Hello from Beijing
Today is Day 9 of the Beijing Olympics. Here are AP’s coverage plans. All times are Eastern. For questions, please email Amanda Barrett at abarrett@ap.org. Find the latest Olympics coverage plans on Coverage Plan. For expanded content, visit AP’s Olympics hub on AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 877-836-9477. For questions about the digital news experience or medals tables, please email Barry Bedlan at bbedlan@ap.org.
HAPPENING IN BEIJING
It was a snowy day at all three locations that are hosting the Beijing Games. Fat flakes made visibility poor and forced some events to be postponed or delayed. But Games workers romped in the snow and someone built a snowman replica of Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen.
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TRENDING NEWS
OLY-FIG-SKATING VALENTINES — Ice dancers Madison Hubbell and Adrian Diaz, who have been engaged for almost four years, will finally turn their attention to wedding planning once the Olympics come to an end. But first, they will spend Valentine’s Day in perhaps the most awkward way possible: skating with someone else against each other on the biggest stage in their sport. By Dave Skretta. SENT: 871 words, photos.
OLY--HKW-FINLAND-CONSOLING-OSAWA — As players gathered at their respective blue lines to honor their opponents following the game, Michelle Karvinen of Finland immediately noticed Japan captain Chiho Osawa growing emotional across the way. Karvinen for a moment put aside the joy of Finland advancing to the Olympic women’s hockey semifinals after a 7-1 win Saturday that eliminated Japan. By John Warwow. SENT: 570 words, photos.
OLY-UKRAINE-PEACE MESSAGE — The Ukrainian Olympic team has followed the lead of skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych in calling for peace. Heraskevych held up a sign with a Ukrainian flag and the message “No War in Ukraine” after completing a run in the skeleton competition on Friday at the Beijing Games. SENT: 234 words, photos.
OLY-THE MAGIC POWDER — A love for snow that started when he was a young orphan who had just arrived in France saw Richardson Viano become Haiti’s first Winter Olympian. SENT: 425 words, photos.
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TOP STORIES
OLY-FIG-WATCHING VALIEVA — The 15-year-old figure skating superstar at the center of Russia’s latest doping scandal seems to be the only one that hasn’t had a word to say about it. Instead, Kamilia Valieva continues to practice for her competition at the Beijing Olympics while the Court of Arbitration for Sport decides whether she is allowed to compete. By Dave Skretta. SENT: 827 words, photos.
OLY—ASIAN-AMERICAN WOMEN — Across two pandemic Olympics set in Asian countries, Asian American woman fronting the Games have encountered a whiplashing duality — prized on the global stage for their medal-winning talent, buffeted by the escalating crisis of racist abuse at home. By Sally Ho. SENT: 1,040 words, photos.
BEIJING-SEGMENTED CITY — In many ways, Beijing was the perfect city to hold a locked-down, COVID-inflected Olympic Games. For much of its recent history -- and some of its deeper history -- it has been a segmented city as good at keeping people separate as it is about letting them in. By Ted Anthony. UPCOMING: 900 words by 7 a.m., photos.
OLY-SPD-SPEEDSKATING — Already the first Black woman to win a World Cup speedskating race, Erin Jackson goes for Olympic gold in the women’s 500 meters. By National Writer Paul Newberry. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. Begins 8 a.m. EST.
OLY-TAIWAN-GETTING BACK UP — When 19-year old Maggie Lee fell on her first run down the slope and missed one of the early gates, it looked like the abrupt end of her first Olympics. It wasn’t. She got back up. Now she’s getting praised online and in Taiwanese media. By Huizhong Wu. SENT: 454 words, photos.
OLY-DAY-8-PHOTO GALLERY — Monobob, ice dance highlight day 8 at Olympics. SENT: 46 words, 23 photos.
OLY-OLYMPICS-SNOW-PHOTO GALLERY — A sustained, heavy snowfall delighted — and disrupted — the Winter Olympics on Sunday. SENT: 141 words, 17 photos.
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GLIMPSES AND SNAPSHOTS
OLY-GLIMPSES-SNOWY-BEIJING — The Beijing Olympics have been watched closely for snow — the artificial kind, made by machines, up in the mountains outside the city. On Sunday morning, though, a more natural variety coated the Chinese capital for the first time since the Games began. SENT: 117 words, photo.
OLY-BEIJING SNAPSHOT-INTO THE MOUNTAINS — Bus bus, train, bus, bus, gondola, gondola, gondola. The journey from the heart of Beijing to the alpine ski venue is only about 120 kilometers (75 miles), but getting there via the Olympic transit system — hermetically sealed against COVID-19 — makes for a rather epic journey. And on Sunday, amid uncharacteristically heavy snowfall, a scenic one too. By Brian Carovillano. SENT: 378 words, photo.
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EXPLAINER
OLY-HALFWAY THERE-EXPLAINER — Halfway through the world’s second pandemic Olympics, lots has happened. We have a doping scandal out of Russia, an American skier who faltered unexpectedly, and a lot of people in full protective medical gear managing — perhaps against the odds — to keep COVID contained through the Games’ first week. What are the most noteworthy things to think about so far? Here, AP’s interim global sports editor, Howie Rumberg, breaks it down. SENT: 539 words, photos.
WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT?-EXPLAINER — As in many sports, and plenty of other fields, Alpine skiing has a lingua franca — words and phrases that allow folks from various places to communicate in a shared language. By Howard Fendrich. SENT: 979 words, photos.
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THE ATHLETES
OLY--SKI-SHIFFRID & KILDE — American ski racing standout Mikaela Shiffrin and boyfriend Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway are two elite athletes in the same sport who prop each other up and help each other out. By Howard Fendrich and Pat Graham. SENT: 985 words, photos.
