Due to severe weather conditions, the 30-kilometer women’s cross-country ski race will begin two-and-a half hours earlier than originally planned.
For the second day, strong winds are expected.
Because of the wind and temperature drops, Saturday’s men’s 50-kilometer race was cut to 30 km.
The distance for women of 30K will not change. The race was originally scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m., but it will now start at 11:01 a.m.
___
The U.S. Hockey team. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee had a late-night party at Olympic Village, where the men’s hockey team was involved. This led to a discussion between USA Hockey and the U.S Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
The Associated Press was informed by the USOPC that a noise complaint had been reported. There was no property damage and no one was expelled.
This was far from the 1998 Nagano Olympics, when U.S. NHL players caused $3,000 worth of damage to apartments by throwing chairs and a fire extinguisher through the windows into a courtyard below.
The USOPC sent a statement to The Associated Press stating that Team USA athletes must adhere to high standards of conduct. “We spoke with USA Hockey leadership and confirmed those expectations. We can confirm that athletes will remain at the village until their departures are scheduled.”
___
Sweden’s Niklas Edin has won the title of the last major title from a career that saw him become the most decorated curler in history.
Four years after his defeat in Pyeongchang to American upstart John Shuster in the final, Edin led Sweden to the Gold Medal on Saturday. He beat Britain 5-4 in what was the first extra-end men’s final in Olympic history.
Canada was ready to claim the bronze medal it won on Friday, so Edin used the last-rock advantage in Friday’s tiebreaker and placed his penultimate rock in the middle of the target area.
The Swedes won the match after British skip Bruce Mouat failed on a ricochet. They both paused, as it is not polite to celebrate the loss of an opponent’s player — then they let out a yell.
Their alternate and coaching staff raced down to the ice for the celebration.
___
According to Beijing Olympics organizers, no new positive COVID test were reported by the Olympic bubble.
On January 23, 265 people arrived at the airport positive for HIV. Another 171 were positive for the Olympic bubble. This brings the total to 436 positive cases.
Although the bubble allows Olympic participants to bypass quarantine upon their arrival in China, it restricts their movement. Everybody is tested for the virus daily and any person who is positive is immediately isolated to stop the spread of the virus. All people must wear N95 masks, except athletes competing in the event.
The bubble test showed that 68 of those who were positive were coaches or athletes, and 103 were other workers at the Games. People in the bubble received more than 1.7million daily tests.
___
Irene Schouten, a Dutch woman who won her third gold medal at the Beijing Olympics has beaten Canada’s Ivanie Blondin and won the women’s mass-start.
With a furious push to the line, Schouten beat Blondin by 0.06 secs in the final speedkating event at the Winter Games.
Schouten let loose a scream when she crossed the line. This was in addition to her gold medals at the 3,000 and the 5,000 meters. She won the Beijing first and last speedskating events with a clever bookend.
Blondin settled on the silver while Francesca Lollobrigida of Italy received the bronze.
The U.S. team just missed out on a medal in one of the races at the oval. It was a disappointing final day. Mia Manganello Kilburg finished fourth in the women’s event to match the finish by Joey Mantia in the men’s event. He was also awarded a medal in a photo finish.
The Netherlands once again won the speedkating medal table. They finished with six golds, and 12 overall medals. The United States ended with three medals, their highest showing since 2010.
___
The International Olympic Committee has been notified by attorneys representing the U.S. figure skating team who won silver in their event. According to The Associated Press, they have also filed an appeal for the medals to be awarded prior the Beijing Games.
Due to the controversy surrounding Kamila Valieva Russian figure skating skater, who helped Russia win the team event gold, the medal ceremony was delayed. The results of her pre-Olympics drug testing were not revealed until after the team competition.
AP received a copy of a Saturday letter from Thomas Bach, IOC president. In it, attorneys stated that they would seek a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport before Sunday’s closing ceremony.
___
Bart Swings from Belgium won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics’ final men’s speedskating event, the mass start.
Swings won a silver medal in the fast-paced event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. South Korea took the bronze, while Chung Jae Won won the silver. Lee Seung Hoon, the defending Olympic champion, settled for bronze.
