That’s all for today, but be sure to come back from 5am GMT on Tuesday for the latest from day 11. Here’s the day 10 headlines:
- Britain’s curling teams earned vital victories to boost their medal chances
- Norway took two more golds in speed skating and ski jumping to increase their Games tally to 11
- The two-man bobsleigh ended in a dead heat with Germany and Canada taking gold
- Canada and the USA booked their places in the women’s hockey final
- Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky has been charged with a doping offence by Cas
- US skier Mikaela Shiffrin has withdrawn from the women’s downhill event
- Elise Christie has been cleared to race in Tuesday’s 1,000m heats
- Lizzy Yarnold likes knitting
Thanks for joining me. Bye!
Updated
Norway win their 11th gold of the Games
Andy Wellinger, who won gold in the individual normal hill event, is up first but can’t get the distance to put any real pressure on Norway. Kamil Stoch, winner of three Olympic golds, goes next but can only match Wellinger’s distance. Poland take bronze with 1072 points, Germany silver with 1075. Fine margins!
All that’s left is for Robert Johansson, sporting a magnificent moustache, to cruise down the runway and seal another Norwegian gold. They finish with 1098 points.
Austria’s Michael Hayboeck has done enough on the final jump to keep his team in fourth, despite an impressive effort from Slovenia. Barring something disastrous, Norway, Poland and Germany will take the medals – but in which order?
Norway are in a commanding position with the final round now under way. While you wait to find out if Poland or Germany, currently second and third, can overtake them, have a look at our guide to Winter Olympics wardrobe malfunctions:
What’s coming up on Tuesday, I hear you ask. Well, you could always read the schedule, but I’ll break it down here. There are golds up for grabs in the following events:
- Short track women’s 3,000m relay
- Ice dance: free dance
- Women’s ski halfpipe
- Nordic combined LH/10km
- Biathlon mixed relay
For Team GB, there’s Elise Christie in short-track heats action, and a big day for the men’s curling team who play Norway and Japan. The British women’s bobsleigh team are also in action: they crowdfunded their way to the Games after seeing their funding cut.
One more set of medals on the line today, in the men’s ski-jumping team event. We’re halfway through the final round, with Norway in pole position to pick up their 11th gold of the games. In the women’s hockey, Canada will play USA in the final everyone expected; they lead the Russian team 4-0.
It’s not winter sport related, but behold the absolute state of this:
Drama in the bobsleigh, and on the curling rink (albeit of a slightly slower variety), where Britain have grabbed two points in the final end, holding their nerve to beat Switzerland 8-7! They’re now fourth in the standings, and will qualify for the semi-finals with wins over Canada and Japan.
Updated
Dead heat in the two-man bobsleigh final!
Canada’s Justin Kripps and Alex Kopacz are last down the track, just needing a clean, quick final run to take gold. Sounds easy enough. They lead by just one hundredth approaching the final two hairpins – and at the line, it’s a DEAD HEAT! Canada and Germany both win gold! Latvia get the bronze, their first medal at these Games.
Johannes Lochner and Chris Weber, second among the German teams and third overall, slip down the field with their final run – guaranteeing Latvia at least a bronze. The final German crew, helmed by Francesco Friedrich, can’t match the brilliance of their third run but they edge out Latvia by 0.05 seconds. Over four runs. It’ll be gold for Germany or Canada...
The curling is going down to the wire, with Britain getting three stones in good position, only for the Swiss to hit back, as they’ve done repeatedly in the last few legs. You come for the Swiss, you’d best not miss. Two stones each to go...
Nico Walther and Christian Poser, who slipped from first to fifth in their last run, go even slower this time around – 49.35 – and look set to miss out on a medal. Latvia’s Oskars Melbardis and Janis Strenga start in fourth place, and boost their medal prospects with a time of 49.21.
The volume rises by the bobsleigh track, where sixth-placed South Korea are on their final run. They take the lead from Canada’s Nick Poloniato and Lascelles Brown, but the medal battle will surely be fought out by the remaining crews. Still a terrific effort, mind you.
