Exclusive
And that’s your lot for another busy day at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Just 13 more to go. Please join us again tomorrow!
This is outrageous! Lundby sails to the 110-metre mark, earning herself 139.2 points for the final round and a gold-medal-winning total of 264.6 points! What a leap! The 23-year-old wins Norway’s second gold of the games! She’s won six of the last seven World Cup fixtures, and now the biggest prize of all! Althaus must settle for silver, while Takanashi picks up bronze.
Updated
Irina Avvakumova of Russia puts in a stunning jump of 102m to snatch the lead. But her joy is short-lived as Japan’s Sara Takanashi makes it to 103.5m; her points total of 243.8 is quite the mark. That looks like potential gold-medal work. However Katharina Althaus reaches 106m to breeze past her: the German has 252.6 points! Can Maren Lundby of Norway deny Althaus gold?
It doesn’t take long for Hoelzl to be bundled out of the winner’s circle. Ramona Straub of Germany adds 106.1 points to her first-round total of 104.4. But her mark of 210.5 doesn’t last long: the Slovenian teenager Nika Kriznar jumps a mammoth 104 metres to race past Straub with a combined total of 223.2. And then Carina Vogt of Germany trumps them all with a leap of 101.5m that takes her to 227.9. Four skiers to go!
The snow is beginning to come down hard. After 20 jumpers, Chiara Hoelzl of Austria is in the winner’s circle right now. A final-round leap of 95.5m won her 101 points, and at 193.2 she’s clear of Japan’s Kaori Iwabuchi with 188.3. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger of Austria is in third with 183.5. But expect much to change with the leaders about to jump: by way of illustration, Sarah Hendrickson is now down in ninth spot. The crunch approaches.
With ten jumpers gone, and 20 still to go, Sarah Hendrickson of the USA is out in the lead. She’s got a total of 160.6 points, the result of jumps of 86m and 88m. Chang Xinyue of China is second with 154.9 points. In third spot, Spela Rogeelj of Slovakia; after a 90.5m leap in this second round, she’ll be ruing a poor first jump which only trousered her 64.3 points. Her 90.2 points is by some distance the biggest second-round haul so far. She’s got 154.5 overall.
Updated
The final round of the women’s normal hill ski jump is underway. It might take a while to decide the medalists, because the wind’s playing silly buggers. We’ll get there eventually. Meanwhile Sweden have wrapped up an 8-0 win over Korean in the women’s ice hockey. Sweden are through to the quarters along with Switzerland. Japan go home, as do Korea, albeit more metaphorically.
Gold for Ireen Wust - who won her first Olympic title back in 2006 - in the women’s 1,500m speed skating! She’d set a mark of 1:54.35 with the 23-year-old Miho Takagi of Japan and the world-record holder Heather Bergsma of the USA still to race. For a while, it looked like Bergsma was on course to breeze gold, but she faded badly and ended 2.39 seconds off the pace, finishing eighth in the rankings. Takagi, though, threatened to nick it after sagging in the middle of her pursuit. Her powerful finish left Bergsma in the dust - well, an icy cloud - but she couldn’t quite match Wust’s time, finishing 0.20 seconds off the pace. A silver, and she’s in floods of tears. Hard to tell whether that’s happiness or bitter disappointment; it should be the former, because she was never quite getting there, so she’s thrown nothing away. Marrit Leenstra takes bronze, 0.91 seconds behind her Dutch compatriot Wust.
Updated
The women have made their second runs in the luge singles. Summer Britcher of the USA was the fastest in that round, making it down the course in 46.132 seconds. She rises from 15th place to ninth. Dajana Eitberger of Germany was second fastest, with a run of 46.193. She’s second overall at the halfway mark, up from seventh. But leading the way after two runs is reigning champion Natalie Geisenberger, who consolidated her first-run lead with a time of 46.209, the third best of the second run. She leads her compatriot Eitberger by 0.120 in the overall standings. Alex Gough of Canada is third, 0.191 seconds off the lead. Plenty to dream about tonight, then, ahead of tomorrow’s final two runs. If anyone gets to sleep, that is. Could you get off if you knew you were 90 life-defining seconds away from Olympic gold?
Mikaël Kingsbury wins moguls gold for Canada
All three of the medalists are cavorting in the grand style. Kingsbury (86.63) races off like Ray Wilkins in the 1983 FA Cup final. Graham (82.57), the silver medalist, raises his arms. Hara (82.19) springs up and down like Danny Boyle at the Oscars. First medals of the Games for Australia and Japan, but this is all about the Canadian, who can now add Olympic gold to his roll of honour!
