BEIJING (AP), — The latest on the Beijing Winter Olympics
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Natalie Geisenberger is the Olympic Champion in Women’s Luge.
Tuesday’s Beijing Games gold medal was won by the German legend Anna Berreiter. This is her third consecutive title. Germany’s Anna Berreiter came in second, and Tatiana Ivanova from the Russian Olympic Committee came third.
Berreiter was half-second back to Geisenberger. Ivanova was a complete second back. These time gaps in luge are huge.
This speaks volumes about Geisenberger’s dominance. Geisenberger is the only woman to have won more Olympic golds or World Championship golds in luge, or World Cup race wins, than any other female in history.
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It has been awarded the gold medal in mixed-doubles curling by Italy, marking a perfect Olympics.
Amos Mosaner, Stefania Constantini had a dominating performance on Tuesday at Ice Cube. They won 8-5 against Norway. The round-robin was won by the Italians, who then went on to win the gold medal match against Sweden 8-1.
Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien will return a silver medal to Norway in four years, having won bronze in Pyeongchang. The bronze medal was won by Sweden, beating Britain 9-3.
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Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo from Norway is still the fastest man to cross-country ski sprint, while Jonna Sundling of Sweden won gold in the women’s race.
Klaebo, who defended his Olympic sprint title at Beijing Games, won the final and punched the air when he crossed to the finish line in 2:58.06 seconds. Frederico Pellegrino, an Italian skier, took silver, just 0.26 seconds behind. Alexander Terenteva, a Russian skier, won bronze, 1.31 seconds behind.
Sundling was wearing bib No. 1 in the women’s sprint. Sundling was the fastest qualifier and carried that momentum to victory. Maja Dahlqvist finished 2.88 seconds behind her teammate, and she won the race in 3 minutes 9.68. Bronze was won by Jessie Diggins, USA.
Sundling, a first-time Olympian, holds two world championship sprint titles and two team sprint titles with Dahlqvist.
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Kjeld Nuis, from the Netherlands, has become the first speedskater to defend his Olympic title in men’s 1,500m since 1994. He beat Thomas Krol at Beijing Games.
Krol, the reigning champion of the world, broke Tuesday’s 20-year-old Olympic record in the race. Nuis was even faster, crossing the finish line in a record 1 minute, 43.21 second.
Three pairs were left, but the Dutch pair was victorious. Nuis won his third gold medal in four events at the Games. Krol was second in 1:43.55, giving the Netherlands six medals in an event that is shaping up to be another crushing for the Big Orange Machine.
Kim Minseok from South Korea won the bronze in the 1:44.24.24 race.
Nuis was the first 1,500-champion to repeat since Johann Olav Koss of Norway won his second consecutive gold medal at the 1994 Lillehammer Games. Clas Thunberg, Finland (1924) and 1928 (Soviet Union 1956-1960) were the only other back-toback champions.
Again, the Americans failed to win their first individual Olympic speedskating gold medal since 2010. Joey Mantia, World Cup leader, started strong but couldn’t keep up his pace in a race that requires speed and endurance. He finished sixth in 1:45.26.
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France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet has won the 20-kilometer individual triathlon. He also won a gold medal in the mixed relay.
Fillon Maillet is the reigning champion of biathlon in recent years. This season, he has 10 podium finishes at the World Cup. He won half of them.
He is also an Olympic champion.
He missed two targets out of 20 Tuesday, and completed the course in 48 minutes 47.4 seconds. Anton Smolski from Belarus was clean. He hit all 20 targets, but finished 14.8 seconds behind Frenchman.
Johannes Thingnes Boe, the individual Olympic champion from Norway, also missed two goals and won the bronze medal.
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Andrew Blaser quickly learns about the perks of being an Olympian.
He has tons of free gear.
He has been invited to the White House
His favorite singer also took note of him via social media.
Already, the Beijing Games will be a momentous occasion for the U.S. skeletonist and Olympic rookie. On Tuesday, Sara Bareilles, a Grammy-winning actress and singer, gave him a shoutout via Instagram.
Blaser took his shot on Monday and tagged Bareilles on Instagram, telling her “you’re my favorite musician… will your watch me in Rio?” He received his reply a few hours later when Bareilles said “I am rooting to you.”
He smiled all the way through Tuesday’s training sessions.
