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Key occasions
Geoff Lemon
That’s it from us for immediately. Tons taking place tomorrow although: the qualifiers start for the aerials, which is at all times spectacular, as would be the snowboard slopestyle remaining. There are medals in biathlon and in Nordic mixed, for the followers of serrated skis. There’ll be workforce pursuit medals within the pace skating, the lads’s large air remaining for skis, the brief program for the ladies’s single determine skating, the two-man bobsleigh medals, and extra curling than you possibly can slide a rock at. See you there.
Day 13 Winter Olympic spherical up
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Extra Dutch pace skating success, with Xandra Velzeboer successful the ladies’s 1000m.
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Loic Meillard introduced Swiss gold within the males’s slalom
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Nice Britain are in a troublesome spot within the males’s curling standings, fifth with solely two video games in hand.
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The USA and Canada go into the ladies’s hockey gold medal match, with Sweden and Switzerland to play off for bronze.
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Austria wins the lads’s ski bounce workforce gold primarily based on second spherical factors, with the ultimate spherical cancelled for climate.
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USA goes gold and bronze within the ladies’s monobob, with Elana Meyers Taylor shocked to see Germany’s Laura Nolte surrender the lead throughout the remaining run.
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A daring large air remaining for the ladies’s skiers noticed enormous methods landed, with Canada’s Megan Oldham on prime, earlier than Eileen Gu and Flora Tabenelli knocked Kirsty Muir off the rostrum with third-round stunners.
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Japan win pairs figure-skating gold due to Miura Riku and Kihara Riyuichi.
The Swiss have narrowed the hole within the ladies’s ice hockey semi, it’s 2-1 to Canada with many of the third interval to go.
Can’t discover a method via although, and so they surrender a powerplay to Canada with lower than two minutes to go. The Swiss take their goalie off, carry on an additional attacker, however to no avail.
Generally you see determine skating comps the place it’s routine after routine of good execution, and it’s compelling for that motive, despite the fact that there’s no method for the abnormal observer to see a lot distinction between the performances. At the moment was completely different, with a sequence of minor errors, of the cracks the place the stress advised, after which a few performances with none, together with one underneath extra stress than most. Miura and Kihara are the present world championship holders from 2025, however had a lot work to do. To provide what they did was a very nice efficiency.
Determine skating gold for Japan in an unimaginable comeback story
What a second for Miura and Kihara. They’re in tears, kneeling on the bottom in gratitude, turned to face each other, and solely after some 30 seconds of disbelief do they escape into smiles. One accomplice lifts up the opposite, solely this time it’s in an embrace to rejoice successful a medal somewhat than an effort to take action.
They have been nowhere after the brief program, the primary spherical. That they had completed fifth, seven factors off the lead, having made a mistake that held them again. Profitable from there’s so, so tough: having to place up a rating for different groups to chase, coping with judges who have a tendency to attain increased because the rounds go on.
But they got here out and delivered a flawless, beautiful skate, bravely and ambitiously and with technical precision, after which put up a very huge rating of 158.13 for his or her second spherical.
Georgia win silver, that nation’s first winter Video games medal, due to Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava.
Germany take bronze by way of Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin.
Dramatic strings for Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin, extra vigorous than many. A beautiful starting, as they begin kneeling beside each other with eyes closed, then rise into their routine. The synced jumps are good for the primary, the second, then she slips out a contact on the third touchdown. Then can’t full a triple salchow, goes for a single as a substitute. So a few deductions coming. Beautiful spiral by way of kind, however did it miss a rotation? They end off nicely, it’s an excellent routine, however how good? I’m considering perhaps silver, seemingly bronze, however can’t see how they’re going prime…
It’s 139.08, which implies it’s bronze for Germany! They slip from prime spot however it’s nonetheless a superb end.
Honest play to the Georgians. Nice pace throughout the ice, dynamism of their quantity regardless of some very sluggish mournful French music. I’m within the cart too for the sparkly aquamarine numbers that they’re sporting to match. Very good lifts, Luka Berulava is a rock on the base of these, and Anastasiia Metelkina’s form on the prime of the lifts is immaculate. However she steps off the touchdown of considered one of their throws, in order that will probably be a deduction, and there are a few different technical checks. The music shift for the second half of their program didn’t actually gel with the primary, for me, on the inventive entrance.
