Round up
That’ll do from me tonight.
As I said, barring a miracle, USA will progress to the final of the men’s ice hockey where they’ll meet Canada who edged Finland 3-2 with seconds to go.
🇺🇸 Alex Ferreira claimed gold in the men’s freeski halfpipe with GB’s Gus Kenworthy placing fifth
🇰🇷 It was gold and silver for Korea Kim Gil-li who beat her mentor and world record holder Choi Min-jeong in the women’s 1500m speed skate.
🇨🇳 Wang Xindi won the men’s aerials, two days after his wife Xu Mengtao became an Olympic champion.
🇳🇴 Norway finish first and second in the men’s biathlon 15km mass start, with Johannes Dale-Skjevdal claiming gold.
🇩🇪 Daniela Maier claimed gold in the women’s ski cross gold.
🇨🇭 Switzerland beat Norway to win bronze in the men’s curling.
🇳🇱 It was success for the Dutch on the ice as Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong wins women’s 1500m gold, while in the short-track events, the Dutch took gold in the men’s 5000m relay.
As I say goodbye, be sure to catch up on some reading as well:
Thanks everyone. Join us tomorrow!
End of the second period, USA 5-0 Slovakia
I know we should never say never, but this is as good as done.
Barring the greatest comeback in sport history, it’ll be USA v Canada in the final.
Number five for the Americans.
They’re really rubbing Slovakia’s nose in it.
Hughes slams his second of the night.
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Alex Ferreira looked totally surprised when he won the men’s halfpipe final.
I would love to be celebrating with him right now. I bet he’s sending it! And so he should.
And another one!
USA 4-0 Slovakia. The Slovaks are crumbling. They lose possession and 19 seconds after Hughes scored, Jack Eichel, who already has an assist, pounces on the loose puck, shifts it to a place he wants and flicks a shot beyond the Slovak goalie.
That is surely that.
USA score their third!
Great skill and skating from Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils before he fires a shot into the top corner.
They are cruising now.
Kim won that quite easily in fact. She was mentored by Choi, her idol, her benchmark. Well, she’s just beaten her by a distance.
🥇 Kim Gil-li beats Choi Min-jeong as Korea bag gold and silver in women's 1500m speed skate
The 21-year-old edges her hero!
Well, she actually cleared her by some distance. That was an incredible race from the youngster.
Choi, the reigning champion and world record holder, has to accept silver.
Bronze goes the America Stoddard.
Italy’s legend Arianna Fontana finishes in fifth. She’s waving goodbye to the crowd as if this is her last race.
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2 laps.
Both Koreans lead. Kim is giving Choi a run for her money!
4 laps to go.
Stoddard still leads. Choi second, Kim third.
Stoddard and the two Italians, Sighel and Fontana, lead with six laps to go.
Now there’s a shuffle…
Choi moves up. She’s making her move.
Away they go.
Slow and steady to start.
Steven Bradbury klaxon!
The greatest moment in all of sport has been mentioned.
If there’s ever a chance for an upset at the elite level, it’s in speed skating.
Lights out in the arena and here come the finalists.
Choi Min-jeong, the three time Olympic champion and four time world champion, is first out.
Oh, she’s also the world record holder.
Velzeboer wins the B final. Scant consolation. Sarault in second, Confortola in third.
There are some big names in this B final including Xandra Velzeboer, Elisa Confortola or Courtney Sarault.
They had their sights on medals but suffered crashes in the semis.
The women’s B final in the 1500 m speed skate is about to start.
Strange event. Wonder how motivated the athletes are. They’re competing to finish the Games in 8th. I guess it’s better than finishing 9th, and so on.
USA and Slovakia trade penalties. The Americans are firmly in control of that match.
Suzanne Schulting all but blames the ice for her crash in the 1500m semi finals.
She’s disappointed. And fair play. She’s not the only skater who has taken issue with the ice in one particular corner.
She was a favourite for to add to her six Olympic medals – three gold, two silver and one bronze). Not to be this time.
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Lizzy Yarnold, a former British skeleton racer and Olympic champion, has spun a yarn for your reading pleasure:
USA take a 2-0 lead into the break.
A Tage Thompson goal just before the close of the first period has America leading Slovakia in the men’s ice hockey semi finals.
That’s a mighty show for the Netherlands in the speed skating.
Four individual golds and now another in the relay.
🥇 Netherlands win gold in men's 5000m speed skate relay
Korea were leading with a few laps to go but a mistake opened the door for the Netherlands who pounced and bagged gold!
Korea finish in second, Italy make do with gold.
Canada finish fourth.
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5 laps. Korea made a huge mistake and are at the back of the field. Netherlands out in front.
8 laps.
Korea stretch their lead. There’s a mistake. Netherlands close the gap.
10 laps to go.
Korea take the lead.
Now they’re getting a move on. 15 laps to go.
Korea shoot for first place but Netherlands still leading. Canada and Italy touch. They’re so close as they gain speed.
25 laps to go and Italy shift to the front for the first time.
Not for long as Netherlands squeeze through.
Canada playing catch up having fallen a little behind.
40 laps to go.
All smooth sailing so far.
Canada with the early lead. But really none of this matters until the last few laps (sorry 5,000m speed skating diehards).
I’ve been using ‘South Korea’ when I should be using ‘Republic of Korea’.
Apologies if anyone picked up on that and got annoyed. No more! I promise.
Righto, 5,000 metres. Four teams of four skaters. Absolute madness on ice.
Here. We. Go!
The finalists for the men’s 5000m relay are getting ready.
Reminder it’ll be South Korea, Netherlands, Canada and Italy.
China win the B final in the men’s 5000m relay.
That means they’ll leave Italy with a fifth place finish.
I enjoy the relay skating.
My favourite part is when the one skater pushes their teammate on the bum to give them a little launch.
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Before the women’s 1500m speed skate, we’ve got the men’s 5000m relay.
First the B Final (really, just a way to rank them) with Belgium, China, Hungary and japan competing for fifth.
We’ll then get South Korea, Netherlands, Canada and Italy shooting out for medals.