He said, “Greatest thing to ever happen to me,” “I listen to her every single day when I’m warming down.”
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Ester Ledecka, top-seed in the Czech Republic, has successfully defended her Olympic snowboard parallel giants slalom title. To defend her super-G title, she will switch to ski racing.
Ledecka, a South Korean competitor, became the first to win gold in two sports at the Winter Games four years ago. China has the potential to repeat her feat.
Ledecka defeated Daniela Ulbing from Austria to win gold in the side-by side course at Genting Snow Park. Bronze was won by Gloria Kotnik from Slovenia.
Tim Mastnak from Slovenia beat Benjamin Karl of Austria to win the gold medal in the men’s racing. The bronze was won by Vic Wild, a Russian athlete.
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Sweden won bronze in mixed doubles curling. They bounced back from a semifinal blowout and dominated Britain 9-3 in six ends.
Almida de Val, Oskar Eriksson, and Oskar Larsson lost 9-1 to Italy on the same day. They picked up four points in second end, took three in third, and single points in fourth and fifth, despite not having the last-rock advantage, the hammer.
Jennifer Dodds from Britain won an easy draw and collected two points in the sixth ending. Bruce Mouat, Bruce’s partner immediately pushed fists with the Swedes and conceded the match with only two ends remaining.
Eriksson and De Val hugged, and a few Swedes in the Ice Cube that was mostly empty broke into a cheer. This is the fifth consecutive time that Sweden has reached the Olympic podium in curling. It also includes a gold medal in women’s and silver medals in men’s four year ago in Pyeongchang.
Italy won the round robin without being beaten by Norway, while Norway, the reigning bronze medalist, fought for the gold on Tuesday night.
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South Korea’s Olympic team leader suggested that judges may have biased the country’s short track skaters from the men’s final of the 1,000-meter.
One day after Beijing judges had disqualified the South Korean team’s skaters from each semifinal, the South Korean team called for a press conference. Hwang Daeheon, the world record holder, was also present. He won his semifinal and was then disqualified for causing physical contact with a competitor.
According to the judges, the final featured three Chinese skaters as well as two brothers from China who skate for Hungary.
Yoon Hong-geun, South Korean official for the team, stated that “sport must guarantee fair play to ensure the whole human race has hopes and dreams.”
South Korea is a strong traditional power in the rough-and–true Olympic short-track racing. Three of the eight gold medals won by South Korean skaters in Pyeongchang at the 2018 Winter Games were earned in South Korea.
Yoon expressed his regret to the Korean public about Monday’s results and asked for forgiveness, asking “for your pardon that I haven’t fulfilled the dreams of 50 million Koreans.”
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Nathan Chen broke the Yuzuru Hanyu record by scoring 113.97 points during his Beijing Olympics program. He is now in position to win the long-awaited gold medal.
Chen, the third skater to the finish, opened with a flawless quad flip, sailed through the triple axlel that can sometimes cause him trouble, and then drilled a quad-lutz-tripletoe loop that scored more than 21 point.
Yuma Kagiyama was in second place with a total of more than five points. Hanyu is nearly 20 points behind Hanyu, the two time Olympic champion who failed to complete his first quad attempt during a disastrous short program.
Chen’s poor short program four year ago cost him a medal chance in Pyeongchang. All that is left for Chen is to keep his lead through Thursday’s free skating at the Capital Indoor Stadium.
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After playing against Canada, another Russian female hockey player tested positive for coronavirus.
Evgeny Bobariko, Russian Olympic Committee coach, tells state news agency RIA Novosti Polina Bolgareva was positive.
Canada’s forward was playing against Canada on Monday. The game was postponed due to virus concerns. Canadians won 6-1 with their masks on.
At the beginning of the third period, the Russians took theirs.
Bobariko said that the team discovered about the positive test when they returned to the Olympic village after the game.
Russia has eight players who are unable to travel to Beijing due the virus, while another player is still in Moscow following a positive test. Bobariko said, “I don’t know how it’s happening.”
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Zhu Yi, an American figure skater, gave up her U.S citizenship to compete in Beijing Winter Olympics for China. She was injured when she crashed into a wall during the team event.
Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like company, said it had deleted 300 abusive tweets about the Olympian and suspended 93 accounts. She was born to Chinese parents in California and received a U.S. novice title as Beverly Zhu. Some mocked her falling, while others criticised her inability to speak Chinese fluently.