Updated
Daichi Hara is compact and fast. He’s ecstatic as he crosses the line. Perhaps his jumps weren’t quite as aesthetically pleasing as Kingsbury’s. And he’s not quite as quick as either Kingsbury or Graham. But has he nicked the gold? He’s praying. And he’s got the bronze: 82.19. The world number one Kingsbury has the Olympic gold at last!
The world number one Mikael Kingsbury is the penultimate runner. He’s neat and fast, his knees tight together as he bounces down the track, his jumps and twists precise and high. There looks very little wrong with that. And he’s awarded a massive 86.63! He holds his head in his hands, knowing he’s going to get silver at worst. It’s down to Daichi Hara now. Can he wrest gold from Kingsbury’s grasp?
Updated
Casey Andringa of the USA doesn’t land his second jump well, sitting down momentarily. He’s in third spot at 75.50, but unlikely to stay in the medals. Graham is now guaranteed bronze at worst.
Matt Graham of Australia is up next. A very fast and tidy run, and he’s celebrating like billy-o when he crosses the line. A three-twist final jump earns him an eventual score of 82.57. And that’s a big total (for reference, it bests Daichi Hara’s impressive qualifying mark). He’s in the gold medal position with three to come.
The Canadian Marc-Antoine Gagnon is the first man to race in the super final of the men’s moguls. He makes it down the track in a very neat style, his knees never too far apart, in 25.30 seconds. He’s given a mark of 77.02. Vinjar Slatten, the only European in the contest, is quickly tumbling down the hill on his arse, landing awkwardly after his first jump. He gets up and completes the course in 26.71 seconds, for an eventual total of 33.61. At least that’s not a DNF, and, well, you never know, huh.
The Japanese women’s ice hockey team can stand down. Having lost their opening two games, against Sweden and Switzerland, they were praying for a miracle in the Korea-Sweden match. But the Koreans aren’t going to pull off the shock they require. Korea area already 5-0 down against the Swedes, midway through the second period. Sweden will be going through to the quarters with Switzerland.
The final six to make it through to the business end of the men’s moguls: Daichi Hara of Japan, Mikael Kingsbury of Canada, the USA’s Casey Andringa, Matt Graham of Australia, Norway’s Vinjar Slatten and Marc-Antoine Gagnon of Canada. It won’t be long before the final runs.
The world champion Ikuma Horishima will not be making the final of the men’s moguls. The 20-year-old Japanese star lost control of his first jump, and was always battling gravity and hope. He lost a pole and a glove as he sailed down the powdery hill on his distressed face. The gold-medal favourite Mikael Kingsbury of Canada has made it through with ease, however.
Updated
Aleksandr Krushelnitckii has the simple task of sliding his stone into the centre of the target and levelling up the match. If he’s really feeling it, there’s a chance of crashing Switzerland’s standing stone out of the picture and taking two from the end, snatching victory at the death! But he gets caught in two minds, and in going for the simple one to tie the game, gives it too much juice! The stone sails sadly through the target, and Switzerland win 7-5! They’ll meet Canada in tomorrow’s final! The Olympic Athletes from Russia will have to make do with a bronze-medal play-off with Norway!
Back to the curling, and the Swiss lead the Russians 6-5. It’s the eighth and final end. Switzerland are standing one, but the Russians have the final stone. Can Anastasia Bryzgalova and Aleksandr Krushelnitckii force a draw and an extra end?
Samuelsson has closed the gap to Doll, and is right on the German’s tail! This is a hell of a battle for silver. And Samuelsson takes him on the outside! He’ll grab the silver off Doll! But up ahead, slowing up to grab a French flag, Martin Fourcade crosses the line for the gold! He’s won in a super-sharp-shooting 32 minutes 51.7 seconds, a whole 12 seconds ahead of Samuelsson and a further 3.1 seconds ahead of Doll.
Updated
The fourth and final round of shots. Martin Fourcade will have the gold medal in his pocket if he rattles off all five discs without missing one. And it’s five out of five! He pumps a fist into the air, and he’s 2.5km away from top spot on the podium! It’s a shoo-in, unlike the race for silver and bronze. Benedikt Doll, the sprint world champion, pings off five faultless shots to make it away from the range in second spot, 36 seconds off Fourcade’s pace. Then it’s Sebastian Samuelsson, a further seven seconds back.