Almost impossible to make sense of the ice hockey between USA and Slovakia.
The Americans are wearing white jerseys with blue trim. The Slovaks are wearing blue jerseys with white trim. They’re both wearing blue trousers. There are splashes of red in both kits.
This is what a herd of stampeding zebra must look like to a lion.
Italy’s Arianna Sighel sneaks through to the final by virtue of being the fastest skater to finish third.
The finalists in the women’s 1500m speed skate will be:
🇰🇷 Choi Minjeong
🇺🇸 Corrine Stoddard
🇰🇷 Kim Gilli
🇮🇹 Arianna Fontana
🇨🇳 Yang Jingru
🇭🇰 Lam Cy
🇮🇹 Arianna Sighel
🥉 Switzerland win bronze in men's curling
They were gutted to lose to GB last night, but that’s not a bad consolation prize.
They crush Norway 9-1 and will leave Italy with something to show their grandkids.
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The ice on the speed skating track (track?) is getting some repairs. The skaters have reportedly complained about the same corner. A few crashes so far in the same spot.
Big names fall in the semi-finals!
Both Xandra Velxeboer from the Netherlands and Italy’s Elisa Confortola crash out.
That means China’s Yang Jingru and Hong Kong’s Lam Cy advance to the final.
Confortola has been advanced to the B final.
The USA lead 1-0 Slovakia in the men’s ice hockey semi-final!
An early goal, clocked in at 4:19, is scored by Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings.
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Second semi-final. The top ranked skater is Canada’s Courtney Sarault, who is second in the world.
No rest for the legend. Fontana is back in action in the semi-finals.
She makes it through in second place behind South Korea’s Kim Gilli.
These short track racers are chaotic. Two skaters crashed and will require a second look with VAR (yes, skating has it too).
So turns out Fontana suffered a big crash in the quarterfinals.
The heat was restarted with two of the skaters penalised. Fontana then made it through in second place.
The semi-finals in the women’s short track speed skating is starting soon.
Arianna Fontana, Italy’s most successful Winter Olympian with four golds, six silvers (including on here in the relay) and five bronze medals, safely progressed.
Switzerland have one hand on the bronze medal (does that work?) in the men’s curling.
They are 6-1 up over Norway in the 9th end.
🥇 USA's Alex Ferreira wins gold in men's freeski halfpipe!
Brendan Mackay looked a sure thing but the judges scored his flawless run a 93 and that’s not enough to move from 10th to first.
The Canadian has to settle for third but is still delighted.
That means Ferreira takes the gold. He looks relieved more than anything.
Estonia win their first medal of the Games as 19-year-old Henry Sildaru secures silver.
GB’s Gus Kenworthy finishes fifth with a score of 84.75.
Podium:
🥇 Ferreira 🇺🇸 – 93.75
🥈 Sildaru 🇪🇪 – 93
🥉 Mackay 🇨🇦 – 91
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Stunning from Mackay! He seems assured that he’s done enough. What a clutch run. He’s already receiving congratulations from his rivals. We await the score.
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Just one more run for Canada’s Brendan Mackay. Can he come from 10th and secure a medal?
Huge crash for Goepper! He landed flat on his back on top of the half-pipe. My word, that looked really, really bad. He got up instantly but he’s receiving immediate medical attention.
What a shame. That was a spectacular run til that point. He was attempting a huge 900 and, according to the commentators, he was on track for a score of 99.
He is walking off the track with a limp. I have to say when I saw that in real time I thought he’d be in big trouble. But he’s OK. What a machine. I hope he gets a medal just for that.
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Sildaru looks so casual as he pulls off stunning tricks. Almost as if he’s movijng in slow motion.
Has he done enough!
NO! It’s a score of 93. 0.75 behind Ferreira!
Goepper, currently in third, and Mackay, way back in the field but with potential to medal, the remaining athletes.
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Ferreira crosse the line twirling one of his poles above his head. He is confident he’s improved on his score of 90.5 enough to move above Sildaru in first on 92.75.
He’s landed every trick, but there are questions over the variation and height he managed. Did he play it too safe?
It’s enough! He moves into the gold medal spot with 93.75!
We’ve got a contest on our hands now. Three men left. The three highest from qualifying.
Next up is Sildaru. Can he take back the gold medal?
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Birk Irving – another one with a name that can only come from America – starts his final run with a switch double 10. He' started this in fourth. He closes it with a decent move – a ‘flat 10’ according to the commentators – but he doesn’t seem convinced he’s done enough to improve his score.
He does improve by half a point, scoring 88, but he can’t move up the leaderboard and stays just short of a medal.
Marineau is such a vibe! For the third time he can’t complete his run as he insists on going for big air. He can’t make it work but he keeps the crowd entertained, pulling off a trick that sees him pass the poles between his legs twice while he hangs in the air. I don’t know how else to describe it.
These guys are so impressive. Going down a mountain on skis is hard enough. Ripping up a halfpipe is bonkers.
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Ah no! Kenworthy can’t improve on his score. No medal for the Brit. He had to push it with this final run and started well, but a little wobble derailed momentum and when he came out of a big move and landed backwards, he couldn’t make it stick.
No improvement on his score so he stays in fifth.
The women’s 1500m speed skating is underway. It’s the quarterfinals. We’ll be watching that as it develops.
For now, here’s GB’s Kenworthy with his final run on the halfpipe.
Ireland’s lynch saves his best for last. He nails a huge trick with his final lift, landing backwards from a mighty height. He celebrates as he crosses the line and loses his skis. But he’s all smiles and leapfrogs Harrington to seventh with a 75.
Righto, final run in the men’s freeski halfpipe.
Might come down to who can stay on their skis from start to finish.
New Zealand’s Ben Harrington gets us going and improves on his score with a 73.75. It puts him in seventh.
Norway are on the board against Switzerland, but they’re a long way back in the bronse medal match of the men’s curling.
In the 6th end, it’s Switzerland 4-1 Norway.
