The ice hockey ends 4-0 to Russia. The Russians clinch the group and progress automatically to the quarter-finals. The US face a qualifying playoff on Tuesday. “My favourite thing about ice hockey is the Zamboni machine that cleans the ice,” writes Tom Lutz. “It is very pleasing to see the ice go from marked to nice and shiny.” I think we can all identify with that. But of course today is all about another glorious slider: Elizabeth Anne Yarnold MBE, who became the first two-time gold-winning Winter Olympian in British history with a simply stunning run of 51.46 seconds on her last slide in the skeleton, a performance which both seized the day and got into final competitor Janine Flock’s head. Sport at its very best. And let’s not forget the bronze medals secured by Laura Deas and Izzy Atkin. It’s been a wonderful day for Britain ... nearly. Let’s hope Elise Christie recovers from her crash on the short track, and earns some redemption later in the week. Thanks for reading, everyone!
Kamil Stoch wins gold for Poland in the men’s large hill ski jump! He retains the title he won in Sochi, with 285.7 points, beating Germany’s Andreas Wellinger by 3.4 points. Wellinger’s final effort was a massive 142 metres, 5.5 longer than the Pole’s jump, but the wind factor did for him. The German’s happy enough, though, with gold in the normal hill already in his back pocket. The pair embrace sportingly at the bottom of the slope, and that’s Poland’s first medal of these Games.
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A report on Great Britain’s Greatest Winter Olympian? Here you go!
“Right. I’m all over this now.” It’s Lutz, isn’t it, readers. “As has been the case so often recently between Americans and Russians, it’s Putin’s team that are in complete control. It’s now 4-0 in the third. In mitigation, the Russian team is filled with professionals who know exactly what they’re doing while the Americans are mostly plucky amateurs and journeymen. Make of that what you will.”
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We’ve updated our medal table. Just in case you fancy looking at it. No other reason.
Russia are 3-0 up on the USA in the ice hockey. “OAR scored the third with 0.2 seconds left in the second period,” reports our man Tom Lutz,
a large bag of pretzels balanced on his chest
hard at work in New York. He missed the second goal because he was watching the skeleton. Oh Lizzy! How could you!
Lizzy Yarnold is now Britain’s most decorated Winter Olympian. She’s the only athlete to win two golds. That puts her ahead of figure skaters Jeannette Altwegg (1952 gold, 1948 bronze) and Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean (1984 gold, 1994 bronze). This is also the first time Britain have won three Winter Olympic medals in the same day, thanks to the bronze medals picked up by Yarnold’s fellow slider Laura Deas and slopestyle skier Izzy Atkin.
Yarnold smashed her own track record by two tenths of a second! What a way to claim gold. That’s what champions do. She celebrates wildly; Deas, who finished in third, 0.62 behind her team-mate, is in floods of tears. A joyous scene. Spare a thought for poor Janine Flock, though, who had gold there for the taking, but couldn’t respond to the challenge thrown down by Yarnold. That was an astonishing slide! Talk about taking control of a situation ... while heading down the side of a mountain head first. What heart, what nerve, what talent. And Britain’s domination of the women’s skeleton continues apace: bronze for Alex Coomber in 2002, silver for Shelley Rudman in 2006, gold for Amy Williams in 2010 and now gold for Lizzy Yarnold in 2014 and 2018! This is most acceptable behaviour!
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Lizzy Yarnold wins skeleton gold!!!
And it’s bronze for Laura Deas! Flock’s final run is poor, slow out of the blocks and never in perfect control. A bang-average time of 52.12 sees her drop out of the medals altogether; the pain is clear in her eyes when she removes her helmet. She’ll rue a dreadful run that cost her a medal. But the gold itself was won by Yarnold’s brilliant run: fast from the start, she didn’t panic when she took a small hit halfway down, and recovered to record a blistering final time and seize the day! What a performance by Great Britain’s double skeleton gold champion! Gold in Sochi in 2014 and now another four years later!
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Lizzy Yarnold makes the penultimate run of the skeleton! And could it be the decisive one? She goes off at great speed. Even a double hit through one turn doesn’t slow her down. She takes the tape in 51.46, and leads Loelling by 0.45 seconds! It’s all down to Janine Flock!
