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Burnaby-based skater earns silver in Sochi

B.C. Centre of Excellence skater Kevin Reynolds skated a strong men's free program to help Canada claim a silver medal in the first Olympic team figure skating event at the Sochi Games on Sunday
Kevin Reynolds
B.C. Centre of Excellence skater Kevin Reynolds helped Canada claim a silver medal in the first-ever team figure skating event at the Olympic Games in Russia on Sunday

Burnaby-based B.C. Centre of Excellance skater Kevin Reynolds won his first-ever Olympic medal, sharing in a silver medal for Canada in the inaugural team figure skating event.

Reynolds, who skated to a second-place finish in the men’s long program on Sunday, landed three quadruple jumps to score 167.92, leaping ahead of Japan’s Tatsuki Machida and finished just a fraction behind 2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko.

Russia claimed the gold medal  scoring 75 of a possible 80 points in team event.

Canada placed second overall with 65 points, edging the third-place American team by five points.

But it was the 23-year-old Reynolds who drew the most hugs and biggest cheers from his teammates following his first international competition this season.

“I’m feeling really good after this performance,” Reynolds told Lori Ewing of Canadian Press. “Considering that I didn’t have any experience in the first half of the Grand Prix season and only the national championships as a precursor to this, I’m very happy that I was able to get a relatively strong performance here, the first time at Olympic Games.”

Reynolds’ personal best score in the long program was at last year’s Four Continents championships, where he posted a 172.21, which included a personal-best component score of 38.07 in the short program.

The men’s program starts today (Feb. 12) with the short program. The men’s free skate medals will be decided on Thursday.