Fourcade is eating up this hilly course. There’s now a whopping 39 seconds between him and the second-placed competitor, now Tarjei Boe of Norway. Peiffer has tumbled out of the medal positions; Sebastian Samuelsson of Sweden is up for bronze as we stand.
Updated
The third round of shots. Standing up this time. Peiffer doesn’t like this position, by all accounts, and sure enough he misses the first of his five shots. That opens the door for the world number one Martin Fourcade, who rattles off his sequence without error and zips away into a 20-second lead over Peiffer!
The second round of shots are taken, and it’s advantage Peiffer. The German is clean, unlike Eberhard, who misses one of his discs and is forced around the punishment loop. Peiffer now has a nine-second advantage over his compatriot Lesser in second. Tarjei Boe of Norway makes it into third. Meanwhile Paul Kelly is a man worth listening to: “Turn this experience into a late 1970s James Bond chase by muting the TV and playing this as a backing track.” Yes, that really works. Nobody Does It Better is the best Bond theme, too, isn’t it. Marvin Hamlisch on a roll back there in ‘77.
Updated
The first round of shots are taken. Peiffer is clean, but so is the Austrian Julian Eberhard, who rang off his five shots at super-fast speed. He’s now leading the German by just less than a second. Then there’s a 12-second gap between the pair and Benedikt Doll and Simon Schempp, both of Germany. Three Germans in the top four; four in the top six, with Erik Lesser making up the gang.
It’s the men’s 12.5km pursuit in the biathlon. The 10km sprint gold medallist Arnd Peiffer is off first, a whopping four seconds ahead of Michael Krcmar of the Czech Republic. He’s also one minute and 13 seconds ahead of Johannes Thingnes Boe, Norway’s pre-tournament favourite, who didn’t have a good run in the sprint at all.
Updated
The first run of the women’s single luge is complete. Reigning champ Natalie Geisenberger’s mark of 46.245 hasn’t been bettered, though Alex Gough of Canada came closest; she’s 0.072 seconds behind, knocking Germany’s Tatjana Huefner into third by 0.005 seconds. Propping up the field of 30: Olena Stetskiv of Ukraine, who made just one tiny micro-mistake coming round a corner, lifting her shoulder a little, and went crashing into the wooden walls on both sides of the track. At one point she was almost skittering down the icy tube with her runners at right angles. She still made it to the finishing line, but a whopping 4.354 seconds behind Geisenberger. It really is a fine line between brilliance and disaster.
Another superb stone from Jenny Perret. A perfectly weighted guard ensures the shot set up by Martin Rios can’t be knocked away by Aleksandr Krushelnitckii, who throws his final stone away, refusing to make a bad situation any worse and giving up one shot. At the halfway mark, the Swiss lead 4-2, and the teams go off while the ice is given a good old clean. As things stand, Switzerland will face Canada in tomorrow’s final ... but there’s a long way to go.
It’s very much nip and tuck in the mesmeric pursuit of curling. Anastasia Bryzgalova and Aleksandr Krushelnitckii levelled the score at 2-2 after the second end, but Jenny Perret has just reestablished Switzerland’s lead with a delightfully judged delicate slider of a final stone in the third end. Her partner Martin Rios had called it as a waste of time - “Never!” - when the handle left her grip, sailing miles out to the left as the stone was. But it was in fact an exquisite effort, gently gliding back towards the centre and nicking off Russia’s standing shot. Perret shoots Rios a look, as if to say: you should never have doubted me! It’s 3-2 to the Swiss.
Words don’t come easy, to quote the great French philosopher FR David. Fortunately the Guardian has a picture desk. Many beautiful action shots are a mere click away!
Meanwhile at the Gangneung curling arena, it’s the second semi-final of the mixed doubles. Fighting for the right to face Canada in tomorrow’s final: Switzerland and Russia. Swiss pair Jenny Perret and Martin Rios have taken an early 2-0 lead after the first end. The response from Anastasia Bryzgalova and Aleksandr Krushelnitckii as we have it.
The women’s singles luge has started. Two runs today; the final two tomorrow. On a good day already for Germany, the reigning Olympic champion Natalie Geisenberger has zipped down the treacherously fast track at the Sliding Centre in 46.245 seconds. That’s 0.077 seconds ahead of the early leader, her compatriot Tatjana Huefner.
