This time Ayumu Hirano would not be denied. Not by the judges. Not even by the greatest snowboarder in history. Instead, amid the most intense pressure and anger, the 23-year-old from Japan found the halfpipe equivalent of the holy grail.
And as Hirano stood on the podium with his gold medal there was a sense of something else too. That a torch was being passed from one generation to the next, as if by osmosis, from Shaun White to Hirano: from the goat to the new breed of bucks pushing at the boundaries like the American once did.
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Canada go 11-0 up against Sweden in the final period in the women’s ice hockey! That’s Canada beating Sweden 11-0.
That match is definitely over (although they have seven minutes to play) and so is today’s blog ... See you tomorrow for much, much more.
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And here, for your viewing pleasure, is our daily roundup of some of the best images from the Winter Olympics:
Barney Ronay on two tales which demonstrate the darker side of these Winter Olympics:
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With Canada crushing Sweden 9-0 in the women’s ice hockey, and Latvia and Finland seemingly inseparable at 1-1 in the men’s, we’re going to call it a day for the live blog.
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Switzerland wrap up a 5-3 win against Canada in the men’s curling. The top five in the round robin, as it stands, is as follows:
1. Sweden
2. Canada
3. Great Britain
4. Switzerland
5. USA
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Canada are hammering Sweden 9-0 after two periods of their women’s ice hockey encounter, and will be sailing into the semi-finals unless the Swedes can pull off the mother of all comebacks.
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You can catch up on Sean Ingle’s report here, from yesterday, as to the struggles of Great Britain’s skeleton team:
Matt Weston, of the Great Britain skeleton team, speaks to the BBC after finishing 15th: “I think there’s quite a few questions that need to be raised ... but yeah equipment’s definitely going to be one of them. We’ll review everything from start to finish, how it went, the processes we went through to try and get here, but yeah, equipment’s definitely going to be on the list of something we’ll review.
“Something’s not right ... I couldn’t have done much more today. I’m really happy with how I slid. Laura [Deas] put some good runs down, and my target was to try and slide as well as she did. We’ll go away and we’ve got to learn some lessons from what’s happened here. I don’t doubt that we’ll bounce back stronger but for the moment, it’s not where we want to be.”
Gold for Christopher Grotheer of Germany in the men's skeleton!
Grotheer as expected closes out the gold medal, and a glorious one-two for Germany. Axel Yungk second for silver, Yan Wengang of China finishes third for bronze ... that’s a full podium of history, as neither nation had won an Olympic skeleton medal before: and China had never before won a sliding medal of any sort.
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Over in the curling, Switzerland lead Canada 5-3 in the final end.
Grotheer begins his final run. He has 0.8sec to play with.
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Silver guaranteed for for Axel Yungk! Germany’s first medal in this event!
Yan Wengang will win bronze for China at least, in the men’s skeleton! History is made. It was a poor run from Tretiakov, who made a couple of obvious errors that cost him a decisive amount of speed. Bitter disappointment for the ROC athlete.
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Zheng Yin was top of the standings ... and now his compatriot, Yan Wengang, hits the top of the charts with a wonderful run of 1min 015sec! Pressure on Alexander Tretiakov, of the ROC team, who is up next.
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Links below to all the Winter Olympics pieces we have published today ... with more to come:
Zheng Yin of China is the new leader with a lightning-fast run of 1min 028sec! Only Grotheer, the favourite for victory, has gone faster on a single run. The home faithful will be delighted to see Yin go that quick. China have never won a medal in any sliding event, so says the commentator on the BBC.
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A Ukrainian skeleton athlete flashed a small sign that read “No War in Ukraine” to the cameras as he finished a run at the Beijing Olympics on Friday. Vladyslav Heraskevych’s sign was printed on a blue-and-yellow piece of paper, matching the colours of his country’s flag.
Alexander Gassner is the new clubhouse leader in the final run of the men’s skeleton. Just to explain (using my deep knowledge of this event) the leading sliders will be going out last. Germany’s Christopher Grotheer and his countryman, Axel Jungk, were in first and second place at the halfway stage.
Switzerland now edge ahead, 4-3, against Canada going into the ninth end of their men’s round robin curling encounter. This is going to be a nervy one ...
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It looks like Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt, the Great Britain competitors in the men’s skeleton, are set to finish 15th and 16th respectively.
Wyatt, having finished his final run, says he gave it everything.
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Great Britain defeat Norway 8-3 in the men's round robin curling!
Norway throw in the towel before the scheduled final end ... and that’s a thumping win for Bruce Mouat and co.
As it stands that puts Great Britain third in the round robin standings. Sweden are top with three wins out of three. Canada second, having played one match fewer than GB.
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Jaclyn Narracott, of Australia, was fastest after the second heat of the women’s skeleton with a time of 2min 04.34sec earlier today. Hannah Neise and Tina Hermann were second and third for Germany.
Not good news for Great Britain’s team, though: Laura Deas and Brogan Crowley are down in 21st and 22nd in that second heat ...
Now, it’s time for the fourth and final run for the men – the gold-medal match.
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When Great Britain’s curlers are hot, they’re hot. They now lead Norway 8-2 in the seventh end.
It’s much more exciting in the match between Canada and Switzerland, however: the score is 3-3 going into the seventh end.
It’s now a 2-0 lead for Canada against Sweden in the women’s hockey. Brianne Jenner and Sarah Fillier with the goals.
In the men’s hockey Latvia and Finland are 0-0 in the first period.
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In the men’s round robin curling, Norway have now pulled a point back against Great Britain. In the sixth end, it’s 5-2 to Great Britain.
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Hello again everyone, Luke here.
I’m just watching the replay of the 1,000m short track skating final. Wow, that was eventful and emotional. VAR checks aplenty ... and devastation for Choi Min-jeong despite her silver medal. A fantastic win for Suzanne Schulting, who embraced the bronze medalist, Hanne Desmet, as she celebrated following the confirmation of the result. She defends her title, just as the Italian, in the 500m a few days ago.
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There’s a big ice hockey game getting under way: the women’s quarter-final, where Canada already lead Sweden 1-0. Earlier, the USA beat Czech Republic 4-1; it would be a big surprise if those two rivals don’t end up meeting in the final.
Team GB have stormed into a 5-1 lead over Norway in the men’s curling. You know what they say though – four points is a dangerous lead with six ends to play. Elsewhere ROC lead Denmark 4-1 and Switzerland have a 2-1 edge over Canada.
Back at the Yanqing Sliding Centre, ROC’s Alexander Tretiakov has edged into bronze-medal position behind the leading German duo, with Latvia’s Martins Dukurs in fifth behind Yan Wengang.
The lower-ranked competitors are currently taking their third runs, so the top of the leaderboard is unlikely to change before the gold medal run in about 45 minutes. We’ve just seen Nathan Crumpton, American Samoa’s only representative at these Games, who should get a gold medal for the sickest lid.
