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Jutta Leerdam gold, Netherlands one-two in girls’s 1000m pace skating
What a finale. The final pair of the day, going through a brand new Olympic report having simply been set, solely to see it final just some minutes. Leerdam is highly effective on her begin, clocks one lap in simply over 26 seconds, and finishes along with her top and her lengthy strides 1:12:31. Her teammate, Femke Kok, appears on, not figuring out what to suppose by the appears of it, some poignancy to her expression seeing her personal potential gold medal turn out to be silver however seeing her nationwide crew take the highest two spots on this race. Leerdam can’t consider she’s performed it. Final race, final probability, the proper efficiency. She pulls off her racing hood, shakes her lengthy hair unfastened, and glides across the monitor for a little bit longer, then finally pulls up at one of many delicate obstacles and collapses throughout it, eyeliner leaving tracks throughout her cheeks as she weeps and weeps.
Her opponent in that race, the gold medallist final time, Tigaki Miho finishes with brozne this time for Japan, a way more reserved expression on her face as she slows down.

Key occasions
Snowboard: The rostrum is about, now it’s simply the order on it. Murase Kokomo into the gold medal spot with a frontside 14, excellent touchdown, she knew it was good as quickly as she landed, and the judges enhance her up… one rider to go.
Snowboard: Mia Brookes! So shut! She tries a bottom 16 melon, that’s 4 and a half rotations, will get all of them performed however jars the unsuitable approach on the touchdown. Stays up but it surely’s not fairly proper. I don’t know why that’s classed as DNI by the judges, however both approach it wouldn’t have gotten the factors to problem the rostrum, however that was an enormous trick try. Massively formidable. She’s laid down a marker.
Snowboard: The DNIs are coming thick and quick, Suzuki Momo one other, so no podium for her with three riders to go.
Snowboard: Not fairly the touchdown for Meila Stalker, missed the seize once more on her first try, acquired it a second time but it surely throws off the touchdown. The bounce is marked as DNI, unsure what occurred there. “Oh nicely,” she says to any individual. “Get it subsequent time.”
And it’s an analogous story for Tess Coady. Doesn’t get the seize, and one thing doesn’t really feel proper along with her bounce, she bails out of the trick primarily. Didn’t have the fitting positioning within the air to get round for the bounce she’d nominated, so she concentrates on touchdown and never wiping herself out for no purpose. DNI.
So an anti-climactic ending for each Australians.
Snowboard: Iwabuchi Reira lands laborious, loses stability and hits her chest laborious, however she’s okay and smiling as she walks down and hugs a few her opponents. Large rating on her first bounce however didn’t land her second proper, and DNI on her third. So she’s out.
Ski leaping: Austria in entrance right here, Stephan Embacher. Then Vilho Palasaari for Finland is second, or was, however the German Felix Hoffman simply bumped him to 3rd.
Snowboard: Change bottom 1260 and lands it! Zoi Sadowski Synnott, gold within the slopestyle in Beijing and silver on this occasion, plus bronze in 2018. Fell on her first bounce, nailed her second… anticipation on her face because the judges take their time…
She’s in gold medal place. Some large riders but to return, however what a comeback. Scores 83.50, she’s as much as 172.25 mixed.
Snowboard: So a change within the bounce order now, with the bottom scoring riders leaping first in order that the leaders will know what they should do on the finish. The Austrians are out of competition: Gasser lands a 76 however doesn’t have sufficient early factors, and Karrer falls once more. So does Fukada Mari (additionally Mari Fukada when not utilizing Japanese naming order, when you’re confused) who can’t rescue her last regardless of that massive second-jump rating.
Zhang is nice within the air on her final bounce, not excellent on the touchdown, she comes via with a rating of 70.25 which received’t get her on the rostrum, however an excellent night time. Bows to the judges as she leaves the course.
Determine skating: The Australians are up! Holly Harris and Jason Chan, they usually do not do Ricky Martin, they after all use Kylie Minogue. Large rating, 67.75, second thus far out of 5, they usually’re via to the subsequent spherical.
Ski leaping: The boys’s regular hill bounce last is occurring too. Felix Trunz main for Switzerland after eight opponents.
Snowboard: That doesn’t final lengthy! Murase lands a 72 to go second general, then the potential favorite Sadowski Synnott lands an enormous trick for an 88.75 to present herself a shot after her first fall. That’s the second spherical.