Updated
We try our best on the rolling blog. We only want you to be happy. But of course it can never be enough. So we strongly advise you to subscribe to The Recap’s Winter Olympics special! Sign up for all the latest news, delivered daily during the Games through your electronic letter box. Sign up! Sign up! Sign up!
Updated
All three medalists are delighted with their finish. And no wonder: biathlon is some discipline, it takes some doing to hold one’s nerve and maintain a steady hand, as anyone who ever played this back in the day ...
... can tell you. What an achievement by Dahlmeier. And it keeps Germany comfortably on top of the early medal table. Norway have the biggest collection, with eight so far, but they’ve only picked up one gold. This by contrast is Germany’s fourth, two ahead of the Netherlands and the USA. A long way to go, of course. And still the 12.5km mass start for Dahlmeier to come!
Laura Dahlmeier completes the sprint-pursuit double!
She adds pursuit gold to the sprint gold she picked up on Saturday, grabbing the German flag as she crosses the line wearing a huge smile. This is an unprecedented achievement in women’s biathlon! She finishes in 30 minutes, 35.3 seconds. She’s 29.4 seconds ahead of Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia, who pips Anais Bescond of France on the line by 0.2 seconds. Dahlmeier laid waste to the rest of the field, but what a battle that was for silver!
Updated
Dahlmeier maintains her lead as she approaches the shooting range for the last time. Five crucial shots between her and a historic double! And she knocks all five discs over with astonishing speed and precision! Kuzmina, in second, arrives just as Dahlmeier is taking off! And the pressure is too much for her: she misses with her first shot and that surely seals the gold for Dahlmeier.
Dahlmeier shows her class at the range. She shoots clean, while Kuzmina misses twice! That’ll cost her 300 metres. She’s suddenly 38 seconds behind. Vitkova moves into third with a clean round of shots.
Updated
Kuzmina has overtaken Dahlmeier at the head of the field. They’re neck and neck, and out on their own. Anais Bescond of France has moved into third, about 20 seconds further back. Who will be able to regulate their heartbeat - and control their nerves - as they take their third round of shots, this time standing up as opposed to lying flat on the snow?
Dahlmeier arrives for the second round 17 seconds of shots ahead of Anastasiya Kuzmina. The leading pair both miss one of their targets, and will be forced to take an extra 150m. It’s a good round for Irene Cadurisch, though: five clean shots catapults her up the field to third place. Dahlmeier now has just 9.2 seconds on Kuzmina, who is a couple of seconds ahead of Cadurisch in third. This promises to be a hell of a battle.
After five minutes of powering up and down the stunning slopes of the Alpensia Biathlon Centre, Dahlmeier hits all five targets of her first shooting round and is up and off again. Marte Olsbu of Norway, who started in second place, 24 seconds behind Dahlmeier after the sprint, misses one of her targets and is forced to go on a 150-metre penalty loop. Veronika Vitkova of the Czech Republic moves up into second, 17.8 seconds behind the leader after the first shooting stage.
The women’s 10km pursuit biathlon is go! Laura Dahlmeier is the hot favourite: the 24-year-old German has already claimed gold in the 7.5km sprint biathlon, and is aiming to become the first woman to win the sprint and pursuit double. It’s minus 12 degrees.
In lieu of live action ... this was pretty sensational. Mirai Nagasu today became only the third American to land a triple axel in competition after Kimmie Meissner and Tonya Harding - and the first to do so at the Olympics.
Japan instigate a couple of scrambles in front of the Swiss net, but there’s nothing doing. The buzzer goes, and Switzerland win 3-1! They’ve won both of their games, while Japan have now lost both of theirs. Only a shock Korean win over Sweden later today will stop the Swiss and the Swedes making it through Group B and into the quarter finals.
It’s still 3-1 to the Swiss, with just under four minutes remaining. Japan need to throw caution to the wind, so withdraw Nana Fujimoto and play with an empty net. They’ve got six attackers on the ice. Little option.
Japan need something to happen, and quick. And here it is! Ayaka Toko sails down the right and sends the puck fizzing towards the left of the net from distance. Florence Schelling looks to have it covered, but Hanae Kubo arrives on the scene to adroitly flick the puck over the stunned goaltender and into the net. Chances are it’s too little, too late, but Kubo’s team-mates celebrate wildly anyway. It’s 3-1 and with 11 minutes or so remaining, hope’s not quite extinguished yet.
