And with that, I’ll say goodbye. Thanks for your company - what a brilliant night in Beijing. Let’s do it all again tomorrow. Bye!
Ice Hockey: And back to Wukesong to finish the night, where Team USA have popped in a third goal - that’s cream on the cake. They’re 3-0 with just one minute to go, certain to face Canada in an All American women’s gold medal match on Thursday. Finland will play off for the bronze medal against Switzerland on Wednesday.
Curling: The coach has his say: Sweden land on a play of removing the Swiss guard first, opening up the house, then finishing with a draw shot. Part one goes to plan. Over to Alina Pätz - this is sudden death now, she has to move the Swedish stone with this her finish attempt. And does! Right. It all comes down to this: the Swiss have the shot but the dancefloor is open. But instead of the gentle draw Hasselborg opts to knock out the shot and it works! Sweden win 6-5 in the extra end, taking their record to 4-2. As for the Swiss, that’s their first loss of the competition, now 5-1. Brilliant curling. That could well end up a preview a major medal match later this week.
Updated
Curling: We pick up the extra end between Sweden and the Swiss with four stones to go, Sweden with the hammer. They currently have the decisive shot in position, sitting on the button with skip Anna Hasselborg piling the pressure back on to Alina Pätz, who takes a time out to weigh up her options. She gets under the guard but isn’t able to curl it beyond the yellow - time for Sweden’s time out.
Ice Hockey: A second goal for the USA! From the stick of veteran forward Hilary Knight, another member of that gold medal team in Pyeongchang. The assist goes to Savannah Harmon. So, they lead Finland 2-0 with 12 minutes to go in this semi final - the winner here goes on to play Canada in the gold medal final on Thursday.
Bobsleigh: Let me shock you: Germany finish the first half of the men’s two-man comp with pairs in first, second and fourth. An ROC combination breaks them up in third with the Swiss and Austrians in equal fifth. We’ll watch their medal runs closely tomorrow.
Updated
Curling: In the other matches, Denmark finished their thrashing of ROC, winners 10-5 - the same in margin Korea’s victory over Japan. But close one is Sweden v Switzerland - we join with one each to play; the latter have the hammer, down 4-5 but with a shot on the button. Sweden first... bang! Out goes the Swiss shot, replaced by their own - indeed, they have three points surrounding those Olympic rings. “Curling perfection!” says the commentator - I like her style. This has to be perfect as well from Alina Pätz... and is! To an extra end they go! And the hammer goes back to the Swedes.
Curling: As you would expect from watching this contest, Canada’s Jen Jones has to knock out the GB shot with her penultimate stone and it was never in doubt. Class. Over to Muirhead, two to go - can they engineer something very special? Not strong enough there - contact is made but the shots are still Canada’s. They take a time out before their final stone of regulation, just to be sure - they erect a guard. “You tell me how on Earth Eve Muirhead gets three there?” asks Steve Cram somewhat rhetorically, drumming up what a Hail Mary might look like but it’s not to be - Canada take the shot and the victory, by a margin of 7-3. Both teams are now 3-3 after six matches.
Ice Hockey: Cayla Barnes’ clinical finish - the USA taking full advantage of the power play when Finland were penalised for a trip - remains the only goal in their semi-final with one period to play.
Curling: Korea finish the job against Japan, winning 10-5 to keep their destiny in their own hands for the later stages of the round robin. And Sweden go up 5-4 over the Swiss with one end to play, but the latter have the hammer - extra time surely beckons there.
Curling: Three stones to go, ninth end. GB have both shot and a guard but the hammer is Canada’s. Jen Jones hasn’t quite nailed her penultimate shot though, placing it alongside another stone at the top of the house. Here’s Muirhead’s opening for a steal - the most important moment of the night for her so far. From left to right she goes, around Canada’s pair, and on the button. Well, that’s two shots as it stands. “The chances of Jen making two mistakes in a row are slim,” says Steve Cram. She can’t let GB steal two here - damage control? Left to right her direction too... and it’s absolutely perfect. Clinical. The GB stone is knocked away, the Canadians claim the point - they lead 6-3 with one end to go. GB have the hammer for it but they need three shots to finish for this to go to an extra end.
Ice Hockey: With seven minutes to go in the second period of the women’s second semi-final, the USA remain 1-0 up over Finland.
Updated
Curling: Around the rinks we go once more, eight ends down.
Bobsleigh: The BBC are sticking with the early stages of this event on their main channel - is this a Cool Runnings thing? Or because GB have a team in? Halfway through the second run, with the main men (including the three German pairs) still to come, Swiss pilot Michael Vogt has a provisional lead over the Austria’s Benjamin Maier.
Curling: Three shots to come in this seventh end and it’s four Canadian stones in the house. Super stuff from their skip Jen Jones to dislodge the only troublesome GB stone to this point. “Eve is going to have to get this absolutely perfect,” says Steve Cram on commentary. It works - just. GB have shot but they’re not quite on the button. Back to Jones - can she drive the red stone away again? There’s no guard in her way; a free hit - and she’s bang on. “She hasn’t made a mistake this whole match,” says Cram. So, the best Muirhead can hope for is one point with the final stone and gets the job done. They have inched the gap back to two points with two ends to go; Canada lead 5-3 and they take the hammer for the ninth.
Ice Hockey: Team USA with the first goal of the semi-final! Early in the second period, Cayla Baynes - a veteran of the team that won gold at Pyeongchang - with the finish, via Hannah Brandt’s assist.
Curling: We’re reaching now-or-never for Team GB against Canada, down 5-2 with three ends to go. On the plus side, they have the hammer in this the eighth and again in the tenth to finish. Eve Muirhead’s team had a 3-2 record coming into this match against Canada, who are 2-3. Each foursome play each other - nine games in all. So, if GB don’t get up here, they’ll probably need to win each of their remaining three fixtures to advance to the medal rounds.
Updated
Before we go back to the curling, the Daily Briefing is in! There’s no better one-stop-shop on these Winter Games than Martin Belam’s daily email. Sign up here to get it sent directly to your inbox.
Once again, the biggest story from Beijing was off the ice. Specifically, the ongoing saga with Kamila Valieva. Sean Ingle is here with the latest, after the 15-year-old figure skater was cleared by the court of arbitration for sport to compete in the solo event.
Curling: Updated scores from the Water Cube. Team GB remain in strife, unable to take full advantage of the hammer in the sixth end.
Ice Hockey: No goals in the first period of the women’s semi-final between the USA and Finland at Wukesong Sports Centre.
The pictures are in. The best of day ten - enjoy some special work from the outstanding photographers covering the Games in Beijing.
Ice Hockey: We’re about halfway through the opening period in the second semi-final of the women’s tournament, Team USA taking on Finland - no score as yet. The winner here earns the right to play the brilliant Canadian outfit for gold - they thrashed the Swiss 10-3 in the first semi earlier today. When these teams met last week in the group, the Americans won 5-2. In their quarter finals, the USA knocked off the Czechs 4-1 and Finland hammered Japan 7-1.
Curling: We’re into the eighth session of the the women’s round-robin tournament. Here are the progress scores and, in brackets, where the teams sat on the table coming into these clashes.