Due to her switch of sporting affiliation, she has been criticised by conservative political figures in America.
Zhu, who competed Monday, said that he was relieved by the pressure and expectations people have. “Honestly, I have trained hard. The most important thing is to cope mentally.”
Zhu was last in the short program. China was fifth. Russia won the competition with silver and bronze for the U.S. and Japan.
China’s official Xinhua News Agency tweeted support, saying: “For young Chinese skaters, they need to have patience and tolerance in order to be better in the future. Don’t cry, Zhu Yi. We are here for you.
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Beijing Olympic organizers claim that 32 athletes are currently in isolation after testing positive for coronavirus. They spend an average of seven consecutive days in isolation.
Brian McCloskey is the chairman of the expert medical committee for the Beijing Games. He says that as many people as possible will be released from isolation, but only when it’s safe. McCloskey says that 50 athletes have been released from isolation. He also states that most athletes who are in isolation are healthy and don’t require medical treatment.
After complaints from athletes and teams about unclean rooms, inedible food and lack of equipment or internet access, the disclosure was made. The organizers acknowledged that athletes are already in a difficult environment and said they were working quickly to address any issues.
McCloskey pointed out that even though they are not contagious, people can test positive for long periods of time. McCloskey said that people who have been infected before may be positive again because they are more likely to spread the virus.
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Donovan Carrillo, a Mexican figure skater, is moving on to the next round at the Beijing Olympics. This is the first time for Mexico.
The 22-year old Mexican-born skater is the first to compete in the Olympics for 30 years.
Santana’s music set him up for a strong performance at his Olympic debut. He scored a career-best score at 79.69
Carrillo will again skate in the free event against Japanese powerhouses Yuzuru Hansyu and Nathan Chen of America.
He stated that he was most excited about pulling off a quad-toeloop at his start of performance and is already considering his growth for the Milan-Cortina Olympic in 2026.
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Yuzuru Hanyu, two-time Olympic figure skating champion, was forced to bail out in the first quad salchow of his program at the Beijing Games. This huge mistake could have made Nathan Chen a more straightforward path to gold.
Hanyu was only seconds into his program, when he set up the first quad in his program. He never got to try the four-revolution salchow.
He lost all his medals because of the missed element’s base score of 9.70. Chen was the only medal contender who earned 95.15, but he came in second.
Hanyu, a 27-year-old Japanese athlete, is trying to win the first three consecutive figure skating gold medals, since Gillis Grafstrom of Sweden in 1929.
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Matthias Mayer, the Austrian defense champion, is currently in first place at the Beijing Games in the men’s Super-G and is poised to win a third Olympic gold medal. There are only a few lower-ranked skiers left.
Ryan Cochran–Siegle from the United States is 0.04 second behind in second, and World Cup super-G leader Aleksander Aleksander Akamodt Kilde (Norway) is 0.42 behind third.
When Mayer won the 2018 Olympic super-G, he broke Norway’s 16 year hold on the title. This was four years after he won the Sochi downhill.
Bronze was also won by Mayer, a 31-year old, in Monday’s men’s downhill.
Marco Odermatt from Switzerland was one of the favourites, but he lost control and skied out after a turn. At the last checkpoint, Odermatt was faster than Kilde before he went out.
Kilde is leading this season’s super G standings over Odermatt.
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According to the International Ski Federation, five jumpers were disqualified at the Beijing Olympics mixed team competition because their jumpsuits were too large and gave them an aerodynamic advantage.
FIS claims that no one filed an official complaint after the competition, when the jumpsuits were examined.
Katharina Althaus, a German silver medalist, and Sara Takanashi, a Japanese star were among five women whose suits broke rules at the Olympic debut event. Each team had two women and one man.
Monday night’s gold medal was won by Slovenia, while Canada and Russia took silver and bronze respectively.
FIS claims that the suits that were found to be in violation of rules were made exclusively for the Olympics. They were not tested beforehand, which was an opportunity that only a few countries took advantage before arriving in Beijing.
Norway’s Silje Opseth, and Anna Odine Stroem had two jumpers with jumpsuits that failed inspection. Daniela Iraschko Stolz from Austria was also disqualified.