Schulting wins 1,000m short track gold!
She set a world record on her way to the final, and now Suzanne Schulting has defended her Olympic title. The Dutch skater led from the front but was pushed to the line by South Korea’s Choi Min-jeong, who is in tears after missing out by 0.05sec.
Hanne Desmet finished third to claim Belgium’s first medal at these Games, with 500m gold medallist Arianna Fontana (Italy) penalised as she tried to keep pace with the leaders.
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Team GB are back in curling action, with the men’s team taking on Norway. The British quartet have taken an early 3-1 lead, but there’s a long way to go. Heads on, lads.
In the men’s speed skating 5,000m relay semi-finals, Canada, Italy, South Korea and ROC qualified for the final. China came fourth in the first heat after a fall, but have been awarded a place in the final after it was judged that a Canadian skater impeded them.
On Wednesday, the South Korean team accused the short track judges of bias towards China after two of their skaters were disqualified from a semi-final. On social media, there is predictable division over whether this particular decision was fair.
The third run of the men’s skeleton has just started; the sliders go in order of their time so far, with the fastest first. They go in reverse order for the final run, which will take place later today.
Christopher Grotheer of Germany has widened his lead over compatriot Axel Jungk, with China’s Yan Wengang in third. Germany have been utterly dominant in the sledding events so far, winning all four luge golds – and that looks set to continue.
Bryan Armen Graham has been speaking to Mikaela Shiffrin and believes that the all-conquering American will be remembered as much for the humility shown at her lowest ebb as for her sparkling successes. You can read the interview here:
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I’m off for a bit of lunch, so will hand you over to assorted colleagues to guide you through the next little while on a very busy day at the Winter Olympics.
Ski jumping: At the conclusion of the Men’s Large Hill Individual Qualification Round, it’s a Norwegian 1-2 at the top: Marius Lindvik (135m / 136.4pts) and Halvor Granerud (133m / 131.6pts) in first and second respectively. Slovenia’s Peter Prevc in third, Kamil Stoch of Poland down in eighth. The top 50 athletes go through, and according to the results on the official site, that means six out of 56 starters are eliminated.
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Santos beats Fontana in the second semi-final in the women’s short track 1,000m! Great racing. Schulting, Desmet and Choi Minjeong will be the other finalists and the final will be coming up in about half an hour.
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The full list of qualifiers from the men’s 500m short track skating heats:
Shaolin Sandor Liu, Hungary, 40.948
Sebastien Lepape, France, 42.081
Ren Ziwei, China, 40.669
Adil Galiakhmetov, Kazakhstan, 40.722
Steven Dubois, Canada, 40.399
Pavel Sitnikov, ROC, 40.591
Denis Nikisha, Kazakhstan, 40.482
Jordan Pierre-Gilles, Canada, 40.488
Stijn Desmet, Belgium, 40.585
Konstantin Ivliev, ROC, 40.272
John-Henry Krueger, Hungary, 40.407
Roberts Kruzberg, Latvia, 40.430
Abzal Azhgaliyev, Kazakhstan, 40.870
Hwang Daeheon, South Korea, 40.971
Ryan Pivirotto, United States, 41.018
Shaoang Liu, Hungary, 40.797
Vladislav Bykanov, Israel, 40.90
Sun Long, China, 42.871
Dajing Wu, China, 40.230
Petro Sighel, Italy, 40.350
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I’ll wait for these men’s 500m short track heats to finish and will then bring you the full list of qualifiers.
Peter Prevc of Slovenia takes the lead in the ski jumping with a mark of 131m and 128.3pts. Sadreev knocked down to second, Antti Aalto (Finland) third and Kamil Stoch (Poland) fourth.
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All change in the live standings for the men’s individual – large hill ski jumping. Danil Sadreev (ROC) leads. But Kamil Stoch of Poland is up any second now ...
Behold, the daily Olympics briefing courtesy of Martin Belam:
In the fourth 500m heat, Jordan Pierre-Gilles (Canada) is all over the back of Denis Nikisha (Kazakhstan) but he can’t get past. There’s a bit of argy-bargy on the way to the finish line ... at the Olympic version of Stockley Park, the officials have a look at the video. But soon enough confirmation comes of the result. Nikisha first, Pierre-Gilles second.
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That man again: Shaolin Sandor Lin (Hungary) and Sebastien Lepape (France) are the athletes to qualify from the first heat of the men’s 500m short track skating. Ziwei Ren (China) and Adi Galiakhmetov (Kazakhstan) go through from the second heat, and Steven Dubois (Canada) and Pavel Sitnikov (ROC) progress from heat three.
Kristen Santos (USA) speeds away to a stunning win in the fourth and final quarter-final of the women’s 1,000m short track. Minjeong Choi goes through in second ... but hang on, the officials are having a look ... No penalties after a clash between Petra Jaszapati and another skater ... Jaszapati qualifies!
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Meanwhile, in the ski jumping ... Cestmir Kozísek tops the standings in the men’s individual - large hill qualifying round with a jump of 126m and 107.8pts. Light years ahead of Kevin Maltsev, of Estonia, who managed 113m and Vitaliy Kalinichenko (Ukraine)
Lee Yubin (Korea) wins the second quarter-final in commanding fashion, with Maame Biney (USA) also progressing.
Arianna Fontana of Italy, who’s already played a starring role at these Games, wins the third last-eight race with Hanne Desmet (Belgium) second. However, the officials are having a look at the result. Another interminable VAR check. The result stands: Fontana and Desmet are through.
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Suzanne Schulting sets a new world record in the 500m short track skating!
Right, here comes the short track skating ...
And in the first women’s 1,000m quarter-final, Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands sets a new world record, 1min 25.514sec!
Her compatriot, Xandra Velzeboer, progresses to the semi-finals alongside Corrine Stoddard (USA) in third.
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Carl Klingberg makes it 4-0 to Sweden, before Juraj Slafkovsky registers a late consolation for Slovakia in the hockey.
Defences remain on top in the ice hockey. Czech Republic 1-1 Switzerland, Sweden 3-0 Slovakia, both matches into the third period.
Sweden will go top of Group C, above Finland, with their win ... Czech Republic and Switzerland will stay third and fourth in Group B respectively, below Denmark and ROC.
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The future of the 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva at these Winter Olympics remains in limbo despite the Independent Testing Agency (ITA) confirming that she tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine on Christmas Day.
Valieva, who captured the hearts of the world when she became the first female skater to perform a quad at the Games as the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) won a brilliant team gold at the start of this week, has appealed her provisional suspension and hopes to compete again in the individual competition next Tuesday.
It’s never too late to sign up for Martin Belam’s daily Olympics briefing. Get it hot off the press, direct to your email inbox, right here:
Medal table latest – Norway, Germany, Sweden, in that order:
Winter Olympics mascots through the years – in pictures:
Nils van der Poel of Sweden broke his own world record and captured his second gold medal of the Beijing Olympics with a dominant victory in men’s 10,000m speed skating. Van der Poel added to his victory in the 5,000m, which was a much closer affair. This time, it was just the outspoken 25-year-old against the clock.