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Jacqueline Loelling isn’t known for starting fast, but she’s out of the blocks quickly this time. For a second it looks as though she’s lost her momentum, sliding hysterically around one corner, but makes it up through the last section. And how! A stunning run of 51.83 puts her top by 0.17 seconds!
Deas, in fourth place after the third run, starts her final slide in brisk fashion. She’s ahead of Hermann almost immediately. Nearly a third of a second at one point. She slows a bit through the final turns, but that’s a run of 51.91 which puts her in the lead by 0.08 seconds with three athletes remaining! Can she cling on for a medal?
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Tina Hermann shaves half a second off Priedulena’s time. She moves into first, but it probably won’t be enough for the medals. Her German compatriot Anna Fernstaedt, at 21 the youngest in the field, starts slow and can’t usurp the current leader. Here comes Laura Deas!
Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands shaves six hundredths off Vathje’s total. Then Lelde Priedulena of Latvia, the lightest starter in the field, flies down in 52.09 seconds, besting Bos overall by one tenth of a second. Six athletes left, and two of them British.
The business end of the women’s skeleton approaches. With eight competitors left to slide, Canada’s Elizabeth Vathje is in the winner’s circle with a total of 3:28.65. A blistering final run of 51.82 has propelled her to the top right now, but she’ll end the competition outside the medals, and will be ruing her inconsistency: a first run of 52.45 did her from the off, really.
Anastasiya Kuzmina has romped to victory in the women’s 12.5km mass start biathlon, finally securing gold after two silver-medal finishes in the pursuit and individual races. She led from the get-go, and only missed one of her 20 shots on the range, though there was time for some drama near the end. She arrived at the fourth shoot with a large lead, and pinged off her first four discs before having a long think about the fifth. She eventually missed it, as the rest of the field arrived at the range. Despite being forced to ski a 150m penalty lap, she maintained her lead and crossed the line waving a Slovakian flag. Darya Domracheva of Belarus took silver, 18.8 seconds behind Kuzmina, while Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff took bronze, 27.7 seconds off the pace.
Some news of the men’s ice hockey, courtesy of our man in
Pyeongchang
his fancy New York pile, Tom Lutz. “The USA are facing their old rivals the, er, OAR. And the Russians are 1-0 up with four minutes left in the first. Remember that most of the best Canadian and American (and Russian) players are missing because the NHL wouldn’t release them for the Olympics. Spoilsports.” I wonder whether NBC will call that result early. Also breaking on the Peacock Network: Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin win the 1984 ice dancing. Nobody’s going to fall for that Bolero nonsense, right?
It’s the men’s 1,000m short track. Can reigning world champion Seo Yira bring home the bacon for South Korea? The patrons of the Gangneung Ice Arena split their love between Seo and his compatriot Lim Hyojun. But neither are going to make it! Both are taken out when Shaolin Sandor Liu tries to burst through on the inside. All three skitter hysterically off the track! There’s only two skaters still up on their feet! Samuel Girard of Canada - who only made it through to the final on a referee’s advancement - takes the tape in 1:24.650! John-Henry Krueger of the USA picks up silver. Seo gets up and finishes in third, taking bronze. Liu is penalised for cleaning out the Koreans. He’s Elise Christie’s partner. What a day they’ve had.
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While we wait for the men’s short track 1,000m final, some admin for you. Everyone likes admin on a Saturday morning, right? Anyway, sign up for this: it’s The Recap, our unmissable daily Olympic email specifically designed so you don’t, er, miss anything. A one-stop shop for Olympic news. It contains everything you need. I’m going to stop writing this entry now.
So to the final Christie is missing. Choi Minjeong, the world-record holder and favourite, hits the front early, but she’s soon usurped by the Italian Arianna Fontana. Kim Boutain of Canada takes over, then Jorien Ter Mors. With four laps to go, the home favourite looks blocked in. But then she turns on the jets, an incredible burst of speed which simply lays waste the entire field! She powers past four skaters on the outside, and crosses the line in 2:24.948, nearly a whole second ahead of second-placed Li Jinyu of China! Boutin takes bronze. What a race by Choi! A class apart!
