Day nine news roundup
Right, there we are: day nine is in the books. Join us again tomorrow and enjoy what’s left of the weekend!
Otherwise, in the freestyle skiing, Oleksandr Abramenko won goal for Ukraine, with Zongyang Jia of China taking silver and Ilia Burov of OAR bronze.
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In the men’s ice hockey prelim, Canada lead Korea 3-0 in the third period, and Sweden lead Finland 2-1 at the same stage.
Right then, it’s pretty much time to wrap another belting day. In the bobsleigh, Hall (and Fearon) of GB are seventh. That’s a pretty good show - earlier on, BBC reckoned 15th would be ok, 12th would be excellent.
And with that, back to Daniel Harris, who no doubt has had a lovely three-course lunch.
In the two-man bobsleigh, Germany are in pole position before Monday’s final heats. Walther/Poser and Lochner/Weber sit in first and second respectively while, as it stands, Kripps and Kopacz, are in line to take a bronze. Mind you, there is a long way to go yet, with those third and fourth heats still to come.
Kyle Smith has done it! An unbelievable draw under some serious pressure – perhaps the most important of his career – keeps Team GB alive and in the hunt for the semi-finals. GB edge out Italy in 11 ends, 7-6.
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Just the two stones to come in this eleventh and final end. Italy are looking good at the moment. There is no room for error for Kyle Smith, the GB captain who will have the final stone.
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GB take a timeout with four stones remaining. Italy have just drawn a stone but neither have exactly asserted their authority on this end. Viktor Kjell, the coach, comes down to join in the conversation. Italy look pretty smug they’ve caused this.
Here we go, and Cammy Smith kickstarts things with a brilliant splitting shot. Team GB are suddenly all smiles.
Italy nab one point, so the game is tied at 6-6 after 10 ends, so we will go to an eleventh in search of a winner. GB have the hammer, remember.
The Italy vice-skip, Amos Mosaner, has a bit of the Marko Arnautovic, the West Ham forward, about him. He certainly has the build and look for it, and a bit of a temper to boot.
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It is the business end of End 10. Italy have three stones left and Great Britain two. Can GB cling on to their lead and get the win?
In the bobsleigh, Germany x2 are out in front. Walther/Poser and Lochner/Weber are sitting pretty, first and second respectively, with 10 pairs still to come.
A bit of a commotion during this 10th end, as it seems Italy may have kicked (very faintly) their own stone as it descended on the house. There is lots of chit-chat about what happened and what should happen. They opt not to remove the ‘burnt’ stone.
A great shot by Thomas Muirhead put Team GB in the driving seat with only an end to play in the Gangneung curling centre. But they squander the chance to draw for two with the final stone, and have to settle with one point. GB lead Italy 6-5.
On the snow, these robots make pretty light work of flying down the Pyeongchang course.
Won Yunjong and Seo Youngwoo, of Korea, with a time of 49.39sec and Nick Poloniato and Jesse Lumsden, of Canada, with a brisk 49.48sec both nip in front of Switzerland in the early bobsleigh standings. There are over 20 pairs still to come in the second heat of the two-man. Meanwhile, who doesn’t love a photo finish?
GB and Italy exchange gifts but both miss opportunities to take control of the end. Kyle Smith is furious with himself, slamming their last stone into the guarding stone. And Italy pick up two stones to pull level at 5-5.
In the two-man bobsleigh, heat two is hotting up but it is the Swiss pair of Rico Peter and Simon Friedli who remain out in front. Day nine has been another belter, hasn’t it?
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With End 8 in full swing, you would expect nothing less than the swirling Mexican wave that’s reverberating around the Gangneung curling centre. GB lead 5-3. On the topic of curling, how about this?
Right, I’m away for a scran; Ben Fisher will steer you through the next little bit.
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Excellent from Kyle Smith! GB take two again, and restore their advantage to lead 5-3 with just three ends left.
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GB have their last stane, and if they can score a double takeout, they’ll take two points ... but it’s not straightforward...
Back in the curling, we’re down to the vinegar strokes of end 7 ...
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Nao Kodaira takes gold for Japan in the 500m speedskating! she sets a new Olympic record!
Sang-Haw Lee of Korea gets silver, and Karolina Erbanova wins bronze.
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...Herzog of Austria finishes fourth.
One pair to go in 500m...
...but she can’t sustain it! She’s in silver, 0.39 slower than Kodaira.