Chalk up a fate-tempting assist for this blog! Alina Muller piles down the right and flashes a speculative shot goalwards. Nana Fujimoto really should deal with it, but the puck flies straight through her, and that’s a 3-0 lead for Switzerland early in the third period. Fujimoto will have had better days in goal, and Japan’s Olympic dream is as good as over (unless Korea beat Sweden later, but, y’know).
For a second, you could be forgiven for thinking they were playing the synth motif from Duran Duran’s Save a Prayer over the PA at the Kwandong Hockey Centre. Turns out it’s just something vaguely similar. Nick Rhodes’ ears will be burning. Today’s internet kids love these sort of hot cultural references, right? Anyway, it’s a quiet start to the third period. Japan really need something to happen, but there’s nothing going on.
The hooter sounds to bring the second period, the session of Sara Benz, to an end. Switzerland lead 2-0, and are beginning to dominate, seriously turning up the heat on poor Japan. While we’re on the subject of ice hockey, the 2014 film Red Army is recommended viewing:
To quote a lyric from a Joseph Stalin approved rallying cry ...
♫ The Ice Brotherhood fights hard
And we trust in the courage of desperate guys
Real men play hockey
Cowards don’t play hockey ♫ ♪
The Swiss go two up. A defence-splitting pass from Christine Meier, and Sara Benz is one on one with Nana Fujimoto. She gives Fujimoto the eyes, and flicks a glorious shot into the top left: 2-0! As things stand, the Swiss are as good as through to the quarters, while Japan will be as good as out.
That goal has rattled Japanese goaltender Nana Fujimoto. She makes a meal of clearing a routine Swiss shot, and soon enough there’s a comical brawl in front of her net, players on both sides piling in with sticks and giving it plenty. Quite a scrum. Switzerland try to force the score - the puck could be anywhere - but after some deliberation from the eagle-eyed video referee, it’s no goal.
Switzerland break the deadlock! Sara Benz lashes home from a tight angle on the right, taking Nana Fujimoto by surprise. Sort of like Steve Heighway versus Bob Wilson in the 1971 FA Cup final, except on the other side of the field of play, and on ice.
Updated
A glorious chance for Japan to break the deadlock in the women’s ice hockey. An exquisite reverse pass by Haruka Toko split the Swiss down the middle, but Ami Nakamura somehow managed to drag her shot across the face of goal from close range. Chances at a premium at Kwandong Hockey Centre.
A bit more on Aimee Fuller, who has just been talking to the BBC about the weather-wrecked women’s slopestyle final. Her tinder-dry appraisal: “She blew, the wind got me good!” Fuller finished in 17th place, after being thrown off balance during her second and final run. “I don’t feel like I had a fair shot at putting down my best run, the wind just took me sideways on the last hit,” she said. But at least Fuller won’t die wondering: despite facing conditions comparable to “war”, she went for it wearing her “full battle head”. Jock Wallace would be proud.
Good morning Pyeongchang. Straight in with some admin regarding that big third showdown in Group B of the preliminary round of the ice hockey: it’s goalless between Japan and Switzerland at the end of the first period. That 8-0 win for the Swiss over Korea seems an awfully long time ago, huh.
Summary so far
Well this is me signing off from Sydney, with my colleague Scott Murray taking over now from the UK.
The gold medals won today:
- Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Canada) for team ice dance free dance.
- Jamie Anderson (US) for women’s slopestyle snowboarding
On a morning of trial runs and delays, we were treated to two star-making performances from American athletes. 17-year-old Chloe Kim blitzed through qualifying for the women’s halfpipe snowboarding, posting an unassailable 95.5 points. In figure skating, Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to land a triple axel in Olympic competition.
Winds continued to wreak havoc, causing the postponement of the women’s super giant slalom. The women’s slopestyle final was delayed, but controversially still went forward, with the UK’s Aimee Fuller saying it was like having “a sailboat under my board”.
The medals to come:
- Women’s biathalon 10km pursuit
- Men’s biatholon 12.5km pursuit
- Men’s moguls freestyle skiing
- Women’s skijumping (normal hill)
- Women’s 1,500m speed skating
Enjoy!
It’s still goalless but not for lack of trying. A lot of chances for both teams in a game of quick, unpredictable transitions. Japan are holding their own.
Updated
It’s end to end stuff. Switzerland surge forward and fire off a shot via Stalder, but Japan’s Takeuchi blocks it with her foot. Japan immediately counterattack but shoot wide.