So, after two runs, here’s the top 5 in the men’s freeski halfpipe
🇪🇪 Sildaru 92.75
🇺🇸 Ferreira 90.5
🇺🇸 Goepper 89
🇺🇸 Irving 87.5
🇬🇧 Kenworthy 84.75
Kenworthy drops down to fifth as Geopper from America slots into third.
He was ambitious, but a little sloppy, not quite nailing the landing with every trick as he registers a score of 89.
One final ski in this second round. Mackay from Canada it is.
It’s a great run, reaching a height of 5.3 metres with his first trick, until the last where he crosses the line on his backside. A score of 53 is disappointing but he clearly has enough in the locker to push for a medal.
We have a new leader! Estonia’s 19-year-old Sildaru posts a 92.75!
Kenworthy is out of the medal spots. Finally, a bit of quality has exploded on the halfpipe.
Updated
That’s more like it! Alex Ferreira raises the bar with a brilliant run, nailing every trick, getting great air and sticking every landing.
He moves to the top of the leaderboard with a 90.50.
Hunter Hess bails for the second time. One of the favourites now has one more chance to end with a medal.
He limps away. That was a big fall. He’s OK but the smile after the first fall have evaporated. Now he’s feeling the pressure.
A great run from America’s Irving has him nudge ahead of Britain’s Kenworthy after two runs in the men’s freeski halfpipe.
He scores 87.5, dropping Kenworthy, who scored 84.75, down to second. Canada’s Longino is in third with 76.5.
A reminder that every skier has three runs to register a high score.
Another disappointing show from the Brits in the 2-woman bobsleigh.
Adele Nicoll and Ashleigh Nelson improve on their horror first run, but they clip the wall on the way down and place in fifth.
Another one goes down! Canada’s Marineau plugs it for the second time in two runs.
He gets outrageous air once again but can’t complete the run. He doesn’t seem bothered at all as he goes up and gives some high fives in the crowd. He’s enjoying himself.
Here comes Gus Kenworthy. Can he complete his second run?
Starts with a big trick. Almost stacks it with his second but holds on. Slick with his final move and makes it to the end.
Not spectacular, but with everyone bailing he has at least got points on the board and has given himself a shot of a medal with his final run.
And he tops the charts! He scores 84.75.
You never know.
Norway open up a 4-0 lead over Switzerland in the men’s curling bronze medal match.
They’re in the fourth end.
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Another one eats it! America’s Nick Goepper.
Here’s our final skier Brendan Mackay who qualified first and he also bails!
My word. Out of the 11 skiers, only two completed their runs. South Korea’s Lee Seunghun never took part.
That means that Ben Harrington, who started the round, is in the silver medal spot.
It won’t stay this way, but what a weird scoreboard. Two out of 11! That’s madness.
Updated
Because the skiers have three runs to post a top score they are being aggressive with their first run.
That’s why, according to the commentators, we’re seeing a few of them bail. Makes for exciting viewing.
Another one goes down! Estonia’s Henry Sildaru is the latest.
Ah, what a shame! Hunter Hess – the American with the outstanding name – was so close to completing a brilliant run but just had his ski dig into the snow as he came out of his final truck. It means he closes with a 27.25. That probably would have been a table topping score.
Only two of the seven men who have completed a run have not bailed.
Switzerland are running away with things in the men’s bronze medal curling match.
They’ve cantered to a 3-0 over Norway in the third end.
Andrew Longino from Canada becomes only the second man to complete a run on the halfpipe and is the new leader with a score of 76.5.
He looks shocked at the end of the run. Perhaps he pulled of a trick he never expected to land.
Canada’s Dylan Marineau reaches a height of 5.9 metres! He sends the commentators around the rings of Saturn. He then collects a bunch of high fives. He clearly enjoyed that.
Not so much his score as a failed trick means he closes the run with 22.5.
A bit of a sloppy run from Irishman Benjamin Lynch worth a sorry score of 39.75.
Can Britain’s Kenworthy do any better?
NO! He eats it as he goes for a switch double 10 with his first trick of the run.
That is not great from the men representing the British Isles.
Updated
Righto, men’s skiing halfpipe about to start with New Zealand’s Ben Harrington.
Looks solid to me. Give double 12 before closing off with a 900. He holds his arms aloft as he finishes his run with a smile on his face.
He scored 61.25.
Every athlete gets three runs with the highest score counting.
I think I’ve been reporting on highlights. I’ve done a TNT at the Ashse (those who know, know).
Apologies if I was telling you something you already knew.
Tell you what is new. The men’s freestyle skiing men’s halfpipe is almost upon us.
Gus Kenworthy is the one Brit in among the 12 athletes gunning for a medal. He qualified in 9th place with a score of 81.25.
Canada’s Brendan Mackay topped the first round with 92.75.
OH! A terrible show from Great Britain on the 2-woman bob!
Nicoll and Nelson slammed into the side of the wall before they even reached the first corner and they trickle over the line down in 20th.
Updated
Over to the 2-woman bobsleigh. The Americans Armruster Humphries and Jones have set a track record and its only heat 1!
Then Germans occupy second, third and fourth.
The bronze medal match for the men’s curling between Norway and Switzerland has just got going.
A reminder that Great Britain edged the Swiss in thrilling fashion last night thanks to a wonder shot.
Catch up with Andy Bull’s report:
Canada beat Finland 3-2 in men's ice hockey semi
They’ve come from 2-0 down to win 3-2 with mere seconds left on the clock!
What a game. What a sport. What brilliant athletes.
I loved that.
Canada will meet the winner of USA v Slovakia who face off at 20:10.
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17.3 second left. Finland pull their goalie.
But they were shorthanded so it’s 5 on 5.
They’ve already scored off a face-off this match. They need something big here.
GOAL STANDS! Drama on the ice! Canada’s lead stands. Seconds left of this semi-final they trailed with less than 10 minutes left.
This could be chalked off!
I’ll cop to it. I have no idea how the offside rule works in hockey but this is dramatic. The commentators on the Beeb aren’t sure. Fractions of millimetres. Something about the puck passing the blue line before/after the player who receives it/passes it.