Team GB’s women are in a spot of bother in the curling – they conceded two points after a tight, tactical penultimate end, and trail 7-6. They have the final stone in the 10th end, and realistically need to win to keep their medal hopes alive.
Mikaela Shiffrin’s busy Games continue – she’s now pulled out of the blue riband skiing event, the downhill:
The first round of the ski-jumping men’s team final has passed off largely without incident – the heavyweights have all qualified, with Norway leading the pack ahead of Germany and Poland. The USA, Italy, Czech Republic and the hosts all failed to progress.
Updated
Over on the bobsleigh track, Britain’s Brad Hall and Joel Fearon are up next, having slipped to 11th after a poor third run. Every crew are looking to take the lead in this reverse-order final round, and Britain are close, but wind up second to Switzerland. Now we hit the top 10 – three Canadian crews, three from Germany, two Latvian, one from Austria and one from South Korea.
Updated
Team GB pick up a point in the eighth end, to lead 6-5 with two ends remaining. If it’s level after that, they play another end. Why not? Elsewhere, it’s Denmark 4-6 OAR, China 4-10 USA (R) and Japan 2-4 Sweden.
Here’s the latest medal table, with Norway the first nation to reach 10 golds:
It’s time for the fourth and final two-man bobsleigh run, with the lowest-ranked teams going first. That includes crews from the US and Russia, who are used to threatening the podium in this event. It’s not going well for the Russians in the hockey either – they’ve just gone 2-0 down to Canada.
There’s still bobsleigh and ski jumping to come, but this could be a pivotal moment for Team GB in the curling. A precise final stone from Eve Muirhead leaves Switzerland needing an aggressive shot to save the end – and they pull it off, grabbing two points when they could have lost one. All square again at 5-5.
Britain have started the second half well in the curling, leading 5-3 and in position to extend that lead in the seventh end. The women’s team have two more matches after that – against Canada and Japan – before sitting out the last round of fixtures with fingers crossed.
Norway claim 10th gold in dramatic race
Mulder takes to the track, but is only good enough for sixth – it’s his racing partner, Norway’s Havard Lorentzen, who spoils the party, pipping Cha Min-kyu by 0.01s, and taking the Olympic record to boot! That’s Norway’s 10th gold of the Games, and they’ll go clear at the top of the medal table. China’s Gao Tingyu takes bronze.
Absolute scenes over at the Gangneung Oval, where South Korea’s Cha Min-kyu has equalled the Olympic record to take first place in the men’s 500m! Just six skaters remain, including Ronald Mulder and Kai Verbij, but the home hopeful will take some beating. Less impressive was Poland’s Artur Nogal, who fell over inches past the start line. You have to feel for the guy:
The stuff of nightmares for 🇵🇱 Artur Nogal. #SpeedSkating #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/WNifTf1vYM
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 19, 2018
Updated
In the
ice
hockey, Canada lead
Russia
OAR 1-0 early on. Canada are looking to face the USA in the final, as they have done in four of the five previous Olympic finals. It’s half time in the curling, where Switzerland have pulled a point back to level at 3-3.
Updated
This is well worth your time: the story of Torin Yater-Wallace, who has overcome his father’s fraud conviction, financial hardship – and an infection that nearly killed him – to be an Olympic contender.
Mike MacKenzie has been in touch from London, Canada, asking that I refer to ice hockey as simply ‘hockey’. “I doubt anyone needs the ‘ice’ adjective,” he adds, not unreasonably. Mike, I refer you to the Super Furry Animals.
After four ends to be filed under ‘cagey’, Great Britain lead Switzerland 3-2. In a match taking place in the same arena, USA lead China 7-1 after three ends – good and bad news for Team GB, sandwiched between the two sides in the standings.
Here’s the latest on Elise Christie, who is set to compete in Tuesday’s 1,000m heats after shaking off an ankle injury.