An understandably distressed Elise Christie has been taken to hospital for a scan after her crash in the 1,500m short-track speed skating semi-finals. Sean Ingle has the latest from Pyeongchang.
Back to the skeleton, where Nigeria’s Simidele Adeagbo puts in her best slide of the competition so far: 53.73. She’s still rooted in last position, but her mood is celebratory as she jumps off her sled. And so it should be: heading downhill on a tray, head first at 75mph, is nothing to be sneezed at. And with her run, that’s the end of the third heat. Janine Flock of Austria leads the way with a combined time of 2:35.80. A mere two-hundredths of a second behind her: Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain. The halfway leader Jacqueline Loelling is in the bronze-medal position, 0.10 behind Flock. Laura Deas is 0.19 behind the leader in fourth. It’s going to be one hell of a final run.
Words don’t come easy, as the great French philosopher FR David once said. Fortunately the Guardian has a picture desk to field that problem. Click below for some photos that will make you feel simultaneously freezing cold and warm and snuggly inside.
Laura Deas, starting the third run in fourth place, is up next. The British number two is down in 51.96, her first sub-52-second slide of the competition. She remains in fourth place, 0.19 seconds off Flock’s lead.
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Over to the skeleton, then. More drama coming up? It’s in the post, isn’t it. The leader after two runs is out first: Jacqueline Loelling of Germany. She’s admitted to feeling very nervous ahead of today’s runs, and she can’t get under 52 seconds for her third run: 52.04. Janine Flock of Austria is second placed, so second out: she makes it in 51.92. And then it’s the reigning Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold, down in 51.86. So as things stand, she’s 0.02 seconds behind Flock in first place. Loelling’s nerves have seen her give up her halfway lead in double-quick time.
The referee decides to penalise Christie. So the slim chance of Christie advancing thanks to a referee’s decision is gone. It was a fair call, Christie was trying to take a line that was never there for her. She left too much ground to make up on the last bend, and desperation did for her. More worryingly, with her favourite 1,000m discipline still to come later in the week, she’s being stretchered off. It’s possible she’s been hurt by Li’s blade, which met her leg with some force when the pair tangled and flew off the track. God speed. Li is advanced to the final.
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More agony for Elise Christie
And now the final semi-final race. Elise Christie hangs back in the opening exchanges. She smoothly moves up to third with nine laps to go. But then the speed is ratcheted up with four laps remaining. Christie drops to fifth. She turns on the jets, and at the bell is battling with Li Jinyu and the leader, and world-record holder, Choi Minjeong. The Korean is going to win. It’s between Christie and Li on the final turn. Christie tries to round Li on the outside. There’s a collision, Li goes over ... and takes Christie out! More heartbreak - and possible injury from Li’s blade - for Christie. Petra Jaszapati of Hungary goes through in second behind Choi.
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Charlotte Gilmartin is up in the second semi-final heat. She’s up in second early doors, but soon drops back into the pack and with six laps to go crashes to the ice after clipping a competitor’s trailing leg. She grins ruefully, before getting up and finishing the race anyway. Jorien Ter Mors of the Netherlands and Italy’s Arianna Fontana make it through.
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Here we go, then, the semis of the women’s 1,500m short-track skate. The first of three races is a dramatic one: Marianne St Gelais, the 2016 world champion, crashed out in a collision with the home favourite and eventual race winner Kim Alang. Did Kim move across to block St Gelais? The referees are having a good look. Did she legitimately hold her line, or move across to deliberately block? In fact they’ve penalised St Gelais. That looked a very harsh decision on the Canadian, but the home fans erupt in glee. Kim goes through to the final with Canada’s Kim Boutin.
Meanwhile here’s the big shock story of the Games so far ... now in video form! Get clicking, please!
And just in case you missed it, here’s Seanie’s Pyeongchang partner Bryan Armen Graham with his word piece on the very same event.
Of course, it’s already been a successful day for the British team. Izzy Atkin earlier became the first British skier to win a medal at the Olympics, claiming bronze in the women’s slopestyle. Our man in Pyeongchang, Sean ‘Seanie’ Ingle, has already told the story using lovely old words ...