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Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis player, sat down with Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee and watched Eileen Gu, an American-born freeskier win gold in Tuesday’s women’s big event.
Peng was seen in Beijing a day following her controlled interview that covered sexual assault allegations against a former high ranking member of China’s ruling Communist Party.
The answers she gave were delivered in front a Chinese Olympic official. They left no questions about her health or what happened.
Bach stated that he spoke for 30 minutes with Peng at Big Air Shougang, where the athletes were present. The pair were then seen together in the stands.
Bach claimed that Peng had told him she was going to quarantine Tuesday night and intended to leave the Olympic coronavirus bubble.
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NBC has confirmed that Leslie Jones, a comedian, is allowed to comment on the Olympics via social media following a misinterpretation of some of her posts.
Greg Hughes, a spokesperson for NBC, stated Monday night that Jones’ videos featuring Olympic footage had been blocked due to a “third party error”.
“We have solved the problem. Hughes stated that she is now free to post her social media posts, as she did in the past.” Hughes said to The Associated Press. Hughes said that she is a huge fan of the Olympics, and we are also super fans of her.
Increased policing on social media platforms meant that Jones’ posts were not allowed to be posted. NBC reached a $7.75 Billion agreement with the International Olympic Committee in 2014 for rights up to 2032.
Jones posted on social media Monday morning that she may stop live tweeting about the Beijing Games.
“I love the athletes, and they love me doing it. It’s a great sport, and I know you all love it. It’s getting too difficult. No one is fighting for me. Jones posted on Instagram and Twitter, “So I guess I’ll just leave it up to the professionals.”
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According to the U.S. Ski Team, Nina O’Brien, an American skier, has suffered a compound fracture of her left fibula and left tibia from falling towards the end of the women’s giant Slalom at Beijing Games.
O’Brien, who had just completed her second run, crossed the finish line and delayed Monday’s race by approximately 15 minutes. After slipping through the last gate, O’Brien was in agony as her skis crossed in front.
O’Brien was admitted to Yanqing Hospital for “an initial stabilization procedure”. The team has confirmed that O’Brien will be returning to the U.S. to receive further care and evaluation.
After the first run, O’Brien, 24, was sixth fastest.
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Eileen Gu, an American-born Chinese woman, jumped the first 1620 of the course on her last jump. She stunned Tess Ledeux in France and won the first of three possible gold medals for women’s freestyle big-air.
Gu, also known as the “Snow Princess”, is one of the most prominent local athletes at the Beijing Games. She is a popular medalist in slopestyle, big air and halfpipe. She was unable to win her first gold medal attempt.
Ledeux is the only woman to land a 1620 — 41/2 spins — in competition. She landed one with a slight wobble in Round 1.
Gu suggested after qualifying Monday that maybe she could match Ledeux. She did it with everything at stake.
San Francisco’s 18-year old girl shrieked after landing the jump and then fell to her knees when her score was announced at 94.50.
Ledeux attempted to improve her run in Round 3. She jumped backwards for a switch 1440. Gu’s gold was not in danger, however, as she was unsteady at the landing.
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Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, wore a Team USA pin to the Daily White House Briefing and brought a Team USA water container.
She pointed out that the Obama administration didn’t send a delegation to the Olympics due to “ongoing genocide, crimes against humanity in Xinjiang” and other human rights violations.
“But, at the same time we want to point out that Team USA has our full support. They have our full support. We are watching from home. We would like to express our gratitude to their families and for all they have done over the years.
Psaki said she was an “Olympics-obsessed” person and mentioned Nathan Chen, figure skater — “we’re going watch him.” She also mentioned Chloe Kim, snowboarder, and Mikaela Shiffrin. Psaki fell in her first event, the giantslalom. However, she expects to compete again in other races.
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After testing positive for coronavirus in Beijing, a second Finnish men’s hockey player was taken to an isolation room.
Jussi Olkinuora, goaltender, has joined Marko Anttila as forward in an isolated situation. According to the Finnish Olympic Committee, Olkinuora was captured Monday. Anttila is still there.
According to a spokesperson for the Finnish Olympic Committee, Anttila and Olkinuora have recovered from COVID-19 and were able to travel to Beijing after testing negative. Anttila and Olkinuora did not report any symptoms.
The Finnish Olympic Committee does not know when either player will be released. The team’s first game is Thursday.