Coming up now, the men’s 500m speed skating final. For the first time, competitors have just one run to set a winning time – previous Games have seen multiple runs over the distance, with the best time overall winning. It’s a competitive field, with 2014 winner Michel Mulder failing to even qualify this time. His twin, Ronald Mulder, is narrow favourite, ahead of Jan Smeekens and Kai Verbij. All of these contenders, as if you had to ask, are Dutch.
Updated
The leading 12 bobsleigh contenders have all hurtled down the track, and Britain are, er, 11th, almost a full second behind new leaders Canada. Justin Kripps and Alex Kopacz are still only 0.13 ahead of fifth-placed Germans Walther and Poser, who led after the second run. There are two other German crews, and the up-and-coming Latvians, sandwiched between them.
Take a look at the best images from day 10, with our latest gallery:
Too many errors in that run, and Britain will now face a battle to finish in the top 10. Still, the four-man discipline is expected to offer a better shot at a medal. Austria edge ahead of them into seventh. Over in the curling, Team GB lead 2-0 after two ends against Switzerland.
Don’t forget, you can get a daily rundown of all the latest Winter Olympics news by signing up to our email:
The battle between the German crews is heating up, with four-time world champions Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis jumping up to second with a flying third run. Next up, it’s Britain’s Brad Hall and Joel Fearon...
Over to the bobsleigh, perhaps the sport I would least like to try for myself. The fastest crews from the first two runs go first in this third run, and Canada – in second place at the halfway mark – have edged ahead of Germany’s Nico Walther and Christian Poser already. The second German pair, Johannes Lochner and Christopher Weber, also outdo their compatriots and move up from third to second. The British crew are in seventh place.
Just why are the Dutch so good at speed skating? Andy Bull tries to find some answers here:
Some actual sport taking place now, and the speed skating has begun with a bang. In the women’s team pursuit quarter-finals, the Olympic record has been broken by, no prizes for guessing, the Netherlands. They beat the hosts in the first quarter-final, finishing in a time of 2.55.61. The final of that event takes place on Wednesday.
Britain’s women’s curling team are out on the ice, taking on Switzerland where it’s 0-0 in the first end. Both teams keeping it tight early doors. Britain also have faint medal hopes in the two-man bobsleigh – the third run of four is imminent.
Updated
Even if you don’t know your hogline from your hammer, you’ll probably ken that curling has its roots in Scotland – and, as it turns out, so does every stone used in the Olympics. They all come from Ailsa Craig, a tiny Scottish island – find out more here. And here’s that granite being put to good use by the British men’s team earlier on:
Updated
Coming up:
At 11am GMT (8pm local), the women’s curling continues with the ninth round of group games. Great Britain face Switzerland, realistically needing three wins from their last three games to reach the semi-finals.
Still to come, there’s medals to be won in the men’s 500m speed skating (12pm GMT), a women’s ice hockey final place up for grabs as Canada face
Russ
OAR, the final two runs of the two-man bobsleigh and a personal favourite, a bit of ski-jumping. The men’s team final will round off the day at 1.30pm GMT.
While we wait for some action, here’s a lovely read on the 1988 Mexican bobsleigh team – four brothers who had never seen snow, but made it to the Winter Olympics:
Now, Mikaela Shiffrin has had a mixed Olympics so far – she took gold in the giant slalom, missed out on a medal in the slalom, then pulled out of the Super-G event to avoid fatigue. The American then lent her skis to Czech snowboarder Ester Ledecka, who went and won gold in the biggest shock of the Games. Now, Shiffrin’s boyfriend – French skier Mathieu Faivre – has been sent home for saying his team’s results didn’t matter to him.
“I said that the performance of the team was the least of my concerns when responding to a question about the French team’s overall good performance,” the 26-year-old said in a statement.
“When asked to describe my feelings on the race 10 minutes after I had crossed the finish line, only my performance and my failure were present. I have to admit, coming from the south, that I am hot-blooded. So words somehow overtook my thoughts.”
