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It Was a Busy Day in Beijing
People may just be starting their days here in North America, but it was an eventful start to the week in Beijing, where Olympic action has kicked into high gear.
We’ll start with the Americans, because the Olympics are an exercise in blind patriotism.
Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated
Mikaela Shiffrin failed to defend her gold medal in the women’s giant slalom after she shockingly crashed out of the competition on her first run. Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg was at the race:
“Mikaela Shiffrin might go down as the best Alpine skier ever, but on Monday morning here she just went down, crashing 11 seconds and five turns into her first giant slalom run. It was so stunning that it was somehow more riveting than if she had won.”
She didn’t hide her disappointment after the race, telling reporters:
“I won’t ever get over this. I’ve never gotten over any. I still remember how much it hurt to lose it four years ago in Kronplatz. I fell before the last Olympics and I remember thinking that was so heartbreaking. It wasn’t even at the Olympics.”
The U.S. still had a chance to medal in the event after Nina O’Brien clocked the sixth-fastest first run, but she had a terrifying crash on her second run and had to be attended to by medical personnel for 10 minutes before she could be removed from the course on a stretcher. O’Brien was said to be “alert and responsive,” though, and, according to a Team USA spokesperson, “wanted to know how fast she was skiing.”
The other big story of the day is 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who became the first woman to land a quad jump at the Olympics. She landed not one but two quads during the team free skate event—a quad salchow and a quad toe—to help lead the Russian Olympic Committee team to gold.
Valieva’s feat comes 30 years after France’s Surya Bonaly became the first woman to attempt a quadruple jump at the 1992 Albertville Games. (She didn’t complete four full rotations, so it wasn’t officially a quad.)
Elsewhere in Beijing, two athletes did their part to show that age is just a number.
- Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst, 35, won gold in the 1,500 meters, her sixth Olympic gold. She is the only athlete to win an individual gold medal at five Olympic Games. Her first came in Torino in 2006 at age 19. She now has 12 total medals.
- French skier Johan Clarey, 41, won silver in the men’s downhill, becoming the oldest alpine skiing medalist in Olympic history. (American Bode Miller, who won bronze in the super-G in 2014, was previously the oldest at 36.) Clarey made his Olympic debut at 29 in ’10. His previous best finish was 18th in the downhill in ’18, after which he considered retiring. He’ll have a chance to continue his Cinderella story in the super-G.
The other feel-good story of the day is Canadian snowboarder Max Parrot, who won gold in the men’s slopestyle snowboarding event—Canada’s first gold at these Olympics. His win comes just three years after he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“It really just shows how anything is possible,” he told the CBC after his win. “Three years ago, I was laying down in a hospital bed with no energy, no muscles, no cardio. And today, I’m an Olympic gold medalist and I did the biggest run of my life.”
What’s next:
The upcoming schedule in Beijing includes a big U.S.-Canada women’s hockey game (at 11:10 p.m. ET tonight), the aforementioned men’s super-G and two medal races in cross-country skiing, among other events.
The Best of Sports Illustrated
Chris Nashawaty examined the long relationship between the Super Bowl and Hollywood:
“After all, 55 years ago the very first Super Bowl played out in the balmy shadow of the HOLLYWOOD sign as well. A lot has changed since then—both in terms of football’s ascent as the national pastime and the size and scale of big-studio blockbusters—but the NFL and movie industry have, in many ways, matured into hand-over-fist success stories, side by side.”
Rohan Nadkarni is a fan of the Cavaliers’ adding Caris LeVert in a trade with the Pacers, but thinks it was a better deal for Indiana. … Alex Prewitt spoke with Kai Owens, the American skier who was born in China and adopted by a family in Colorado, who now finds herself competing in the Olympics in her first trip back to the country where she was born.
Around the Sports World
Saints running back Alvin Kamara was arrested for battery in Las Vegas after the Pro Bowl. … The Dolphins hired Mike McDaniel as their new coach. McDaniel, who is biracial, is the first minority coach hired this cycle. … Markieff Morris might miss the rest of the season as the result of being shoved by Nikola Jokić in November. … Sadio Mané scored the winning penalty in a shootout against Egypt to lift Senegal to its first Africa Cup of Nations title. … A Leicester City fan ran on the field and attacked Nottingham Forest players after a goal in Leicester’s upset FA Cup loss.
The Top 5…
… reactions to a dismal Pro Bowl:
5. Shannon Sharpe: “I’m sorry but this isn’t football.”
4. Deion Sanders: “Lord help me.”
3. J.J. Watt: “I’ve seen walk-thrus more intense than this.”
2. ESPN’s Steve Levy on commentary, sarcastically: “He’s slammed to the turf.”
1. Raiders punter AJ Cole, on the sideline: “Probably my favorite stat line I’ve ever had: Got zero punts, three holds, two halftime hotdogs.”
SIQ
With a Bengals win over the Rams, Joe Burrow would become the third starting quarterback to win both a college national championship and a Super Bowl, after Joe Montana and Joe Namath. It would also put him in another exclusive club. Perhaps surprisingly, only two other men have won a Heisman Trophy and been the starting quarterback on a Super Bowl–winning team. Who are they?
- John Elway
- Roger Staubach
- Joe Montana
- Steve Young
- Jim Plunkett
- Paul Hornung
Check tomorrow's newsletter for the answer.
This Day in SI History
The Feb. 7, 2000, cover of SI declared the Rams’ win over the Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV “A Storybook Ending to a Miracle Season.” I was only seven years old at the time, so perhaps I never realized quite how miraculous it was. The Rams were coming off nine straight losing seasons. Kurt Warner was thrust into the starting quarterback role after a season-ending injury to Trent Green in the preseason. Warner was in his second season in the NFL, one year removed from playing with the Amsterdam Admirals.
After Warner led St. Louis to a 5–0 start (throwing 15 touchdowns and three interceptions), surpassing the team’s win total from the previous year, the cover of the Oct. 18 issue of SI asked incredulously, “Who is this guy?” That guy went on to win the MVP and lead the Rams to a 13–3 record, and ultimately the Super Bowl.