The crowd are going wild as she’s inside the time after 200m...
Lee of Korea next ... can she make it three golds in a row?
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Kodaira of Japan and Erbanova of Czech Republic are punishing the 500m! Kodaira, queen of the format, is inside the lead by a whopping 0.58s! Erbanova trims the lead by 0.19s, so she slots into second.
It’s building up towards another thrilling denouement in the curling; Italy take end 6 with two and the teams are now level at 3-3.
Dannhauer of Germany is having a proper go at Bowe, but Kim of Korea fights back ... and Kim takes it, but at +0.72.neither can
Brittany Bowe of USA has nipped in front of Ter Mors in the 500m speedskaing, by a princely 0.009.
GB are set fair in end 6, two stones in the centre of the house, and one guarding the Italian stone that will try and knock them out at some point.
The excellent Jorien Ter Morsof Netherlands takes the lead in the speedskating, her time of 37.53 0.86 ahead of second place. But there are some quick types still to come, plenty of them.
Italy and GB basically agree to blank an end, so off we go again with end 6, GB 3-1 in front.
The women’s 500m speedskating is hotting up.
Those lovable Norwegian curlers killing it once more.
You won't get any closer than that!
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) February 18, 2018
An incredible finish in the #biathlon 15km mass start 😲 #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/hu4QMZirPg
In biathlon, each competitor lose 2.3l per race. Eeesh.
GB take one to re-establish their lead in the curling; 3-1 now, after fo ends.
As far as I can detect, anyone who’s anyone has been in the bobsleigh, in which case GB’s seventh place is a pretty nifty effrt.
Bare stanes aboot the hoose as we get to the end of end 4...
Amazing finish in the biathlon! Fourcade is France's greatest-ever Olympian!
Fourcade and Schempp battle to the line together, both dive, stretch, fall, and FOURCADE GETS IT AFTER A PHOTO! AMAZING!
Four years ago, Fourcade lost on a photo-finish...
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Italy only manage one point from end 3, so GB are in good shape heading into 4.
The heroic Fourcade now leads the biathlon. He came second in this even in Sochi, winning the individual and pursuit, and has already won the latter here. One more gold, and he becomes France’s greatest-ever Olympian, but as they come towards the end, Schempp of Germany is giving chase! It’s going to be close!
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Playing end 3, Italy are in good position to take two points with two stanes left.
Guangpu Qi of China leads after round 1 of the men’s aerials, courtesy of a Back Full-Double Full-Full for which he was awarded 127.44. Krotov and Ambramenko of OAR and Ukraine respectively are second and third on 126.11 and 125.67.
Lesser of Germany now leads the biathlon, from Doll, from Schemp - also of Germany.
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Melbardis of Latvia is flying, and he sticks himself at the top of the leaderboard.
In the curling, Italy blanked the second end, so retain the hammer for the third.
Kripps and Kopacz of Canada still lead heat 1 of the bobsleigh, but Walther and Poseur of Germany are now second, the Latvian sled splitting them from the German team previously in third. GB are now sixth.
Speedskating: in the men’s pursuit quarters, Korea, Netherlands, Norway and New Zealand moved into the next round, in that order. So it’s Korea v New Zealand and Netherlands v Norway next, according to the 1v4, 2v3 format.
Lapshin of Korea leads the biathlon at 3km, 1.8s ahead of Doll from Germany.
GB take two points in the first end of the curling; a Canada team and a Germany team have gone faster than them in the bobsleigh, but only by 0.15 and 0.27 respectively.
The men’s mass biathlon is going. Lots of people are working illness-inducingly hard, in very close proximity.
Working hard alongside @TeamGB to try turn this around 🙌🏻🤟🏻 pic.twitter.com/A1fsWrFDSJ
— Elise christie (@Elise_Christie) February 18, 2018
GB have the hammer in end 1 against Italy. They’ve got the chance of a double takeout with their third to last stone. They shift one.
More on curlgate.
Good run from GB, 0.77s quicker than Brazil. We’ll see what they’re 49.37 is worth when a few more teams have a shy at it.
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Fearon sprints like billy-o and leaps in at the back.
Here come GB...
The two-man bob is away, Brazil the first to boust.
BREAKING: Russian mixed doubles #curling bronze medallist reportedly fails drugs test https://t.co/m1z3kEUDyM
— insidethegames (@insidethegames) February 18, 2018
GB and Italy’s men’s curlers are on the ice...