Updated
And in case you missed it on Sunday, here’s a couple more choice clips with actual winter sport action in them. First up, controversy on the curling rink between Team GB and Sweden:
And a photo-finish for the ages after 15km of racing in the men’s biathlon:
Thanks Jonathan, and good morning/evening/night everyone. We are still a couple of hours away from any medal action, with day 10’s big story still the formal charging of a Russian curler with a doping offence. The IOC have responded to the news – see the video below.
I’m shortly going to pass the olympic flame over to Niall McVeigh who will live-blog you into the Pyeongchang night. Among the evening’s highlights will be the men’s 500m speed skating final.
There are some incredible images coming through of the third official training session of the nordic combined.
Still to come tonight:
Medals:
Speed-skating: men’s 500m (AEDT 22:53)
Bobsleigh: two-man competition (AEDT 0:00)
Ski-jumping: men’s team competition (AEDT 0:36)
Other sports:
Curling: women’s round robin, session nine (AEDT 22:05 onward)
Ice-hockey: women’s semifinal: Canada v OAR (AEDT 23:10)
While there’s a lull in the action I’ll remind you of the story that’s unfolding around Alexander Krushelnitsky, the Olympic Athletes of Russia curler who has tested positive for meldonium.
This is fun. Who knew curling was popular in San Francisco?
.@TeamShuster what a game!!! What a great moment for @usacurl . Congratulations on a big win. Thanks to our friends at @novelbrewing for hosting an amazing watch party. #curling #PeyongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/qvuheJDhpL
— SF Bay Area Curling 🥌 (@sfbacc) February 19, 2018
The results from the #PyeongChang2018 #Olympics #curling men's round-robin session nine games pic.twitter.com/EUIItAWCTK
— World Curling (@worldcurling) February 19, 2018
“HARD! HARD! HARD!” bellows John Shuster to his sweepers who go full glitch-in-the-Matrix to prevent the final stone hitting Canada’s guard. It slides past with millimetres to spare, securing the winning point. A thrilling end to a nip-and-tuck contest that keeps the US in the semi-final mix and leaves Canada looking over their shoulder in third after losing three in a row.
Down to the final couple of stones in this extra end and it’s still anyone’s but a superb rock from John Shuster has the US in the box seat.
That all-North American affair is the last action on the ice because Korea have completed their victory over Italy. The final scoreline read 8-6 with the hosts holding off a late Italian fightback.
It’s a consolation point for the Koreans really as they remain bottom of the group, but now level on points with the vanquished Italians.
Updated
Drama in the ding-dong between the USA and Canada. The US held a two point lead into the final end but that has been erased and we’re heading to an extra end!
The US need to win this match to stay in the hunt for the knockout phase. Canada currently sit in a handy third place in the group.
YES BOYS!! 👊@Team_Smith13 claim two in the final end and turn the match around to win 7-6!
— Team GB (@TeamGB) February 19, 2018
The boys are now 4-3 for the round robin and are still in the hunt for the semi-finals.#lovecurling #WeAreTheGreat pic.twitter.com/ybWPs20j3t
Great Britain began the tenth end 5-6 down to Denmark but Kyle Smith delivered the two winning points with the last stone to secure a gritty victory.
The win moves GB into fourth in the group, for now, and on track for a spot in the semi-finals. With just two wins from their seven matches Denmark remain in South Korea to make up the numbers.
High five...we grab our deuce in the ninth end! #TeamUSA leads Canada 7-5 with the tenth end coming up!! #Merica #UnitedWeStand #TeamShuster #USA pic.twitter.com/lDUioqrRZ4
— Team Shuster (@TeamShuster) February 19, 2018
Heading towards the end of this session of men’s round robin curling, the first result is in, and it’s a massive upset. Previously unbeaten Sweden have fallen to Switzerland a whopping 10-3.
Sweden retain top spot in the group but the Swiss will move into second place in the race for the semi-finals.