... but now you can get the whole story in the exciting modern moving-picture format too!
No luck for the British entrant in the men’s 1,000m short-track speed skating. Farrell Treacy was well off the pace in the third quarter-final heat, trailing home in last place. All hopes at the Gangneung Ice Arena today rest on Elise Christie and Charlotte Gilmartin, then.
It was apt that Marit Bjoergen proved the difference between Norway and Sweden in the women’s 4x5km cross-country ski. Today’s gold is her 13th medal of a storied career in the Games, and it puts her in a tie for most Winter Olympic medals ever with biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, also of Norway. She can overtake her compatriot - who hoovered up all his gongs between 1998 and 2014 - and become the most decorated Winter Olympian ever with a medal next week in the women’s team sprint relay or the 50km mass start.
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The roof comes off the stadium as the world-record holder Choi Minjeong wins her heat with insouciant ease. The semis come along in just under one of your hours.
Here comes Elise Christie. She could do without any more heartbreak, so a nice easy qualification would be most pleasant. The 1,000m is her more favoured discipline, yet she’s the world champion in this event, so she’s got genuine hopes of a medal in this pursuit. For a while, British hearts were in mouths as she was stuck in fifth spot for most of this heat. But with a couple of circuits to go, she took the long route on the outside and burned past the field. She goes through to the semis in first spot in her heat: 2:29.316.
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Norway have won the women’s 4x5km cross-country relay. It was a two-way battle with Sweden at the end, nip and tuck until the very last stretch, when Marit Bjoergen turned on the afterburners and pulled away from Stina Nilsson. In the end, two seconds separated the teams: Norway crossed the line in 51 minutes, 24.3 seconds. Russia came in third, 41.3 seconds further behind the front two but nevertheless very happy with their performance, having surprisingly led in the early stages before falling away.
To the short-track skating, and the women’s 1,500-metre heats. Kathryn Thomson was well off the pace in the second heat, and won’t be advancing. But better news for the GB team in heat three, as Charlotte Gilmartin crosses the line in 2:29.005. That’s third spot, and she’ll make it to the semi-finals. Elise Christie will run in heat five.
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Some final scores in the ice hockey. Finland set the seal on a 7-2 win over Sweden in the women’s quarter-finals; they’ll meet the USA in the semis. Canada play Russia (well, y’know) in the other one. Sweden will meet Japan at the semi-final stage of the 5th-8th classification tournament. Meanwhile Switzerland’s men have beaten Korea 8-0 in their Group A preliminary game; they’re now third in the standings behind the Czech Republic and Canada. Korean stay bottom.
Metaphorical punch in the Gut dept. Spare a thought for poor Lara Gut of Switzerland, another Alpine skier stunned by Ester Ledecka’s astonishing smash-and-grab in the super-G. Anna Veith of Austria might have had gold ripped from her grasp by 0.01 seconds, but at least she still goes home with a silver; Ledecka’s late run meant Gut missed out on bronze by ... you guessed it ... 0.01 seconds. As if that wasn’t bad enough, this isn’t the first time she’s ended up just outside the medals in the super-G at the Olympics: she was also fourth in the 2014 Sochi Games, 0.07 off the podium. Her reaction to more disappointment today really does make the heart yearn. Fighting back the tears from behind her goggles, she came up with this existential classic: “You have the feeling that everything is for nothing and your entire world is disappearing.” Oh my. The hurt will fade with time, of course, but still.
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It’s now 6-2 to Finland against Sweden in the women’s ice-hockey quarter-final. The other day, they were playing the synth hook from Save a Prayer by Duran Duran over the PA; now it’s a trill from the Birdie Song. It’s an eternal early 80s at the Kwandong Hockey Centre. You’ll hear no complaints from this quarter. Anyway, that match looks as good as over, with less than six minutes left on the clock. Finland are within touching distance of a semi-final against the USA on Monday. Meanwhile the men’s preliminary match between Switzerland and Korea is certainly done and dusted: the Swiss are 6-0 up midway through the third period.