146.29! Which suggests 221.75 general, which implies they’re in silver place now, most likely bronze after the ultimate pair skate, and Georgia will win its first ever Winter Olympic medal. Japan is assured silver now, and will but cling on for gold.
Right here comes the final pair, for Germany.
Discuss Meatloaf and schmaltz, the Canadian pair are utilizing the Gladiator theme music. My title ix Maximus Decimus Aurelius, father of a murdered triple axel try. Oh, and there’s a stumble! First Lia Pereira, a small miss of her footing that she recovers, then a few strikes later, a hand-down slip from Trennt Michaud. Two reds there, and a yellow on their dying spiral spin as they arrive out of it early. That’s a disgrace, they’ve been thrown off. They recuperate via a powerful raise part, they’ve been courageous, and so they embrace one another with tenderness of their disappointment. They’ve had a really excessive end on this comp, with out getting every thing proper of their final run. They’ll be out of the medals…
it’s 125.06 for the spherical, and 199.66 in sixth spot general proper now. A private greatest mixed rating for them, nicely finished.
It additionally implies that Japan are on the rostrum for that wonder-skate. They will’t end decrease than third now.
Very robust technical skate from Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko for Hungary. Inexperienced bins throughout the display, which implies no complaints from the technical committee. I’m nonetheless going to say, I didn’t get as a lot sense of emotion or aptitude from this pair as some others, it was removed from essentially the most fascinating routine to observe, despite the fact that nothing went incorrect. The judges say…
Not fairly! Not sufficient for the lead. Nonetheless an important rating, 131.39 is a private greatest, and so they’re in second spot with three pairs to go.
Principally the final 4 pairs of determine skaters want to attain about 156, or within the case of the main Germans, 152, to go previous the Japanese rating on mixed factors. That’s what we’re watching out for.
Right here’s Pawel Smrek writing in to make clear the ski leaping state of affairs, thanks Pawel.
“Resulting from heavy snow which considerably decreased descent speeds, the third spherical of jumps was cancelled and the factors accrued after the second spherical decided the ultimate standings. There have been 13 out of 16 potential jumps taken within the third spherical, nonetheless the jury thought that the circumstances deteriorated so considerably that the ultimate three jumpers would’ve been at an unfair drawback.”
Beau Dure writes in. “Elana Meyers Taylor had a few world championships, loads of World Cup successes and 5 Olympic medals, however till 5 minutes in the past, she didn’t have Olympic gold.”
The final 4 warming up within the skating: Hungary, Canada, Georgia, Germany.
Within the ice hockey semis, Canada’s ladies are main Switzerland 2-0 within the second interval.
Beautiful skate from Japan! Miura Riku and Kihara Riyuichi are perfection. That they had a stutter within the first spherical that noticed them end fifth coming into this spherical, the place usually they might expect to be within the prime couple, in order that they have loads of floor to make up. Miura is tiny, so Kihara is ready to throw her round with ease. He’s spinning her on prime of his upstretched arm like she’s a pizza base. Their solo bounce sequence is in sync, then she lands his throws with such assurance. They pull out all of the stops going into the closing sequence, a dizzying (actually) show of spins and lifts.
They rating a staggering 158.13. That’s almost 23 factors increased than the subsequent greatest on this spherical. Total they’re on 231, with their decrease rating from the primary spherical. They, like some others, sink to the ice with aid on realising how completely they’ve carried out in that spherical. There are nonetheless 4 pairs to go, and usually you’d count on the medals to return from the previous couple of, however that may have been a gold medal skate.
Now we’re again to the determine skating pairs. China at the moment main, Italy second, with 5 scores but to return in.
To recap the curling, the Swiss got here again beat GB within the ladies’s workforce spherical robin match, Korea beat China, Canada beat Japan, and Italy received their first win over the USA.