Updated
This Alexander Krushelnitsky story is moving as speedily as Lizzy Yarnold down a slippery slope. The B sample has now been analysed with reports Meldonium is the offending substance.
BREAKING: Russian curler formally charged with doping offence at #Pyeongchang2018. B sample confirms presence of meldonium... https://t.co/7mWoPn32Pb
— Nick Butler (@NickJMButler) February 19, 2018
If you find Meldonium a somewhat recognisable four syllable word it’s because Maria Sharapova sat out 15 months of tennis for being found guilty of using it.
On the subject of curling, the spectre of Russian doping has once again materialised, although in perhaps the unlikeliest of disciplines.
Thanks very much Kate.
Be gentle with me dear reader, I am not at home in the snow and ice, so an incorrect assertion or twelve may stud the next couple of hours of live-bloggery. It may be to everyone’s benefit that there isn’t a massive amount of action in PyeongChang at the moment.
Curling is where it’s at for the time being. Scores as they stand in the Men’s Round Robin Session Nine are: Republic of Korea 7-4 Italy; Switzerland 5-3 Sweden; USA 5-3 Canada; Denmark 4-4 Great Britain.
OK, my colleague Jonathan is here to take over, so I’m going to jump out of the blog and leave you with my last post about curling trousers.
However, some key points so far include:
- Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada broke their own short programme world record in ice dance figure skating
- USA defeated Finland 5-0 in the women’s ice hockey semi-final
- Stephanie Venier of Austria set the fastest time in women’s downhill ski training
- Cassie Sharpe of Canada leads all comers in the women’s ski halfpipe qualifying, with Britain’s Rowan Cheshire qualifying ninth.
-
Top women’s big air qualifiers were Anna Gasser of Austria followed by Yuka Fujimori and Reira Iwabuchi of Japan. Team GB’s Aimee Fuller missed out on qualifying with two falls.
Still to come later today are:
Medals:
Speed-skating: men’s 500m (AEDT 22:53)
Bobsleigh: two-man competition (AEDT 0:00)
Ski-jumping: men’s team competition (AEDT 0:36)
Other sports:
Curling: men’s round robin, session nine (AEDT 16:05 onward) and women’s round robin, session nine (AEDT 22:05 onward)
Biathlon: 2x6km women + 2x7.5km men mixed relay official training (AEDT 21:45)
Ice-hockey: women’s semifinals play-offs: Canada v OAR (AEDT 23:10)
Updated
While we’re on the topic of curling, I do wholeheartedly recommend checking out this fine article on Norway’s curlers and their incredible Winter Olympic trousers (ranked). How they came about is not the most exciting story in the world (it’s just a sponsor thing) but I think #11 are my faves. Or maybe #10? Too difficult to decide.
Read more: Norway’s curlers and their incredible Winter Olympic trousers – ranked
Plenty of curling in action today, with some of our afternoon men’s round robin (session nine) games happening currently. Scores as they stand are: Republic of Korea 5-3 Italy; Switzerland 4-2 Sweden; USA 3-3 Canada; Denmark 4-2 Great Britain.
It’s going to be a tense showdown between Canada and France’s top figure skating teams. They even share the same coaches and practice at the same rink in Canada. Here’s what the Canadians had to say about the rivalry after breaking their own world record:
“We’ve marked them as our rivals for a long time, from the start of this comeback. We watched their worlds when we weren’t there and we have nothing but respect for these two,” said Moir.
Meanwhile Papadakis and Cizeron said the rivalry with the Canadian pair was at times exhausting. “Yeah, it has been something that has been really hard to work with but really inspiring at the same time,” Cizeron said. “It really pushes us to go over our limits and it has been an interesting journey. It brings out our competitive energy but that’s what we look for in sport I think. Every athlete wouldn’t be as good if [they] didn’t have someone to push against.”
It’s all over in the women’s ice-hockey semi-final, with USA triumphing 5-0 over Finland.