Swinging both arms to build extra speed over his closing laps, Van der Poel crossed the line in 12min, 30.74sec. The Swede easily broke the world mark of 12min 32.95sec he set in February 2021 and was more than nine seconds ahead of the Olympic record set four years ago by reigning champion Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada. The silver medal went to Patrick Roest of the Netherlands, the same spot he took behind Van der Poel in the 5,000m, but this time he was nearly 14 seconds behind in 12min 44.59sec.
Italy’s Davide Ghiotto, who skated in the next-to-last pair with van der Poel, grabbed the bronze in 12min 45.98sec. Van der Poel’s victory came after he criticised the Dutch federation over a report that it was trying to influence ice makers at the oval to set up conditions that benefit its skaters. While saying he had nothing against athletes from the Netherlands, Van der Poel called the report a sign of “corruption” that needed to be investigated by the IOC and the International Skating Union. Dutch officials shrugged off the complaints. (AP)
Norway’s Marte Olsbu Röiseland hit a perfect 10 out of 10 shots before roaring to victory in the women’s 7.5km biathlon sprint race on Friday, taking her second gold of the Games. The Swedish 22-year-old prodigy Elvira Öberg skied a brilliant final lap to secure silver, 30.9sec behind Röiseland, with Italy’s Dorothea Wierer winning the bronze.
Starting fifth in the field, Röiseland, who won bronze in the 15km individual race, had an excellent first lap on the skis and then hit a perfect five shots from the prone position to take an early 10.4 secs lead at the first shoot.
Once she got her nose in front, there was no looking back and she piled the pressure on the rest of the field by again shooting perfectly, this time from standing, to cement her lead heading into the third and final 2.5km lap of the course. She never let up, crossing the line 1min 16.1secs ahead of then-leader, compatriot Tirill Eckhoff, as many in the rest of the field struggled to match her pinpoint shooting.
Öberg, sister of 2018 Olympic champion Hanna, had other ideas, blazing through the first lap before rattling off five perfect hits and briefly taking a lead of 0.4secs after the first shoot. However, that lead quickly evaporated and, though she again shot perfectly from standing, she was left to vainly chase Röiseland’s superb time of 20min 44.3secs, coming in just over half a minute behind. Italy’s Wierer was also perfect with her shooting but slightly slower on the skis as evening crept in over the National Biathlon Centre, and Norway were soon celebrating again.
“I wanted so badly to have an incredible run,” Röiseland said. “It was so wonderful to get that last shot, it was the best feeling ever.” (Reuters)
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Coming up a little later: Women’s 1000m short track skating (quarter-finals and semi-finals), men’s 500m short track heats, Men’s individual large hill ski jumping (qualification round) ... there is also men’s round robin curling, with Great Britain facing Norway, and men’s skeleton too.
According to my some-time colleague Mikkel Condé on Twitter, Ukaleq Slettemark (who hails from Greenland and is competing for Denmark) hit 20/20 in the women’s individual biathlon and 10/10 in the women’s 7.5km sprint today. Which makes her the top shooting athlete across the Games. Sharp shooting.
And today, 10/10! Young Slettemark hasn’t missed a single shot at these Olympics and she’s now the best shooting athlete at #Beijing2022 👏
— Mikkel Condé v2.0 (@mrconde) February 11, 2022
⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️ https://t.co/4IOnENfYVJ
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In the speed skating, that was Van der Poel’s second medal of the Games. He won gold in the 5,000m and now he takes the 10,000m. Incredible performance.
Unstoppable! 💪
— Olympics (@Olympics) February 11, 2022
Nils van der Poel (Sweden) wins #Gold in #SpeedSkating - men's 10000m to earn his 2nd #Beijing2022 gold medal after a spectacular performance!#StrongerTogether | @SWEOlympic
No recent change in those ice hockey scores: Czech Republic 1-1 Switzerland, Sweden 3-0 Slovakia.
Marte Röiseland of Norway wins women's 7.5km biathlon sprint gold!
There are still a few athletes out on the course, but no one is going to trouble the podium.
Röiseland claims gold (her third medal of these Games) with a time of 20min 44.3sec, Elvira Öberg (Sweden) wins silver in a time of 21min 15.2sec, and Dorothea Wierer takes home the bronze in 21min 21.5sec.
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Nils van der Poel wins 10,000m speed skating gold for Sweden!
Drama in the speed skating, and then some: Nils van der Poel of Sweden grabs the gold medal in the men’s 10,000m with a world-record time of 12min 30.74sec! Patrick Roest (Netherlands) wins silver and Davide Ghiotto (Italy) takes bronze.
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Elvira Öberg comes home in silver-medal position in a time of 21min 15 sec! Wierer is now in bronze-medal position. Elvira’s sister, Hanna Öberg, finishes in 17th after missing three times.
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The Australian snowboarders Scotty James and Valentino Guseli say they’re part of a halfpipe trick revolution after Olympic champion Ayumu Hirano’s gold-medal performance. Japan’s Hirano nailed a triple cork during his thrilling final run at Genting Snow Park to win gold.
The 23-year-old was the first boarder in history to land the trick - which involves three off-axis rotations - and complete the run, earning a score of 96.00 from the judges. He had attempted it twice leading into the Olympics but both times was unable to see the run through.
“Obviously the triple cork will be something to work on a little bit more, to develop,” James said. “I didn’t get it done today but I think it’s quite a milestone, the triple, and you want to get it done to know it’s possible. I know what I can do moving forward and I will put that into action and be competitive for as long as I want. I’m really happy to even be at the forefront of doing the trick because it’s going to be obviously something that will recur a lot in the future.”
Describing the trick as the “pinnacle” due the height of the halfpipe, James said it wouldn’t be easy. He stands 188cm while Hirano is 160cm, so the fast rotations required are more difficult for the Australian.
“The risk and margin for error is even smaller and we have to be absolutely en pointe to really compete with the guys,” James said.
Guseli, 16, said he would start working to nail his triple for competition. “I’m thinking I’d better learn those tricks to compete with the big dogs because triple corks are here to stay,” said Guseli, who finished sixth in his debut Games. His [Hirano’s] final run was beautiful - it was flawless and it’s going to be very hard to beat him for a very long time because he’s just insane.”
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Öberg misses twice on her next visit to the range. That should be it for her hopes of a podium.
Elvira Öberg of Sweden hits 10/10 on the range in the biathlon! Can she unseat Roeiseland from the top spot? Dorothea Wierer (Italy) now sits in silver position, Lisa Hauser (Austria) finishes in 21min 31 sec and crashes to the snow in exhaustion.
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Sweden are now 3-0 up on Slovakia in the ice hockey, in Group C. Czech Republic 1-1 Switzerland in Group B.