BBC are still banging on about the curling. Electronic stones, and still people aren’t sure about the decision; could it possibly be that infallible officiating is irrelevant to enjoyment of sport?
In GB’s two-man bob can be found Joel Fearon. He seems to me to be an excellent bloke, and you can read more about why here, in this little chat the two of us had.
Right, we’re very close to some live sport. Good!
Lizzy Yarnold, Olympic champion... again!#Pyeongchang2018 #bbcolympics pic.twitter.com/K7qbJTzZGy
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 18, 2018
“This is epic proportions,” says Alex Coomber. Medals have made it to mouths.
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Lizzy Yarnold’s parents are crying, as you might be.
She takes some deep breaths. “For the first time at this Olympics we can enjoy the national anthem.” Steady on, Clare.
And here comes Lizzy Yarnold! She hollers as you might, arms spread and aloft. What a hero!
Jacqueline Loelling looks happy with her silver, or at least is doing her best so to do.
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She admires her medal. It’s not gone in mouth yet.
Laura Deas is beaming and has her bronze medal!
Anyway, the ceremony is underway.
But really, what about this?
Yeah, I know there’s this.
We’re off to the medals plaza in a moment. Maybe they should play this... literally the first bar made me feel like I was 17. Sorry, I might now be off to sit in alleyway for 13 hours. You understand.
Quiz time:
The skeleton medal ceremony is coming up in 17 minutes. If only GB had a proper tune for an anthem; something jungly or grimey would be my choice.
BBC’s bobsleigh expert reckons the team don’t have decent enough equipment to do better than top-15, top-12 if things go brilliantly. Nicola Minichello wonders if the team have found the key to bend 2, discussed earlier with regard to the skeleton.
More on the curling...
"It's the first stone I think I've ever hogged in my life."
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 18, 2018
Eve Muirhead explains what happened in GB's controversial curling defeat. pic.twitter.com/zphE0h1bWC
We’re about an hour away from everything getting going again, but when it does it does, namely:
- Men’s aerials (three runs) 11.00am GMT
- Speedskating men’s team pursuit quarter-finals 11.00am GMT
- Bobsleigh two-man heat1 (featuring GB): 11.05am GMT
- GB v Italy men’s curling: 11.05am GMT
- Biathlon men’s 15km mass: 11.15am GMT
- Speedskating women’s 500m final 11.56am GMT
- Canada v Korea and Sweden v Finland men’s ice hockey 12.10am GMT
Shirely we could have a bit of that the now, I mean have they even thought about livebloggers here?
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And the match is over. Czech Republic 4-1 Switzerland.
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Czech Republic pulling away now, two late goals and it’s 4-1. they lead the group of the best nations, and are through to the quarters. Having beaten Canada, they are a serious threat for the gold.
Still 2-1 Czech Republic in the ice hockey. Meanwhile, we’re told that Elise Christie is “unlucky”; I’m not sure about this. She’s very good at what she does, but surely things not going right on the biggest stage is in some way related to skill, mental or otherwise?
Alex Coomber is talking about what an interesting course it was in the skeleton. There was a tough turn at bend two, so if you started well it might not count for much, and it was also a short track so if you made an error you didn’t have much chance to correct.
Someone who knows curling better than me – yes, such people do exist – explains the controversy...
There was some controversy in the women's curling.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 18, 2018
So why was Eve Muirhead penalised? Jackie Lockhart explains. #Pyeongchang2018 pic.twitter.com/Fe3rvBZSSm
She says that hopefully they’re inspiring a younger generation of girls, and advises her team-mates to enjoy their medal ceremony, “the most mental thing ever”.
And oh look! Izzy Atkin in the house! Who knew?
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Anyhow, they get their medals in an hour.
“She’s an amzing person and I feel incredibly grateful to be sharing this moment with her,” says Deas. “We started this sport together eight or nine years ago...”
Yarnold is now crying, and Hazel Irvine, the greatest and guaranteeing tears, isn’t even involved. The pair are going to have a holiday, and haven’t decided what to do next.
Yarnold says at no point did she doubt herself, and if she focused on herself, her sled and track, she knew she could win – even when she was thinking about pulling out.
Meanwhile, on the rink, Czech Republic have just scored against Switzerland.
Laura Deas and Lizzy Yarnold are back on BBC. Who knew? Anyway, their joy is really nice and also contagious.