As we mentioned earlier, Great Britain’s Aimee Fuller missed out on qualifying for the big air snowboarding final after falling twice. Looks like she sustained some pretty nasty bruises to the face!
Took 1 to the grill. pic.twitter.com/KHZw0fc6EJ
— Aimee Fuller (@aimee_fuller) February 19, 2018
There’s two new Japanese Olympic heroes in figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu and speed-skater Nao Kodaira. Hanyu was personally congratulated by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after his win in the men’s singles on Saturday (which incidentally set Japanese social media alight with 1.1 million tweets of £Hanyu-kun within 90 minutes). Japanese speed-skater Nao Kodaira then won gold by setting an Olympic record of 36.94 seconds in the women’s 500m on Sunday. She is the first female speed skater from Japan to win an Olympic title in an individual event.
Things aren’t getting any better for Finland in the ice-hockey, with USA now up 5-0.
A THIRD power play goal for USA.
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 19, 2018
Complete and utter domination for the red, white and blue 🇺🇸💪
Watch 👉 https://t.co/5HDGT7gk34 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/tFpnfh9TGT
You might have heard the story by now, but downhill skier Vonn caused some controversy on social media earlier in the Games for saying she was representing “the people of the United States, not the President”. The 33-year-old had previously said she would not visit the White House if she won Olympic gold, and faced plenty of criticism from supporters of Donald Trump.
But the American says abuse on social media will not silence her from voicing her own personal political opinions or stop her from engaging with her fans online.
Vonn’s failure to medal in her opening event, the Super-G on Saturday, prompted some social media users to mock her performance, celebrate her failure and express hopes of her injuring herself. “That is what bullies want you to do. They want to defeat you and I am not defeated, I am the same,” she told reporters after training for Wednesday’s downhill. “I stand by my values and I am not going to back down. I may not be as vocal right now with my opinions but that doesn’t mean they have won. I haven’t changed my mind.”
Vonn said some of the comments had affected her, but she had decided not to monitor social media before her races. “It is hard. Definitely before the race I don’t go on social media, I may post something but I don’t look at anything,” she said. “I always try to remember that is people talking behind a computer and they are going to say anything and the most important thing is that I am having a good time, I am enjoying being at the Olympics, my family is here, they love me.
“There are of course going to be people who hate me and hope I ski off a cliff and die. That’s fine. I’m not going to do that. I just take it for what it is, at some point you just have to laugh and say it is completely ridiculous.” - Reuters
We’ve also had some women’s downhill action today, with Stephanie Venier of Austria setting the fastest time in second training. Venier is ranked ninth in World Cup downhill rankings. Behind her were two favourites in Sofia Goggia of Italy, just 0.08 slower, followed by Lindsey Vonn of the USA with 1:40.10 (+0.35).
The women’s ice-hockey semi-finals playoffs are happening today, with the USA building a strong lead over Finland. It’s currently 4-0 to the USA.
In fourth spot in the short programme figure skating qualification are American siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani, just 0.02 points shy of their compatriots. They won bronze in December’s Grand Prix final, and had this to say afterwards:
“We’ve been on the same podiums with them at the major competitions leading up to the Games and we’ve taken some places away from Gabriella and Guillaume on occasion,” said Alex. “We’re out there trying to be the very best team that we can be and that’s pretty damn good. They are great teams but I don’t feel intimidated by anyone and I know Maia doesn’t either.”
Updated
Meanwhile, for all our figure skating lovers out there, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir have reached further heights by breaking their own short programme world record. This will purportedly be their last Olympics, and they scored 83.67 for their Latin routine (which broke their previous record of 82.68). Don’t forget that they’ve already won four medals, and have been beaten only once since they came out of retirement in 2016.
France’s Gabriella Papdakis and Guillaume Cizeron finished less than two points behind the Canadian pair, with a score of 81.93 (to the soundtrack of Ed Sheeran). They’re the pair who managed to beat Virtue and Moir between 2016 and now (which incidentally caused Virtue and Moir to change up their programme).