- (1) Switzerland 2 v (4) Sweden 2
- (3) Great Britain 1 v (8) Canada 4
- (2) Japan 4 v (6) Korea 5
- (9) Denmark 3 v (10) ROC 3
All matches are halfway through with five ends complete. Of most interest so far, Team GB have plenty to do from there under the leadership of Eve Muirhead - they can’t drop this match.
Bobsleigh: The BBC also stuck with the bobsleigh - the first of four runs, 24 hours away from the medals being decided - rather than taking the ski jumping final on the main channel. And on the red button, it’s the curling - again, well ahead of medal time. Anyway, that first run is complete with results just as I summarised half an hour ago with the Germans in first, second and fourth. The Team GB pair, piloted by Brad Hall, sit in 11th position - 0.67 off the pace.
That’s the final medal event of day ten. Austria, with their fifth victory of these Winter Games, jump into fifth spot with 15 medals. Norway’s nine gold medals - seven in the cross-country skiiing and biathlon events - keep them at the top of the pops with nine.
Gold for Austria!
Ski jumping: Slovenia stay well clear of Norway with a 127m jump from Peter Prevc. So, it’s all down to Austria, Manual Fettner - the man who won silver on Saturday - with the final jump of the night. He’s up, he’s flying... it’s 128m. It’s going to be so close - we await the marks. It’s enough! 119 points earn Austria gold by eight points.
- GOLD - Austria 942.7 (Kraft/Huber/Hörl/Fettner)
-
SILVER - Slovenia 934.3
- BRONZE - Germany 922.9
Norway miss out on a medal by 0.8 points.
Updated
Ski jumping: The big four to come, here we go. For Germany, it’s Karl Geiger - the bronze medallist in the solo event on the weekend. Is is over 130m? Not quite, 128m. They’re relying on the style points to bridge the three-point gap to Norway. Over to Lindvik, the champion on Saturday... and he’s short! How short? Glum faces in the Norwegian camp... 126m. Is that enough for them to stay ahead of Germany in bronze? It comes down to style marks again... Germany keep their noses ahead by 0.8 of a point! 922.9 to 922.1. Just Slovenia and Austria to jump for gold. A thrilling finish this event.
Ski jumping: Quick aside - why are style points even a thing in ski jumping? I’m not the first to make this observation, but surely it should be about getting as far as you can, however you can? I’ll stop now.
Ski jumping: A big third round! Austraia, Slovenia and Norway are on the podium for now with one jump to go - with the wind dropping, the major players were really able to turn the heat up.
The top four are in contention for medals, they are:
1. Austria 823.7
2. Slovenia 818.4
3. Norway 806.5
4. Germany 803.9
Norway have the singles champion, Marius Lindvik, to come. The last jumps are in reverse order of their current position.
Bobsleigh: 20 of the 30 pairs have completed their first run in the two-man event with the German teams sitting first, second and fourth. They hurtle down twice today and finish the job tomorrow.
Ski jumping: We are halfway through the final and Slovenia are back into top spot, overtaking Austria with Cene Prevc collecting 126 of the best with his jump. Norway remain in the bronze position but they’re 22 away from second; the Germans have jumped from six into fourth but they’re 35 points off the lead. Then well out of the medals for now: Japan and Poland, 50 points adrift, ROC 90 away from Slovenia, and Switzerland, easily out of contention. The Eurosport commentator remains scathing about the officiating, specifically the barriers they have been released from at the top.
Ski jumping: A lot of wind; the conditions aren’t great for going huge in the first jumps of the final. Austria and Poland are over 119 but most of the rest of the field are closer to 100. Austria (578.1) lead Slovenia (575.1) and Norway (565) as they begin the second of four legs. The TV commentator is very critical of the barrier they are taking off from, saying they should be given more room to build up speed because of the wind. Indeed, he’s unhappy full stop.
Ski jumping: To the final of the men’s team event! 11 became eight in the first round of the final with the Czech Republic, the USA and China eliminated. At the other end of the table, the qualifiers are:
1. Slovenia
2. Austria
3. Norway (defending champions)
4. Germany
5. Japan
6. Poland
7. Not Russia
8. Switzerland
The scores from the first round all count, added to the second jumps for a grand total. Just 8 metres separate the top four so far. Go!
Bobsleigh: The BBC screened the first heat of the two-man event live instead of the freestyle aerials final. Anyway, the it’s four runs for the men - two tonight then two tomorrow. Keep your eyes on the Canadians, the Latvians and, of course, the Germans. Can they continue their extraordinary run at the sliding centre? Sure enough, their two pairs are first and second to set the standard early on.
Updated
Gold for China!
Freestyle aerials: Ashley Caldwell (USA) is the fourth jumper in a row to go opt for the back full-full-full but she ends up as Peel did on her back! That’s gold for China with with Mengtao Xu the only athlete to stick the landing on the big jump when it mattered most! Gold for China! At age 31, she’s finally at Olympic champion. And what a response, roaring into the Beijing night sky. Love to see it.
Caldwell finishes fourth. Hanna Huskova, what a mighty jump to lead the final, earns silver after gold in 2018 and Team USA’s Megan Nick will collect the bronze for her clean back full-double-full.
Updated
Freestyle aerials: Mengtao Xu! It’s the same jump as Peel and Fanyu but that is the way to land it! Quite outstanding. Surely she moves to the top with a 4.293 hit so sweetly? She does! Just! 108.61! The Chinese jumper is into first position with only Ashley Caldwell to come. The American held her nerve in the final of the teams event and will need to do so again here. Brilliant drama.
Freestyle aerials: Kong Fanyu (CHN) with the same jump as Peel, the back full-full-full... and the result is the same! In her case, a faceplant at the end. 59.67, it isn’t to be for the local athlete. Huskova, the defending champ, will definitely win a medal. Over to Mengtao and Caldwell to work detmine the colour it will be.
Updated
Freestyle aerials: Launching into a 4.293 degree triple, Laura Peel’s taking a huge risk with this. And she’s up high, so very high... too high in the end, the Australian unable to stick it at the business end. 78.56 is the score - deep disappointment, but she gave herself every chance to take gold if that went right. Credit for that.
Freestyle aerials: Nick Megan’s degree of difficulty is 3.525, not up with Huskova on that measure, but she’s got it right! 93.76. Will that be enough for a medal? The pressure is now on Laura Peel - the most important moment of the Australia’s career is coming up now.
Freestyle aerials: Hanna Huskova won’t be giving up her title without a fight! The Belerusian lays down an absolute beauty to start this super final, her back lay-full-full is stuck to perfection. And it’s 107.95! That’s the best jump of the competition so far... have that!
I said I’d be a little bit parochial. Forgive me. To fire up for the aerials final, coming in just a moment, let’s take a look at Alisa Camplin’s stunning victory at Salt Lake City in 2002.
Freestyle aerials: They’ve given Akmarzhan Kalmurzayeva (KAZ) another attempt after failing to reach the jump earlier in the round. And it’s a fine jump too, albeit with a lower degree of difficulty, collecting 71.23. Right, so we have our six finalists confirmed:
1. Ashley Caldwell (USA)
2. Xu Mengtao (CHN)
3. Kong Fanyu (CHN)
4. Laura Peel (AUS)
5. Megan Nick (USA)
6. Hanna Huskova (BLR)
Only one jump each in the super final - high stakes stuff!