OLY--HKW-COYNE SCHOFIELD-DOUBLE DUTY— Kendall Coyne Schofield hasn’t quit her day job while captaining the United States women’s hockey team at the Beijing Winter Games. She’s using her time at the Olympics to scout some of the Chicago Blackhawks prospects competing, specifically U.S. goalie Drew Commesso. By Hockey Writers John Wawrow and Stephen Whyno. SENT: 732 words, photos.
OLY-BOB-GERMANY-DOMINANT FREIDRICH — There are no rear-view mirrors on a bobsled. That is fitting when considering Francesco Friedrich’s approach to the sport. He doesn’t look back. Only forward. By Tim Reynolds. SENT: 901 words, photos.
OLY-HKO-NHL-BUBBLE BOYS — Being confined to the bubble in Beijing may be new for some Olympians, but it’s a familiar feeling for the dozen hockey players and two coaches who were in one of the NHL’s playoff bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton in 2020. Based on the extra space and ability to see other athletes and different sports, it might even be an improvement. By Stephen Whyno. SENT: 720 words, photos.
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THE GAMES WE PLAY
OLY-SKI-MEN'S GIANT SLALOM — Marco Odermatt has owned the giant slalom this season and now he owns an Olympic gold medal in the event. The 24-year-old Swiss skier plowed through snow and poor visibility to win the men’s giant slalom at the Beijing Games. By Daniella Matar. SENT: 556 words, photos. With: OLY-SKI-VLHOVA OUT — Slalom gold medalist Petra Vlhova is leaving the Beijing Olympics early due to an inflamed left ankle tendon and will miss the Alpine combined event in which she would have been a challenger to Mikaela Shiffrin, the favorite in the race. By Andrew Dampf. SENT: 206 words, photos.
OLY-FRE-SLOPESTYLE-QUALIFYING POSTPONED — Freestyle skier Eileen Gu’s quest for a second gold medal at the Beijing Games ran into a detour when high wind and snow postponed the qualifying round for slopestyle. No immediate plan for rescheduling was announced. By Pat Graham. SENT: 202 words, photos.
OLY--CUR—OFF THE BENCH — American alternate Colin Hufman was in his usual spot on the coaches’ bench, watching the U.S. men’s curling team fall further behind Canada, when skip John Shuster looked his way and said, “We’re going to have you get in.” UPCOMING: 800 words, photos.
OLY--HKO-GERMANY-US — The United States can clinch a spot in the men’s hockey quarterfinals at the Olympics and likely the top seed with a victory against Germany. The youngest team in the tournament would also win the group and skip the qualification round with an overtime or shootout loss. By Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. 8:10 a.m.
OLY--BOB-WOMEN'S MONOBOB — Kaillie Humphries is competing for the first time in the Olympics as an American citizen and she grabbed control of the inaugural monobob competition. The reigning world monobob champion finished two runs in 2 minutes, 9.10 seconds to give her a massive lead of 1.04 seconds over second-place Christine de Bruin of Canada. By Tim Reynolds. SENT: 468 words, photos.
OLY--FIG-RHYTHM DANCE — Gabriella Papadackis and Guillaume Cizeron are the favorites when the rhythm dance begins the ice dance competition at the Beijing Games. Three teams from the U.S. also could contend. By Dave Skretta. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. Competition starts 6 a.m.
OLY-XXC--MEN’S RELAY — The Russian team opened a lead on the first leg of the men’s cross-country skiing relay and then held on for the Olympic gold medal. By Martha Bellisle. SENT: 543 words, photos.
OLY-BIA-BIATHLON — Marte Olsbu Roeiseland earned her third gold medal of the Beijing Olympics, and fourth medal overall, by winning the women’s biathlon 10-kilometer pursuit race Sunday. By Martha Bellisle. SENT: 169 words, photos. Will be updated to 400 words, photos.
OLY-BIA--MEN’S PURSUIT — The Boe brothers of Norway are fresh from a gold and bronze in the sprint and will be the first starters in the pursuit, but sprint silver-medalist Quentin Fillon Maillet has shown that he’s the man to watch at this Olympics. By Martha Bellisle. UPCOMING: 500 words, photos. Competition starts 5:45 a.m.
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UP TO THE MINUTE
— OLYMPICS ROUNDUP — Highlights of the day from the 2022 Winter Games.
— BEIJING OLYMPICS-THE LATEST — Real-time updates and photos from every venue around the Winter Games.
— BEIJING OLYMPICS-WHAT TO WATCH — A guide to key storylines each day. Moves after 1 a.m.
— MEDAL BRIEFS — A roundup of the day’s gold medals.
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FEATURED IMAGES
OLYFF101 — A volunteer makes a snow version of the Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen.
OLYJL107 — Ice forms on the hair of a volunteer.
OLYTH161 — Luca De Aliprandini, of Italy passes a gate during the first run of the men’s giant slalom.
OLYNP121 — Workers wearing protective suits play outside with snow.
OLYDJ112 — Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, falls during a training session.
OLYTH267 — Thibaut Favrot, of France makes a turn during the second run of the men’s giant slalom.
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GRAPHICS
Beijing Winter Olympics Medal Tracker
AP will be offering a daily medal roundup for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, showcasing the top 10 medal winners by country.
Beijing Winter Games Top 10 Medal Tracker 1C — A 1-column wide list of the most medals won, sorted by country, at the Beijing Olympic Games; ETA updated 10:30 a.m. Eastern time daily throughout the Olympics
Beijing Winter Games Top 10 Medal Tracker 2C — A 2-column wide list of the most medals won, sorted by country, at the Beijing Olympic Games; ETA updated 10:30 a.m. Eastern time daily throughout the Olympics