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Latest from the men’s 10,000m speed skating:
Patrick Roest of the Netherlands is fastest in 12min 44sec ... and his compatriot, Jorrit Bergsma, is second-quickest in 12min 48sec. Alexander Rumyantsev (ROC) is third with a time of 12min 51 sec.
Marte Röiseland sets a clubhouse lead of 20min 44sec in the women’s 7.5km sprint biathlon. She has already won bronze in the individual event and gold in the mixed relay at these Games.
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The action keeps coming: The women’s 7.5km sprint biathlon is well under way. Marte Roeiseland of Norway has hit 10/10 on the shooting and is well placed to win gold if she can keep the speed up with her skiing on the way home.
On to hockey, now ... in men’s Group B, Czech Republic and Switzerland are locked at 1-1 in the first period. In Group C, Sweden are 1-0 up on Slovakia, also coming towards the end of the first period.
Eve Muirhead has a chat with the BBC after a 9-7 women’s round robin defeat by Republic of Korea:
“We had control after the eighth end, unfortunately if my last in the ninth had curled another centimetre, millimetre, we were going to give up two max ... it’s frustrating that, it’s annoying, but that’s curling isn’t it? You win by inches and you lose by inches. So we’ve got to learn from our mistakes out there today, and come back out tomorrow firing.
“The ice was a definitely a little straighter today ... and did get a little slower towards the end, but these are the kind of things that we need to be a bit sharper on and figure that out a little bit earlier ... We’re not on until tomorrow evening now, so we’ve got a lot of time ... I guess it’s learning from our mistakes in this game, and it’s probably switching off for a while, it’s essential that we do that.
“We’ve got to remember we’ve had a very tough start here [against some of the best opponents] ... It hasn’t been an easy start but we know we can beat these guys.”
Swizterland and USA top the women’s round robin standings in the curling, each with three wins out of three. Canada, Japan, Denmark, Sweden and Great Britain and Korea all have won win each.
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Quotes from Shaun White after he finished fourth in the snowboard halfpipe earlier today: “I’m not sad I’m proud of what I put down. And I can’t help but think if I would have hit the podium in third, I would have wanted second. And if I’d have gotten second, I would’ve wanted first. It’s just the fighter in me, and I’m always hoping for more. My leg, in my run, was just giving out on me, and I’m thinking, Wow, of all the days to have this happen,” he said.
“I had something to prove [in my career], and my sport was pretty misunderstood,” White said as he choked back tears. “Everybody kind of thought I wasn’t really going to amount to much in my lifetime, in my career. Everybody’s been asking me what my legacy in this sport has been. And I’m like, You’re watching it.”
Korea defeat Great Britain 9-7 in women's round robin curling
Korea look in control in the 10th and final end in their match against Great Britain with their three-point lead ... Great Britain hammered Sweden 8-2 in their previous match but they have now registered two defeats and one win.
Other final scores: Switzerland 8-7 ROC, Japan 8-5 Canada, USA 8-4 China.
Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami finally got her hands on super-G gold at the Beijing Games on Friday, completing her long journey from teenage prodigy to Olympic champion. Gut-Behrami has been the face of Swiss women’s skiing since bursting on to the World Cup scene as a 16-year-old but, while she has been a consistent force on the World Cup circuit, it was not until last year’s world championships that she was finally able to add major event gold to her list of achievements.
The 30-year-old, who has now added to that haul at her third Olympics, credits the late career success to gaining perspective about life and the ups and downs of skiing. “I am really happy to have got that gold ... but you can’t build your life around winning gold,” she said. The Swiss had finished fourth in the past two Olympic super-G races - missing the podium by a hundredth of a second in Pyeongchang and seven hundredths in Sochi.
The 30-year-old could be forgiven for thinking she was cursed at the big events with only a bronze in downhill at Sochi to show for her efforts. But after picking up another bronze, in the giant slalom here on Monday, she produced a fluent run to secure gold.
“I just thought it was probably going to be my last Olympic super-G of my life and I just wanted to show something great. I just wanted to ski,” she said. “I am happy that this time I am fast enough because last time for sure I was fourth and it was always tight. It’s not bad to have the hundredths by my side this time,” she added. (Reuters)
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The curling pendulum, if such a thing exists, swings back to Korea ... they score four against Great Britain in the ninth end, and now lead 9-6. It’s not impossible that they could conjure a victory in the final end but it looks highly unlikely.
In the other women’s round robin events, USA lead China 8-4, Japan are 8-5 up on Canada, and Switzerland lead the ROC team 8-6.
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The men’s 10,000m speed skating has begun at the National Speed Skating Oval. Patrick Roest of the Netherlands (where else?) currently tops the standings in a time of 12’44”59.
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The BBC just showed a moving interview with Shaun White, following the end of his Olympics career. ‘It’s not about today, it’s about my whole career ... Snowboarding has been my life,” he says, as he thanks his fellow competitors ‘for what they said to me at the bottom [of the run]’.
Scotty James of Australia won silver and Ayumu Hirano took gold. White, who it feels like has been around forever and is finally hanging up his snowboard, finished fourth after falling on his final run. Here is our report:
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Thanks Geoff and hello all. Great Britain remain 6-5 ahead in the curling for now, during the ninth end. Some breaking news from overnight:
The future of the 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva at these Winter Olympics remains in limbo despite the Independent Testing Agency (ITA) confirming that she tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine on Christmas Day.
That’s it for me today. Luke McLaughlin is taking over.
Curling: Disaster for Korea! Final stone of the 8th end, with two British stones in the rings, and Kim gets a foul called for holding onto the stone too long. A Korean lead 5-4 becomes a deficit 5-6, with two ends to play.
Gold for Finland in cross-country skiiing
A really brave solo race from Iivo Niskanen, who led at every checkpoint, looked in the zone until the last couple of kilometres, then found enough to get home. Alexander Bolshunov for the ROC was the last possible threat, but his late push can only get him into silver position. Johannes Klaebo is in bronze spot.
There are still some racers on course, but they’re lower-ranked racers who are four or five minutes behind Niskanen’s times at the various checkpoints, and can’t win.
Niskanen finishes in 37:54:80. What a time!
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Cross-country: Niskanen hits the final 13.8km checkpoint well ahead of Klaebo. Klaebo and Hyvarinen are the only racers within a minute of Niskanen’s time. He doesn’t look as fresh and chill as he did, the work is showing. Does he have enough left to take it home?
Curling: Great Britain take a point back, and trail Korea 5-4 after seven ends in the women’s event.
The Norwegians start to arrive. Klaebo in 38:32:30, the new leader for now, carving nearly another 30 seconds off Hyvarinen. Holund can’t beat his compatriot, coming in five or six seconds slower. And Golberg has dropped away, coming in sixth behind Poromaa.