Freestyle aerials: The wind has dropped off as Laura Peel (AUS) waits to go. Down with a back full-tuck-full, difficulty right on 4.0... up there, looking good... down! But trails with a hand! The landing is worth 30 per cent. This is touch and go stuff for the world champion, requiring 92 to make it. “You have to reward the bravery,” says the commentator on telly... and they have! 100.02. She’s through!
Freestyle aerials: Ashley Caldwell (USA) doesn’t need to jump - she’s already through to the final with her first jump. But she does and improves her position with a 105.6 - the best score of the day with a back lay-full-full. Bang. She’s the in-form jumper in this comp.
Freestyle aerials: The first of the Australians, Danielle Scott... and it’s gone horribly wrong. She lost it well before the landing. A high degree of difficulty with a triple attempt at 3.975 but surely she’s out? She is - the score 64.79. But credit for having a big crack.
Updated
Freestyle aerials: Five jumpers to go. Marion Thenhault (CAN) the first. The 21-year-old didn’t trouble the scorers with a fall at the point of landing the first around but she holds it with style this time! It’s a double not a triple though, so unlikely to reach 100... 91.29! Into sixth! In short, she needs the Australianas to mess it up again.
Freestyle aerials: Whoa! Akmarzhan Kalmurzayeva (KAZ) doesn’t make it to the jump, catching the edge of the runway! Is that for her or does she get another crack? Anyway, over to Hanna Huskova (BLR), the 29-year-old Olympic champ in 2018, and she gets it down with a 3.71 difficulty! Into the 100s? No! For the second time tonight she’s not been fancied by the judges, finishing with a 92.
Freestyle aerials: Clean from American Kaila Kuhn but it won’t be enough to progress. Her teammate Megan Nick lands a 3.525 as well but only registers a 90, which means her 95 from the first attempt has to stay in the top six between now and then. In her favour is the conditions, which continue to get worse. The pressure is on.
Freestyle aerials: Fanyu Kong (CHN) hit her first jump, a 102.71 placing her in third, but she’s botched this back lay-full-full. A nervous wait ahead to determine whether that initial attempt keeps her above the fold. A reminder that the top six scores make it.
Freestyle aerials: On we go - can one of the lower seeds do something special to push into the top six? Not in the first couple - neither Anastasiya Andriyanava (BLR) nor Eseniia Pantioukhova are getting to the medal round. Conditions are tough: cold and windy.
Ice Hockey: One for later tonight, a couple of hours from now in the women’s competition it’s Team USA against Finland for the right to play Canada in Thursday’s Gold Medal Match. Earlier today, the top seeed thumped Switzerland 10-3 in the first semi at Wukesong.
Ski jumping: A quick look at the men’s team competition while we wait for the next jumps in the freestyle aerials. A great start from the USA with Decker Dean up top with a 129. Eight of the twelve teams will make it through to the medal jumps later tonight in Beijing with the cumulative score from all four athletes taken for the final tally.
Freestyle aerials: All Australian eyes on Laura Peel, who led the qualifying round. But the world champion has overcooked her back full-tuck-full! With a high degree of difficulty she’s a chance to still stay in the top six... nope, ninth. She’ll jump last in round two, so she’ll know precisely what is required in 20 minutes from now.
Freestyle aerials: Ashley Caldwell, who was the catalyst for Team USA’s stirring come-from-behind victory in the team’s event, goes relatively safe with a 4.028 but makes absolutely no mistake. She’s the third jumper over 100 and into the lead with 103.92.
Freestyle aerials: Xu Mengtao with the most ambitious jump we’ve seen so far and she’s right on the money! And with 103.89 she’s into the lead, overtaking Fanyu Kong. That will be enough to see her through to the medal final. Caldwell (USA) and Peel (AUS) to come.
Freestyle aerials: Danielle Scott is hits the deck! The Australian, who the was in fourth position through qualifying, got wonderful air on her back lack-tuck-full but didn’t stick it at the landing. The veteran from Sydney, competing in her third Winter Olympics, will need to get it right the second time around to reach the final six.
Freestyle aerials: Hanna Huskova (BLR), the gold medallist in 2018, lands a back lay-tuck-full - or so it appears. The expectation on commentary was that she’d be a chance to nick top spot but the judges aren’t as keen, scoring 89.41. She’s in third position.
A reminder of how this works. All twelve athletes jump twice in this first final. The six best jumps (not a cumulative tally) will qualify for the major medal final of six, which begins at the top of the hour.
Freestyle aerials: Fanyu Kong (CHN) makes her back lay-full-full to start the first final, drawing on all her experience from Pyeongchang to bank a very handy 102.71. After six jumpers with their first of two attempts - they are going in reverse order from how they qualified this morning - she’s in the lead ahead of Team USA’s Megan Nick.
Thank you, Niall. A warm-and-cuddly Valentine’s Day welcome to you all for the night session on this second Monday in Beijing – which also happens to be my baby girl’s second birthday. I’ve had her skating around the kitchen over the weekend; you’ll see her in the short track speed skating in 2038.
Maybe that will be with the Australian flag on her uniform - I’m going to be a bit parochial over the next two hours despite the fact that I’m coming to you from 10,000 miles away in London. That’s because the pet event for Australian Winter Olympians is about to begin: the women’s freestyle aerial final. And just as it was in 2002 when Alisa Camplin took the chocolates, then in Salt Lake City and eight years later when Lydia Lassila did the same, it’s an Aussie, Laura Peel, favoured to take home gold at Genting Snow Park here.
She shot the lights out in qualifying round with a 104.54 – one of just two jumpers to crack the ton as the field was reduced to 12. Peel was the world champion in 2021 so she knows how to get it done on the big stage. With her in wearing green and gold in the final is Danielle Scott, fourth in qualifying at this her third Winter Games.
They’ll have to get past the experienced Ashley Caldwell from Team USA who was outstanding in their team victory on Thursday – she’s one of three Americans in this penultimate round before the final jumps in an hour from now. Kong Fanyu from China was bronze in 2018 and has snuck into the dozen, outshone by her countrywoman Xu Mengtao who did everything right in the team event for silver.
Hanna Huskova was the Olympic champion in Pyeongchang and has also snuck through, one of a pair of Belarusians. And Marion Thénault is one to watch as well, the Canadian putting in a fine performances when Canada’s mixed team won bronze last week.
I’ll also have a close eye on the Ski Jumping where the men’s team final is taking place at the same time with 11 groups of four ready to roll at Big Air Shougang Hill. Germany are the defending Olympic and world champions with Austria, Poland and Slovenia all expected to be in the mix at the business end of the competiton.
Drop me a line throughout the day, or send me a tweet.
I’ll be handing over to my esteemed colleague Adam Collins shortly – he’ll guide you through the rest of the day’s live sport. Meanwhile, this is a nice read from Simon Burnton on the Winter Olympics’ historical battles with the weather:
Here’s what’s still to come on day 10 (all times GMT). The action resumes in 10 minutes time, so get ready ...