I can only apologise for my ignorance. Hopefully my enthusiasm is coming through.
Hold the phone! They’re checking for an offside. Finland throwing a Hail Mary. They’re challenging, but is this more in hope?
CANADA SCORE WITH 35 SECONDS LEFT!
MacKinnon has done it! Saros made three saves in about 10 seconds but McDavid slides the puck from right to left and MacKinnon fires instantly, squeezing the puck beyond Saros who got a piece on it but not enough!
Canada 3-2 Finland.
Updated
Saros makes a stunning save with his stick! Wow, how’s he kept that out?! What a keeper.
That looked a certain goal. Celebrini came from behind the net and played a pass towards the net against the grain, finding MacKinnon who got the shot away. It hit Saros’ shoulder and flipped up towards his stick and he batted it away.
But there’s a penalty against Mikkola so Canada will have the powerplay advantage.
Less than two minutes left. They won’t have a better chance than this.
3:08 and a bit of argy bargy. Saros has the puck in his glove. Finland are hanging on.
Stunning skating from Marner who jinks past one, glides past another and gets the shot away. But yet again, Saros is up to it. Perhaps Marner was pushed a little wide to the right of the net as he would have been looking at it. So the angle was against him. Lovely play though.
Less than four minutes left.
5:28 left on the clock.
Canada have mustered 32 shots on goal Finland’s 15. Only stat that matters though is the score, which still reads 2-2.
Oh, but there’s a good save from Bennington. The Finns won’t lie down. A lose puck fell kindly for Harley and a first-time slap shot was well saved down low to the keeper’s left.
Canada though returned the favour as Wilson skews a shot wide.
Momentum all with Canada. The Finns look knackered. And who can blame them?
7:15 on the clock and the Canucks are camped in Finnish territory.
GOAL! Canada level it with 9:26 on the clock!
It had to come. They were raining shots on the Finnish net and eventually the wall breaks. A lovely first time shot from Shea Theodore from deep to the left of the goal as Saros would be looking it bursts past his shoulder.
Finland complain about goaltender interferences, but the shove off the puck actually came from a Finnish player.
Updated
10:44 and another save from Saros. Toews shoots from deep but the Finns have a mountain in front of the net.
10:16 left and another shot comes in but shoots wide.
The Canadians are getting closer but they’re also getting a little more frantic.
Clock is ticking.
11:57 left. Saros makes another save with his glove. Canada just can’t get close enough to make life difficult for the Finnish shotstopper. The defence is holding firm. In fact, the two best chances of this period have fallen to the Finns on the break.
SO CLOSE! Finland almost stretch their lead as Lindell breaks and has a clear sight of the net but can’t beat the Canadian shotstopper Bennington who stood firm and made the save with his chest. Thought for all the money the Dallas Stars defender would have scored.
A quick note. I can’t claim to be an expert on this sport. But my word, isn’t it incredible? These athletes blow me away. Skating at speed is hard. Playing hockey is hard. Doing both at the same time truly blows my mind.
Since that last post it’s been all Canada. They’re keeping the puck but being forced to shoot from the blue line. Finland’s keeper, Saros, holds onto it to give his mates a breather.
14:55 left. Not yet time to hit the panic button.
Both Canada and the USA have shared every gold medal on offer in women’s ice hockey.
It’s a different story with the men. Finland are the defending champions and four years before that it was the Russians – competing under a neutral banner – who took home the top prize.
So even though the Canadians started this game as slight favourites (at least as far as I can tell) nothing was guaranteed.
They’re back on the ice and Finland, proving my point, almost scored but for a slick save by the Canuck goalie.
Lovely flow to this one. Both teams attacking with vim.
The Winter Games offers up some stunning images.
Good thing we’ve got talented photographers on hand to capture it all.
Give your eyes a treat with this:
A reminder of what’s to come later if you’re just joining us:
Men’s curling bronze medal match between Norway and Switzerland (18:05)
Men’s freeski halfpipe final (18:30)
Bobsleigh 2-woman second heat (18:50)
Men’s ice hockey semi final between USA and Slovakia (20:10)
Men’s 5000m speed skating relay (20:30)
Women’s 1500m speed skating (21:07)
Phew, busy night ahead.
Thanks Tanya. Agog is the right word. I’m a hockey fan, me. Canada have indeed pulled one back in the semi-finals against Finland. Sam Reinhart with the goal. 2-1 to the Finns after the second period.
In the other semi, it’ll be USA and Slovakia. Will we have a repeat of the women’s final?
I’ve also got my eye on the 2-woman bobsleigh first heat that’s just kicked off. So far the American pair of Jones and Armbruster Humphries lead a two German sides.
Time for me to clock off, but Daniel is here and agog at the ice-hockey, where Canada have just pulled one back in the big semi-final. Thanks for your company – bye!
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🥇 Rijpma-de Jong wins the women's 1500m speed skating
Women’s Speed Skating: Takagi is ahead of the clock nearly the whole race, glides to the line, but she’s lost power over the final lap and finishes sixth which means…
…the gold is Antoinette Rijpma de Jong’s and for the fifth Olympic games in the row, the Netherlands pocket this race. Orange power!
Norway’s Ragne Wiklund is delighted with silver, and Valerie Maltais takes bronze.
Updated
Women’s Speed Skating: the final pair of Japan’s Miho Takagi and Czechia’s Nikola Zdráhalová take to the ice. Takagi, the record holder, has had her eye on this race…
Women’s Speed Skating: the penultimate pair. Huge cheers from the Dutch-dominated crowd for the multi-decorated Antoinette Rijpma de Jong. She will skate the USA’s Brittany Bowe . A false start for an imperceptible transgression.
With one lap to go, both are inside the fastest previous time…… and by 600th of a second the marvellously orange haired de Jong grabs the lead!
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Women’s Speed Skating: Norway’s Ragne Wiklund, crowned European champion in January, is one half of the next pair. Long navy lycra legs, red all in one top. She leans forward, cranes towards the line, left, right – and has snatched the lead! 1:54.15.