That leaves Sweden unbeaten on the prime of the group, then Korea, Switzerland, USA all on 4 wins. Three video games to go, so in idea any of the ten groups might nonetheless qualify.
Elana Meyers-Taylor pinches US gold within the monobob!
4 hundredths of a second separate gold and silver, however it’s not within the order you’d count on. Meyers Taylor had the second-last run, however received dwelling in 59.51. Laura Nolte of Germany was final, and needed to maintain her lead, however a few tiny clips of the wall may need price her. It was an excellent run, 59.70 general, however simply sufficient to slide into silver place. She’s disenchanted, whereas Meyers-Taylor leaps across the ready space together with her younger son and her bronze-winning teammate, Kaillie Armbruster Humphries. Elana Meyers Taylor, at 41 years of age and after a number of years out of the game to have children, has come again to win gold.
Gold for Canada within the ladies’s large air, Kirsty Muir simply lacking the rostrum
Meg Oldham falls, looking for the change left double 14 mute seize, a monster trick try on her final run, however it doesn’t matter. She’s final to leap, she’s already in prime spot, and Megan Oldham wins gold for Canada.
Eileen Gu runs out to embrace her, the Chinese language skier trying completely delighted with a silver medal. She was ice chilly on her third bounce to get into that second spot from completely nowhere.
And Flora Tabanelli the house slope medallist, bronze for Italy with a equally nerveless bounce for 94.25, the best rating of the entire evening, on her remaining bounce.
A protracted chat together with her coach on the prime of the slope for Muir, deciding what to attempt. She wants to enhance her rating. Snow falling throughout her goggles. She closes her eyes and takes a beat. Ahead going through, in search of the double 14 tailgrab… and she or he skids out on the touchdown! Simply hit the snow so arduous and people skis slip out. She’s a dejected determine as she picks herself up and walks off the course, having occupied the gold medal spot for a short second.
Kirsty Muir should go large for a medal. There’s a 1680 rotation for Flora Tabenelli, 4 and a half rotations for the Italian, lands the bounce change, scores a 94, and it boosts her from fourth to 3rd. Now we’re getting sizzling. A number of skiers touchdown 16s tonight. Goodness me.
Heavy touchdown for Maria Gaslitter, she loses her rotation and lands on her shoulder and again, however fortunately bounces proper again up and is smiling by the point she reaches the underside of the run. Tried to go large to enhance, and couldn’t make it occur.
Anni Karava equally loses her touchdown and gained’t enhance for Finland within the ski large air.
Cleanest run of the day from Australia’s Bree Walker, she goes prime of the standings for now with seven racers to return, so at worst a end of eighth – may need been increased if not for some errors on her first run, however that’s the strictness of this self-discipline, there aren’t any throwaway scores within the sled.
Bree Walker about to take off within the monobob. Stand by.
Eileen Gu into silver! Left double 12 with a tailgrab, the defending champ lands it clear after a poor second rating by her requirements. She scores an 89! Lower than two factors behind Oldham, and Muir is into bronze by now, however has one other bounce to return.
Everyone seems to be sticking their landings in spherical three of the large air. Naomi Urness with an 82, Liu Mengting a 76, and Lara Wolf a 76 to date. They’ve all improved their general rating, with one of the best two scores mixed. Not podium although, they’re fourth, fifth and sixth to date.
Males’s tremendous workforce ski leaping is cancelled
The climate has ended the evening of jumps, with heavy snow and wind. Which means, if I perceive accurately, that Austria, Poland, and Norway get awarded the medals by the judges primarily based on factors accrued. When you’ve got a greater deal with on this, let me know by e mail.
Wooooof! Just for Megan Oldham to sneak previous her with the subsequent bounce, the final one of many remaining spherical. The younger Canadian does three and a half rotations, mute seize, lands it backwards. It doesn’t rating as excessive as Muir, it’s an 89, however Oldham’s large rating from bounce one provides her the lead by six factors. That’s going to be very arduous to beat.
Oldham, Muir, Tabanelli within the podium spots with a spherical to go.
