Righto, time for us to call it a night. Thanks for your company, we’ll be back tomorrow for day nine where nine Gold medals will be up for grabs. Buonanotte!
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Men’s Ice hockey: There’s a real ding dong going on over at the ice hockey arena in Milan as Denmark and the USA trade punches and goals. It’s 4-3 to USA with about 15 minutes to go… and as I type Jake Guentzel makes it 5-3 to the Americans.
Speed Skating 1500m Final: Oh no! It’s a penalisation for Team GB’s Niall Treacy and he has his sixth place finish whipped away. A lengthy delay whilst the review takes place, Treacy is deemed at fault for a collision with one of the Chinese athletes as he came out of his skating line.
🥇Gold for Jens van ‘T Wout of the Netherlands in the 1500m speed skating final
What a race! Niall Treacy did so well, he was out in front for four laps but then dropped back to third, he got tapped from behind and crashed out!
Jens van ‘T Wout skates imperiously and takes the Gold medal! There’s a rush of orange shirts at the barrier as he removes his helmet and unfurls the Dutch flag and the widest smile.
Speed Skating 1500m Final: They are preparing the ice for the Gold medal race. Can Great Britain’s Niall Treacy pull off something spectacular last thing on a Saturday night? We’ll soon find out!
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Women’s Curling: Nerves of… granite. Switzerland get the final point and take their match against Canada 8-7 after the extra end. They came back from 5-2 down!
Sweden, Switzerland, USA, and China hold the top four spots after five sessions of the Round Robin. World Champs Canada have it all to do.
Speed Skating: Now then! Just when you thought the medal chances for Great Britain were done for the night, Niall Treacy has other ideas!
Treacy wins the third and final semi-final in the men’s 1500m and will compete for Gold shortly! It’s chaos on the ice - violations, blocking, crashes. Treacy led the pack in his heat and kept his nose out of trouble, out in front of the flying limbs behind him.
His time of 2:16.816s is the fifth-fastest of the six automatic qualifiers and he will skate in the final of the men’s 1500m at 9.42pm GMT!
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Women’s Curling: Deadlock over in the curling centre as Canada and Switzerland go to an extra end after being tied at 7-7, the Swiss have the hammer. It’s a tight match but calmly contested… as opposed to the Canadian men earlier. ICYMI:
The Canadian curler at the centre of a cheating row at the Winter Olympics has denied any wrongdoing, accusing the Swedish team of deliberately trying to “catch us in the act”.
On Saturday, World Curling confirmed that Canada had escaped punishment despite being accused of breaking the rules in the 8-6 victory over Sweden on Friday night. However, the sport’s governing body did warn Canada about their abusive langugage and introduced emergency spot checks on Saturday afternoon to make sure teams were not cheating when releasing the stone.
A bad-tempered game erupted when Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson told Canada’s Marc Kennedy he was double-touching the stone on the penultimate end, which led to Kennedy responding with an expletive.”
We’ve got the speed skating coming up and a gold medal race in the men’s 1500m.
Kirsty Muir has spoken to the BBC:
“I just wanted to get my runs down, and I’m really stoked that I did.”
How do you feel about inspiring people to ski? “That makes me so happy. Performing on the big stage, I want to show how fun and exciting it is. I am having the best time, and I hope people can see that and want to start snowsports because of it.”
Freestyle skiing - women’s big air qualification: It’s official – Kirsty Muir has qualified for Monday’s. She lands all three jumps but it her final one doesn’t see any improvement meaning she is in fourth place with a score of 166.50 (87.50 + 79.00)
Men’s Ice hockey: USA 1-1 Denmark and there’s a FIGHT! The scuffle sees one of the Danes shoved into the goal and the whole thing us uprooted like a decayed tooth. No danger of any actual teeth being harmed mind, there’s plenty of protective clothing to protect from the punches. I always think ice hockey fights are one of the most futile things you can see. Anyway, how’s your Valentine’s Day evening going?
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Lizzy Yarnold is full of admiration for Janine Flock.
Speaking to Balders on the Beeb, the two time Olympic skeleton champion said “from her head all the way to her toes, it was magnificent!”
“You can see the joy radiate out of her. Skeleton was her teenage sport, this has been her love for a long time. Thank goodness she didn’t retire. She built that resilience, she kept going and she improved.”
For those at the back, Flock finished ninth in the 2014 Olympics and 10th in 2022. Between the two came the real heartbreak. At the 2018 Pyeongchang Games she led after three runs before an error strewn final run saw her miss out on a medal by two-hundredths of a second. She has her medal now and it is the one she will have dreamed over the last decade and more.