It’s a big game for Japan. They’re currently third in Group B along with Switzerland, Sweden and Korea. The top 2 advance to the quarterfinals, the bottom 2 are out.
If Japan lose, it is very likely to be the end of their competition, unless Korea pull off a huge upset against Sweden.
The women’s ice hockey is about to begin, as Switzerland play Japan.
The two teams are playing their second games in the preliminary round, in what promises to be entertaining game between two speedy, quick-skating teams.
Switzerland are fresh off an 8-0 thrashing of Korea, while Japan lost narrowly to Sweden in the last game, going down 2-1. Switzerland are ranked 6th in the world and bronze medallists in 2014, while Japan are ranked 9th.
Japan will be ruining the loss of Rui Akita, their only goalscorer so far, who is suspended. Both teams also feature two of the game’s top two goalkeepers in Nana Fujimoto for Japan and Florence Schelling for Switzerland.
Updated
This tweet reads like the set up to a milkshake duck joke. Am I wrong? With that jarring reference, welcome to my first social media roundup.
All the ladies love #Soohorang The cuddly white tiger 🐯 greeting fans during the #Luge Men's Single yesterday at the #Olympics Sliding Centre #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/UdVGPT3tBy
— PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) February 12, 2018
Above we have the latest effort from the official account of the Pyeongchang Olympics. Though that tiger is certainly cute, I can only read it with the same intonation as Pixelated Boat’s iconic milkshake duck tweet.
Will the Pyeongchang account soon regret to inform us that the tiger is problematic? I say yes.
In nicer news, Mirai Nagasu, who landed a historic triple axel today, has had a beautiful Twitter interaction with Reese Witherspoon.
I watched Home Again on the way to the Olympics and I know it’s a movie but I wished you were my mom. You’re my hero. ❤️ https://t.co/LRHEMEXroE
— Mirai Nagasu (@mirai_nagasu) February 12, 2018
Updated
The first practice run ends with two men called Tobias. The defending gold medallists, Germany’s Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, finish up with a time of 46.3 seconds. Their compatriots, Tony Eggert and Sasha Benecken posted the fastest times.
Not to worry though – there’s another training run to come.
In the meantime, have some snowboarding highlights.
Chloe Kim pulling tricks in slow motion:
I don't think you'll have trouble getting ice cream after that, @chloekimsnow 🍨#PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/mqTHdaGNn9
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 12, 2018
Emily Arthur throwing 540s:
Bravo @Emily__Arthur 👏🇦🇺
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 12, 2018
An amazing second run puts the Aussie in excellent position for finals!@SamsungAU #DoWhatYouCant #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/UnfvRA52oU
And earlier in the day, the UK’s Aimee Fuller describing the wild winds of the women’s slopestyle final, that resulted in quite a few crashes, including her own.
"Once I was in the air it felt like I had a sailboat under my board."
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 12, 2018
The women's #snowboard slopestyle final was brutal today.#Pyeongchang2018 #bbcolympics pic.twitter.com/DSDxNAxMyI
The nordic combined has been delayed. The second day of training jumps, originally scheduled for an hour ago, has still not started. The official Olympic website has no further info, but bear with me as I try and find out why.
Korea’s luge doubles are up now. The host’s only doubles team, Park Jinyong and Cho Jung Myung take to the practice circuit, but it’s “a messy run” according to commentators. They finish on 47.485 seconds, 1.3 seconds behind current leaders, Austrians Peter Penz and Georg Fischler.
Earlier, the Romanian doubles team had remarked that “it’s harder today”. It seems to be a tricky track that, as Felix Loch would know, has claimed a few scalps.
Luge fans of course, will still be recovering from yesterday’s shock result. Germany’s Felix Loch, on course for his third consecutive gold medal in the men’s singles, missed out after a disastrous error on the final run.
Loch slumped over his sled in anguish as the unheralded David Gleirscher won his first gold, and Austria’s first men’s luge in 50 years. Watch it below.
Historically, the luge has been dominated by Germany. In singles, doubles and team, the Germans lead the Olympic medal table in every category.
In doubles, they have 10 gold medals, miles ahead of Austria, on second, with 3.
Now to the luge. It’s the third official practice run for the doubles event, held in Pyeongchang’s Olympic Sliding Centre.