Women’s Speed Skating: A flying start from the experienced Ivanie Blondin of Canada and and Switzerland’s Kaitlyn McGregor, but neither can trouble the medal positions. Three pairs to come, and it is still: Canada, Netherlands, Kazakhstan.
Women’s Speed Skating: A rapid first couple of laps by China’s Han Mei and Kazakhstan’s Elizaveta Golubeva, but they fade in the final lap - Golubeva, though, grabs provisional third position.
Women’s Speed Skating: Belgium’s Isabelle van Elst and Canada’s Valérie Maltais are the next pair up. Maltais is smooth as a melted mars bar and knocks Kok off the top to slide into first place with 1:54.40, and five pairs to come.
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Women’s Speed Skating: the second half of this three and three quarter lap time trial begins. Home favourite Francesca Lollobrigida, who already has two golds at this Games, hauls her blue clad body and florescent green fingernails over the line and into the bronze medal place – for now.
“They know how to win, but they are missing a key piece of their jigsaw in Sydney Crosby.” says commentator Seth Bennett. “He adds a perfect balance to this Canadian team.”
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A last word from our friendly curling correspondent over the pond. “The most justifiable outcome now,” writes Beau Dure, “would be for the Canadian men to atone for besmirching the Spirit of Curling by handing their medals to whichever team loses the bronze-medal game between the Canadian women and the USA.”
F-bombs and double-touches – it’s been quite a week:
Men’s ice hockey semi final: Finland go ahead! Mikko Rantanen flicks with gimlet eye into the net during the power play. And it remains Canada 0, Finland 1, a the end of the first period.
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Men’s ice hockey semi final: some argy-bargy by the Finnish net as a tumble and crash turns into all out elbows and knees . The ref ends up muscling one of the players out of the way.
Updated
Men’s ice hockey semi final: huge northern energy at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, where it’s 0-0 between big dog Canada and defending champions Finland, with four minutes left of the first period.
Updated
Women’s Speed Skating: as we break for ice-resurfacing in Milan, the Netherlands have temporary hold on the gold and silver medals, through Femke Kok and Marijke Groenewoud, while Natalia Czerwonka of Poland lies in bronze.
Seven pairs still to skate, including some big guns.
Women’s curling: Switzerland and Sweden are through to the final!
Sweden kept the pressure on highly-rated Canada, to take the match 6-3; while Switzerland out-curled the USA, winning 7-4.
Women’s Speed Skating: With nine of the 29 skaters done, Kok still leads, but 19 year old Jeannine Rosner has just pushed GB’s Smeding out of medal contention, as she nestles into second position.
This is a cracking read on figure-skating gold winner Alysa Liu by the very talented Bryan Armen Graham.
Women’s Speed Skating: Ellia Smeding skates with/against Arina Ilyachshenko and just pips her over the line, but they are both nearly four seconds off Kok. They unzip their full body suits and readjust their pony tails as they wind down at the end of the race.
Women’s Speed Skating: let’s drift away from the curling for a moment, and head to the Milano Speed Skating Stadium, where the world’s fastest females on skates are navigating the 1500m finals. Fastest woman wins. Ellia Smeding will skate for GB.
Femke Kok , who already has a gold and silver medal, goes first and finishes in 1.54.79. She shakes her head in disappointment as she crosses the line.
Women’s Curling: I grab an emergency cup of tea, and when I come back the cameras have briefly switched to USA v Switzerland. Tabitha Peterson tries to pick out the Swiss yellow, but the USA can only take one point and trail 5-4 after nine ends.
Curling: I stand (happily) corrected.
“I wouldn’t call Sweden the favourite in that game,” writes Beau Dure. “Rachel Homan is a generational talent, and she skips one of the best teams ever assembled. Tracy Fleury nearly skipped Canada’s Olympic team in her own right, then decided to join up with Homan. They’ve been absolutely dominant since they settled in together about three years ago. Failing to medal would be unfathomable, though in a bronze-medal rematch with the USA, you’d have to like their chances.”
Ice hockey: while Canada sup from their water bottles, down 5-2 with three ends to go in the curling, bad news from their ice hockey team. Captain Sidney Crosby, who took a double hit during the quarter-final against Czechia, will miss the semi against Finland, which starts in half an hour.
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Women’s Curling: at the moment, the scores in the two semi-finals favour the favourites: Sweden lead Canada 4-2; and Switzerland the USA 4-3. It’s all very subdued in the stands.
Outside my window, the rain continues to soak the streets.
Golden Games - Winter Olympic record for Norway
Johannes Dale-Skjevdal’s win in the 15km mass start biathlon made it 17 golds for Norway, breaking their own Winter Olympic record of 16 in Beijing.
Cross-country skiing machine Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo has won five himself - the 10km interval, the men’s 4x 7.5km relay, the skiathlon, the sprint classic and men’s team sprint.
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Klaebo v Weston - what's your highlight?
Time for you to have your say:
Women’s curling: a risky stone by Fleury falls flat, and Sweden lick their lips, especially as they have the hammer. Favourites Sweden, incidentally, are sponsored by Uniqlo
Women’s curling: I’m quite a fan of the Swedish curler’s bold flora tattoos on her left arm. We’ve paused for a while at 2-2 while everyone ponders the stones in the house and points their brushes.
A welcome email from Beau Dure, who knows rather more about curling than I have gleaned over the last week.
“In my expert opinion, if Switzerland keeps scoring two when they have the hammer while the USA only scores one when they have the hammer, Switzerland will win.”
Beau, you’re going to have to be on hand to update us as British TV is concentrating on Sweden v Canada.
Women’s curling: After a long trudge through the curling round-robins, don’t give up in sight of the summit, d’you hear?Roll up, for the women’s semi-finals. Canada v Sweden and Switzerland v USA.
After five ends, Canada, with Mila lookalike Tracy Fleury, are all square with Sweden, 2-2. Switzerland lead the USA 4-3.
🥇Johannes Dale-Skjevdal grabs gold in the men's 15km biathlon
Another red ski suit crosses the line first, another gold for Norway, as Johannes Dale-Skjevdal combines sharp shooting and ski speed through the pine-lined mountain course.
