efforts from Vanat and Roca when both seemed destined for the bottom corner.

But the keeper was powerless in the 87^th minute. Claudio Echeverri drifted across the edge of the box before giving the ball back inside to Roca who squared it to substitute Beltran, who took a touch, lifted his head and slotted into the bottom-left corner to ignite a sold-out crowd.

Girona, who had been on a three-match winless run and hovering near the relegation places, climbed to 12^th on 29 points, while Barcelona was left to rue missed chances and a defeat that could yet loom large in the title race. — Reuters