🥇 Gold for Slovenia's Domen Prevc in the men's ski jump (large hill)
Is it a bird? Is it a plane… nope it is a flying Slovenian! Domen Prevc soars and soars and lands the biggest jump of the night at 141.5 metres! What a time to do it, with just one jumper to go.
It is Gold for Prevc! He becomes a double Gold medallist in Milano Cortina after winning Gold in the team event earlier in the week and is the only jumper to post over 300 points in the final.
The podium will look like this:
Domec Prevc (Slovenia) - 301.8 points GOLD
Ren Nikaido (Japan) - 295.0 Silver
Kacper Tomasiak (Poland) - 291.2 Bronze
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🥇 Gold for Austria's Janine Flock in the Women's Skeleton
The wait is over for Flock! At 36 she bags her first Olympic medal at her fourth Olympic Games and it is Gold! She posts the quickest time of the run, punches the air, removes her helmet and it hits her – she’s the Olympic champion!
Fantastic scenes. Shout out to Tabby Stoeker who holds fifth position in her first games. One day…
Freestyle skiing - women’s big air qualification: Kirsty Muir is about to attempt her second jump…
Defending champion Eileen Gu faceplanted the powder a few minutes ago and posted a lowly score of 20.75 for her second jump.
No such trouble for Muir! Another brilliant jump and a smooth landing with three successful rotations. See you on Monday for the final Kirsty!
Skeleton: Women’s Final: Tabby Stoeker puts in a solid final run of 57.72, beams and blows kisses to her supporters who are sporting ‘Super Stoeker’ t shirts in the stands as she completes her last run at her first Olympic Games. Four competitors to go…
Skeleton: Women’s Final: Amelia Coltman puts in an excellent final run of 57.6s, she won’t make the podium but that should see her edge her way into the top ten.
Derbyshire’s own Freya Tarbit’s turn now and she gets down in 57.7s, she has 8th place locked in and could creep higher.
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Freestyle skiing - women’s big air qualification: Kirsty Muir is in second place after one jump and well placed to qualify and contend for a medal in Monday’s final.
The top five as it stands:
Megan Oldham (Canada) - 91.25 points
Kirsty Muir (Great Britain) - 87.50
Grace Henderson (USA) - 86.75
Eileen Gu (China) - 86.00
Mathilde Gremaud (Switzerland) - 85.25
Skeleton: Women’s Final: The final runs are underway! Great Britain’s Amelia Coltman is about to push off, she is in tenth position after three runs. Freya Tarbit is eighth and will be the 18th athlete down the track and fifth-placed Tabby Stoecker will be 21st.
Could Tabby somehow sneak a medal? Let’s find out.
Freestyle skiing - women’s big air qualification: Kirsty Muir is beaming! As well she might having just smoothly landed an incredible first jump. She scores 87.5 and is straight into second place behind Canada’s Megan Oldham on 91.25. Muir is also ahead of defending Olympic champion (and ramekin pudding billionaire) Eileen Gu.
Men’s Ski Jumping Final (Large Hill, First Round) Germany’s Philipp Raimund does not look best pleased with his first attempt, he’s back in 11th place with plenty of improvement necessary if he is to contend for medals.
The big shock however is that the reigning Olympic champion Marius Lindvik is GONE! The Norwegian’s score of 119.3 sees him languishing in 33rd place and only the top 30 of the 50 competitors go through.
Top five heading into the final jump (in about twenty minutes time) are:
Nikaido Ren (Japan) - 154 points
Domen Prevc (Slovenia) - 147
Kristoffer Eriksen Sundal (Norway) - 145
Kacper Tomasiak (Poland) - 141.8
Jan Hoerl (Austria) - 141.7
Freestyle skiing - women’s big air qualification: Great Britain’s Kirsty Muir is looking to qualify and get closer to a medal after cruelly missing out in the slopestyle by the barest of margins earlier in the week. Fourth place in an Olympic Games is no place to be.
What’s this one all about I hear you ask? Here’s a primer:
The competitors ski down a 225m ramp and then fly off a 40 metre high jump, whilst pulling off an assortment of tricks. They’re judged on style, control, damage and agression difficulty, execution, height and landing control.
There will be three runs this evening at 18:30, 19:15, 20:00 GMT. The two highest-scoring runs of each athlete are added together to determine their ranking and the top 12 qualify for the final on Monday.
Skeleton: Women’s Final (3rd run): As mentioned, a disappointing run for Great Britain’s three athletes, Tabby Stoeker is in fifth place and has an outside chance of making it onto the podium but will have to improve drastically with her final slide.