But behind them, Niskanen is flying! He’s gone through the 10.5km mark nearly a minute faster than Golberg, who was fastest until then.
Poromaa finishes and goes to the top, 19 seconds ahead of Maloney Westgaard in 39:42:5o, but he has Hyvarinen burning up behind him, finishing in 39:00:20. Finland, Sweden, Ireland the current top three, with the three Norwegians and the Finn Niskanen to come.
Maloney Westgaard finishes the 15km in first place, at 40:01:50. He won’t keep top spot, but it’s his for now.
I shouldn’t forget the Norwegians, mind you. Johannes Klaebo, with his wealth of past Olympic golds, world championships, and the like. Paal Goldberg and Hans Christer Holund, all clocking fast 10.5km times.
Hyvarinen, Poromaa, and Niskanen look like our three contenders at this stage. Niskanen is further back, having just passed the 6.3km checkpoint, but he’s burning up the fake snow.
Updated
Then Hyvarinen, the Finn, comes through five seconds faster than Poromaa.
Cross-country: Poromaa shatters the time at the 10.5km, going through 37 seconds faster than Maloney Westgaard.
Curling: Korea get the last stone in the sixth end, and use it profitably to seal another two points. It’s 5-3 to the ROK.
Jouve has flagged, as expected. Several racers have now gone faster than his 10.5km time. All of the seeded racers are now on the course.
Iivo Niskanen, another Finn, is one to watch. He’s the first racer today to hit the first timing mark at 1.8km faster than the sprinter, Jouve. Does it in 4:58:20. And Niskanen is a distance racer. He won bronze in the skiathlon a few days ago.
Finally Jouve gets some competition at the 6.3km. William Poromaa of Sweden and Perttu Hyvarinen of Finland clock faster times by a few seconds.
Jouve the fastest up to 7.5km. Nobody has got within 20 seconds of his 6.3km time, but Irishman Thomas Maloney Westgaard has got the gap down to 16 seconds at the 7.5km. Which is halfway, for the number enthusiasts.
Updated
Cross-country: Jouve still has the fastest time up to 6.3km now, but he is a sprinter, and the seeded racers haven’t got into the mix yet.
Curling: In the fourth end, the rings were littered, every stone was in play. In this fifth end, both teams are just smashing each other’s stones out of play. There’s one GB stone in the rings with three to play. Muirhead taps one of her guards back in there to join it. Kim has one stone left, and uses it to remove one British stone. But that leaves Muirhead with one point in the bag, and the chance to add another with her final stone. Does it, using the one Korean stone to take pace off her own, leaving GB with two in close. The score ties up 3-3.
Updated
Richard Jouve of France hits the lead at the 3km mark by over 20 seconds. A blazing run so far. It’s a long event though.
Cross-country skiing: The men’s 15km classic is underway. This has 99 racers on the same course, each starting 30 seconds apart, so it is measured as a time trial essentially, though some skiers end up in bunches depending on speed. Hirose Ryo of Japan has the fastest time at the 3km checkpoint, then gets caught by the impressive Finn, Remi Lindholm.
Kim threads the needle between the various guard stones and short shots, sliding right to the target and knocking the British stones around a bit. But GB still holds the centre position. Muirhead curls in another defensive stone to guard the centre line. It falls a few inches short, touching the line but not crossing it. Kim produces an even better shot, sneaking between about eight stones and somehow easing right into the house! Nudging the British stone slightly further out. Muirhead has to try to replicate that shot, but hits her own guard stone. From GB looking at perhaps four points, ROK steal one. It’s 3-1 to Korea after four ends.
A very involved game for GB women in the fourth end. They call their optional timeout to get their coach down to discuss tactics. They have four stones in the circles with three to play, and want to make sure they make the most of it. They try to land a defensive blocker just in front of the rings, but it runs very light and comes to rest two or three metres short.
The tactical chats all come through the microphones on course. A lot of Scots accents in the British team, very pleasing to listen to. Another guard attempt comes up a bit short, but they’re not too unhappy with it.
With one stone left, Eve Muirhead tries to nudge her centre-line guard stone back into the house, but puts too much on it and knocks it clear instead. EunJung Kim follows up with a simple draw to the middle of the house, joining a stone already there, to finish the third end with a lead 2-1.
Curling: A bit of an escape for Great Britain in the second end. Eve Muirhead has the second-last stone and misses an attempt to nestle it near the button and knock out a Korean stone. ROK have a chance at three points. But EunJung Kim puts too much juice on her shot, knocking out both of her existing stones and leaving a British one. It’s 0-1 to GB.
Updated
Right then, time for some curling. The Great Britain women’s team is starting off against the Republic of Korea. Second end, no score.
Hockey: In the men’s prelim round, the Russians beat Denmark 2-0.
Hockey: With 40 seconds left on the clock, the Czechs roll the dice one last time, taking off Peslarova and putting an extra skater on the ice, leaving the net unguarded. They attack the USA goal fiercely but can’t get through. With five seconds left, the puck is cleared and the Americans score from halfway into the empty net. The final score is 4-1 in the women’s quarter-final, but what a performance from the Czech team against the overwhelming favourites from the USA. Took a lead, held them level until the dying minutes, threw everything into this contest, and leave exhausted. The defensive effort especially, with 59 shots on goal to 6, yet holding that scoreline. They should be proud.
Updated
Finally, the USA women kill off this game. Peslarova makes one more big save, off the pad from Knight’s shot, but the ricochet is powerful and lands right on the stick of Savannah Harmon, to the right side of goal. She slings it back in before the goalie can react. The score is 3-1.
Forty seconds left on the American penalty clock, and one of the Czech players is sent off. So four on four briefly, then the USA will get the advantage.
Just under six minutes to go, and another penalty against the Americans. Five on four for two minutes!
54 shots to 6, and yet the USA only lead 2-1.
Radova is back on the ice, the player who had that big collision with the boards. Got the bridge of her nose taped over and kept going.
USA score! The weight of probability finally, finally tells. But that was a bit dirty. Peslarova loses her stick, in the scuffle of keeping out a goal. She tries to get it a few times, but one of the Americans knocks it away. Not allowed, but not seen by the officials. A few seconds later, she still hasn’t got the stick, and there’s a powerful shot from Lee Stecklein. It takes a deflection and sneaks past the Czech tender. It’s 2-1.
Updated
Murphy gets back on, and the Czechs couldn’t get a decent shot away in those two minutes. Shots on goal are 42-5 in favour of the USA.
Czechs are back to full numbers, and now the USA get penalty pinged for two minutes. Abbey Murphy with a high stick.
Just about every player on the ice just mashed together at the mouth of the Czech goal, like a rugby maul, and the USA still can’t score. Peslarova stands immovable.
Third period starting now between the USA and Czech women.
Now it’s the Czechs who have a player sent off, only for two minutes this time after a lunging trip. But as the second period ends, it is still 1-1 with the massive underdog Czech women’s team standing level with the might of the USA.