Kirsty Muir goes into the gold medal spot! Loads of jumps left to go, however that may be a huge, huge trick – a 1680 rotation double cork, and she or he sticks the touchdown! One glove down as she lands, however nailing one thing that large, the judges are going to like the diploma of ambition. She scores a 93.00, second largest rating of the evening, and mixed together with her strong first rating it places her prime of the pops.
Italy now prime two within the ladies’s freestyle snowboarding large air. Flora Tabanelli sticks a reverse touchdown to go prime.
The ladies’s monobob remaining warmth has begun as nicely, this time ordered slowest to quickest on the mixed instances for the earlier three heats. 4 racers out of 20 have gone down.
We’re into the second jumps now, so let’s keep right here and are available again to the skating later. Lara Wolf of Austria falls on her second bounce, she’ll have a 3rd to make amends although. Maria Gaslitter is main for Italy. Six out of ten skiers are but to leap second although. Naomi Urness, for Canada, falls as nicely.
(In the event you’re undecided what this sport is, they’re taking place an enormous ramp, off an enormous bounce, and doing varied twists and spins mid air to get scored by judges.)
The ladies’s large air remaining has received going within the meantime, regardless of the climate. Heavy snow nonetheless. Kirsty Muir for GB has landed a strong 81.75 on her first bounce.
What a end from the Germans! Tight routine from Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel to start: they’re in sync, and it appears to be like robust somewhat than thrilling to start with. However their artistic aptitude comes an increasing number of to the fore because it goes, beginning with a again exterior dying spiral, to have a degree of distinction to the opposite spirals we’ve seen, after which their choreo factor that includes a blinding acrobatic sequence as Kunkel holds Hocke by one ankle and one wrist and aeroplanes her round and round in a twirling circle, typically so low that she appears about to skim the ice, typically up at shoulder peak. In some way the judges discover a few quibbles with technical parts – a catch from one of many throws was too low, yada yada – however that was by far essentially the most spectacular routine to date, it received the group leaping on the finish.
My solely deduction: utilizing Meatloaf as musical backing. Determine skating music decisions are nearly at all times so bland.
Right here’s an unlikely cultural combo within the determine skating: an Armenian pair doing an Indian-themed routine utilizing the music from Slumdog Millionaire. She’s sporting a miniaturised skating model of a sari, he has a slimmed down shortened kurta. Karina Akopova lands a shocking throw triple lutz! She almost hit the ceiling there, and nonetheless pins it on one skate. A few stumbles on the jumps although will carry down the rating, and she or he appears to be like pissed off as she comes off, although her accomplice Nikita Rakhmanin has an enormous smile. Their dance part was authentic, I’m undecided that the entire routine flowed collectively although. However one thing completely different, which takes braveness.
Italy main the US within the ladies’s curling, and 4-1 is a spicy scoreline within the seventh finish. GB is up on the Swiss 4-3, Canada main Japan, and Korea main China.
Climate delays on the ski leaping too, they’re doing a gate change somewhat than suspending the entire occasion. There’s moderately dense snow falling.
Nice Britain’s workforce up now, Anastasia Vaipan-Legislation and Luke Digby. Completely crisp synchronisation on their triple toeloop (the place they spin upright aspect by aspect). Everybody has had a stumble to date, although, and each of them almost fall on a double axel spin. They’re doing a extra low-key musical strategy, utilizing The Cinematic Orchestra as backing. They clock in at 112.99 for this spherical, the bottom rating to date, although their rating from the primary spherical has them third of fourth general.
A brief break follows to get the subsequent 4 pairs warmed up, with 16 pairs within the remaining.
We’ve our remaining eight groups for the lads’s tremendous workforce ski leaping. The order will probably be USA, Switzerland, Japan, Slovenia, Germany, Norway, Poland, Austria.
Aesthetics for Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps: she’s in a pink silk choker costume, he’s received a glittery burgundy brocade quantity with a piratical cummerbund. Some type of tango ardour vibe for the Canadians. They go early with a cut up triple twist, he tosses her excessive within the air twirling like a majorette’s baton. Later, in what is meant to a two-part sequence, she will be able to’t full it – she doesn’t fall, however has to forgo the second bounce so as to keep up. In any other case, they nail it, and for Deanna, that is an athlete who has reached the Olympic remaining degree once more on the age of 42, having spent 16 years retired from the game earlier than mounting a comeback.