Snowboard: Mia Brookes into second place! Bottom 1260, slight stutter on touchdown but it surely’s ok to get her a 78 and take into second general. A protracted method to go, however silver medal place for GB in the meanwhile…
Snowboard: Hell of a bounce from Fukada, cleanest touchdown of the night time after 4 rotations, and he or she scores an 85 after her first-round fall. Nodding in appreciation as she watches again her replay on the massive display screen.
Yu Seungeun is extra animated! Triple cork frontside 1440, lands a little bit back-heavy however stays up, and he or she hurls her board away in celebration at having caught that trick… scores an 83.25, and he or she’s prime of the pops on mixed scores now, not many have landed two methods. Coady continues to be third general for that purpose.
Snowboard: Iwabuchi additionally butt-plants on the touchdown, after her large first spherical rating, so she’ll want her third trick.
Stalker, the Australian, drops in goofy foot, good within the air however simply drops her arms on the touchdown… oh, she missed the seize in mid air on that one. Couldn’t get compact in form, that threw off her aerodynamics and her spin, and in the long run she did nicely to land that pretty cleanly with out hitting the ice. Scores a 35.
Snowboard: Karrer and Zhang each crash on touchdown for his or her second jumps. Similar leaping order as earlier than. Gasser doesn’t fall however bounces out on the touchdown and will get flipped round to face the unsuitable approach, trying tremendous aggravated about that, large factors loss, scoring 45 on it. She stacked her first rating, in order that’s her out of the medals. The earlier two who fell each had a good first spherical, so that they’re nonetheless in it.
Suzuki Momo does land her frontside 1440, arms aloft as she comes right down to the flat. Scored 54 within the first spherical, however 81.5 right here and that takes her above Coady for mixed scores.
Snowboard: So you must get one rating with each stances, apparently. The Australian Tess Coady goes strategically easy, a swap bottom 900 scoring 61 with a pleasant clear touchdown once more, so which means she has two stable scores banked and may go extra formidable on the third bounce.
Snowboard: Zoi Synnot Sadowski for NZ crashes out because the final jumper, proper after Murase Kokomo goes prime of the board with a bottom 1440. Onto spherical two.
Determine skating: I’ll be sincere, you suppose ice dancing and also you don’t suppose Nice Britain. However Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez have charisma, they’ve chemistry, they usually go prime of the desk early. There are 23 pairs, so don’t get carried away by the third one, but it surely’s an excellent routine, utilizing George Michael as their backing musician.
Importantly they didn’t go for Ricky Martin once more, as a result of the Swedes did, La Vida Loca. That’s two Ricky Martins in 4 pairs. I’m getting Sparky Polastri vibes right here, is he promoting his wares across the circuit?
Snowboard: Mia Brookes for GB now, going along with her reverse stance, cab 14 with a stalefish seize. (No, I don’t know what these imply, I’m simply writing them down for individuals who do. She went round and round a bunch of instances and didn’t fall over.) She’s into third spot.
Reminder that every boarder will get three jumps and retains their finest two scores mixed to determine the medals.
Snowboard: Fukada Mari falls on touchdown, now rating for the Japanese rider. But it surely’s an enormous trick nailed first try for Yu Seungeun, who stomps a bottom 1440 straightforward as pie. Large rating, 87.75 to go prime for Korea.
Snowboard: The second Australian within the comp, Leila Stalker, additionally goes the bottom 1080, this with a mute seize, and he or she nails the touchdown too! Good stable basis for the 2 Aussies early on this comp. She’s pumped, large smile as she leaves the course high-fiving, scored a 72.50 and he or she’s at the moment third. Iwabuchi Reira for Japan went prime earlier than Stalker’s bounce, Zhang Xiaonan for China jumped second and is second.
Snowboard: Hanna Karrer skews the touchdown on her trick, stays up however with a giant curve out of the touchdown, and Anna Gasser stacks hers, falling onto her butt, so regardless of large strikes within the air the 2 Austrians rating low. Suzuki Momo for Japan doesn’t nail the touchdown both.
Ice dancing: I feel there’s a Nineties theme to this spherical. We talked about faculty discos earlier than, now we’re proper in it. The Spanish pair do a delightfully tacky Ricky Martin montage quantity, earlier than the Chinese language pair come out dressed like West Facet Story. What a sport.
Snowboard: The ladies’s large air is underway. We love this one. And it’s Australia’s Tess Coady who begins us off, completely touchdown a bottom 1080 with melon seize. (I feel.) She banks a stable 70.00 to start.