Janine Flock (Aut) - 2:51.74
Susanne Kreher (Ger) - 2:51.95
Jacqueline Pfeifer (Ger) - 2:52.17
Hannah Neise (Ger) - 2:52.44
Tabby Stoecker (GB) - 2:52.76
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Men’s Ski Jumping Final (Large Hill, First Round) It’s a sleety and cold old night it Livigno for the first round of jumps, the final round will be just before 7pm GMT.
Germany’s Philipp Raimund will attempt to make it a double Gold games after he won the normal hill event earlier this week. Raimund’s story is pretty crackers, he pulled out of a World Cup event in March last year citing… a fear of heights!
“As some of you may know, I am scared of heights,” Raimund wrote at the time. “I usually have it under control, and it usually isn’t a problem while ski jumping, but from time to time, I have the issue (mainly while ski flying) that my body is reacting without me controlling it.”
That would appear to be quite the occupational hazard. Oh, by the way, did I mention my fear of laptops and television screens (and divorce) ?
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Men’s Ice Hockey: The Italian goal is being bombarded by the puck courtesy of Finnish sticks in the men’s preliminaries. Finland lead by a stonking 9 goals to zilch with about ten minutes left to go.
The host country clearly need some Mighty Ducks style inspiration, did somebody say Knuckle Puck?
Skeleton: Women’s Final (3rd run): Unfortunately the third run for Great Britain’s three first time Olympian Skeleton athletes are going the same way as my Valentine’s Day wooing. Non bene.
Tabby Stoecker, Freya Tarbit and Amelia Coltman all put in their slowest slides of the competition so far and thus slip way down the standings, all three are likely out of medal contention now with the final run to come at 19:30GMT.
Thanks Tanya. Love is in the BIG air tonight, especially in the Wallace household where I’ll be whispering sweet nothings into the ear of this Winter Olympics Live Blog until 10pm. I did suggest to my beloved that she head out for a solo Chinese meal (a succulent one no less) but she quite rightly called that out as a mad idea.
Coming up:
17:00-19:30 - Women’s skeleton (runs three and four) - featuring Team GB’s Tabby Stoecker (5th), Freya Tarbit (6th), and Amelia Coltman (9th)
17:45-20:00 - Ski jumping men’s large hill individual
19:15-22:00 - Short track speed skating men’s 1500m - featuring Team GB’s Niall Treacy
So Great Britain might scoop some more medals and I might get served with divorce papers, worth sticking around for either way!
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That’s it from me for today, Jim will guide you down the skeleton run and over the ski jumps. Happy Valentine’s day – bye!
Skeleton: unlace your skates, time to return to the sliding centre in snow-kissed Cortina. The women’s medals will be decided tonight in two runs on the polished ice. Tabby Stoecker is the best placed of GB’s women, lying fifth, Freya Tarbit is sixth, and Amelia Coltman ninth.
Austria’s Janine Flock is top of the tree and first down the track. It’s quick - 57.26, identical to her second run. She looks very pleased.
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More suspected sabotage attacks on Italian railway
Trains operating through the heart of Italy suffered delays of more than an hour on Saturday following the latest suspected act of sabotage during the Olympic Games.
Services between Naples in the south and the capital Rome were affected, and there were also delays on the line heading north towards Florence. Transport Minister Matteo Salvini condemned those behind the incidents following similar problems last Saturday on the network and another less serious case in midweek.
“These are hateful criminal acts aimed at workers and at Italy,” Salvini said in a statement.
“I hope that no one plays down or tries to justify these crimes which put lives at risk,” he added.
The authorities were investigating burnt cables on a section of the high-speed line between Rome and Naples on Saturday, and two other possible acts of vandalism between the capital and Florence. National police said that initial investigations indicated that these were “definitely criminal acts”.
Reuters
🥇 A second gold for Jordan Stolz in the 500m speed skating
A second gold of the Games for Jordan Stolz, who takes the Stars and Stripes on a victory lap in his superhero spanx; silver for a disconsolate Jenning de Boo and a surprise bronze for a very happy Laurent Dubreuil.
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Men’s 500m speed skating: A tight race between Sebas Diniz and Damian Zurek , but neither can break into the top three. One pairing to go.
Men’s 500m speed skating: there will be no consecutive Olympic crown for Gao Tingyu, who crosses in provisional third.
Now for the big one: World Champion Jenning de Boo v the USA’s Jordan Stolz. They lean and scrabble and power and slide.. and Stolz clinches it, first place and the Olympic record to boot.de Boo is devastated with his provisional silver.
Men’s 500m speed skating: four pairs to go. Yevgeniy Koshkin and Marten Liiv line up. A false start, from a twitch of an invisible muscle. They get away second time and Koshkin powers towards the finish, but it is only enough for fourth place, Liiv sits down in 12th.