This is cool.
That feeling when your daughter wins gold 🙌
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) February 17, 2018
We joined @TheYarnold's parents as she defended her Olympic title in PyeongChang pic.twitter.com/wHOhWhC3PO
It’s not going well for Elise Christie, but you’ve got to admire her aggression.
Crawford-Alcott is saying that eight million people go skiing from Britain every year, which sounds like a lot to me. And she reckons if more people go to Scotland, that’ll translate to performance at the Games.
There are four women in the BBC studio: Clare Balding, Alex Coomber, Chemmy Crawford-Alcott and Nicola Minichello. Imagine a time when that isn’t noteworthy.
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Cezch Republic v Switzerland is a really good game, and it’s 1-1 at the end of the second period. If Czech Republic win, they’re straight into the quarters without need for a playoff.
Go on yourself!
Still 1-1 between the Czechs and Swiss.
I think the technology probably worked. Just a guess, mind.
“You’ve got to rely on technology, but it’s a real sad fact when the technology doesn’t work,” says Jackie Lockhart, world champion in 2002.
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So they’re going to “take every game as it comes” and “take the positives”. Sorted.
However, if GB win all their games they’re in the playoffs, problem being their final one is against Canada, the favourites.
Eve Muirhead is trying to be philosophical about getting penalised – she didn’t let go of the stone in time. She says she’s never done it before and it looks fine on the replay, but they’ve had the stone tested and there’s been no problem. She also says that it’s the story of their week so far.
GB’s James Woods almost nabbed a medal in the slopestyle. Here’s Sean Ingle with more.
In the men’s ice hockey, Czech Republic, dark horses for the gold, are playing Switzerland – it’s 1-1 in the first period – while Japan and Sweden are 0-0 at the same stage.
Which is to say that there’s not a terrific amount going on for the next little bit. But hey, we can talk to each other!
Coming up this morning, we’ve got:
- Men’s aerials (three runs) 11.00am GMT
- Speedskating men’s team pursuit quarter-finals 11.00am GMT
- Bobsleigh two-man heat1 (featuring GB): 11.05am GMT
- GB v Italy men’s curling: 11.05am GMT
- Biathlon men’s 15km mass: 11.15am GMT
- speedskating women’s 500m final 11.56am GMT
- Canada v Korea and Sweden v Finland men’s ice hockey 12.10am GMT
Izzy Atkin is on BBC. She says that having a medal feels “very surreal” and yesterday was “absolutely mental”.
GB are now fourth in the table, 3 and 3. They’re struggling to get out of the roundrobin now. As to the controversy, Eve Muirhead was called for some kind of violation, which gave Sweden as easy task to seal it. They are 5 and 0, and will take some stopping, which tells you how well GB competed today.
Sweden beat GB in the women's curling 8-6 after an extra end (or End)
But it was controversial.
Word em up, Daniel Harris here. Let’s get on with it!
I’m shortly to hand over to London, but here are some of the key results from the last few hours:
Austria’s Marcel Hirscher won gold in the men’s giant slalom, making it his second gold at Pyeongchang after he claimed the men’s combined medal.
Norway’s Oystein Braaten won gold in the ski slopestyle, with a score of 95.00. He was followed by the USA’s Nick Geopper and Canada’s Alex Beaulieu-Marchand of Canada (James Wood of Great Britain, just missed out, in fourth).
Norway won gold in the cross country 4x10km skiing relay, in a tight race from OAR and then France.
Still to come today is: men’s 15km mass start (biathlon) at 22:15 AEDT; men’s freestyle aerials at 22:52 AEDT and women’s 500m speed-skating at 22:56 AEDT.
It has been a great few hours for Norway.
Norway win gold in the cross-country 4x10km relay
That was an incredibly tight race, but Klaebo saves the best for last, speeding away from Denis Spitsov of OAR, despite a late sprint from him. Klaebo enters the stadium victorious and waving a Norwegian flag. Spitsov looks disappointed, arriving to far fewer cheers. The French fell away at in the last few km, but Backscheider makes bronze for them, and they look delighted with that. They were only seventh in the world, but third at the Olympics so that makes some sense.
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Just 1km to go in the cross-country skiing relay and Klaebo (Norway) has put some space between him and Spitsov (OAR). Think the Norwegians will win it from here after all.
While this event is almost over, plenty of viewers are glued to the curling, with Great Britain forcing Sweden into an extra end.
