China secured their third gold medal of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, as 18-year-old Eileen Gu delivered under huge pressure in the big air final.
She chose her final run to debut a trick she had never tried before, and the gamble paid off in style as she took gold by less than a point.
Gu has two more shots at freeskiing gold in Beijing, in halfpipe and slopestyle, and could well end up as the star of the Games.
Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger became the first three-time women’s luge Olympic champion as she added to the gold medals she won in Sochi and Pyeongchang.
The 34-year-old gave birth to her son two years ago, and revealed this was her toughest victory to date.
“I think it was a pretty hard way because my son is absolutely my number one, and my training was around my child,” Geisenberger said. “But that I’m now here with another gold medal is just amazing.”
Team GB latest
Britain’s mixed curlers Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds were well-beaten in their bronze-medal match as they lost 9-3 to Sweden.
The pair were beaten on the last stone by Norway in the last four, as they missed out on the chance to go for gold.
And Mouat and Dodds were unable to secure Team GB’s first medal of the Games as they struggled to get into the game against the Swedish pair.
Afterwards, Mouat said: “We just got off to a bad start which punished us. We had to fight back from that. We’re just going to have to console ourselves because we’ve got a big week with both our teams. We’re both ready for that.”
Both Dodds and Mouat will return to competition in the respective women’s and men’s team events.
Elsewhere, 17-year-old Kirsty Muir finished an impressive fifth in the big air final, after a brilliant first run left her in the bronze medal position.
She was unable to match that effort in the following two runs, but the teenager was understandably thrilled with her performance.
Muir said: “I’m so happy right now honestly, the level was insane. It feels amazing. I couldn’t have hoped to have skied better today and I’m so proud of all the girls.”
Cornelius Kersten, the first male long track speed skater for 30 years, finished 19th in the final, while Andrew Young and James Clugnet both failed to qualify for the cross-country skiing men’s free sprint final.
Winter Olympics 2022 medal table
Country |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
|
1 |
Sweden |
4 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
Netherlands |
3 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
3= |
China |
3 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
3= |
Germany |
3 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
Norway |
3 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
6 |
Italy |
2 |
4 |
1 |
7 |
7 |
ROC |
2 |
3 |
5 |
10 |
8 |
Austria |
2 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
9 |
Slovenia |
2 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
10 |
France |
1 |
4 |
0 |
5 |
- |
Great Britain |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