Men’s 500m speed skating: the lead has changed, and changed and changed again. The provisional gold medal winner as I type is Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil, who breaks the Olympic record with a time of 34.26 seconds.
Ice hockey women’s quarter-final: A handy two-nil lead for Canada against Germany at the end of the first period.
A reminder that Sweden and USA are already through to the semi-finals, and the final QF between Finland and Switzerland takes place this evening.
Men’s 500m speed skating: a new track record for China’s Lian Ziwen who lopes at high speed into first place.
Men’s 500m speed skating: Orange everywhere in the crowd and huge cheers for the 1000m world champ Joep Wennemars. But he can’t do better than fifth in the provisional standings.
Men’s 500m speed skating: No helmet in this event, just X-man lycra and a scramble of skates. Poor Zach Stoppelmoor of the USA first has a false start, then a slipping skate.
Men’s 500m speed skating: 29 skaters going for gold. Ignaz Gschwentner does a sole turn, and will be followed by 14 pairs. Fastest wins.
Switzerland accuse Canada of "double touch"
Curling: the fallout continues from yesterday’s hot-headed game between Sweden and Canada, when Sweden accused Canada of cheating by “double touching” the stone.
As a result World Curling said it would have officials on ice keeping an eye out for rule violations, while the IOC confirmed that Canada’s 8-6 win over Sweden would stand.
Now the Swiss have something to say after their win over Canada. “I think I saw a double touching of the Canadians…I really think it does nothing, but if you have a referee on the ice and he sees it, he really should [act]. This is nothing personal against Marc Kennedy.”
Team GB’s Bruce Moat is also asked for his feelings: “We all know the rules and what is supposed to happen. Marc Kennedy has been around for a long time. He knows what is happening, so we all trust that fair play is a thing in our sport and hope that everyone sticks to it.
“I’m sure Marc didn’t mean anything by it, it is just that he was caught doing it on TV I guess. Now it’s out there, it should be regulated pretty well, and hopefully by the athletes.”
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Curling: And that’s the win for Bruce Moat’s team! Three from four puts them in a very steady position.
“We were in control,” says Moat, “ It was one of those games when you get a good lead at the start and have to maintain it.”
In the other games, Switzerland beat Canada 9-5; the USA beat Germany 8-6 and Sweden beat China 6-4.
Curling: back to the more sedate curling rink, where Czechia have inched a little closer to GB, trailing 4-7, but with the hammer.
Ever wondered where curling stones came from? Libby Brooks tracked them down to in this lovely story.
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🥇 Norway's Maren Kirkeeide takes the biathlon 7.5 km sprint
It turns out that no-one can catch Kirkeeide, and she takes the second Norwegian skiing gold within a couple of hours. France must make do with silver for Océane Michelon and bronze for Lou Jeanmonnot.
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Women’s speed skating team pursuit: Awesome Canada show just why they are the top-ranked nation, posting the fastest time and earning a semi-final against the USA. And very pleased they are too.
Japan will have to hunt down the world champs, the Netherlands. But don’t hold your breath, the next stage is on Tuesday.
Women’s speed skating team pursuit: the US reel around the rink and look a better oiled machine then the Germans, who lose touch with their lead skater at the start. With one QF to go, the four semi-finalists are: Japan, Netherlands, USA and Germany.
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Women’s speed skating team pursuit: in the first QF one of the Kazakhstan skaters goes spinning out against the side padding after clipping blades with one of her teammates – so the Dutch finish alone in 2:55.65.
Japan leave China for dust in the second QF and go top: 2.44.52.
Women’s speed skating team pursuit: Four quarter finals in this sci-fi spectacular, humans as machines skating in rapid unison .
Quarter-final 1: Netherlands v Kazakhstan
Quarter-final 2: China v Japan
Quarter-final 3: Germany v USA
Quarter-final 4: Canada v Belgium
The four fastest teams go through to the semis.
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Biathlon: Maren Kirkeeide drives to the line, collapses in a heap. She’s as wrung out a dishcloth, but currently lying in first. After a minute or two she finds the energy to smile as her teammate presents her with a single red rose.
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Curling: Febrile brushing and a cracking throw by Bruce Mouat puts GB 6-2 ahead after seven ends against Czechia.
Biathalon: France’s Julia Simon crosses the line, but no more medals for her today. Italy’s Vittozzi is cheered to the line, every last breath an agony . She face plants into the snow and doesn’t move. She’s in bronze, but only briefly.
"When you ski the way you are, anything is possible"
A delighted Lucas Pinheiro Braathen bares his heart:
“I just wanted to share this with everyone watching in Brazil, following me, cheering for me,” said Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, speaking to TV Globo. “This can be a point of inspiration for the next generation of children, showing them that nothing is impossible. It doesn’t matter where you’re from.