Turns out Yuzuru Hanyu’s gold has a special place in history: it’s the 1,000th gold medal since the Winter Games began! For the record, Charles Jewtraw, a 500m speed skater from the USA, won the first, back in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Here’s the only picture of those Games I could find at short notice. And there was me thinking the era of John Curry and Robin Cousins was a long time ago.
More in-case-you-missed-it news. Though not so much of a shock, this one. Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, the biggest star in the glamorous world of figure skating, has defended his title. In doing so, he joins Karl Schafer of Austria (1932 and 1936) and Dick Button of the United States (1948 and 1952) as a two-time Olympic men’s champ, though he’s still one behind Gillis Grafström, who won in 1920, 1924 and 1928. The first of Grafström’s wins came at your common-or-garden summer Olympics, incidentally, before the Winter Games even existed. But we’re going way off piste here. Back to Hanyu, whose very participation in these Games was in doubt due to a recent ankle injury. “My injuries were more severe than I thought and I could not practice as much as I wanted to,” he says. “If you are a protagonist of a comic cartoon then the setting has been made. Now I have been cheered by so many people. I really am in bliss!”
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Meanwhile in the men’s preliminary-stage ice-hockey, Switzerland have established a two-goal lead against their Korean hosts. The Swiss - twice bronze medalists, both times on home soil, at St Moritz in 1928 and 1948 - can thank Felicien Du Bois and Denis Hollenstein for that early advantage. That’ll give them succour after their opening 5-1 defeat by Canada.
Finland have taken control of their quarter-final in the women’s ice hockey against Sweden. Michelle Karvinen made it 4-0 with the best part of 13 minutes left in the second period, adding to first-period strikes by Petra Nieminen, Susanna Tapani and Riikka Valila. Sweden fought back, Pernilla Winberg smacking the puck off the crossbar, Emma Nordin squeezing one in to make it 4-1. But the Finns have just reestablished their four-goal cushion in short order, Karvinen sweeping home for her second of the match. It’s 5-1. The winner will play the USA in the semis.
In case you’ve just woken up with a start, your head addled with strong tea and confusion, not sure of what’s going on ... and no, I’m not projecting ... you’ll have missed the big story of the day so far, perhaps the biggest in a Winter Olympics for some time. It’s Ester Ledecka, the world champion snowboarder from the Czech Republic, winning the women’s super-G by 0.01 of a second from Austria’s Anna Veith. Poor Vieth, standing there in the winner’s circle, surely expecting to take gold, a look of confusion spreading across her face as Ledecka made off with her dreams. Ledecka was no less disbelieving as the realisation slowly dawned. Have I really done this? No. Nah. Erm. Hmm. Hey, wow! Can’t wait to hear the commentary as I crossed the line on NBC. The joy, heartbreak and drama of top-level sport at its very, very best. No medal for Lindsey Vonn, incidentally, as she pushed too hard through the final couple of turns and went wildly off piste. Anyway, our man Bryan Armen Graham has the story for you.
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Thanks to Pádraig. There he goes, our beautiful world. You’re left with me ... and the curling result. Korea have wrapped up an 11-5 win over Great Britain’s men, something of a shock result seeing it’s their first victory in the round-robin matches. The handshakes fairly took the roof off the Gangneung curling emporium, and that’s put Britain’s chances of making it through to the semis in the balance. In their favour: games coming up against Italy, Denmark and Norway. But it might just come down to the final rubber against the USA. Britain are currently joint sixth in the table; they need to make top four. A nail-biting few days ahead.
I’m just about to hand over the blog to my colleague Scott Murray, so here’s a quick recap on the day so far at the Winter Olympics.
There have been two fantastic feel good stories. Izzy Atkin has become Britain’s first Olympic medal-winning skier, winning bronze in the ladies’ ski slopestyle, and Ester Ledecka, the world champion snowboarder from the Czech Republic, delivered one of the biggest upsets in Winter Olympics history, coming out of nowhere to win the women’s super-G.
And there’s much more to come with ice hockey, curling and all the rest, so keep clicking.