11am Women’s aerials final 🥇
11am Men’s team ski jumping (large hill) first round
12.05pm Two-man bobsleigh – run one
12.05pm Curling: women’s round-robin games including GB v Canada
12.06pm Men’s team ski jumping (large hill) final 🥇
1.10pm Women’s ice hockey semi-final: USA v Finland
1.40pm Two-man bobsleigh – run two
Following the news that she can compete in the women’s individual events, Kamila Valieva has been training with other ROC skaters at the Capital Indoor Stadium – watched by her entourage, including controversial coach Eteri Tutberidze ...
... while in Moscow, electronic billboards in support of the Russian teenager bear the message “Kamila, we are with you”.
Updated
More on Jamie Anderson, the US snowboarder who won slopestyle golds in 2014 and 2018, and a Big Air silver in Pyeongchang but has had a disappointing Games in 2022. Anderson has said she feels “tapped out” and “excited to go home” after finishing ninth in slopestyle, and failing to qualify for the Big Air final.
“We’ve been here for so long and I feel like our whole crew is just over it,” Anderson said of life in the Beijing bubble. “Just barely hanging on by a fricking strand of hair. Just like, tired of the food, homesick, tired of the pressure.”
The 31-year-old says she’s not ready to retire, but she’s not sure what’s next for her in terms of competitive snowboarding. Last week, she posted on Instagram that she “straight up couldn’t handle the pressure” and her “mental health and clarity just hasn’t been on par.”
Updated
Before we look ahead to the rest of the day 10 action, here’s a rundown of what you might have missed beyond the medals in ice dance and monobob:
The women’s slopestyle qualifying runs took place, with China’s Eileen Gu going through in third place behind Estonia’s Kelly Sildaru and Norway’s Johanne Killi. Team GB duo Kirsty Muir (sixth) and Katie Summerhayes (10th) also made the cut for Tuesday’s final.
The finals are also set for the men’s and women’s Big Air snowboard finals. Canada’s Max Parrot led the way in the men’s event, while New Zealand’s slopestyle gold medallist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott topped the women’s qualifiers.
Double Olympic champion Jamie Anderson failed to qualify, though, and her US teammate Julia Marino withdrew after a fall in practice. Team GB’s Katie Ormerod also missed out on the final, finishing 25th.
The women’s ice hockey is at the semi-final stage, but Canada are still banging in the goals – their 10-3 win over Switzerland took their Games tally past 50, a new record. The USA and Finland meet in the second semi-final later today.
Updated
IOC: No medal ceremonies involving Kamila Valieva in Beijing
The IOC has just announced that the team figure skating medal ceremony, on hold for the last week, will not take place in Beijing at all following Kamila Valieva’s positive drugs test.
Valieva has been cleared to compete in the individual competition by Cas due to “exceptional circumstances”, but if she wins a medal, there will be no ceremony. The IOC adds that it will “organise dignified medal ceremonies once the case of Ms Valieva has been concluded.”
Here’s Bryan Armen Graham on the battle for gold in the women’s monobob – a new sliding event at these Games, won by a familiar face:
“Athlete of the Games so far?” asks Kurt Perleberg. Putting aside the obvious answer, we’ve seen moments of brilliance from Nathan Chen, Nils van der Poel and Eileen Gu, but my personal shout would be Suzanne Schulting.
The Dutch short track skater has won two golds and a silver in Beijing, and set a new world record too. The Netherlands’ relay gold and their emotional celebrations – after teammate Lara van Ruijven died in 2020 – were a Games highlight too.
There’s a break in the action in Beijing for the next 90 minutes – so plenty of time to catch up on a busy day of skating, sliding and skiing so far.
Let’s start with ice dancing, and tales of Valentine’s Day romance and redemption from Martin Belam:
Curling: Denmark have beaten Norway 6-5 amid extra-end drama to earn their first win of the group stage. Here are the latest men’s standings:
1. Sweden (6-0)
2. Great Britain (5-1)
3. Canada (4-2)
=4. USA, Switzerland, ROC (3-3)
=7. Norway, China (2-4)
=9. Italy, Denmark (1-5)
The top four advance to the semi-finals, so Team GB are well placed – but their last three games are against Sweden, Canada and ROC.
Monday’s biggest story from Beijing is undoubtedly the news that Kamila Valieva will be able to compete in the women’s individual figure skating event.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) have issued a statement responding to the court of arbitration for sport’s decision, saying it is “disappointed by today’s ruling.”
“It appears that the Cas panel decided not to apply the terms of the Code, which does not allow for specific exceptions to be made in relation to mandatory provisional suspensions for ‘protected persons’, including minors.”
Wada also appears to lay some of the blame for the delay in Valieva’s positive test being confirmed with Rusada, the Russian anti-doping agency: “According to information received by Wada, the sample in this case was not flagged by Rusada as being a priority sample when it was received by the anti-doping laboratory in Stockholm”.
Sweden have beaten ROC 7-5, while Denmark and Norway are locked in an extra end after drawing 5-5. And if you think I’m slightly overdoing it on the curling, it’s the only live event happening at the moment – but we’ll have a run-down of all the day 10 action so far, and what’s coming up, very soon.
Updated
Curling: Bruce Mouat’s crew have a stone almost on the button, while Switzerland have largely left their efforts short, keeping the target area clear. One stone each left to go ...
With their last attempt, the Swiss team nestle a stone in front and give Mouat something to think about. He clears both stones with his final effort, and Team GB pick up the point they need to win! GB 6-5 Switzerland.
Updated
So, the only live sport currently going on is curling, and Switzerland have struck back against Team GB in the ninth end. With the final stone, they try a complicated cannon shot for three points, but end up taking two.
It’s 5-5 going into the 10th and final end, where Britain have the hammer – the final stone. Elsewhere, Canada have beaten Italy 7-3, Sweden lead ROC 6-5 and Denmark lead Norway 5-4.
Here are the 12 aerials finalists, who will return to compete for gold at 11am (GMT) – in two and a half hours. The last name on the list, Anastasiya Andryianava of Belarus, did not take a second jump, so it remains to be seen if she will be able to take part.
Laura Peel (Aus)
Ashley Caldwell (USA)
Xu Mengtao (China)
Danielle Scott (Aus)
Marion Thenault (Canada)
Hanna Huskova (Belarus)
Akmarzhan Kalmurzayeva (Kaz)
Megan Nick (USA)
Kaila Kuhn (USA)
Kong Fanyu (China)
Eseniia Pantiukhova (ROC)
Anastasiya Andryianava (Blr)
In the second qualifying round for the women’s aerials final, Kazakhstan’s Akmarzhan Kalmurzayeva scored 98.68, a huge improvement on her first run score of 70.86. Australia’s Gabi Ash improved too, but her second score of 80.04 isn’t quite enough as he finishes 14th.
Hello everyone, Niall McVeigh here picking up the baton from Geoff. Let’s get a curling update: Team GB lead Switzerland 5-3 heading into the ninth end. Victory would improve Britain’s record to five wins and one loss overall, with tough games against ROC, Canada and leaders Sweden to come.