“What matters is what’s inside. What the heart does. I bring Brazilian strength today to bring this flag to the podium. This is Brazil’s.”
“I was skiing with my heart, and when you ski the way you are, anything is possible. The only thing that matters to me is that I remain who I am. I am a Brazilian skier who became an Olympic champion.”
AP
Biathlon 7.5 km sprint: You can tell how exhausted the skiers are by the heaviness of their breathing as they steady themselves to shoot. Their chests heave against the lycra. Norway’s Maren Kirkeeide is the current leader.
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Biathlon 7.5 km sprint: this is one of those board games which has such complicated rules that you throw the instructions in the bin and make up your own. Skiiing, shooting (prone and standing) penalty loops, and all against the clock.
Biathlon 7.5 km sprint: The French fancy their chances in this skiing and shooting double act. They won the team event and nabbed gold and silver in the 15km individual race. At the moment, the lead is in the hands of the only finisher, Ukraine’s Oleksandra Merkusshyna. She lets her legs slide away as she crosses the line, and falls to her knee.
Curling: GB’s men are out on the ice in their slidy slip-ons. They are 4-2 ahead after four ends against Czechia. GB in their change kit of white, Czechia in navy and red.
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Thanks Billy, so many hills and spills in that Giant Slalom. We’ll keep an eye out for the medal’s ceremony, samba on skis.
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Biathlon: The women’s 7.5km sprint is under way, with some 90 athletes leaving the traps in a staggered start over the next hour or two.
Tanya Aldred is back to keep an eye on that and everything else at Milano Cortina.
Medal reallocation ceremony: Tomorrow biathletes from the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics will be honoured by the IOC and the International Biathlon Union (IBU).
Russia’s Evgeny Ustyugov has been stripped of his medals won in two events because of anti-doping rule violations.
Those to be honoured at the biathlon arena in Italy tomorrow are:
Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games – Biathlon, men 15km mass start
Gold: Martin Fourcade (Fr)
Silver: Pavol Hurajt (Svk)
Bronze: Christoph Sumann (Aut)
Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games – Biathlon, men 4x7.5km relay
Gold: Germany: Erik Lesser, Daniel Boehm, Arnd Peiffer, Simon Schempp
Silver: Austria: Christoph Sumann, Daniel Mesotitsch, Simon Eder, Dominik Landertinger
Bronze: Norway: Tarjei Boe, Johannes Thingnes Boe, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Emil Hegle Svendsen
Curling: The men’s afternoon session is under way in Cortina. Great Britain lead the Czech Republic 2-1 and the USA are 4-1 up against Germany after the first two ends.
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The medal ceremony is up later. There are still plenty of athletes left to run but none will threaten the top places.
We are so used to hearing the Brazilian national anthem belted out at major football tournaments but this, in the mist and snow of Bormio in northern Italy, is going to be something else. Apparently Pinheiro Braathen tends to celebrate such moments with a samba move or two.
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It’s a historic moment in the Winter Olympics and alpine skiing! Lucas Pinheiro Braathen was born to a Brazilian mother and Norwegian father, who greet him at the finish line – all three in floods of tears. The 25-year-old retired from the sport a couple of years ago before making a comeback and switching his allegiance from Norway to Brazil.
An outstanding first run of the giant slalom this morning set him up perfectly for the second run, beating defending champion Marco Odermatt by half a second! Pinheiro Braathen hadn’t even won a World Cup event before this – now he’s an Olympic champion.
It’s a first medal at the Winter Olympics for Brazil and wider South America.
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🥇 Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen wins men's giant slalom gold!
It’s a scrappy run but he won’t care! Brazil win their first ever Winter Olympic medal as Lucas Pinheiro Braathen goes over the line half a second faster than Marco Odermatt. He lets out a roar and pumps his fists and a ski towards the crowd, which is going crazy.
Gold: Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (Brazil)
Silver: Marco Odermatt (Switzerland) +0.58sec
Bronze: Loic Meillard (Switzerland) +1.17sec
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Giant slalom: Defending champion Marco Odermatt lays down a marker, taking 0.59sec off Meillard’s time. The podium is a Swiss one-two-three as it stands.
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen goes last, seeking history for Brazil and a first Winter Olympic medal. Will it be gold?
Giant slalom: Loic Meillard raises his game and goes faster than Tumler! It’s not a perfect top section but a smooth finish sends him top. He’s guaranteed a medal for Switzerland.
Giant slalom: Switzerland’s Thomas Tumler turns it on and goes fastest by 0.37sec with his best run of the season! A wry smile from McGrath, who drops to silver. The pressure is on for the final three.