His compatriot Sturla Holm Laegreid takes silver, to add to his tally of one silver, three bronzes and a televised cheating confession.
And bronze for Quentin Fillon Maillet, who becomes France’s most successful Olympian with this, his ninth medal.
That is all from me. Tanya is here to take you through the rest of the afternoon.
Biathlon: Johannes Dale-Skjevdal of Norway is in the lead with 3km to go but his teammate Sturla Holm Lægreid is in second right behind him.
🥇Wang wins freestyle skiing gold in men's aerials
Wang Xindi of China wins gold! He had a long, long wait until the confirmation but he pips Noe Roth of Switzerland by a mere 1.02. Wang can’t believe it! He did not even make the finals in his last two Olympics. He runs onto the course and falls to his knees. His wife, Xu Mengtao, won gold in this event a couple days ago and will be competing in the team event in a few days time – what a power couple! Li Tianma of China takes bronze.
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Freestyle skiing: Noe Roth of Switzerland with an incredible back double full-double full-full! He gets the height, the twists and the best landing of the day. Will that be good enough for gold?
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Freestyle skiing: Pirmin Werner of Switzerland is next and is about to attempt the Hurricane – a triple backflip with five total twists. It looks good but he just does not have enough rotation at the end and he lands with a somersault in the snow. That is a rough landing but he looks to be OK. He scores a 99.32. Wang Xindi, who is in gold with one more skier to go, is crouched with his back to the course.
Freestyle skiing: The fourth and final Chinese is Qi Guangpu, the defending Olympic champion. Oof, that is not going to be good enough! He buckles on the takeoff and that messes up his whole jump. His knees bend in the first somersault and he can’t salvage it. He slots into fourth with 81.00.
Freestyle skiing: Wang Xindi with the best jump of the day so far at his third Olympics. He lands a double full-double full-full – good separation between tricks, great form and bang onto his feet. 132.60 is his score and he is into gold with three more skiers to come! Remember, his wife won gold in this event a couple days ago. Can he keep that top spot?
Freestyle skiing: Excellent from Li Tianma! Five twists and a bit of compression on the landing, but he skis away with confidence. He takes the lead with 123.93. That is 0.51 better than his compatriot – these are the margins!
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Freestyle skiing: Right the medal event, here we go! Up first is Sun Jiaxu who goes for the big spins at the end of a back full-double full-double full. It is a risky jump because the degree of difficulty is quite high and it means he does not have as much visibility when it comes to his landing. He just about nails it, as his coach yells “You’re good!”. He isn’t too happy with it even though he scores a 123.42. He knows the competition coming up is fierce.
Biathlon: Émilien Jacquelin of France is perfect at the range and is in the lead. Quentin Fillon Maillet missed one of the targets and now has to take his penalty loop.
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Skiing: At the start of these Winter Olympics, President Trump called Hunter Hess a “real loser” after the US skiing star admitted he had mixed feelings about representing his country. As he swooped down the halfpipe in Livigno on Friday, Hess delivered his response, flashing an L-sign with his hand after qualifying for Friday night’s final.
“Apparently I am a loser,” Hess said when asked about his gesture. “I am leaning into it.” And asked whether he had any regrets, Hess was just as firm: “I stick with what I said,” he replied.
However the American also admitted that the last two weeks had been the toughest of his life following Trump’s comments – and the abuse that followed.
“There was a lot of noise and I’ve never been subject to that type of criticism,” he added. “But with my family’s help, I was able to get through it. And skiing has saved my life, time and time again, and it seems to have done so again. It was probably the hardest two weeks of my life.”
Read the full story from Sean Ingle below.
Freestyle skiing: None of the skiers who landed between seventh and twelfth in the first jump were able to get into the top six with their second jump so our finalists will be Switzerland’s Noe Roth and Pirmin Werner and China’s Qi Guangpu, Wang Xindi, Li Tianma and Sun Jiaxu.
They cannot repeat what they have done in the first final so we will be seeing all new twists.
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Biathlon: This discipline has brought so much excitement to these Games and the penultimate event is about to begin.
France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet will hope for his fourth gold in the men’s biathlon 15km mass start but he will have stiff competition from his own compatriot Éric Perrot along with Italy’s Tommaso Giacomel and Norway’s Johan-Olav Botn.
As its name suggests, every racer will begin at the same time so the first man across the finish line will win. There are four visits to the shooting range, the first two lying down and the next two standing; any missed shots (five rounds per visit) is a 150m penalty loop.
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Freestyle skiing: Even though he is first, Noe Roth opts to jump. He doesn’t get it right at all, scoring just over half his first score. That will be a complete write off.
Christopher Lillis has nothing to lose here with his second jump. It is much better than his first and it is a long agonising wait for the judges to calculate … Ouch, he slots into seventh. He will not make the final.
Curling: The women’s semi-finals has just begun with Canada taking on Sweden and Switzerland taking on the United States.
Freestyle skiing: Great jump from Switzerland’s Pirmin Werner, who lands a back double full-full-double full and does the classic archer celebration. He slots into second behind his teammate.
This is unprecedented. Switzerland in first and second, China take third, fourth, fifth and sixth. Canada in seventh and eighth. The sole Ukrainian is in ninth and the three Americans make up the bottom three.
Now the 12 skiiers will decide whether they want to improve their score with a second jump. Remember the top six go onto final 2.
Freestyle skiing: China’s Wang Xindi, husband of Xu Mengtao who defended her Olympic title in this event a couple days ago, scores a 120.36 and is followed up by his teammate Qi Guangpu who earns a 121.68. One more to go!
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Freestyle skiing: Up next, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Okipniuk who is doing one of the hardest tricks in the air – he is attempting five full twists in the air. Here he goes … does well in the air but ooooh can’t quite stick the landing, and that is where he loses all his points. He is in fifth and will certainly need a second jump.
Freestyle skiing: China’s Sun Jiaxu, a World Cup winner, scores a 117.26 with a back full-double full-full. You can hear his coach yelling ‘stretch. STRETCH!’ as he is in the air.