The other latest scores are Canada 4-3 Italy, ROC 5-6 Sweden and Denmark 4-4 Norway.
And that’s it for me today. Thanks for your company, Niall McVeigh will be with you next.
Here’s the latest piece from our reporters at the scene.
Snowboarding: The two Finns, Jarvilehto and Rene Rinnekangas, have the last two jumps and both stumble on the landing, missing a chance to sneak into the 12, and Darcy Sharpe holds on. The final standings are in.
Max Parrot (Canada)
Otsuka Takeru (Japan)
Redmond Gerard (USA)
Kunitake Hiroaki (Japan)
Su Yiming (China)
Marcus Kleveland (Norway)
Sven Thorgren (Sweden)
Mark McMorris (Canada)
Mons Roisland (Norway)
Chris Corning (USA)
Niek van der Velden (Netherlands)
Darcy Sharpe (Canada)
Snowboarding: The last few riders going huge on their tricks, trying to get into that top 12, so there are a lot of crashes happening on landing. Six spots are locked up.
Curling: Low-scoring match, 3-3 between GB and Switzerland in the seventh end of the men’s round robin.
Updated
Australia qualifies first for the women's aerial final
Aerials: Ashley Caldwell, of the USA, goes for a monster trick as the final jump, a back/full-full-full, with a DOD of 4.293. Three backflips, three twists. Perfect in the air, raises one ski on landing which costs her points, but she scores 101.31 and goes to second place.
So the direct qualifiers are:
Laura Peel (Aus)
Ashley Caldwell (USA)
Xu Mengtao (China)
Danielle Scott (Aus)
Marion Thenault (Canada)
Hanna Huskova (Belarus)
Updated
Aerials: Gabi Ash, the third and final Australian, goes for a more straightforward back/full-full, done nicely in the air with a bit too much compression on landing. Keeps her balance and doesn’t put a hand down. Her 77.17 puts her in 13th. The top six scores go to the final, and the rest compete in a second qualification round.
Aerials: Another great jump in qualifying for Australia! Laura Peel goes top of the pops with a back/full-tuck-full, degree of difficulty 3.975, and that DOD boosts her score all the way up to 104.54. Australian skiers first and third with six to go.
Snowboarding: Mons Roisland lands a good third jump to take himself into the top 12. Now it’s whether he can hold on there.
Aerials: Danielle Scott is up, the Australian attempting a back double full full, degree of difficulty 3.525, and she lands it perfectly! Goes all the way up to second place behind Xu with a 96.23. There are 10 competitors to come.
Snowboarding: Otsuka Takeru nails an 1800! Slight handtouch on landing but he still gets the second-biggest score of the day, 91.50, and shoots up to second place.
Curling: GB leading 3-2 now in the sixth end.
Snowboarding: Max Parrot crashes his third run, but is still first on the basis of his first two scores. Redmond Gerard stays second but bumps up his score by three points.
Snowboarding: USA’s Chris Corning lands an 81.75 to get into seventh spot, for now.
Aerials: The women’s qualifiers have started, Xu Mengtao of China top so far with a 101.10.
Snowboarding: Finland’s Kalle Jarvilehto finishes off the second round with an 85.75, making up for a bad first score of 22.75. He’s 17th now but can challenge for the top 12.
Snowboarding: Mark McMorris had a great first jump, but the Canadian scores 65.75 after a hand-touch deduction on his second. Still has him in sixth place leading into the third round.
Snowboarding: Scores of 80 and over for Emiliano Lauzi of Italy, Niklas Mattson of Sweden, and Mons Roisland of Norway get them in the top four behind Parrot. Five riders to come in round two.
Snowboarding: No good for Matthew Cox on his second run, goes well in the air but slips on the landing to score a 19.
Snowboarding: Darcy Sharpe was under pressure, after the Canadian bombed on his first run. Switch backside triple 1620 lands him a 77.50 and keeps him in the game if he can score a good third run.
Curling: In the fourth end, and it’s slow scoring between GB and Switzerland. 1-1.
Snowboarding: Su Yiming goes for a more modest 1440 on his second jump, but drags his hand on landing to score 62.75. That’s probably still enough to get him through in the top 12, and he has another jump to come. He’s currently third, with Redmond and Canada’s Max Parrot ahead.
Ice hockey: The Canada-Switzerland game ends up at 10-3. The Canadians go into the gold medal match with plenty of goals behind them.
Kamila Valieva free to compete
Strap in - here is that update on the Valieva story, after the Court for Arbitration for Sport decision today.
Updated
Curling: Great Britain has just started a match against Switzerland in the men’s round robin. More on that as scores advance.
Snowboarding: The first round is done, and the top three stay as they were: China, Norway, Japan. Staale Sandbech is 12th with 69.50, so that’s the benchmark for anyone below him wanting to get into qualifying contention. Redmond Gerard is the only USA rider in the top 12. Matthew Cox is in 21st spot, the Australian. Second round will start immediately.
Ice hockey: This match has indeed settled down. Canada have scored one more to go up 9-3, but that’s all so far in the third period.
Snowboarding: Nobody has displaced the top three yet with six jumps to come in the first round.
Snowboarding: Matthew Cox for Australia in his first Olympics pulls off a clean run, less intense than some others, slight stutter on the landing probably costs him but he places 11th with 56.25. Su is still top after 16 jumps.
Snowboarding: Su Yiming, the 17-year-old Chinese prodigy, goes top after nine jumps with a 92.50. He nails an 1800 spin and lands it clean as a fresh shirt. Markus Kleveland is second at the moment, and Kunitake Hiroake third, for Norway and Japan.
Updated
Snowboarding: The men’s big air qualifiers have begun, the first run of three for these boarders. Their best two scores decide who goes through to the final. The first 12 of 29 will do so.
Ice hockey: End of the second period now, still 8-3. Perhaps the storm has passed.
Ice hockey: An absolute torrent of goals here, Poulin scoring again to make it 8-3 to Canada. It’s only the second period.
Ice hockey: Stalder scores again! The Canadians get Laura Stacey sent off for two minutes, and Switzerland take advantage, Stalder firing through the five hole to make it 7-3.
Updated
Ice hockey: Ok, scrap that. Canada score two more in 11 seconds of game time, and now go up 7-2. Marie-Philip Poulin followed by Emily Clark.
Here come the Swiss! What did I tell you? Lara Stalder scored the first and now sets up the second across the net, and Alina Muller flicks it home. It’s 5-2 to Canada in the semi-final.
We’re expecting an outcome in the Kalina Valieva doping case in just under an hour from now at 2pm Beijing time, which would be 5pm AEDT and 6am UK time. The IOC will have a press conference then. Sean Ingle is on the spot for us to report.
Updated
Ice hockey: By the way, it’s not even the end of the first period. Canada scored three goals in 53 seconds at one point.
Hello all, thanks Beau for the last few hours. You’ll be pleased to know that the Swiss have clawed a goal back on the Canadians in the hockey. That 5-1 could become 5-6 in the blink of an eye.
So what’s next? Glad you asked ...
In 30 minutes: Men’s snowboard big air qualification
In one hour: More curling, with Team GB’s men up against Switzerland.