Giant slalom: France’s Leo Anguenot goes into second, 0.17sec off McGrath’s leading time. The margins are tiny! Four to go – three Swiss and a Brazilian.
Giant slalom: Five athletes are left to go, including the 2022 gold medallist Marco Odermatt, and Brazil’s potential history-maker Lucas Pinheiro Braathen.
Henrik Kristoffersen goes into provisional silver for Norway, with compatriot McGrath still on top.
Giant slalom: We have a new leader! Atle Lie McGrath, whose father is American and mother Norwegian (the country he represents) takes 0.46sec off Schwarz’s time to go into provisional gold … and then Austria’s Stefan Brennsteiner goes into silver.
Giant slalom: Austria’s Marco Schwarz, a two-time world bronze medallist, is still sitting in that leader’s chair, probably trying not to get his hopes up – but that’s becoming harder as more skiers can’t match his time. Slovenia’s Zan Kranjec is next to try but finishes outside the medal places.
Giant slalom: Another DNF! Germany’s Fabian Gratz had half a second on the leading time before setting off but he gets his lines all wrong and his coaches turn away in despair. Nine skiers left.
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Giant slalom: “Trust your instincts and just go, go, go,” is the message over the USA team radio to River Radamus as he prepares to head on his run … he can only go eighth.
Italy’s final medal contender is Alex Vinatzer but he hits a bump on an inside turn and crashes out! He’s OK, just mightily frustrated.
Giant slalom: The first of the medal hopefuls sets off in Norway’s Timon Haugan. The course is only going to get more difficult from here on in and he finds it tough, hitting a few bumps, only going third in the provisional standings.
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Giant slalom: Croatia’s Filip Zubcic clips a gate, sending his goggles askew and he whips them off for the remainder of the run. With heavy snow in his eyes, he can’t be seeing much but manages to come over the line in fourth. Some effort! Schwarz leads with half the elite athletes done.
Giant slalom: Andorra’s Joan Verdu is the new leader by almost two-tenths with 12 athletes now down the course … until Austria’s Marco Schwarz puts his foot down towards the finish to go faster by one-hundredth of a second.
Lunchtime summary
The main headlines so far from today at Milano Cortina:
Brazil on verge of first Winter Olympic medal after Lucas Pinheiro Braathen takes huge lead after first run of the men’s giant slalom
Jakara Anthony adds Australia’s gold medal haul with victory in the women’s dual moguls
Norway win gold in the women’s 4x7.5km cross-country ski relay but Sweden recover from Ebba Andersson’s face-first fall to win silver
Great Britain beat Canada 7-6 in the women’s curling with China and Japan also recording round-robin wins
Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych has presented his ‘helmet of memory’ to president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Munich after his disqualification from the men’s skeleton
Giant slalom: The home crowd roar Giovanni Franzoni, who won silver in the downhill last weekend, down to the finish and he takes almost a second off the leading time so far. He was able to carry the pace he’d built at the top of the course into the final few turns.
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Giant slalom: Ryder Sarchett (US) goes faster than Pohjolainen but some mistakes from Harry Laidlaw (NZ) prove costly to his time. That’s three athletes down … Brazil’s leader Pinheiro Braathen goes 30th.
Men’s giant slalom: The conditions, such a major talking point this morning, seem to have worsened further in Bormio. The snow is really coming down and visibility is pretty poor.
Finland’s Jesper Pohjolainen is first out the traps and puts together a fairly smooth run between the gates. That was six seconds faster than his run this morning!
Men’s giant slalom: We are a few minutes away from the start of the second run. Brazil are on course for a first Winter Olympic medal (and a gold one at that) with Lucas Pinheiro Braathen leading by almost a second (!) after this morning’s run. He will take to the course last but those going first will have the most favourable snow conditions, so it’s all to play for!
Sweden fell three times in that race! Ebba Andersson went twice on the second leg and, in an attempt to get her a new ski, the Swedish technician also took a tumble. To come back and win silver will feel almost like gold for them.
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🥇 Norway win women's 4x7.5km cross-country skiing relay
Heidi Weng brings it home for Norway! Jonna Sundling completes Sweden’s excellent comeback from Ebba Andersson’s fall on the second leg and they take silver. Jasmi Joensuu seems chuffed to win bronze for Finland.
Gold: Norway 1hr 15min 44.8sec
Silver: Sweden +50.9s
Bronze: Finland +1m 14.7s
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Cross-country relay: Joensuu can’t respond to Sundling’s attack and Finland may have to settle for bronze. Diggins is 40sec back in fourth for the USA.