Kara Peslarova is playing a blinder: the Czech goaltender has made some great saves today. None better than a one-on-one right now after the USA break away down the ice from a defensive position. The Czechs have been doing all the attacking in the last few minutes with a one-player advantage with Cameranesi off the ice. Lots of confidence, not enough polish in front of goal.
Hockey: The American women keep pounding the Czech goal, but they’re defending like demons. Can’t get through, six minutes left in the second of three periods. Now there’s a penalty against the USA, Teresa Radova is pushed into the boards and hits her head. Dani Cameranesi gets five minutes in the bin. Radova probably won’t play on though, she’s on the bench and looking shaken. They wear helmets but that was heavy contact, big concussion risk.
Hockey aside, it’s going to be a pretty quiet couple of hours at the Games. We’ve got some curling round-robin matches starting for the women in about an hour, and the men’s 15km cross-country skiiing in just under two hours if you like to watch people throw up at the finish line.
This is some real Mighty Ducks territory here - the Czech women’s ice hockey players mostly play in small European leagues, they were considered an astronomically unlikely chance to compete with the USA, but they’re doing just that. Still 1-1 after the halfway mark of the second period.
What’s up, snow bunnies? What should happen two seconds after Beau leaves the desk, but the Czechs score. That’s after 24 minutes and 59 seconds of scoreless play, in the second period. Michaela Pejzlova puts it away.
And what should happen then? 48 seconds later, the US equalise. A scramble of a goal through traffic, via Hilary Knight. It’s 24 shots to 3. And 1-1.
At this moment, there is literally nothing going on at the Olympics. Our two hockey games -- Denmark’s men vs. the ROC, the US women vs. the Czech Republic in a quarterfinal -- are at intermission after the first period.
But these games will be worth monitoring when they resume. Somehow, they’re both scoreless.
The USA has outshot the Czechs 18-0, but their scoring rut continues.
With that, I’m signing off for the evening. Next up, live from Australia, it’s Geoff Lemon.
It’s official: Ireland’s Tess Arbez didn’t catch Lara Gut-Behrami, so the Swiss skier is indeed the super-G gold medalist.
Mikaela Shiffrin finished ninth. She’s not a speed specialist, but she still has quite a resume in the event. What’s interesting -- and inspiring -- is how she’s dealing with her difficult Olympics.
“It’s been the most surprising part of my Olympic experience. How kind people could be in the face of failure.”
— Maggie Hendricks (@maggiehendricks) February 11, 2022
Mikaela Shiffrin just now on NBC. Wow. What a thing to hear.
Mikaela Shiffrin reacts to all the love and support she has received over the last few days. pic.twitter.com/229J2tG0QY
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 11, 2022
Nothing changes her career record of Olympic, world championship and World Cup success. But what’s happened in these Games and the way she’s reacting has added something unique to her career and life story. She’s coming out of this as a hero, and deservedly so.
Updated
Sean Ingle has the latest on the Russian figure skating doping case, in which we now have confirmation that the athlete in question is the phenom Kamila Valieva, who is still training in the hopes that she’ll not only get the delayed gold medal in the team event but also compete in the individual event, in which she’s a favorite.
Sarah Schleper has made it down the super-G course. The 42-year-old skier is competing her sixth Olympics, dating all the way back to 1998. She competed for the USA in four of those Games, highlighted by a 10th-place finish in the 2006 slalom, and switched to Mexico before the 2018 Olympics.
More interesting things about Katie Tannenbaum, the Virgin Islands athlete who is 25th out of 25 in skeleton.
First, she had to go into isolation in Beijing after a positive Covid test that also robbed her of her chance to carry the flag in the opening ceremony. She barely got out in time to complete the training runs that are required before competition.
Second, in a World Cup race, she slammed through a stray broom that had been left on the track in 2020.
After all that, seeing her carry the flag around the track after her second run is a nice moment.
@CathleenDCahill's first cousin Katie Tannenbaum, after her second heat at the Olympics! pic.twitter.com/je2EPGfmmf
— A K Sandoval-Strausz (@SandovalStrausz) February 11, 2022
The women’s hockey quarterfinals are underway, and the USA is outshooting the Czech Republic 10-0. The score, though, is what you get when you take away the “1” digit in that stat.
Unofficial gold: Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI), women's super-G
The 2021 world champion in super-G and giant slalom will leave China with a gold and a bronze in those two events.
The bronze she earned earlier this week is her second, following the downhill in 2014. The gold will be her first. She was fourth in super-G in 2014 and 2018.
We say “unofficial” because the skiers who were seeded lower than 30th are racing now. The odds of them catching anyone in the top 10 are lower than the odds of Han Solo piloting through an asteroid field. Maybe lower than the odds of the Tie Fighters chasing Han Solo getting through the asteroid field.
Silver medalist Mirjam Puchner of Austria is more of a surprise. She has never finished higher than third in this event in World Cup competition, though she has a pair of downhill wins.
Switzerland’s Michelle Gisin, who won the combined in 2018, is the bronze medalist.
Ester Ledecká finished fifth, missing out on another unique double in snowboarding and Alpine skiing but still a pretty good run.
Mikaela Shiffrin is ninth. She didn’t look happy with her time, but it’s an improvement over her two DNFs. She’ll be a contender in the combined.
Updated
The second run in women’s skeleton has wrapped up, and Australia’s Jaclyn Narracott has taken an 0.21-second lead over Germany’s Hannah Neise. Germany, which has more sliding tracks in use than any other country, has riders (sledders?) in second, third and fifth.
The USA’s Katie Uhlaender remains in eighth, ahead of first-run leader Mirela Rahneva of Canada.
Team GB’s Laura Neas won’t repeat her bronze-medal performance. She’s 21st, one ahead of fellow British rider Brogan Crowley.
In 25th place, out of 25, is Katie Tannenbaum, who proudly waved the flag of the U.S. Virgin Islands after finishing her second run. Her bio lists her hobby (singular) as “acroyoga, the physical practice which combines yoga and acrobatics.” I sometimes had yoga teachers who went quite fast, a practice I called “yogaerobics.”
Big win for John Shuster's US curling team
Yes, John Shuster and company are the defending champions, but Team GB’s Bruce Mouat is ranked first in the world right now.
Leading by two in the 10th end, but without hammer, Chris Plys played two solid takeouts, leaving only one Team GB rock in the house with few chances to get another one in there. Grant Hardie’s hit-and-roll effort didn’t pan out, and Shuster knocked out the last GB rock in play. Mouat came up and tried to freeze his rock to a US stone, but he came up a bit short, and Shuster coolly removed it to clinch the win.
Time at last for a curling update ...
Team GB’s Bruce Mouat answered John Shuster’s three-point fourth end by scoring two in the fifth. Then it got things went awry for the defending champions from the USA, giving up a steal of two.