In two hours: Women’s aerials qualification
In five hours: Men’s team ski jumping. Not all at the same time.
In six hours: Women’s aerials final
In seven hours: Another round of curling, with Canada’s women taking on Team GB. Also the first two heats of two-man bobsled.
In eight hours: The other women’s hockey semifinal -- USA vs. Finland.
My MVPs of the day so far are Kaillie Humphries and the organist at the hockey venue. Great mix of tunes.
With that, The Guardian’s epicenter of Olympic coverage shifts from the East Coast of the USA to an undisclosed location in Australia, where the redoubtable Geoff Lemon will guide you through the next few hours. I’ll be back with you in 20 hours.
Phew! Are we caught up? Let’s see ... the only sport in action right now is women’s hockey, with Canada facing Switzerland in the semifinals. Quick check: It’s 5-0 Canada. In the first period. Not a lot of parity here.
Good quip from Elana Meyers Taylor on NBC, saying her silver was surely the first medal ever won on behalf of the isolation hotel. She somehow maintained her sense of humor and made videos from her room while she waited to have the necessary positive tests. Not that it was easy.
Oh wait -- Switzerland just scored. Don’t call it a comeback.
Updated
Ice dancing: Gold for France, bronze for USA
It’s fine to feel some sympathy for the USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates, but there’s no arguing with the top three here. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue were dazzling. Then the ROC’s Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov were equally spectacular.
And there’s simply no way to describe France’s Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. NBC’s Johnny Weir probably came closest when he said he has shared the ice with the duo, and it makes him feel like he’s a shop full of things he can’t afford.
So it’s France, ROC and the USA, to the surprise of absolutely no one.
Freestyle slopestyle: The second qualifying run is over, and the most significant shakeup was that the two skiers who had the epic duel in the big air final, Eileen Gu and Tess Ledeux, secured spots in the top 12 and qualified. Like Ledeux, Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud was outside the top 12 after her first run but came through in the clutch to qualify. Gu was in the top 12 after the first run but would have been bumped out if she hadn’t improved in the second.
Two Team GB skiers, Kirsty Muir and Katie Summerhayes, also qualified.
The USA’s Maggie Voisin is in the final, hoping to end her run of back luck in the Olympics. She couldn’t compete in 2014 after being injured in a training run. She finished fourth in 2018. She was fourth again in qualifying here, but that’s certainly enough.
Marin Hamill has also qualified, but her injury would have to be a lot less serious than it looked for her to compete. The accident left coaches and teammates in tears.
We’re lucky more people weren’t injured, frankly. Many skiers had a difficult time coping with this course. The fluidity of the snowboard competition just wasn’t there.
Ice dancing: Hubbell and Donohue are retiring from competition after this, and that was a breathtaking exit full of the athleticism and grace you want to see in this event. Donohue makes lifts look easy. Hubbell hangs on to Donohue’s neck during a spin in which Donohue takes the “look Ma, no hands” approach.
“One last turn,” says Hubbell as she steps off the ice.
It’s emotional, it’s brilliant. It’s a one-point deduction because Donohue held on to his lift just a little too long, but it’s still good for first place.
Hubbell and Donohue will get a medal. Next up: The ROC’s reigning world champions and then the overwhelming favorites from France.
Freestyle slopestyle: Hamill’s accident is surely a difficult incident to follow for the remaining skiers trying to qualify for the final. Canada’s Olivia Asselin crashes and slowly skis down to the finish looking a little despondent, though her first-run score might hold up to qualify. She’s currently 10th.
New Zealand’s Margaux Hackett has a clean run going until she overrotates a jump and crashes hard. She trudges up the hill to collect a piece of equipment that was dislodged.
Ice dancing: The USA will get a medal. Chock and Bates easily sail past the rest of the field with a personal best of 130.63 in the free dance.
Their friends and teammates Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue will need to be near their own personal best to top that.
Freestyle slopestyle: The USA’s Marin Hamill has clinched a spot in the final, but her participation seems to be in doubt now. She crashed on her second run, and nearly a dozen people have surrounded her on the snow. Horrible sight.
Ice dancing: Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri have moved up from seventh to at least fifth, displacing the ROC’s Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin.
The top four are going now (well, not at the same time, which would be entertaining but frightening), starting with the USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
Snowboard big air: Oh, so close! Belgium’s Evy Poppe goes for a double forward somersault in the air and gets about 1 3/4 of the way around.
So the USA’s Hailey Langland hangs on in 12th. Canada will have two representatives, Laurie Blouin and Jasmine Baird. New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnott set herself up as a favorite to do the slopestyle-big air double, posting the only score over 90 in this qualifying event.
Australia’s Tess Coady has qualified, as has defending champion Anna Gasser of Austria.
Freestyle slopestyle: Team GB’s Katie Summerhayes’s second run isn’t quite as good as her first, and she’ll have a nervous wait, currently sitting in ninth.
Australia’s Abi Harrigan is on deck.
Snowboard big air: Team GB’s Katie Ormerod can’t land cleanly. She’s out. Langland is still in.
Can Courtney Rummel bump out her US teammate? She looks OK in the air but lands awkwardly, remaining upright but with some difficulty. Her score of 38.75 seems quite harsh, but no reasonable judging would’ve put her in the top 12, anyway. Langland is looking safer.
Snowboard big air: Australia’s Tess Coady has qualified for the final, currently holding seventh place with five riders left.
The bubble’s occupant at the moment is the USA’s Hailey Langland, but the remaining riders -- including Team GB’s Katie Ormerod and the USA’s Courtney Rummel -- have some distance to make up.
Gold and silver, USA, women's monobob
Kaillie Humphries simply dominated this competition in its Olympic debut, posting the best time in each of the first three heats and the third-best when she held a massive lead in the fourth. She has now won gold medals for two different countries.
Elana Meyers Taylor takes silver with the fastest time in the fourth heat.
Meanwhile, the US women close out an 8-6 win over South Korea in curling.
Monobob: Canada’s Christine de Bruin immediately hands back the slim advantage she had over Meyers Taylor through three runs. She drives well the rest of the way but can’t make up the difference.
Here comes Kaillie Humphries for what should be a victory lap. Meyers Taylor is set for the 1-2 US sweep, with de Bruin in bronze.
Monobob: The USA’s Elana Meyers Taylor has three Olympic medals and two world championships in the traditional two-woman race. She comes into the last run with a significant lead of Nolte, and she puts a stamp on things by going faster than Nolte in the fourth run as well.
Two to go ... will Meyers Taylor move up to silver?
Monobob: Walker’s hopes are probably dashed here. Germany’s Laura Nolte stays barely ahead of Walker at each checkpoint and ends up slightly slower in the fourth run but 0.13 seconds ahead in the four-run total.
Three to go.
Monobob: Could Bree Walker sneak on to the podium? Maybe. Her fourth run is clean, and it’s faster than Elana Meyers Taylor went in her last two runs. Four to go ...
Snowboard big air: Time for Tess Coady of Australia, and her trick is so smooth and effortless that it almost seems that she didn’t do anything. Her scores coming into this final run were 74.00 and 54.75, so her goal was to improve on the latter. She does. It’s 62.25, and she’s up into sixth, where she can probably plan for tomorrow.