Unlike the women’s halfpipe just then, this is not a qualification event. The Broz brothers, Lukas and Antonin, from the Czech Republic are up first.
The final is tomorrow, with Chloe Kim the favourite.
That was fantastic stuff all-round, but especially from Kim, who is a red-hot favourite, a dessert connoisseur and an amazing tweeter.
You can read our profile of her below:
Arielle Gold qualifies for the finals, as Chloe Kim strolls through.
The final competitor, France’s Clemence Grimal, wraps up the qualifying with a disappointing run. She makes an error halfway through, slides and her hands go up. She knows she hasn’t made it, and we’re done.
Chloe Kim goes through first on an unassailable 95.5, followed by China’s Liu Jiayu on 87.75.
Then: Japan’s Haruna Matsumoto, Spain’s Queralt Castellet, China’s Cai Xuetong, Japan’s Sena Tomita, Australia’s Emily Arthur, France’s Sophie Rodriguez, France’s Mirabelle Thovex, and the USA’s Kelly Clark and Arielle Gold.
Updated
In ice-cream news – Chloe Kim has owned up on Twitter.
Could be down for some ice cream rn
— Chloe Kim (@chloekimsnow) February 12, 2018
yes...
— Chloe Kim (@chloekimsnow) February 12, 2018
Older tweets also reveal she’s also a fan of churros. Which dessert will claim the ultimate credit for her table-topping qualification?
Oh and I also had 2 churros today and they were pretty bomb so if you ever get nervous go eat a churro
— Chloe Kim (@chloekimsnow) February 11, 2018
Arielle Gold from the United States is currently 12th. If she holds on, she’ll be the final competitor to make tomorrow’s final.
In the meantime, Australia’s Emily Arthur has definitely qualified. There are only 3 more competitors to come.
Updated
Chloe Kim has had an ice-cream. The American prodigy, making her Olympic debut at 17, is all the commentators can talk about from where I’m sitting.
They say that Kim, who is leading qualification with huge scores of 91.5 and 95.5, had an ice-cream in between her first and second runs. They don’t know what kind it was, but it’s really captured the imagination.
“Whatever she had, it’s worked for her. Everyone should be doing that,” they say.
China’s Cai Xietong has posted a score of 69.00, which brings her up 6th. Sena Tomita of Japan follows with 66.75.
This pushes Australia’s Emily Arthur further back to 8th spot, with the top 12 going through to the final. There are 8 more competitors to come.
Updated
Ok everybody, I’m only here for a very short period of time today, so I’m about to hand over to one of my most favourite colleagues in Naaman Zhou. Enjoy your time with him and I’ll see you back here on Wednesday!
If you want to know exactly what’s happening in Pyeongchang and when, you can always check out our interactive event schedule. I don’t know about other Australians, but it can be very hard to tell from the channel seven coverage what is actually happening when and where, given they cut so quickly between events!
We’ve also got a story up on Jamie Anderson’s second Olympic slopestyle gold – won in “brutal” conditions.
Good news Australians, Emily Arthur may have worked her way into the women’s halfpipe final. She’s currently sitting in sixth with a score of 66.50 in the second qualifying run. Love the footage of her singing her way into the run!
Bravo @Emily__Arthur 👏🇦🇺
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 12, 2018
An amazing second run puts the Aussie in excellent position for finals!@SamsungAU #DoWhatYouCant #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/UnfvRA52oU
Updated
Chloe Kim of the USA is putting on some show in the women’s halfpipe snowboarding qualifying event. She’s just improved her first qualifying run with a score of 95.50 for her second. Looks unbeatable at this point, but we’ll see what her competitors can produce.
THIS WOMAN IS A CHEAT CODE.@chloekimsnow drops back to back 90+ scores 🔥🏂#PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/kc4rbeYt37
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 12, 2018
Meanwhile, Chloe just wants an ice-cream.
Could be down for some ice cream rn
— Chloe Kim (@chloekimsnow) February 12, 2018
95.50 on your second run?? Ice cream is on us! https://t.co/QTUAJKHLVm
— U.S. Olympic Team (@TeamUSA) February 12, 2018
Updated
Earlier, six of the first seven riders in the women’s slopestyle final crashed, battling 30mph crosswinds. While the women’s giant slalom was postponed on Thursday morning because of the weather, the slopestyle final went ahead, causing controversy, and piling further pressure on the Federation Internationale de Ski.