But Shuster’s resilient team bounced back with two points in the seventh, then piled up rocks in the house to hold Mouat to a single point in the eighth.
Shuster nearly put the game away in the ninth. After a lively conversation with teammate Matt Hamilton to figure out what they wanted to do, Shuster tried to remove two GB stones to score four. He got one, but the other hung around, and Shuster took two.
Sweden’s Niklas Edin, who lost to Shuster in the 2018 final but beat the Americans yesterday, routed Italy’s Joel Retornaz 9-3 and has opened with three straight wins.
Switzerland beat the ROC 6-3.
Mikaela Shiffrin finishes outside the medal places
Super-G isn’t the U.S. star skier’s best event, but she’s still been better than nearly everyone in the world over the past four years. She won the World Cup trophy in the discipline in 2019 and won the world championship in the same year. She finished third in the world championship last year.
This time around, she started well and was ahead of leader Lara Gut-Behrami at the first intermediate time. But she lost a bit of time later in the run and crossed the line in eighth place with a lot of skiers to go.
Still, that’s better than not finishing, and perhaps it sets the stage for a good finish in the combined, where she can ... well, combine ... her slalom mastery with her solid speed event skills.
Team GB took gold and silver in the 2018 women’s skeleton competition, but that looks highly unlikely this time.
Canada’s Mirela Rahneva and Australia’s Jaclyn Narracott are first and second after the first run, separated by 0.02 seconds.
Rahneva, who has also competed for Canada in rugby sevens, hasn’t won a World Cup race since the 2018-19 season.
Narracott trains in England at the University of Bath.
Other notable names after the first run:
4th: 2018 silver medalist Jacqueline Loeller (GER)
9th: 2012 world champion and fifth-time Olympian Katie Uhlaender (USA)
19th: Kelly Curtis (USA)
21st: 2018 bronze medalist Laura Deas (GBR)
23rd: Brogan Crowley (GBR)
Updated
Ester Ledecká’s bid to repeat her feat of winning gold in snowboarding and Alpine skiing has come to an end. The Czech athlete, who already defended her title in parallel giant slalom, was second on the hill in super-G and was beaten by the next two skiers down the hill.
Mikaela Shiffrin is 11th in the start order.
Gold! Ayumu Hirano (JPN), men's snowboard halfpipe
Oh, that second run wasn’t enough for you, judges? Here. Try THIS.
His final run features all the same tricks as the second, but it’s even better. Final score: 96.00. All commentators are relieved that they won’t have to talk about a judging controversy. And after two silver medals, Hirano has his gold.
Australia’s Scotty James also has a second medal that’s one better than his first. He takes silver with a run that would’ve won almost any competition until now.
Did Shaun White have a case for a bronze medal? Hard to say. He wound up with a best run of 85.00, just behind Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer’s 87.25.
Judged sports will always have a bit of subjectivity. But Hirano did a run that was empirically more difficult than anyone, and he landed it perfectly.
Scotty James bails on his third run when he realizes it’s not going to top his second.
The final word goes to Ayumu Hirano, who may be first in the eyes of much of the world but is second in the eyes of the judges. How does he improve on what he just did?
Here we go ...
Shaun White’s last run ends with a fall as he goes all-out to try to find a few more points and get another medal.
He takes off his helmet as he slides down the rest of the pipe, waving to an appreciative crowd.
Ruka Hirano (the one who isn’t related to Ayumu) falls again. That means White will finish in fourth, as he did in 2014. In five Olympic appearances, he has never finished lower than fourth.
Next up: the top two. Can James go even bigger and win gold with less controversy?
Updated
“ROBBED” is now trending on Twitter.
I'm sorry. WHAT?! Did the snowboard judges miss the TRIPLE CORK this time?! #olympics
— Alyssa Roenigk (@alyroe) February 11, 2022
Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer will continue his nervous wait in third place after falling on his last run. Taylor Gold also falls and remains in fifth, which means the only U.S. rider with a chance of getting a medal is ... Shaun White.
Japan’s Yuto Totsuka also falls and is stuck in 10th.
Then it’s the Australian teen Valentino Guseli, who lets loose a roar upon finishing a strong run. His third-run score matches his second -- 79.75. He’s sixth.
Now up, it’s the last run of a legend ...
Third run, first four riders ...
The USA’s Chase Josey improves to 79.50 and seventh place.
Switzerland’s Patrick Burgener also improves to 69.50, but that’s 11th.
Germany’s Andre Hoeflich does not improve and sits in eighth.
Then it’s the big one. Kaishu Hirano, Ayumu’s younger brother, soars 24 feet, 4 inches above the lip of the pipe. It’s breathtaking. And then he falls after a double cork 1440. He’s ninth.
Second run complete, and do we have a judging controversy?
Japan’s Ayumu Hirano once again opens with the triple cork, which no one else has attempted. He follows with a double cork 1440, completing a combination that amazes NBC commentator Todd Richards. Three more double corks follow -- 1260, 1260, 1440.
Richards says that’s our winning run. He says the torch has been passed.
The judges say it’s a 91.75.
Richards is flabbergasted. “There’s no WAY. 91.75??!!”
After the commercial break, Richards is still stunned. “The judges just grenaded all of their credibility.”
A deeper dive shows the Swedish judge gave a 96, which is dropped because it’s the highest. The US judge gave an 89, also dropped as the lowest mark. That leaves a 95 from the Japanese judge, 92 from France, 90 from Canada, 90 from Switzerland.
So Scotty James maintains his lead. Hirano is second. Scherrer is third. Shaun White is fourth.
Third run underway now ...
And White is going to drop to third here, because Australian Scotty James, the 2018 bronze medalist, just blew up. He blew up big time. Two double cork 1440s, a good variety of frontside/backside tricks, and a couple of stylish tail grabs. He’s in first with a 92.50.
But wait ...
Shaun White is still pretty good at this. He does his best tricks first (1440 double cork) and fourth (1260 McTwist).
The score comes in, and White moves into second place with an 85.00.
And while we’re at commercial, Jan Scherrer of Switzerland all but clinches a spot on the podium with an 87.25, supplanting Taylor Gold in first place. That run doesn’t have a lot of big air, but he works in a lot of rotations and ends with an alley-oop. (I’ll refer you once again to the FIS code list.)
Gold follows and falls.
Then we get another change on the podium, as Germany’s Andre Hoeflich gets a 76.00, 0.25 points ahead of Australian teen Valentino Guseli. I don’t get it. Guseli’s first run looked better than that.
Guseli responds with a run that mixes rotation speeds and yet flows smoothly. This is surely ahead of Hoeflich. Indeed it is -- 79.75.
ANOTHER Japanese rider gets most of the way through a potentially legendary run but falls near the end. Kaishu Hirano gets nearly 23 feet, 9 inches out of the pipe and hangs on to his grab long enough to play Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie. He follows with four double corks -- 1440, 1080, 1260, 1080 -- but falls hard along the wall and seems to be shaken up.