#GBR level up against #SWE and they go to an extra end #curling #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/msoxasJ6oj
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 18, 2018
I take that back, OAR are back in the lead following a brilliant surge by Denis Spitsov! He’s followed by Joannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway and Adrien Backsheider of France. Finland are next best but a fair way behind, so it’s going to be a gold, silver and bronze for these three nations/(not really nations). We’ve almost hit an hour and a half of this race, as Backsheider begins to fall behind (10 seconds behind currently). 2km to go.
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Get excited France. There’s a while to go yet, but Adrien Backsheider has the French in the lead in the 4x10 skiing relay, with around 6km left. Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo is 0.3 behind.
Thanks for tweeting in again Andrew.
@Kate_ohalloran A win for @teamgb in the curling = a win for Korea in the curling = seriously strategic play by the UK. Keep the hosts happy in the early stages, then beat the poops out of them later. Excellent.
— Andrew Benton (@thangnangman) February 18, 2018
Interesting theory! They’re currently down 4-6 against Sweden as it stands, and will need to get on the same page tactically first... Meanwhile, Switzerland are up 8-6. Some enthralling curling action, but right now all eyes are on the cross-country skiing relay, which is turning out to be a VERY close contest between France and Norway in first and second respectively.
Fans of Ted Ligety, look away now. According to Reuters, the two-time Olympic gold medalist is unlikely to compete in any of the remaining Pyeongchang races after he finished 15th trying to defend his giant slalom title.
Norway have regained the lead in the men’s 4x10km cross-country skiing relay. They’re in first, followed by France, and then OAR. Simon Hegstad Kreuger leads all competitors with 11.1km to go.
Final change about to happen. Kreuger will hand over to Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo for Norway, while Clement Parisse will hand over to Adrien Backsheider for France.
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South Korea might finish the day tied for first place in the women’s curling round robin. Yes, you read that right, they’ve defeated Team China 12-5, the crowd is going wild, and if Sweden loses, they’ll finish equal first. Sweden locked in a very tight battle with Great Britain, currently 4-4.
Other results, for the men’s round robin, include: Norway 10-8 def. Denmark; Japan 8-2 def. USA; Switzerland 8-6 def. Canada.
I’m laughing at this, because it’s true that some of the jargon can sound very foreign when you aren’t an expert in a particular Winter Olympic sport!
Just transcribed this quote: "I did a left side double cork 1260 tail grab into a switch, which is also backwards — a backwards right-side double misty 1260 mute grab into a right side triple cork 1440 mute grab changed to a Japan grab."
— Chico Harlan (@chicoharlan) February 18, 2018
For those wondering, Australia’s Dom Demschar finished 33rd in the men’s giant slalom. I’m going to assume that’s a decent result for an Australian.
Big news in the men’s cross-country 4x10km skiing relay, with Olympic Athletes from Russia in the lead and favourites Norway fourth! Italy and France are in second at the 21.67km mark.
Uh oh, team GBR don’t seem to be on the same page in their women’s curling round robin against Sweden. Check out this very interesting footage of them arguing strategy.
Some confusion with the strategy for #GBR women in the #curling 😐#Olympics #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/TDL4c9RXK9
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 18, 2018
Meanwhile, Ester Ledecka’s shock gold in the super-G has left the Czech team inspired, says Alpine skier Filip Forejetek, after news emerged that Ledecka celebrated her win over some KFC.
“She is just amazing. I don’t know what else to say,” the 20-year-old told reporters after his first giant slalom run at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre. “I think the power is coming from her to the whole Czech team and we can try harder and do our best.”
Forejtek described Ledecka as humble and was not surprised to hear that she was seen wearing her gold medal while eating KFC at Czech House after the race. Ledecka’s laid-back approach comes from her father Janek, one of the country’s most popular musicians, who said he is more than happy to share the spotlight with his 22-year-old daughter.
“She’ll be the darling of Czech fans,” he said. While parents of Olympic champions are often gifted athletes themselves, Janek said neither he nor Ester’s mother excelled at sports themselves. “We are not pushy parents,” he said. “It’s the other way. We’re trying to take her away from training, and from the slope some days because she is able to die on the slopes. We have to hold her back. That’s the only problem we’ve ever had with Ester.” - Reuters
If you haven’t already read the report on how Ledecka skated on borrowed skis to gold, check out Bryan Armen Graham’s report. NBC had already announced Anna Veith as the winner before she ran, she was that much of an outsider!