Reuters has an interesting piece on how freestyle skiing Swiss teenager Mathilde Gremaud went from an ambulance on Friday to a silver medal on Saturday:
A day after being rushed to hospital in an ambulance after a training accident, Swiss teenager Mathilde Gremaud passed a concussion test on Saturday before grabbing a courageous silver medal in the slopestyle at the Pyeongchang Games.
The 18-year-old freestyle skier had banged her head when attempting a trick during training on Friday and after getting groggily to her feet, ended up in hospital for a CT scan.
“I actually don’t remember what happened,” she told reporters after finishing runner-up behind compatriot Sarah Hoefflin at the Phoenix Snow Park. British skier Isabel Atkin took the bronze.
“After 180 degrees, I stopped my rotation and I fell on my back and hit my head pretty hard,” Gremaud said. “I was crying.
“I had a little bit of a headache... This morning I was praying that everything was alright. I did some concussion test with the doctor. He said everything was alright and I just enjoyed the day.”
Gremaud, who was fifth at last year’s world championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain, appeared to have landed a knock-out punch in the first run of the final when she scored an 88.00 with an acrobatic routine that put her top of the standings.
She held the lead until deep into the third and final run before the 27-year-old Hoefflin snatched the gold away from her at the death with a score of 91.20.
She was still thrilled with her silver and happy for Switzerland to have two on the podium in the event’s second Games following its debut at Sochi where North Americans hogged the podium.
“I was so stoked, that was really amazing,” said Gremaud. “I was just staying cool and not really thinking about it, just enjoying it.
“I was happy for [Hoefflin], I got a silver, so I can’t complain.”
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The Guardian’s Sean Ingle has just filed a story on the feel good story of the day – Izzy Atkin becoming Britain’s first Olympic medal-winning skier.
Shock ski gold plays havoc with Ledecka's day
From Reuters:
Ester Ledecka’s day – and probably her life – had just taken a surreal turn.
The Czech, ranked 43rd this season in Alpine super-G, had expected to finish Saturday’s ski race and head off quietly to practise for what she thought was her stronger Olympic event, on her snowboard.
Instead she found herself holding court before the world’s media after winning the super-G by one-hundredth of a second to pull off one of the greatest shocks in Winter Olympic history.
“Till today I thought that I’m a better snowboarder,” the 22-year-old told reporters.
“Actually I would rather go riding snowboard now. I don’t want to be rude - you are all great - but I didn’t really expect that I would be sitting here. I should have already had, like, three runs on snowboard now.”
Asked why she was still wearing her ski goggles at a news conference, she explained: “Because I was not as prepared as the other girls that I would be at the [victory] ceremony, and I don’t have no make-up.”
Though she won the 2017 world championship in parallel giant slalom snowboard, Ledecka was until now seen only as a second-tier skier. The very fact of becoming the first person to compete in both disciplines at an Olympic Games seemed remarkable enough.
With all the pre-race super-G favourites starting in positions 1-20, Austrian Anna Veith took a seat in the leader’s chair at the foot of the course after her run and was taking phone calls as she prepared to celebrate her second successive Olympic win in the event.
Then Ledecka, drawn 26th, began her run – unspectacular at first but gathering pace and drawing a roaring crescendo from the crowd as she ripped up the lower half of the course to usurp the shell-shocked Veith.
The Czech looked stunned at the finish, and told reporters later that it had not felt like an especially brilliant run, saying: “I thought I was doing a lot of mistakes.”
Ledecka now faces a quandary over whether to stick to her original plan and concentrate on the snowboarding, or think about going in the women’s downhill Alpine ski race on Wednesday.
“Maybe my skiing coach will be a little bit pushy after today.”
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South Korea have taken a 10-5 lead over Britain in the men’s curling.
🎯🎯🎯#KOR lead 10-5 vs #GBR in men's #curling Watch live: https://t.co/5HDGT7gk34 pic.twitter.com/uzTts5A9qQ
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 17, 2018
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Canada’s loss to Czech Republic was the first time they have lost a men’s hockey game at the Olympics since 2010. This puts me in mind of the great Canadian power pop band the Pursuit Of Happiness’s tribute to the great Canadian ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky.
Also coming up later is ski jumping.