Immediately after that, fellow Australian Bree Walker hits the monobob course ..
Snowboard big air: China’s Rong Ge lands an underflip, then flips again in the finish area, failing to stop before hitting the foam padding. She goes over the barrier, gets up and looks around in confusion, as if the landscape has suddenly changed. She gets a 65.75. Pancochova is bumped out. You’d think the air guitar would beat the barrier jump, but it seems things like that are not judged in big air.
Pancochova’s good cheer should be an asset in her political activities:
Sarka Pancochova, who competes in #snowboard at the #Olympics tonight, fights for marriage equality in her Czech Republic home. https://t.co/g5uRD7NLyu
— Outsports (@outsports) February 9, 2022
Snowboard big air: Looks like our favorite air guitarist, the Czech Republic’s Sarka Pancochova, will the one who officially bumps Jamie Anderson off the bubble. She lets loose a nice howl, tells us all she loves us (in English) and follows up with something in another language.
We love you too, Sarka, even if you just knocked a legend out of what’s probably her last Olympic competition. Pancochova moves into 12th. Anderson’s 13th and won’s make the final.
Curling: I THINK THE US WOMEN ARE WINNING.
THESE SWEEPS.
— USA Curling (@usacurl) February 14, 2022
THESE LINE CALLS.
THESE PISTOLS FROM TAB.
USA: 7
KOR: 4#usacurling | @TeamPetersonUSA | @TeamUSA
Freestyle slopestyle: Gu’s rival from the big air event, Tess Ledeux, also is virtually assured of a place in the final after a clean run that nets her a ... 68.13? That’s all? She’s puzzled. She probably had a case for winning the big air ahead of Gu, and now she has a tough wait to see if she’ll make another final.
Snowboard big air: The Japanese 1-2-3 in qualification is finally broken up, as New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnott gets the first score in the 90s with a beautiful 1080.
The next rider almost breaks 90. It’s an 89.75 for the legend, Jamie Anderson. She’s in 11th for the moment despite two falls, but it would be a stunner if no one else can push her out of the top 12.
Eileen Gu faces a pressure-packed run in freestyle slopestyle. The US-born and based skier who has become a marquee athlete in China had a lackluster first run.
Her second run starts tentatively, as she does not seem all that comfortable on the rails. But she makes all the jumps looks easy, landing a couple of them heading backwards. Surely that’s enough to get her to the final.
It’s a 79.38. She contently eats a sandwich in the finish area and gives a thumbs-up. See you tomorrow.
Now THIS is how you do big air ...
Why Lucile Lefevre went for comedy over cab 900s is a good question, but bless her for it.
Magic hour
Here’s where we stand going into one of the busiest hours of Olympic action of this fortnight-plus ...
SNOWBOARDING: Japanese riders are 1-2-3 in big air qualifying, with slopestyle winner Zoi Sadowski Synnott fourth. Australian Tess Coady and American Hailey Langland are in the top 10 but might need to improve on their final jumps to reach the 12-person final. Top two of the three runs will count.
FREESTYLE SKIING: Still only two people in the slopestyle who’ve broken 80 -- Johanne Killi (NOR) and Kelly Sildaru (EST). They’re likely set for the final, as are Maggie Voisin (USA) and Kirsty Muir (GBR), each of whom broke 70. Next up: Marin Hamill (USA) and Katie Summerhayes (GBR). Slopestyle champion Eileen Gu (CHN) is near the bubble; silver medalist Tess Ledeux (FRA) fell early in her first run. Top run counts.
ICE DANCING: Last two groups are due up next. Other events might be done before the contenders/leaders go.
MONOBOB: The final run is underway, going in reverse order of current standings. That means we’ll see Australia’s Bree Walker (fifth) near the end. Barring catastrophe, the USA’s Kaillie Humphries will take gold. Will Elana Meyers Taylor join her on the podium?
CURLING: The US women stole three against South Korea, which came back to score two with hammer to cut the deficit to 5-4. Japan is having an easy time with China, while Canada is controlling the game against the ROC.
The Super Bowl is barreling to a thrilling conclusion. Go ahead and watch -- I’ll be over here breaking down the scenarios for a lot of action coming up in the next hour. I mean a LOT.
Finally got an update on the USA’s Julia Marino, the slopestyle silver medal who withdrew from the big air event:
Slopestyle silver medalist Julia Marino of the U.S. took a hard fall in practice a few days ago and has dropped out of big air. Team USA spokesperson says she is "prioritizing her health."
— Jake Seiner (@Jake_Seiner) February 14, 2022
Fellow American Caroline Claire fell in the freestyle big air event a few days ago, which may explain why she’s not in the slopestyle today.
Updated
Finish your event early, go to the Super Bowl. Makes sense.
.@ChloeKim is having the best week. 🥇🏈
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 14, 2022
She won an Olympic gold medal a few days ago and today she's at #SBLVI hanging with @steveaoki. #SuperGoldSunday #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/UHqvGBszgg
Jamie Anderson’s Olympic career may have just come to an end. She skids in the finish area on her second big air effort, and that’ll make it impossible for her to advance to the final. She took silver in this event four years ago along with her second straight slopestyle gold, but it won’t happen this time.
Meanwhile, in freestyle skiing, the competitors are skiing as if slopestyle has just been invented. The USA’s Darian Stevens fell off one of the rails at the start of the course, stood up and looked back at the feature as if it had somehow come to life and tripped her. She’s hardly the only person having trouble. Through 11 skiers, only two have scores above 58.00.
First run of the snowboard big air qualifier is complete.
Top three are Zoi Sadowski Synnott (NZL), Kokomo Murase (JPN) and Reira Iwabuchi (JPN), followed by Tess Coady (AUS). Defending champion Anna Gasser also is in very good shape. The three Canadians are in the top 10. The only American in qualifying position is Hailey Langland in 11th.
I was told incorrectly by a major organization that shall remain nameless that they only used the best run in the scoring. It’s actually best two out of three, and those two have to be different spins (frontside, backside, switch something, etc.).
And now Norway’s Johanne Killi has taken the freestyle slopestyle qualification lead. Seems unfair for Norway to be good at everything like that.
The USA’s Caroline Claire did not start.
Updated
The women’s snowboarders have finished their slopestyle competition and moved to big air. The women’s freestyle skiers are doing the opposite, and we’re now seeing a slopestyle competition in which the riders are having serious problems putting together a successful run. The latest to stumble is France’s Tess Ledeux, who may have deserved to win the big air event ahead of China’s Eileen Gu.
Gu went first and has the early lead with an indifferent score of 57.28.
Scratch that -- Estonia’s Kelly Sildaru, who won this event in the 2020 Youth Olympic Games, has landed an 80.96.
“I don’t know if waves get you big scores,” says our big air commentator as France’s Lucile Lefevre attempts no rotations but waves to the crowd and/or cameras while airborne. She also has a lot of messages written on the underside of her snowboard. “Please give me more points” was apparently not one of those messages.