Read more: Super-G: snowboarder Ledecka wins shock gold on borrowed skis with Vonn sixth.
Wondering about what’s happening with the Jamaican bobsleigh team? Of course you are – you, like me, watched Cool Runnings way back in 1993.
Well, turns out Jamaican reggae musician Chronixx has been providing the soundtrack to the country’s first women’s bobsleigh team at the Pyeongchang Games as they look to overcome the drama of earlier in the week.
The Jamaican duo, pilot Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian and brakewoman Carrie Russell faced some unwanted distractions earlier in the week when their German coach Sandra Kiriasis quit suddenly. To top that, there was a dispute over the ownership of their sled and for a time it potentially looked like they could be left without one.
Fenlator-Victorian, however, has turned to music from Chronixx, who sang an ode to his homeland ‘Smile Jamaica’, to “keep the vibes light and heady” ahead of their first race on Tuesday. “That Chronixx hits my soul every time,” Fenlator-Victorian told Reuters after their fourth training on Sunday where they were tied for 11th. “The sun is shining the weather is great and it’s bobsleigh. This is what I live for”.
Kiriasis’s departure temporarily shattered their hopes of emulating the 1988 Calgary Games men’s team whose performance spawned the popular movie “Cool Runnings”. That was until a cool offer from Heineken’s Red Stripe beer to buy the sled put them back in the running.
“It’s the same one we’ve been using and Red Stripe came in to purchase it,” Fenlator-Victorian said. “This is actually the first-ever owned Jamaican bobsleigh and we’re super excited for that.” - Reuters
And now for some happy news that has pleased some US viewers (and LGBT advocates worldwide). NBC have shown footage of Gus Kenworthy getting a kiss from his boyfriend Matt Wilkas live on TV!
A first -- NBC just showed Gus Kenworthy getting a kiss from his boyfriend Matt Wilkas on live TV at the @Olympics. https://t.co/WlAgM5edYb pic.twitter.com/5M3hP3kYCk
— Outsports (@outsports) February 18, 2018
LGBT athletes have had an increasing profile this Olympics, and you can read Eoin O’Callaghan’s article about figure skating’s “complex” history with gay athletes here, which follows Adam Rippon and Eric Radford both medalling as the first two openly gay male athletes to make it onto a Winter Olympic podium. The two had previously posted a photo on Twitter, with Radford writing that he was “proud” to “show the world what we can do”. It even drew the attention of Billie Jean King, who wrote “You guys inspire us older folks as much as you do the youngins.”
So proud that @Adaripp and I get to wear these medals and show the world what we can do! #represent🏳️🌈 #olympics #pyeongchang2018 #pride #outandproud #medalists #TeamNorthAmerica pic.twitter.com/eXMlZ2Utrw
— Eric Radford (@Rad85E) February 12, 2018
Read more: Adam Rippon, John Curry and figure skating’s complex history with gay athletes.
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There’s another gold medal event happening now in Pyeongchang, with the cross-country men’s 4x10km skiing relay. The leaderboard so far looks like this at 1.67km: 1. Italy (4:45.5), 2. Norway (4:45.9) and 3. Austria (4:46.3). Norway are favourites to win (keeping in mind they’ve won four medals at this Olympics in cross-country skiing, including the clean-sweep in the men’s 15+15km skiathlon).
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In case you haven’t heard yesterday’s news, Lizzy Yarnold created history by becoming the first Briton to successfully defend a Winter Olympics title, taking skeleton gold. The 29-year-old had been thinking of withdrawing from the Games after a virus, while she also trailed leader Janine Flock of Austria leading into her final run before emerging victorious by 0.45 seconds. Her British team-mate Laura Deas claimed bronze, the pair also making history as the first to win two medals for Britain in the same event.
Read more: Lizzy Yarnold takes skeleton gold to make Winter Olympics history for Britain
Austria’s Marcel Hirscher wins gold in the men’s giant slalom
He finishes first with a total time of 2:18.04, ahead of Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen (2:19.31) and France’s Alexis Pinturault (2:19.35). For those new to the Winter Olympics and Hirscher, he has already won the men’s combined gold at Pyeongchang, is the defending giant slalom world champion and has won the last six overall World Cup titles.
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Turns out the Channel seven coverage in Australia is on a slight delay, so presuming you want me to jump to the result, here it is (spoiler alert for those watching!)