His teammate Li Tianma comes right after him and pips him with a score of 119.91.
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Freestyle skiing: Christopher Lillis of the US is next. He gets good height and his form in the air is fantastic but he can’t stick his landing and he scores an 86.73. He will have another chance with a second jump.
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Freestyle skiing: Switzerland’s Noe Roth is first up. The 25-year-old is a two-time defending world champion but at Beijing 2022 he finished eighth.
A beautiful back full-triple full-full with some great turns before he sticks his landing, though he almost hits his chin with his own knee.
He scores a massive 131.56, which is better than any of the scores we saw in qualifying.
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Freestyle skiing: These medals are coming thick and fast, just like the snow. Up next is the men’s aerials finals. Twelve athletes in the first final and the best six will advance to the second final.
🥇Maier wins gold for Germany in women's ski cross
Sandra Näslund and Daniela Maier starts strong but Fanny Smith is right on the German’s tails and sneaks in front. The two who battled for bronze four years ago and now one of them is going to win gold … Final straight and a big jump from Maier to just take it! She screams in excitement as she crosses the finish line before the German coaches smother her in an embrace! Smith takes silver for Switzerland and Näslund wins bronze for Sweden.
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Thanks Tanya and hello all! Big final here we go … Daniela Maier, Fanny Smith, Sandra Näslund and Marielle Berger Sabbatel.
Time for me to take a little break, Yara will be your expert guide to the women’s skicross big final and much more.
Women’s ski cross final: ah, what a shame for Italy’s Galli who goes flying off mid course. Talina Gantenbein wins the small final.
Women’s ski cross final: three of the four finalists from 2022 have made it to the final four, who are Naeslund, Smith, Maier and Berger-Sabbatel.
Chemmy Alcott is very excited “it’s like supermarket sweep on Black Friday on skis, with sharp edges and all going for the same tin of beans.”
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Women’s ski cross: the big two safely through in semi-final two, as Sandra Naeslund and Fanny Smith bump fists over the line.
Women’s ski cross: Daniela Maier eases across the line in the first semi and Marielle Berger-Sabbatel clinches the second qualifying spot. Switzerland’s Gantenbein skates for the line in desperation, then slumps, head in hands.
Women’s ski cross: the quarter finals are done and dusted, with both Switzerland’s Fanny Smith and Germany’s Daniela Maier through. They will ski in separate semi finals.
A bizarre story behind their 2022 Olympics. Smith crossed the line in third, but was yellow carded by one of the judges, and Maier was given bronze. A year later, Smith won her appeal was given a belated bronze, while Maier was demoted. Maier, the trooper, says no hard feelings.
GB's Kenworthy makes halfpipe final
Men’s freeski halfpipe: joy for Gus Kenworthy (9th) and Ireland’s Benjamin Lynch (11th), who both make the final. New Zealand’s Ben Harrington squeezes into the final qualifying spot, but there is no space for his 19 year old compatriot the teenage star Finley Melville Ives, who lost a ski in his first run, and fell horribly on his second and had to be carried from the course.
The USA take four of the top six places, though Canada’s Brendan MacKay tops the list.
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Women’s ski cross: heartbreak for Germany’s Veronikca Redder in the last round of 16, as she is pipped for the line by France’s Mylene Ballet Baz, who took the last jump better. The quarter finals roll rapidly on, starting in about five minutes.
Men’s freeski halfpipe: Haipeng Sheng loses his phone while mid air and mid jump. Check your pockets, kids.
Women’s ski cross: final seven of eight. A super start for France’s Jade Grillet-Aubert, over the bunny hops and round the bend. She stays in first till the end, with Canada’s Brittany Phelan qualifying behind her. The Japanese athlete Sakurako Mukogawa trails in behind.
Women’s ski cross: we’ve reached the knock-out rounds of this event which is like a Bmx course, but on skis. Four athletes per race, each race in rapid succession. The top two from each race qualify for the next round.
Men’s freeski halfpipe: the seven judges chew their lips, and chew them again, before awarding Ireland’s Benjamin Lynch 75.75 which is enough (just ) to sneak him into 11th place. He pumps the air in his green anorak. Nine to ski.
Men’s aerials: the judges have sifted through the field and selected the top 12 who will contest the aerials finals at 1.30pm GMT.
Pirmin Werner (Switzerland) - 122.17
Qi Guangpu (China) - 120.80
Wang Xindi (China) - 118.10
Lewis Irving (Canada) - 117.70
Connor Curran (USA) - 117.26
Oleksandr Okipniuk (Ukraine) - 112.67
Li T M (China) 127.5
Sun J (China) 118.55
E. Nadeau (Canada) 112.67
D Krueger (USA) 111.95
C Lillis (USA) 111.76
N Roth (Switzerland) 111.06
Men’s freeski halfpipe: GB’s Liam Richards gets his second run, Ed and Tim are impressed with his amplitude but… the agony! … it’s not quite enough to slot him into the top 12 who will go onto the finals. The judges place him 13th.
Men’s freeski halfpipe: It’s been an unlucky morning for the Kiwi team, as now Luke Harrold loses a ski on landing. There’s a fingernail’s chance that he might still qualify for the finals, he’s currently 12th.
Men’s freeski halfpipe: we’re well into the second run at the halfpipe – as Canadian’s Brendan Mackay and his flagship moustache improves on his first run and overtakes Nick Goepper to slot into first, for now.
Ukrainian athletes to boycott Paralympic opening ceremony
Ukrainian competitors will boycott the Milano Cortina Paralympics opening ceremony on March 6 in Verona, its committee said on Friday, due to the authorization of some Russian and Belarusian athletes with their national flags.
The International Paralympic Committee’s allocation of 10 combined slots to Russian and Belarusian athletes has created a political storm over the upcoming Games given bitterness over the four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
Russia, which has been excluded from much international competition due to the war, says it is wrong to mix sport and politics while targeting disabled athletes is offensive.