Meanwhile, John Shuster cleanly picks out the only GB stone in the house and picks up three points in the fourth end. 5-2 USA.
Quick curling check -- Chris Plys tosses a nice hit-and-roll to leave the USA lying three. They have hammer in this fourth end, tied 2-2.
Bruce Mouat tries a double takeout but only gets one. John Shuster checks out his options and delivers a rock through a small space to take out the remaining GB stone, leaving the USA lying four.
We’ll get back to this ...
Ayuko Hirano was five seconds away from one of the best runs in history. He opened with a triple cork 1440, then a double cork 1440. He follows with two 1260s but loses his balance on a landing falls in the middle of the pipe.
Standings after first run
81.75 Taylor Gold (USA)
75.75 Valentino Guseli (AUS)
75.50 Kaishu Hirano (JPN)
The best run out of three will count, and it’s unlikely those scores will stand as the top three when we’re done.
Scotty James went for a 1260-1440 combination but didn’t have enough rotation on the second part of it, causing him to slide down the wall.
Shaun White won gold in this event in 2006, 2010 and 2018. He took fourth in 2014. He dominated the X Games for 15 years or so and also won a lot of X Games skateboarding honors.
He opens with a double cork 1440. That’s a stunner. He finishes with back-to-back 1260, one of them a McTwist.
It’s not completely clean, though, and he gets a 72.00, good for fourth place.
Ruka Hirano falls. He won’t count that one.
Two more to go in the first round, starting with Australia’s Scotty James.
Kaishu Hirano just raised the bar. And then jumped over it. Or, given that his height above the pipe was given as 22 feet, pole vaulted over it. The Japanese rider gets way up for a method grab and follows with three double corks. He gets a 75.50.
How will Taylor Gold respond? How about two McTwists? (Description in the FIS code list: a “a forward-flipping backside 540.”) That’s an 81.75.
Back to the Japanese contingent -- Yuko Totsuta opens with a 1440 but isn’t totally clean, landing awkwardly on the lip of the pipe a couple of times for a 62.00.
The youngest rider in the field, 16-year-old Valentino Guseli of Australia, slips into second place with a 75.75.
Next up, the oldest rider in the field ...
The halfpipe competition is underway, and the USA’s Chase Josey reminds us that Shaun White and Taylor Gold aren’t the only hotshot Americans here. He gets a triple-double of sorts -- three double corks, the last also a 1280.
That’s a 62.50.
First up on the halfpipe final tonight is Chase Josey! HUGE support for the Sun Valley Olympian pic.twitter.com/bJlxuHlhBq
— Tristan Lewis (@TristanLewisTV) February 11, 2022
The second USA-GB end is more complicated, with the USA getting a couple of rocks behind guard until one is taken out.
I have a “Coverage Will Resume Shortly” slide that is keeping me from seeing what Chris Plys is doing. Plys played mixed doubles as well.
The ad interruptions are rather ridiculous, but it’s time to switch to halfpipe, anyway
Thirteen straight simple takeouts, and we have a blank first end between John Shuster (USA) and Bruce Mouat (GB).
Switzerland and the ROC also blanked their first end, as did Sweden and Italy. The only team to score so far is China, up 1-0 over Denmark.
Time for curling, and my feed, the intro was interrupted by an ad.
Anyway, the USA and Team GB are underway. Hammy McMillan put the first shot into the rings, which is often a no-no for the first shot of the first end. He guarded it with his second shot, though, which seems effective. It’s like a chess game that transposed into a different opening. And John Landsteiner took it out with his second shot, anyway.
The defending champion US team is 1-1. Team GB won its opener against Italy.
We have another ad. Good thing I can follow the shot-by-shot feed.
On another note, how is Matt Hamilton nearly 20 years younger than I am?
This, on the other hand, is a little disturbing.
#Beijing2022WinterOlympics
— Hilary Evans (@OlympicStatman) February 11, 2022
I think Thursday's performance by Team USA deserves an honourary ferret post. pic.twitter.com/pkxpma6j9V
Found another case of cats watching the Olympics:
Even the cat was cheering you on....until I got out the squirt bottle 😹 pic.twitter.com/2GHJrPuVzb
— Tracey Miller (@FlashMyKitties) February 10, 2022
Welcome back to virtual Beijing, coming to you live from an undisclosed location near our nation’s capital.
(That would be the capital of the USA. I’ll hand off to Australia later in the Great Global Guardian Relay.)
It’s Beau Dure here, and I wanted to clarify that I’m not the person who can’t wait for the men’s 10,000m speed skating. I will be asleep at that time. Or getting a jump on Wordle.
I will be awake, however, to see ...
- USA-Britain men’s curling in 20 minutes
- Shaun White’s last ride in the halfpipe, where he, fellow American Taylor Gold and Australians Scotty James and Valentino Guseli will try to outpoint a powerful Japanese team. That’s in 50 minutes.
- Ester Ledecká’s quest for the ski-snowboard double-double and Mikaela Shiffrin’s quest to salvage something from these Games in the super-G. That’s in two hours and 20 minutes.
We’ll also have the first day of the aforementioned women’s skeleton competition and the first period -- and probably the first four goals or so -- of the US women’s quarterfinal hockey game against the Czech Republic. Not a lot of parity in that sport.
Also, please email Beau or tweet @duresport with cat videos and your take on your favorite and least favorite ads. I’m more than a little tired of the one in which the father boasts about all the cameras in his truck that will keep his daughter and her boyfriends from ... what, holding hands? Yeesh.
Coming up today
Times are all in local Beijing time. For Sydney it is +3 hours, for London it is -8 hours, for New York it is -13 hours and San Diego is -16 hours.
- 9.05am and 2.05pm and 8.05pm Curling – just take it as read that there is men’s and women’s curling all day long every day now 🥌
- 9.30am Snowboard – there will be huge interest in the men’s halfpipe with Shaun White looking for one more gold in his last Olympics 🥇
- 9.30-11.00am and 8.20pm-9.55pm Skeleton – the morning sees two heats for the women, which will include Britain’s Pyeongchang bronze medallist Laura Deas. The evening features the last two runs for the men and the medals 🥇
- 11am Alpine skiing – Ester Ledecká attempts to retain her women’s Super-G title for an historic double-double 🥇
- 12.10pm and 4.40pm and 9.10pm Ice hockey – there are men’s preliminaries but the main attraction is the US v Czech Republic in the women’s play-off quarter-finals at 12.10pm. Canada’s women face Sweden at the same stage in the late session 🏒
- 3pm Cross-country skiing – the men’s 15km classic🥇
- 4pm Speed skating – it is the long distance of the speed skating. The men race over 10,000m and I can’t wait 🥇
- 5pm Biathlon – it is the turn of the women to do the 7.5km sprint 🥇
- 7pm–8.43pm Short track – the session culminates in the women’s 1,000 metres final 🥇