What’s arising? Loads! The boys’s ski leaping 1st spherical is about midway via, with house crew Giovanni Bresadola at the moment main. The ice dance is about to start out, that is the rhythm dance part the place the highest groups qualify for the free dance spherical, the place the medals are determined, with factors carrying over. And the ladies’s large air snowboard last is about to start, with the primary of three runs!
Ice hockey: Germany beat France 2-1 in additional time within the girls’s group match.
Sweden beat GB in blended curling semis
Curling: Large turnaround within the match, and never in Nice Britain’s favour. Sweden name their energy play (as soon as per match, a crew can pre-place a stone earlier than starting play in an finish). That plus some errors from GB open up Sweden for a five-shot benefit, completely inserting their stones on every shot. They’re main 8-3 with two ends to play, impossible to cough up that form of lead. And the match is over very shortly after.
USA are main Italy 7-5 within the sixth finish.
Curling: Each semi-finals have levelled up, GB stealing one stone to go 3-3 towards Sweden, Italy and USA are 5-5. Sweden although with an amazing probability to attain large within the sixth finish after a few British errors.
Velocity skating: Jutta Leerdam appears very critical ready to step onto the rostrum, holding again extra tears, then erupts right into a beaming smile as she known as up and jumps up and down. A more durable to learn expression on Femke Kok’s face, seemingly nonetheless conflicted which is after all comprehensible, maybe simply exhausted as nicely. The emotional expenditure of spending 4 years main as much as this have to be immense. Tagaki Miho is rather more composed, permitting herself a small smile as she snaps a selfie with the opposite two on the finish, in remarkably her third successive Olympic podium on this occasion: bronze in 2018, gold in 2022, and bronze once more right here, a much more slight and diminutive determine than the highly effective Dutch skaters.
Ice hockey: Germany and France at 1-1 within the third of their girls’s prelim spherical match.
Curling: I’m happy to announce that I’ve discovered a channel with the house Italian feed, and watching curling in Italian is my new favorite factor. Particularly whereas they’re enjoying the USA. Spicy. The People are main 5-4 within the blended doubles semi last.
Over within the different recreation, Nice Britain are 2-3 right down to Sweden. Plenty of chat between the British pair as Bruce Mouat sweeps like a demon, then says “Sorry” about his shot as a result of it tapped the opposite stone barely more durable than his intention. We’re seeing the fifth finish.
Jutta Leerdam gold, Netherlands one-two in girls’s 1000m pace skating
What a finale. The final pair of the day, going through a brand new Olympic report having simply been set, solely to see it final just some minutes. Leerdam is highly effective on her begin, clocks one lap in simply over 26 seconds, and finishes along with her top and her lengthy strides 1:12:31. Her teammate, Femke Kok, appears on, not figuring out what to suppose by the appears of it, some poignancy to her expression seeing her personal potential gold medal turn out to be silver however seeing her nationwide crew take the highest two spots on this race. Leerdam can’t consider she’s performed it. Final race, final probability, the proper efficiency. She pulls off her racing hood, shakes her lengthy hair unfastened, and glides across the monitor for a little bit longer, then finally pulls up at one of many delicate obstacles and collapses throughout it, eyeliner leaving tracks throughout her cheeks as she weeps and weeps.
Her opponent in that race, the gold medallist final time, Tigaki Miho finishes with brozne this time for Japan, a way more reserved expression on her face as she slows down.
Velocity skating: A blazing run from Erin Jackson of the USA finishes in 1 minute 15 on the nostril! She’s gone prime of the pops. Seems a little bit overwhelmed as she sits down to attend for the remainder of the races. Ellia Smeding for Nice Britain places up a powerful race towards Lee Na-Hyun of Korea, who clocks the third-fastest time for a monent. However all of that’s overturned by an unbelievable pair in Femke Kok and Brittany Bowe, Dutch vs American in that bout, the 2025 World Champ v the 2022 bronze medallist, however they push one another to higher heights.
Kok has virtually the proper race, very aggressive on the final couple of turns, and will get house in a brand new Olympic report! Bowe finishes with the second quickest time, however appears metres adrift by the shut. They’re one and two now.
The brand new Olympic report is 1:12:59.
Velocity skating: Han Mei of China races herself into the bronze spot for now, the third skater right this moment to go sun-1:16, simply forward of Nadezhda Morozova of Kazakhstan. However Yin Qi of China takes that spot from her compatriot within the subsequent race, blowing away Natalia Czerwonka of Poland who’s now sixth on time.