.@MarcelHirscher wins his second Olympic gold 🥇
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 18, 2018
The Austrian clocks a total race time of 2:18:04 to beat out Henrik Kristoffersen and Alexis Pinturault.#Olympics pic.twitter.com/9ACwtsp0Uh
The men’s giant slalom gold medal race is now underway, with German Linus Strasser the first competitor to complete his second run. He makes 2:21.67 (combined time for both his runs), with a 1.5 second improvement on his first.
Those competitors with the best first runs are: Marcel Hirscher (Austria) with 1:08.27, Alexis Pinturault (France) with 1:08.90 and Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen (Norway) with 1:08.93.
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That elevates Norway’s gold medal tally to eight, and just one behind leader Germany (nine). You can check out our interactive medal tally here at any stage.
You can also watch the replay of Braaten’s gold medal-winning run here.
The standard is set. #NOR Oystein Braaten flies to a 95.00 in the first run of the men's ski slopestyle final!
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 18, 2018
Watch LIVE 👉 https://t.co/5HDGT7gk34#PyeongChang2018 #FreestyleSkiing pic.twitter.com/MTRc9EFfzm
Norway's Oystein Braaten wins gold in the ski slopestyle
Our final competitor Oscer Wester’s run is over as soon as it began, it’s a throwaway, which gifts Oystein Braaten. His top score of 95.00 is enough for gold, and he’s followed by Nick Goepper (USA) with 93.60 and Alex Beaulieu-Marchand of Canada with 92.40. James Woods, of Great Britain, just misses out with 91.00.
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Triple cork 1260 finishes off Beaulieu-Marchand’s clean run of jumps, but he looked to go one-legged on the rail. The judges agree, and it’s just an 82.40, which means he stays in third. Considering he’s 49th in the world, bronze would be a considerable result!
Next up is Andri Ragettli, but he can’t nail the final jump. Just not quite enough elevation on the 1260. Just Oscar Wester to come now, as all competitors wait nervously for their final results.
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Nick Goepper pulls off a 93.60 to bump James Woods down to fourth position! So sorry, GB fans, but it was a wonderful run and he’s into the silver medal slot as it stands. He’s followed by current leader in Oystein Braaten, who makes some very difficult technical work look easy. It’s not his best run, and ends with him falling on his face with the double cork 1440. He’ll hold onto first place with the 95 he scored on his first run.
Three competitors to go...
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Really nice final run by Teal Harle of Canada after he failed to land his first two attempts, which ends with an impressive switch 1440. The judges have taken an excruciatingly long time to deliberate, but his score is 90.00! Ouch. That leaves him just out of contention for a medal, but he’s pleased nonetheless.
A few competitors have had a write-off on their final run, including Elias Ambuehl, who has just received a 73.20 for his last attempt. Now the moment of truth for James Woods. Switch 270 was very clean to begin with, then showed us a big Japan, but a little early on the rail, then too deep on his next jump, he almost falls, but manages to ski the run out... finishes with a nice switch 1440, but 91.00 will be his best score, which he managed on his second run.
He hits 90.00 on the final run, which isn’t bad considering, but won’t elevate him further up the podium. Now he’ll have to hope he holds onto bronze.
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Here are our ski slopestyle rankings currently, with the final run about to start. Team GB are confident of a medal, can James Woods do it?
One run to go and @JamesWoodsy sits in 🥉place, but if he cleans up his rails he’s in with a big chance of climbing higher up the podium @TeamGB #WeAreTheGreat pic.twitter.com/hA3eYqCDTX
— GBParkandPipe (@GBParkandPipe) February 18, 2018
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Welcome to day nine
Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting day of Pyeongchang action.
We’re officially at the halfway point of the 2018 games, and Germany are leading the way with nine gold medals, four silver and four bronze. Second are Norway with seven gold, and the Netherlands come in third with six. Canada and the US follow with five gold each.
Medal action today includes:
- Alpine skiing: men’s giant slalom, live now
- Biathlon: men’s 15km mass start (22:15 AEDT)
- Cross-country skiing: men’s 4x10km relay (17:15 AEDT)
- Freestyle skiing: men’s ski slopestyle, live now and men’s aerials (22:52 AEDT)
- Speed-skating: women’s 500m (22:56 AEDT)
Since we’ve got the men’s giant slalom and ski slopestyle happening now I’ll leave this here, and get onto some of the results as they stand.
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