Updated
The head of Pyeongchang 2018, Sung Baik-you, admitted that more ski events could be cancelled in the coming days. However the International Olympic Committee denied there was any danger of the Games overrunning. “It’s a little bit early to discuss that,” the IOC’s head of communications, Mark Adams, insisted. “There’s plenty of time. There’s reserve places for competition.”
He also downplayed suggestions that some events may have to be cancelled. “We’re on day three so I’m hoping that won’t happen. Come back to me on day 14.”
Updated
We’re with the women’s halfpipe snowboarding qualifying now. On qualification run one, the USA’s Chloe Kim is in first with a score of 91.50. She looked confident – and apparently has plenty of tricks still in the bag. Liu Jiayu of China is second with 87.75, and Maddie Mastro of the USA in third with 83.75, for now.
Some more updates from today’s figure skating action, which included men’s single skating, women’s single skating and ice dance free dance.
Canada took gold in the team event after stellar performances by Patrick Chan and Gabrielle Daleman, with Chan landing two quads early in his free skate on his way to finally winning Olympic gold. After the women’s free skate, Canada was already locked in first place, with ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir still left to compete. With the pressure taken off them, the duo blew away competition, finishing first with 118.10 points, six points ahead of Americans Maia and Alex Shibutani, who helped their country win bronze.
The Olympic Athletes from Russia, with a stunning free skate by 15-year-old Alina Zagitova, the European champion, were guaranteed silver, the team’s second medal of the Pyeongchang Games.
The 27-year-old Chan, who had struggled with his jumps in the team event’s short programme, landed the first two quads of his free skate, earning him a season’s best score of 179.75 points. Skating in his third and final Olympics, Chan was inconsistent on his other jumps, rushing on his takeoffs and doubling a triple Axel before falling on the next one. “I’m just happy I did the best I could and I left nothing, no rock unturned,” said Chan, who admitted his nerves were jangling and he “just had a conversation with myself” to get back on track. “I achieved a big thing, which was to land the two big quads in one programme. I’m going to hold this medal tight to me and it’s going to be as good as the individual event.” Chan, who won silver in the team and men’s singles events at the 2014 Sochi Games, is a three-time world champion but Olympic gold had evaded him until now.
Daleman, who won bronze at last year’s world championships, landed a series of triple jumps in a stellar performance that saw her finish third, only 0.39 points behind second-place finisher Mirai Nagasu of the United States. Nagasu became the first American woman to land a triple Axel at the Olympics, cleanly hitting the jump at the start of her programme to gain a season’s best score of 137.53.
Zagitova, skating at her first Olympics, turned in a sizzling performance to composer Leon Minkus’s “Don Quixote.” Skating in a flashy red tutu, the 15-year-old scored 158.08 for a season’s best to take first place.
Reuters
Updated
Jamie Anderson battled challenging cross winds to win her second successive Olympic gold today.
Only five riders made it down the first run without falling in the difficult conditions, which also included hard snow, with Anderson scoring 83.00 points to give her an almost 10-point advantage heading into the second run.
It was enough to hold off Canada’s Laurie Blouin, who took silver with 76.33 on her second run, and Finland’s Enni Rukajarvi, who added bronze to her silver from Sochi four years ago, with 75.38 points.
None of the riders were able to complete two error-free runs. There was a particularly scary moment when Slovakia’s Klaudia Medlova landed flat on her back after missing a grab during her first run but she did complete her second and finished 24th.
Reuters
Updated
Welcome everyone to this blog of all the Winter Olympics action from day three. The Games were hit with yet more disruption in the early hours in Pyeongchang today as the women’s super giant slalom was forced to be postponed due to high winds. The women’s slopestyle final was also delayed due to the gusty weather but eventually got under way on Monday with Jamie Anderson of the United States triumphing despite the tricky conditions, which resulted in a number of spectacular crashes. Her best score was 83.00. Silver went to Laurie Blouin of Canada with 76.33, while Enni Rukajarvi from Finland took bronze with 75.38.
Australian snowboarder Tess Coady was absent from the final after she tore her ACL ligament on Sunday practising prior to the cancelled women’s event. She has controversially blamed the wind for the crash that led to the tear, while Australian officials have questioned whether the practice session should have been cancelled.
We’ve also had the conclusion of the team figure skating. No surprises there with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir taking gold with a score of 118.10, while Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani of the USA took silver with 112.01, and Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev (Olympians from Russia) earned bronze with 110.43.
Updated