Because throwing yourself off the regular hill isn’t enough, men’s competition on the big hill starts at 7.30am/12.30pm/11.30pm (US east coast/UK/Australian east coast – again, sorry to every other time zone in the world), with the medal round scheduled for 8.30am/1.30pm/12.30am. Watch how the jumpers spread their skis in a V to increase their surface area and lean far forward to make their bodies function like an aeroplane wing.
Results are based on a complex formula having to do with the jumping-off point, the landing point and adjustments for the wind and style. The large hill is a team event and the medal goes to the team with the highest combined score.
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Speaking of ice hockey, as I was below, the rivalry between the US and Russia goes back decades. It was a proxy war at times. It might have been called a cold war, but that was already taken. Who can forget the amazing 1980 “Miracle on Ice” victory by the Americans? (OK, I had forgotten about until I just got reminded of it, but you get the idea.)
The two nations face off again at 7.10am/12.10pm/11.10pm (US east coast/UK/Australian east coast – sorry to every other time zone in the world).
The so-called Olympic Athletes from Russia who, remember, are playing under the Olympic flag following a doping scandal (see below for further explanation) are looking strong this year. They routed Slovenia 8-2 on Friday.
Naturally, the Miracle on Ice is on youtube. What did we do before youtube? I can’t remember.
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And just when you thought things couldn’t get any more exciting for Britain in the Winter Olympics, the women’s curling team have only beaten the great Danes 7-6 and face hosts South Korea next.
And the good news doesn't end there! 😊@Team_Muirhead make it 3 wins from 4 at #Pyeonchang2018. The team take on the hosts South Korea🇰🇷 from 11am GMT today.
— Team GB (@TeamGB) February 17, 2018
#lovecurling#WeAreTheGreat pic.twitter.com/qOQ5Yt7J8T
There is something utterly mesmerising about this display of curling. Seriously.
Superb play from #Kor and the home fans are happy! #Curling is live now: https://t.co/5HDGT7gk34 #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/Cke0vX2ZfV
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 17, 2018
Here is a handy guide of what is coming up later for Team GB.
UK times for @TeamGB. Short track 1500m Thomson heat 10.04am, Gilmartin 10.08, Christie 10.16 (top 3 progress) 3xSF @ 11.13 &/or 11.17 &/or 11.21 (tight here!) Skel run3 Yarnold @ 11.24 Deas 11.26. 1500m final would be at 12.09 and Skel run4 begins at 12.45pm. #SuperSaturday
— Matthew Pinsent (@matthewcpinsent) February 17, 2018
Czechs beat Canada in men's ice hockey
In men’s ice hockey, the Czechs have prevailed in a shootout win against Canada.
From Reuters:
The Czech Republic beat Canada 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday in a back-and-forth preliminary game in the men’s Olympic ice hockey tournament.
Petr Koukal and Jan Kovar both scored in the shootout, topping Canada’s lone goal.
Canada drew first blood on the powerplay early in the first period. With the Czechs’ Dominik Kubalik off for slashing, Linden Vey drifted in from the point and snapped the puck toward Mason Raymond, who redirected it inside the far post and past Czech goaltender Pavel Francouz.
Kubalik redeemed himself a few minutes later, capitalising on a broken clear attempt by the Canadians. Defenseman Chris Lee fanned on a bouncing puck to the right of the Canadian net, and Kubalik grabbed it and squeezed it between goalie Ben Scrivens and the post, knotting the game at 1-1.
The Canadians went back on top later in the period, again on the powerplay. Rene Bourque, who played 12 seasons in the NHL, tapped in a rebound on a shot from the point by Maxim Noreau with one second remaining on a holding penalty to Jakub Nakladal.
The Czechs fought back again, levelling again inside the first minute of the second period. Scrivens stopped a pair of shots from Roman Horak and Michal Birner, but couldn’t contain the rebounds, and former Carolina Hurricane Michal Jordan snatched the loose puck and went top shelf.
Canada continued to outshoot the Czechs but could not finish, squandering a two-man advantage late in the period.
After a scoreless third period and five-minute overtime, it went to the shootout.
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From Press Association, five things you didn’t know about Izzy Atkin:
She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to an English father and a Malaysian mother, and started skiing at the age of three on Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine.