“The National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine declares that the Ukrainian Paralympic team and the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine are boycotting the opening ceremony of the 14th Winter Paralympic Games and demand that the Ukrainian flag not be used at the opening ceremony of the Paralympics-2026,” the Ukrainian committee said in a statement.
That stance follows the disqualification from the Winter Games of Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych for wearing a helmet commemorating athletes killed in the war.
Ukraine’s Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi has said Ukrainian officials will boycott the March 6-15 Paralympics though the nation’s athletes will still take part.
Russia will have two spots in Para alpine skiing, two in cross-country skiing and two in snowboarding while Belarus was awarded four places, all in cross-country skiing.
“We draw attention to the fact that neither russia nor belarus went through the qualification process to obtain licences to participate in the Paralympic Games in Milano-Cortina,” the Ukrainian statement read.
“Moreover, this occurred in accordance with the status of the Russian and Belarusian Paralympic committees that they received as countries that are carrying out a horrific military aggression on the territory of Ukraine.”
Reuters
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Men’s freeski halfpipe: Melville Ives is brought off the slopes to warm applause, but that’s a heartbreaking end to the Olympics for him.
I think the camera work throughout the Games has been really respectful in term’s of the athletes’ privacy after injury.
Men’s freeski halfpipe: A quiet has fallen over the crowd, lots of concerned faces as the doctors remain with Melville Ives. He landed low rather than at the top of the pipe which means a longer fall and a harder hit.
Men’s freeski halfpipe: Oh no, the medical team whistle down the pipe to check up on young world champion Finley Melville Ives , who after losing his ski on his first run, crash lands midway through his second.
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Men’s aerials: a succession of athletes are struggling with their landings, China’s Sun followed by Raimkulov of Kazakhstan.
Men’s aerials: the first jump for the 2023 and 2025 world champ is a good one – he soars 11.99 metres up, which is about the height of a telegraph pole.
Sixteen year old Assan Assylkhan launches himself off a slope and flies high, unfortunately he slaps onto his back on landing and tumbles down the slope.
Men’s aerials: a quick channel change to keep an eye on the acrobatics. The snow looks a bit grubby, but there’s a beautiful twist and landing by young Canadian Emmile Nadeau, who goes top three.
It’s snowing again now, big fat flakes. Maybe a winter sports expert can correct me, but it feels as if there is more jeopardy with the tin man ski half pipe than the graceful snowboarding.
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Lots of union jacks for Liam Richards, at 18 the youngest member of Team GB, and whose parents both sailed for Britain. He learnt his trade growing up in beautiful Wanaka.
On his Olympic debut he doesn’t hit every trick but makes it down in one piece, scoring 54.50.
The first person down the half pipe was world champ, Finley Melville Ives, who lost a ski mid-air and is languishing at the bottom of the leader board.
Ah, here comes Gus Kenworthy, he of the the urinated ‘fuck ICE’ snow message, and silver medallist in the 2014 ski slopestyle for the US, before switching to Team GB. He’s a brave guy, and has received death threats since his protest.
He looks happy enough with 81.25 to nestle just behind Hess in these run one standings.
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It’s the turn of the gloriously named Hunter Hess of the USA. He doesn’t fall off and it all looks good to me but Tim and Ed are a bit sniffy about his altitude. He looks pleased however, and he scores enough to go third as things stand.
The conditions are much kinder this morning, and we have action at last at the men’s freeski halfpipe. The qualifying is underway which means everyone’s favourite winter duo, Tim and Ed, are back in their commentary shoebox.
Medal events
All times in GMT:
12.10pm Women’s Ski Cross 🥇
1.15pm Men’s biathlon 15km mass start 🥇
1.30pm Men’s Aerials 🥇
3.30pm Women’s 1500m Speed Skating 🥇
6.05pm🥉: Men’s bronze medal match
6.30pm Men’s Halfpipe skiing🥇:
8.18pm Men’s short track speed skating, 5000m relay 🥇
9pm Women’s short track speed skating, 1500m 🥇
The BBC are showing replays from yesterday’s ski mountaineering, where ridiculously fit men and women ski up a mountain, sprint a flight of steep stairs, before skiing back down again, with jeopardy at each boot change, and in high winds and heavy snow. Truly a different breed of human.
Some beautiful, and blizzard-heavy pictures, from Thursday have been curated by our talented picture desk.
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Medals table
The Norwegians still reign supreme, but the USA have leap-frogged the hosts to settle into second.
1 🇳🇴 Norway 🥇 16 🥈 8 🥉 10 – Total: 34
2 🇺🇸 United States 🥇 9 🥈 12 🥉 6 – Total: 27
3 🇮🇹 Italy 🥇 9 🥈 5 🥉 12 – Total: 26
4 🇫🇷 France 🥇 6 🥈 8 🥉 5 – Total: 19
5 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🥇 6 🥈 7 🥉 3 – Total: 16
That table in full:
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Yesterday’s 40 centimetres of snow means we’re playing catch up today: and things begin with the rescheduled men’s halfpipe and men’s aerial qualifications. Both kick off in half an hour.
Preamble
Good grey morning readers, let us hurry to northern Italy where the skies are blue and the slopes powdery.
Medals galore today as we round the final corner.
After the USA clinched the women’s ice hockey gold on Thursday, more drama at the rink with the men’s semi-finals. Canada play Finland this afternoon and the USA take on Slovakia this evening.
A busy day for the world’s best skiers, in women’s cross finals, and the men’s 15km biathlon.
The men’s halfpipe freestyle final also takes place, under the drama of darkness, with eyes on teenage champion Finley Melville Ives as well as veteran American Nick Goepper; and the day finishes with two short-track speed skating finals, in the men’s 5000m relay and the women’s 1500m.
There’s also more curling. Great Britain’s men get a rest after yesterday’s heroics, but there’s a men’s bronze medal match to look forward to and the women’s semi-finals. Finally, the rearranged men’s aerial finals, where Switzerland’s Noe Rot is hoping to follow in the snowsteps of his mum, who won an aerials bronze 28 years ago.
We’ll be here to cover each stumble and gold, do join us.