Good day! Thanks to your firm. A little bit of quiet on the pace skating, the place we’re having some “ice remedy”, I’m informed. Which means there’s a little bit of a Blue Lighr Disco feeling to the world, with dimmed lights and yacht rock classics on the PA, all designed to maintain these skating followers from tearing the place aside whereas they look ahead to the machines to clean over the rink. What are these machines referred to as in ice hockey rinks? My thoughts says jabroni machine, however that’s from the Sopranos. Zamboni machines? The identify is Italian adjoining. Anyway, I suppose it is a model of that. I’m not the upkeep knowledgeable.
Righto, that’s it from me for now. Right here’s Geoff Lemon to croon you thru the subsequent little bit of the day – and underneath approach in 4 minutes is the blended doubles curling semi, during which Nice Britain meet Sweden.
At 5.05, so in simply 11 minutes from now, we’ll all be frantically sharpening our carpets, as GB go towards Sweden within the semis of the blended doubles curling. However again to the pace skating, Zdrahalova of Czechia is flying and Schulting’s main time is underneath menace. She tears across the final nook … and finishes second, 0.37s slower.
Czerwonka of Poland is out in race six and she appears respectable in slotting herself into second place. In the meantime within the girls’s luge, the primary run is over and the primary three is as was, Fraebel of Germany main by 0.048s from Taubitz, additionally of Germany, with Hofer of Italy an extra 0.271 behind.
Herzog of Austria is a beautiful mover however she runs out of steam to complete up fourth general. The large favorite for gold is Leerdam of the Netherlands; she goes within the last race towards one of many solely opponents with an opportunity of beating her, Takagi of Japan, whereas the third doubtless contender, Kok additionally of the Netherlands, goes in warmth 13.
The extra racers we see, the extra Schulting’s time appears nails. McGregor of Switzerland is flying, however she’s nonetheless not particularly shut, ending 0.70s off the lead and going second; Silaeva of Kazakhstan goes seventh.
Rosner of Austria and Lalibete-Roy of Canada are approach off the chief in warmth three of the pace skating, going fifth and sixth respectively.
Again with the luge, Fraebel nonetheless leads from Taubitz whereas, within the girls’s ice hockey, Germany are nonetheless 1-0 up on France.
It’s Vanhoute of Belgium and Hiller-Donnelly of Canada out subsequent, Hiller-Donnelly in entrance however a second down on Schulting. However Vanhoute comes on sturdy on the finish to take second – for now – with Italy’s Maybritt, who was within the first warmth, third.
We’re underneath approach within the pace skating, two-and-a-half laps of the monitor. Schulting of the Netherlands is away shortly on the recent ice, setting a benchmark time of 1:15.46, nicely exterior the Olympic report.
“For a basic of the Italian anthem style,” begins William Mata, “there’s a entire Giorgio Chiellini part of YouTube of him loudly, badly, belting it out.”
I shall examine.
Our pace skaters are warming up so, given there’re medals at stake, let’s concentrate on that for the subsequent bit.
Again to the ladies’s luge, the 2 Germans are 0.048s aside; in third, Hofer of Italy is an extra 0.288 again, which is to say that, by the appears of issues, there’s a race for gold and silver, then one other for bronze.
Developing in 11 minutes, we’ve the ultimate of the ladies’s 1000m pace skating. There are 15 heats, every with two racers concerned, and the quickest time wins.
A terrific objective from Germany sees them lead towards France within the girls’s ice hockey. It appears prefer it’s Japan v Italy for the ultimate knockout spot.
However what’s this? Merle Malou Fraebel, simply 22 and likewise German, is totally rinsing it, and Taubitz’s time is underneath menace … Taubitz’s time is handled! Sahe goes first in 52.590, and may this be our battle for gold underneath approach?
Germany have dominated this occasion at current Video games, however Natalie Geisenberger, the three-time reigning champion, has referred to as it a profession, that means an opportunity for others; Julie Taubitz, additionally of Germany, is favorite and world champion; she’s out first and units a stable time of 52.638. The format is 2 runs right this moment, then two extra medal runs tomorrow.
Righto, it’s time for some luge. “The Cortina Sliding Centre” sounds much more enjoyable than luge appears.
It’s all Germany on the ice, 5 photographs to 1, however with 12 minutes left within the first, the rating stays goalless