In third place are Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue from America (with 77.75).
Here are the other results to come out of the women’s ski halfpipe qualifying from earlier today. Cassie Sharpe of Canada leads all comers after she laid down the two highest-scoring runs, with 93.00 on her first and 93.40 on her second attempts. Sharpe is said to be feeling confident after landing both runs. She was followed by Marie Martinod of France (92.00) and Brita Sigourney of the USA (90.60).
You may have noticed that I include a photo with every one of my blog posts (with rare exceptions). This is partly because I love visuals, but also because the photos of these Olympics are spectacular – and really capture some of the amazing feats we’re lucky enough to witness. If you enjoy them, like me, here’s a round-up of some of the best to emerge from day nine:
The top qualifiers for the women’s big air were as follows: Anna Gasser of Austria with 98.00, Yuka Fujimori of Japan with 94.25 and Reira Iwabuchi of Japan with 92.75. From a more local perspective, New Zealander Zoi Sadowski Synnott also qualified in fourth with 92.00.
In case you hadn’t heard of it already, today marks big air snowboarding’s debut on the Olympic stage. The sport is known for big tricks and hits, as well as being a crowd-favourite. Australian Jess Rich competed in the event, aiming for a top 12 finish to qualify for the final (to be held on Friday). Sadly for Jess, she finished just out of finals contention in 13th. Still, it was an incredible result, given she has had a broken back, collar bone and a ruptured ACL in the past 18 months!
This was what she had to say after she managed two clean runs on her Olympic debut:
“It was a surreal experience,” she said. “Definitely wasn’t what I planned and so having to deal with a lot of things in the lead up definitely made it challenging. I didn’t know if I was actually going to make it so the fact that I was able to just drop into the jump today is a huge thing for me.
“I had to play with the cards I was dealt and I had to choose the tricks that work for me and my injury and the fact that I put them down is the one thing I wanted. I did better than I thought. To be up against all those women that are riding their best, to come 13th ... I’m stoked.”
Meanwhile in the big air snowboarding, Team GB’s Aimee Fuller missed out on a medal after falling twice. Her best score of 25.00 left her in 25th with the top 12 progressing. “It’s a shame my luck was in the practice and not when it counted,” she admitted.
The good news from Britain’s perspective on day 10 in Pyeongchang is that Rowan Cheshire has qualified in ninth place for the final of the women’s ski halfpipe. What makes Cheshire’s story particularly heartening is that four years ago she suffered horrible crash in training at Sochi that led to anxiety attacks, depression, and a worry that she might die if she risked the tricks that had made her a medal contender.
She’s just been speaking and she thinks she can do even better in tomorrow’s final. For now, though, she plans to relax. “I’m going to pamper myself tonight, have an early night. Maybe watch a bit of Netflix and do some yoga and just relax,” she said.
Meanwhile GB’s other athlete in the ski halfpipe, Molly Summerhayes, who is not funded and works in McDonald’s to finance her career, came a creditable 17th but misses out on the final.
Updated
Welcome to day 10
Hello everyone, and welcome to day 10 of competition.
We’ve got three different medal events today, unfortunately all much later in the day (which will suit international but not Australian audiences). These include:
Speed-skating: men’s 500m (AEDT 22:53)
Bobsleigh: two-man competition (AEDT 0:00)
Ski-jumping: men’s team competition (AEDT 0:36)
Other sports to feature from AEDT 16:00 (now) onward are:
Curling: men’s round robin, session nine (AEDT 16:05 onward) and women’s round robin, session nine (AEDT 22:05 onward)
Biathlon: 2x6km women + 2x7.5km men mixed relay official training (AEDT 21:45)
Ice-hockey: women’s semifinals play-offs: Canada v OAR (AEDT 23:10)
Previously today, we had some big air snowboarding action (the sport’s Olympic debut), figure skating (ice dance short dance dance) and freestyle skiing, so I’ll bring you some updates on those as we go.
Updated