Joey Mantia, three-time world champion, just missed out on a gold medal. Although he posted the same time to Lee, replays showed that the South Korean skater’s tip crossed the line just ahead Mantia’s blade.
Speedskating at the Ice Ribbon will be closed with the women’s mass start.
___
Alexander Bolshunov won his third Olympic gold Medal. He won a 30-kilometer mass-start cross-country ski race. The race was shortened due to strong winds and cold temperatures.
In the final kilometer, the Russian was part of a breakaway group consisting of five men. He continued climbing up the stadium’s final climb, and won the title in 1:11 minutes, 32.7 seconds.
Russian teammate Ivan Yakimushkin crossed over the line 5.5 seconds later for silver. Simen Hegstad Krueger, of Norway, took bronze 7 seconds behind.
Bolshunov won gold at the Beijing Games in both the skiathlon and the relay. Bolshunov won silver in the classic 15-kilometer ski race, and bronze in team sprint.
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, World Cup leader, fell off the backline of the lead group around 33 minutes into race. He took off his bib and walked off tracks with 7.9 km to go.
___
A member of the International Olympic Committee who has overseen Beijing Winter Games preparations from 2015 to 2015 has been reinstated on its executive board.
Juan Antonio Samaranch was elected to the position of vice president. His father was IOC president 1980-2001. There are four vice-presidents. From 2016 to 2020, the younger Samaranch served as vice president.
This puts him in a position to run for the IOC presidency by 2025. The current IOC rules state that Thomas Bach must step down after 12 years of service as president.
Yu Zaiqing, a Chinese national, was forced to resign after serving the maximum number of consecutive four-year terms.
The full membership meeting in Beijing approved Samaranch’s return as a member of the 15-member board before Sunday’s closing ceremony. Voting was 72 for, four against. Nine members abstained.
___
Nana Takagi, Olympic champion and defending champ, has crashed out the semifinals of the mass start. This is the second time that the Japanese speedskater has been while leading a race at Beijing.
Takagi fell and her left hand touched rinkside padding. She then slipped onto her side into outer padding.
Takagi, who was leading the team pursuit, lost her balance and crashed into the last corner. This cost the Japanese women a medal.
Ivanie Blondin won her semifinal after leading Canada to a team pursuit gold medal. Francesca Lollobrigida from Italy, silver medalist at the 3,000, won her other semi.
Claudia Pechstein, a German athlete, also advanced to the final. On Tuesday, the nine-time Olympic gold medalist turns 50.
American Mia Manganello Kilburg, and Olympic rookie Giorgiabirkeland, both moved on.
Three falls occurred in the first semi. Marijke Groenewoud, from the Netherlands, was one of them. After four laps to go, she fell in a corner and was able to get up to finish fifth to qualify for final.
Irene Schouten, a winner of the 3,000, was also part of the final 16-woman team.
___
South Korea’s Lee Seung Hoon, the defending champion, has qualified for the finals of mass start speedskating men’s.
The event, which was first held in his country four years ago, was won by Lee.
The final will also feature 2018 silver medalist Bart Swings from Belgium, the three-time world champion Joey Mantia (USA) and Jorrit Bergsma (Netherlands), who are all moving on to the final.
Sven Kramer, a Dutch skater, qualified for the final Olympic final of his professional career. The semifinals were won by the 35-year-old skater, who has been awarded nine medals.
___
Chinese organizers claim that 97,000 people have seen the Beijing Olympics’ medal events.
This is less than half of the 150,000 people predicted for the Olympics two weeks ago. Sunday is the last day of the games.
Zhang Jiandong, the executive vice president of local organizing committees, revealed the number at an IOC meeting.
Zhangjiakou and Beijing could have hosted spectators, but Yanqing banned fans from Alpine skiing or sliding.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, plans to sell tickets to international tourists were abandoned last year. The block was then extended to Chinese residents in January.
Spectators were invited by members of diplomatic missions, marketing partners, and international communities living in China.
___
Weather conditions have caused the men’s 50-kilometer cross country ski race to be delayed and reduced to 30 km.