Sundling and Joensuu go in the opposite direction, with Weng having rounded the corner in front of them and here come Norway up to the line …
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Cross-country relay: Italy have fallen down a few places with the USA (with Jessie Diggins on the final leg) and Germany moving above them. The medals will surely go to the Nordic nations.
Sundling has made her move past Finland’s Joensuu as Sweden seek a silver after Ebba Andersson’s fall on the second leg. Has she gone too early?
Thanks Tanya. So, Norway are closing in on their ninth gold medal of these Games in the women’s cross-country relay but Sweden are charging back through the field! Jonna Sundling has swept past Italy’s Federica Cassol and is on the heels of Finland’s Jasmi Joensuu in the battle for silver. Heidi Weng is on her way to gold for Norway.
Women’s cross-country skiing relay: we’re into the final leg, with Norway still in front; the Finns are second, Italy third. And here come the Swedes! Karlsson has reduced the deficit to 1.06 minutes.
With a thriller of a last leg to watch, time for me to take a break. Billy Munday will guide you through.
Faster, higher, stronger
Valentine news, of sorts, from our main man in Milan, Sean Ingle. He’s been at the IOC press conference, where spokesperson Mark Adams was asked about the village running out of free condoms after three days.
“All I would say is that it clearly shows that Valentine’s Day is in full swing in the village and I can’t say any more than that,” he said. “10,000 have been used, 2,800 athletes ... Faster, higher, stronger, together, as they say.”
All those beautiful people have to expend their energy somehow…
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Women’s cross-country skiing relay: Norway lead into the first check-point of the third leg, but Sweden’s Frida Karlsson is in supreme form and has already knocked ten seconds off the deficit, reducing it to 1 minute eight.
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Women’s cross-country skiing relay: The drama! Andersson goes nose over tail again, loses a ski, and falls further behind. She can’t put the ski on so runs on one ski for maybe 200 metres until she is given a replacement.
Her compatriot waiting for the third leg does not look impressed. Norway hand over first, Finland second, Switzerland third, Italy fourth… and Andersson trails in one minute 18 behind.
But this Swedish team are so strong….
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Women’s cross-country skiing relay: this looks so completely exhausting. The women somehow race up the hillside wearing huge long skies. They pant. And slip. And keep going. Slind now has a 12 second lead over Norwegian Andersson.
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Women’s cross-Country Skiing relay: The skiers have reached a sort of mini maze near the spectators at the bottom of the hill, but then head right back up again. Andersson has caught the Italian skier and has the red-clad Norwegian in sight.
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Women’s cross-Country Skiing relay: Sweden are favourites in this competition, but a slip and tumble by double silver medallist Ebba Andersson lets the surprised Norwegian and Italian skiers zip by. Finland lie fourth, and Austria fifth.
Ice hockey: A couple of men’s games have just started – it is goalless between out- of-touch Sweden and Slovakia; Lukas Reichel has put Germany 1-0 ahead against Latvia.
We’re still in the round-robin section of the men’s competition: Canada, Slovakia and the USA currently top the three groups. The knock-out rounds will start on February 18.
🥇Gold for Jakara Anthony in the women's dual moguls
Women’s dual moguls: Anthony, so disappointed in the singles event, gets her gold at last. She raises her arms as she crosses the line first, and wins the judges hearts, and points, too. Delight in the big green puffa-coated Australian camp.
Jaelin Kauf takes silver, Elizabeth Lemley the bronze.
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Women’s dual moguls: Lemley, who hurt her hand in her semi-final crash looks as if she might ski with one pole… she twists her wrist round and round… now takes both poles and prepares for the start. Laffont beats her down the slope but Lemley is awarded the bronze. Better in the air, apparently.
Women’s dual moguls: Carnage! In the first semi final Laffont misses a control gate, and Kauf crashes. But Kauf eventually makes it to the bottom and qualifies after Laffont is disqualified.
Anthony wins the second sf after Lemley, gold medallist in the singles, also ends up face down in the snow in her haste and is also disqualified.
So going for gold: Kauf v Anthony. Going for Bronze: Lemley v Laffont. Or as the Dual Moguls put it: Big final and Little Final.
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Curling: Team GB pat their pockets, a 7-6 win over Canada wrapped up at the final end. A timely morale-booster after those first two defeats and a much better performance all round.
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Women’s dual moguls: They don’t hang about, we’re back at the Livigno Aerials and Moguls park. Anastassiya Gorodko crashes out in the first quarter final, allowing the first American Jaelin Kauf a stress-free ski to the bottom.
But Perrine Laffont of France just beats the USA’s Tess Johnson in the next, and a rapid Jakara Anthony knocks out Olivia Giaccio. Oooof and a nasty landing for Hinako Tomitaka sends her off course, handing the last spot to Elizabeth Lemley.