Snowboarders are generally a cheerful, music-loving bunch, and they’re showing it here. Canadian Laurie Blouin showed her phone to the camera at the finish line in an attempt to show what music she’d selected. The Czech Republic’s Sarka Pancochova played some air guitar on her snowboard, shrugging off any disappointment over only getting a 20.75.
A bit of news: The USA’s Julia Marino, the silver medalist in slopestyle, is now listed as “DNS” (did not start). No explanation as yet.
The slopestyle bronze medalist, Australia’s Tess Coady, had a solid first effort with a 74.00 off an underflip. She might need to beat that to qualify.
The USA’s Elana Meyers Taylor has passed Germany’s Laura Nolte to move into third place in the third heat of the Olympics’ first monobob competition. The gold medal is almost certainly in the hands of Kaillie Humphries, who won two gold medals for Canada but switched to the USA.
Australia’s Bree Walker has moved from seventh to fifth.
The standings heading to the final run in a little over an hour:
1. Humphries (USA)
2. Christine de Bruin (CAN), +1.55sec
3. Meyers Taylor (USA) +1.73
4. Nolte (GER), +2.05
5. Walker (AUS), +2.28
Want to know more about the monobob, gender equity and global representation? Of course you do.
The two most recent snowboard slopestyle gold medalists have gone early in the big air event, and it’s the same story as it was in slopestyle this time around -- New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnott lands an impressive trick, and the USA’s Jamie Anderson does not. Sadowski Synnott is the early leader, ahead of Japan’s Reira Iwabuchi and Miyabi Onitsuka.
The ramp has an additional platform built up top to add some length and allow the riders to get a bit more speed. The ROC’s Ekaterina Kosova checks it out and lands a beautiful 0. No, that’s not her score, but in an event that deals with 720s, 900s and 1080s, I’m not sure how else to refer to something with no rotations.
Updated
Over to women’s snowboard big air qualifying at the venue I’m calling the Power Station.
A lot of the favorites go early. Best effort out of three counts. Best two scores out of three count, as long as they’re different spins. Field of 30 will be cut to 12 for tomorrow’s final.
Updated
The Ukrainian ice dancers’ music selection is a piece from Moulin Rouge that interpolates a guy grunting out the lyrics to Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance. A bunch of their elements have the dreaded yellow box for “under review,” and they’re visibly disappointed afterward despite warming up nicely as the routine went on. The last minute was fun to watch.
And in between routines, the PA plays Kryptonite, by one-hit wonder 3 Doors Down.
We’re a few minutes away from the start of the free dance, the second and final segment of ice dancing. The favorites and leaders are in the fourth group, so we’ll only be checking on this sporadically while we watch skiers and snowboarders do their flippy/spinny things.
The first dancers are Oleksandra Nazarova and Maksym Nikitin from Ukraine. You have to admire the Ukrainian athletes here. We tend to ask athletes about “distractions” when the “distractions” are utterly trivial. No one would blame Ukrainian athletes if their minds were elsewhere.
The first five duos are warming up to a mashup of Madonna and Michael Jackson. When we get rolling, it’ll be a lot of movie soundtracks and some Chopin. I’d like to see someone try a routine to a Dream Theater song in 13/8 time, but my vigil will continue.
Speaking of the Hamilton family, we’ll begin with a quick look at women’s curling, where Matt’s sister Becca is playing on Tabitha Peterson’s team as they face South Korea in a crucial game.
Current standings (each team plays nine games, top four go to playoffs):
Switzerland (Silvana Tirinzoni) 5-0
Japan (Satsuki Fujisawa) 3-1
Team GB (Eve Muirhead) 3-2
Sweden (Anna Hasselborg) 3-2
USA (Tabitha Peterson) 3-2
South Korea (Kim Eun-jung) 2-2
China (Han Yu) 2-3
Canada (Jennifer Jones) 1-3
Denmark (Madeleine Dupont) 1-4
ROC (Alina Kovaleva) 0-4
So, yeah, this is a big one. No one expects Jones to stay out of the running for long.
The US women have never medaled. They took fourth in 2002.
It appears that we will indeed have the women’s freestyle slopestyle qualification shortly. It was postponed yesterday because it snowed. At the Winter Olympics. How dare Mother Nature do that to us.
Good morning from Zhangjiakou, where it looks like we're going to have women's freeski slopestyle. Not a snowflake in the sky, visibility is good and not too windy. While you wait - or, let's be honest, take a break from the Super Bowl - here's some stories you might have missed.
— Rachel Axon (@RachelAxon) February 14, 2022
Did you think you’d go through a full Winter Olympics without a Formula One (1) tie-in?
That would’ve been a reasonable thought, actually, but it’s not happening:
Seriously, @ValtteriBottas and @MattJamilton look like long lost brothers 👀 pic.twitter.com/SU1ehdbvB2
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 13, 2022
And the responses:
Bro!
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) February 13, 2022
I knew I had a brother!
— Matt Hamilton (@MattJamilton) February 13, 2022
Thankfully, we’ve had no judging controversies at these Olympics to compare with what happened in F1 last year.
A little later in this 16-hour span:
Our #Beijing2022 flagbearer is going for gold in the Women's Aerials tonight 🇦🇺#7Olympics pic.twitter.com/tbhUSdxz2l
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 14, 2022
Hello world, it’s Beau Dure, and I still have chills from watching Erin Jackson and her family celebrate after she became the first Black woman to win an individual Winter Olympic gold medal (as far as we know).
So I figure you’re all watching the Super Bowl and reading this coverage of the Olympics. Or you don’t care about the Super Bowl and reading along with me anyway. Or you forgot the Super Bowl was happening today, and you need to hop over to see Hunter Felt’s coverage to catch up. Or you’re a digital archeologist tracing the collapse of civilization in the future. Hopefully at least a few years from now.
In any case, glad you could be here. We have ice dancing, freestyle skiing and the first-ever monobob medal. And curling. Did I mention the perfect draw I threw on Wednesday? Because I did, you know.
Coming up today
Times are all in local Beijing time. For Melbourne it is +3 hours, for London it is -8 hours, for New York it is -13 hours and San Francisco is -16 hours.
- 9.05am and 2.05pm and 8.05pm Curling – would you be surprised to learn that there is curling all day long? 🥌
- 9.15am Ice dancing – have they put the most romantic couples’ dancing on Valentine’s Day on purpose? Your guess is as good as mine. Twenty couples will free dance for the medals 🥇
- 10am-11.01am and 7pm-8pm Freestyle skiing – weather permitting, the morning is the rescheduled women’s freeski slopestyle qualification, the evening is the women’s aerials final 🥇
- 9.30am and 11am and 8.05pm and 9.40pm Bobsleigh – the first two sessions are the conclusion of the women’s monobob, the final two are heats one and two of the men’s 2-man contest 🥇
- 9.30am-11am and 1.30pm-3pm Snowboard – big air qualification day, the women go in the morning, the men in the afternoon
- 12.10pm and 9.10pm Ice hockey – it is semi-finals day for the women, Canada v Switzerland and Finland v US 🏒
- 6pm-8.06pm Ski jumping – the men are doing their team competition 🥇
Full Winter Olympics schedule | Results, sport by sport | Medal table