According to the International Ski Federation, the decision was taken “in regard to athletes safety in order to reduce time exposure of athletes to extreme conditions.”
All morning the wind has battered the Zhangjiakou National Cross Country Center, sending snowflakes into the air.
Temperatures hover around minus 18°C (0 degrees F).
A 50-kilometer race can take as long as two hours, making athletes vulnerable to frostbite and leaving them exposed. Instead of six laps on the 8.3-kilometer course, racers will be able to ski a 7.1-kilometer course 4 times.
___
The Beijing Olympics’ last Alpine skiing race has been postponed a day due to strong winds.
The mixed team parallel event has been rescheduled for Saturday, the last day in the Winter Games. It will begin at 9 a.m. Beijing Time.
It was scheduled to begin Saturday morning, but was delayed twice by gusts up to 40 mph (65 km/h), before being scrapped for that day.
___
Strong winds will force the cancellation of the last Alpine skiing race at Beijing Olympics. The decision to reschedule or cancel the event has yet not been made.
The event was scheduled to take place Saturday but wind gusts of up to 40 mph (65 km/h) caused two delays. Sunday is the end of the Winter Games.
The race organizers eventually decided that the race would not take place on Saturday.
“To discuss the possibility of rescheduling the event,” a meeting was held.
___
Nico Porteous from New Zealand won the Olympic ski halfpipe final despite the wind swirling around him. This was a day that many skiers were unable to land their best tricks because of the strong gusts.
Porteous earned a score of 93 on his first run, which was performed in bitterly cold conditions and a breezy morning at Genting Snow Park. He scored a 93 in his first run, despite the difficult conditions that made it difficult for skiers to connect big air and spins.
David Wise, a two-time Olympic champion, took home silver with a first-run score 90.75. Wise, 31, was the first male winner of the men’s event. Wise won the title in its Olympic debut in 2014, and again in 2018. Alex Ferreira, USA, made a strong start, twisting his right ski pole at bottom in exhilaration to win the bronze.
Aaron Blunck was the last competitor to make it to the halfpipe. He was trying to land a trick under the windy conditions, but he crashed into the wall. He stayed there for a while before getting up and standing again.
___
The Beijing Olympics’ last Alpine skiing race is being delayed by wind gusts up to 40 mph (65 km/h).
The team event was delayed twice on Saturday, totalling two hours. It will now not start before noon local time.
The red and blue gate flags whip in the wind on the course called “Ice River” at Yanqing’s National Alpine Skiing Center.
___
After the first run of the men’s halfpipe final, Nico Porteous from New Zealand took the lead. It was a difficult day to throw tricks because of the swirling wind.
Porteous achieved a score of 93 due to his back-to-back double-cork 1620s. David Wise, the Olympic champion twice-defending, is in second place after scoring 90.75 on his first three runs. Many competitors were affected by wind gusts. Brendan MacKay, Canada, appeared to have been blown off his line by the wind.
Aaron Blunck, top qualifier, called the gusty conditions “gnarly.” The wind speed is listed at 13 mph but it appears that the wind is swirling through the halfpipe. The wind chill was around minus 26° Fahrenheit (minus 32° Celsius).
___
Strong winds are causing the Beijing Olympics’ last Alpine skiing race to be postponed.
The team event’s start time has been moved an hour back to Saturday at 11 a.m. (local time). This is the original time it was to start before a forecast for windy conditions prompted organizers to attempt to get started at 10 a.m.
Near the bottom of the race course, known as “Ice River”, at the National Alpine Skiing Center (Yanyang zone), gusts of approximately 25 mph (40 km/h) are creating snow.
The temperature is zero degrees Fahrenheit (minus 18 Celsius) and feels like minus 8 Fahrenheit (minus 22 Celsius).
Mikaela Shafferin is listed on the roster for USA, which will face Slovakia in the first round. The other matchups in the first round are Switzerland vs. China and Italy vs. Russia. Norway vs. Poland. France vs. Czech Republic. Germany vs. Sweden. Slovenia vs. Canada.
Austria, which is ranked top in the world, received a bye in the first round because there are only 15 countries within the 16-spot bracket.