She had scored top 11 results in major ski slopestyle competitions before she achieved her breakthrough by winning a World Cup event in Silvaplana in 2017.
She took up freestyle skiing because she considered it was too cold on Sugarloaf Mountain to wear a racing suit, and preferred the look of the freestyle equipment.
She lists her hobbies as mountain biking, hiking, trampolining, camping and going to the gym.
She is the youngest member of the Great Britain squad at 19 and said she was inspired by 17-year-old American Chloe Kim winning snowboarding halfpipe gold.
Team GB is pretty happy today.
Izzy Atkin's wins @TeamGB 's first ever medal in skiing at a Winter Olympics! 👌
— Team GB (@TeamGB) February 17, 2018
What a STUNNING run under immense pressure 😅
Leave your congratulations messages for Izzy👇#WeAreTheGreat pic.twitter.com/JYc5rRGxQD
Among the events coming up later today are the women’s speed-skating 1,500m final and the women’s skeleton final runs. The full event schedule is here:
From Associated Press, on the slopestyle skiing:
Switzerland’s Sarah Hoefflin is the Olympic champion in women’s slopestyle skiing.
The 27-year-old put together an electric final run down the demanding course at Phoenix Snow Park on Saturday, posting a 91.20 to edge teammate Mathilde Gremaud for gold. Gremaud scored 88.00 on the first of her three runs in the finals but couldn’t top Hoefflin.
Hoefflin is a latecomer to freestyle skiing. She didn’t get serious about the sport until her early 20s when she couldn’t get into medical school after earning a degree in neuroscience.
Isabel Atkin of Britain took bronze with a score of 84.60 in her final run.
Unlike the women’s snowboarding slopestyle final, where wind wreaked havoc with the field, the issues this time around seemed to simply be the treacherous course. Only nine of the 36 runs in the finals were scored higher than 70, typically a benchmark for a relatively clean trip.
Hoefflin was in position for the silver when she stepped into the gate for her last trip. Rather than try to simply hold on to second, she went for the top spot. She finished with an off-axis 720 degree flip. She raised her arms after sticking the landing before skiing into the arms of her coaches.
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I neglected to point out that Izzy’s win is GB’s first ever skiing medal at a Winter Olympics.
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Izzy Atkin wins bronze!
Britain’s Izzy Atkin has won bronze in the women’s ski slopestyle. A full report will follow as soon as we can get it. Well done Izzy.
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I’ve just got emailed a media release from Australia’s sports minister Bridget McKenzie, praising the country’s team “for their outstanding effort at the Winter Games in PyeongChang”.
The release points out that “Australia is currently ranked 17th on the Winter Olympics medal tally – and is the only nation in the southern hemisphere on the medal table – with two silver medals and one bronze”.
It strikes me that being “the only nation in the southern hemisphere on the medal table” at the Winter Olympics might be the cold games’ equivalent of Celtic winning the Scottish Premiership, but it’s three more Olympic medals than I’ve ever won.
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By the way, if OA Russia is new to you, it means Olympic Athlete from Russia and is the International Olympic Committee’s designation of select Russian athletes permitted to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Thank you, Wikipedia.
Some of Saturday’s Winter Olympic scores:
Curling, women
Sweden 8, Switzerland 7
United States 7, OA Russia 6
China 7, Japan 6
Britain 7, Denmark 6
Ice hockey, women’s quarter final
OA Russia 6, Switzerland 2
When I was a youngfella, there were still some people in England who played professional football in winter and cricket in summer. And in America there were a few who played both pro-baseball and football. The Olympics equivalent, sort of, is the select band who have participated in both the summer and winter games.
And in case you missed it because you were asleep or something, meet the Winter Olympians making big strides for diversity.
And good morning to my sister’s friend Shane, somewhere north of London, who kindly whatsapped to let her know I was doing this blog last time I did it, a week ago.
Welcome to day eight
Good morning, evening or afternoon depending on where you are in the world, on a day when NBC was so sure of what the future held they announced the Super-G winners before Czech Republic’s Ester Ledecka went down as they assumed she would do nothing. They assumed wrong.
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