So our semi-finals will be Kauf v Laffont, then Anthony v Lemley.
Curling: looking rosy for Team GB’s women. They go into the final end with a three point lead over Canada, 7-4.
Women’s dual moguls: It’s all very civilised out on the snow, the athletes have a hug when they reach the bottom. I was thinking the snow looked a bit grubby but it turns out the authorities put out pine needles – I think to help skiers find their way.
Anyway, they’ve zipped through very quickly and have already sorted the quarter finals, with four Americans in the final eight.
Women’s dual moguls: back to the snow, and the finals of the dual moguls. Here, two skiers race each other down the lumpy slope, pause to do a trick or two, and then race to the bottom.
Athletes are judged on turns, air and speed by a panel of judges. Crucially each race is an elimination, and the competitor with the highest score advances to the next round… and so it continues until the final.
Hina Fujiki of Japan crosses the line before her rival Tess Johnson, but Johnson goes through with higher marks from the judges.
Australia Jakara Anthony, who will be desperate for a medal after slipping and finishing last in the moguls singles, easily wins her race.
Curling: A much better morning for GB’s women, who are playing the current world champions, Canada. They are 5-3 up after seven ends and have the mighty hammer.
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Giant Slalom: Leader Lucas Pinheiro Braathen is half Copacabana Beach, half Fjord. He was born in Norway and spent his childhood between the two countries, playing football in Brazil, and skiing in Norway. After competing as a Norwegian, he briefly retired in autumn 2023 before returning to skiing under the Brazilian flag.
He also likes to DJ, decorates his fingernails, collects art and has a fabulous flat in Milan. What a guy!
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Giant Slalom: Giant slalom specialist and hometown boy Luca De Aliprandini sets off with high hopes, but loses a ski and ends up in an undignified slide down the mountain on his back.
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Men’s Giant Slalom: a huge surprise unfolding on the slopes as Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro still leads the pack . If Pinheiro does go on to win, he would wear the first Brazilian Winter Olympic medal. The soft snow seems to be hampering the other competitors.
Now Sam Maes roars in frustration after his left ski flies up in the air and he swerves off the course.
Heraskevych presents helmet to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy
After being disqualified from the Winter Olympics, Vladyslav Heraskevych presented his ‘helmet of memory’ to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
In return, Zelenskyy gave Heraskevych a medal.
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Men’s Giant Slalom: real Ski Sunday stuff this - precipitous slopes, zig-zagging turns. Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen is the fastest of the seven skiers to set off so far this morning. The competitors get two runs and the skier with the fastest total time is the winner.
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All that glitters...
The medals table:
1 🇳🇴 Norway 🥇 8 🥈 3 🥉 7 – Total: 18
2 🇮🇹 Italy 🥇 6 🥈 3 🥉 9 – Total: 18
3 🇺🇸 United States 🥇 4 🥈 7 🥉 3 – Total: 14
4 🇫🇷 France 🥇 4 🥈 5 🥉 1 – Total: 10
5 🇩🇪 Germany 🥇 4 🥈 4 🥉 3 – Total: 11
Preamble
Hello! A golden morning for Team GB at last after Matt Skelton hurtled down the skeleton track last night to become the first British man to win individual gold since Robin Cousins at Lake Placid in 1980. It’s all about the proprioception, you see.
As the sun rises above the rooftops in Manchester (yes really) we can look forward to another haul of sparkling metal. Eight golds are on offer today across the slopes, the sliding centre and the ice .
The morning starts with a new event, the women’s dual moguls, where skiers race side by side to the bottom of the hill.
At midday the women’s 4 x 7.5km cross-country skiing relay kicks off. This promises two skiers racing along the tracks, while two race the free technique. Not quite sure how that is going to work, but looking forward to finding out.
There are two more finals on the slopes: the Men’s giant slalom, where Swiss super skier Marco Odermatt has his eye on gold for the second successive Olympics, followed by the women’s 7.5km sprint biathlon where the light-fingered Julia Simon goes again.
The women’s quarter finals continue in the ice hockey, where Canada play Germany, and Finland play Switzerland’; while the men’s teams are still in the preliminary stages. Qualifying also continues in the curling, with Team GB’s men and women both busy with the brushes – the women hope for their first win, against Canada, shortly, while the men take on Czechia at 13.05 GMT.
More aerodynamic speed skating follows at 5pm GMT, but after yesterday’s exhausting 10000m, this is a 500m sprint. Jordan Stolz of the USA starts favourite. Then short track speed skating to close the evening in the men’s 1500m.
I offer you also the large hill individual ski jumping final and the start of the women’s skeleton competition.
Cappuccino ready? Let’s go!
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