They rating a 126, better of the three to date.
A beautiful second from Poland, as Ioulia Chtchetinina collapses to the ice – however solely after the routine is finished. She’s come again from accidents that price her the final Winter Olympics, and has simply accomplished an error-free skate with Michal Wozniak, and as she sinks to the ground she’s laughing and crying on the identical time. A few their lifts weren’t of essentially the most advanced selection, and there are some minor deductions for technical flaws, however they rating 120 to the Kovalevs 113.
The worst factor about determine skating, and perhaps one of the best, is which you could watch a few folks do essentially the most outrageously unimaginable stuff you’ve ever seen in your life, after which a decide is like, “oh, your head was not decrease than your knee whilst you have been bent over backwards spinning round in 17 circles” and so they dock scores.
For France, it’s the Kovalevs to start, Camille and Pavel. Very enjoyable routine, they do a rock and roll theme, black leather-based and a few Beatles and a few White Stripes. Camille has a fall early on that prices them some factors, however most likely makes some again with a triple salchow throw that she lands divinely – so, the feller has hurled her right into a spinning rotation mid air, she’s finished three spins after which landed on one skate as cleanly as a bread knife going into a brand new loaf. Such aptitude. She provides the group a rev-up movement as she feels the touchdown stick.
Proper, it’s time for determine skating! My favorite winter sport, and shortly to be yours if I’ve something to do with it. That is the free skating a part of the pairs occasion, and medals will probably be gained tonight.
The ultimate warmth is ready for the ladies’s bobsled, with the highest 20 opponents going via. The 4 warmth instances will probably be counted cumulatively. Germany sit first and fourth by way of present chief Laura Nolte and Lisa Buckwitz, and the Individuals are second, third and fifth due to Elana Meyers Taylor, Kaillie Armbruster Humphries, and Kaysha Love. Australia’s Bree Walker is eighth.
In brief, it’s arduous for a racer to make up a lot time except these forward of them make severe errors.
The second spherical of the lads’s tremendous workforce ski leaping runs as follows: Kazakhstan, Italy, USA, France, Switzerland, Finland, Poland, Norway, Germany, Japan, Slovenia, Austria.
Climate threatens the ladies’s large air remaining
Per the Reuters replace: “The beginning of the ladies’s large air competitors on the Winter Olympics was delayed on Monday due to heavy snow within the Italian mountain city of Livigno. Organizers have been awaiting additional climate updates to find out if the occasion can happen in a while Monday, a spokesperson for the Livigno Snow Park mentioned.
It’s a troublesome sliding monitor. We noticed among the luge members battle on these corners, however the monobobs are a lot heavier and more durable to manoeuvre. A number of racers now have clipped the partitions or come up excessive sufficient on the curves to hit the wood ceiling. Plenty of wobbles, the noses of the sleds sniffing about. The primary few corners are the place many of the bother is.
Girls’s large air snowboarding delayed by snow
Climate delay within the freeski Large Air for the ladies’s remaining. Three runs per competitor, however we haven’t began the primary. It’s snowing pretty closely and there’s sufficient wind pace to concern the officers.
Sean Ingle studies from the venue:
The short-term press tent the place the hardened members of the press corp are working is being blown and buffeted about. And, extra importantly, such is the extent of snow by the Large Air ramp in Livigno it’s nearly unimaginable to see. But the competitors has not been postponed … but. We’re delayed for a second time till 8pm GMT.
We’re into the third warmth within the ladies’s monobob. Australia’s Bree Walker was bullish about medal prospects earlier than the Video games, however at the moment sitting eighth and adrift by a second and a half. The GB sledder is Adele Nicoll, again in twelfth in the intervening time.
On the ski bounce hill, we have now 17 groups within the first spherical and 12 will qualify. That is the workforce occasion, so two jumpers per workforce. Of those that’ve had each jumps, the groups within the drop zone at the moment are Estonia, Ukraine, Turkey, China, and Romania.