Paul Friesen

TURIN -- Hockey had its lucky loonie, Canada's speed skaters have the Magic Maple Leaf.

A short time after Clara Hughes struck gold in the women's 5,000-metre race yesterday, she was presented with a good-luck charm that had been buried in the ice at the Oval Lingotto.

It turns out icemaker Mark Messer, a Canadian, had hidden a gold maple leaf at the finish line, hoping to duplicate the success of the lucky loonie made famous by the men's and women's hockey teams at the Salt Lake City Olympics.

"We dug it out of the ice -- I had no idea it was there," Hughes said, clutching the ornament in her hands.

Canadian long trackers struck for eight medals here, easily the most of any of Canada's teams.

Messer, who takes care of the ice at the Calgary Oval, says he snuck into the venue here in the middle of the night to plant the maple leaf.

A Canadian icemaker also buried a pair of loonies at the curling venue, where Brad Gushue won gold Friday.

Clara nous montre la feuille d'érable en or porte- bonheur
que Mark Messer avait caché sous la ligne d'arrivée.
photo : Bernard Brault

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