Winter Olympics: Shiffrin Falls, COVID Rises, Sweden Gold
Mikaela Shiffrin from the USA loses control and skis off course during the first run of the women’s giant slalom at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, February 7, 2022 in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (AP)
BEIJING (AP) – It was a miserable day in the mountains outside Beijing for American stars Mikaela Shiffrin and Red Gerard. Shiffrin’s opening race at the Beijing Olympics quickly ended with a rare mistake and a rare Did Not Finish. Shiffrin was favored to defend his gold medal in the giant slalom but instead crashed out a few seconds and five gates into the race. She lost control when she came around a gate with a left turn and fell on her hip on a course called The Ice River at the Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center. Gerard was the defending gold medalist in the men’s slopestyle but was beaten by the podium
Mikaela Shiffrin needs to recover quickly. Her next chance for a medal is slalom, but it is a top competition for rival Petra Vlhova. The showdown between these two alpine ski stars highlights Day 4 of the Beijing Games, which also includes qualifiers for Shaun White and Chloe Kim, the start of the snowboard cross competition and the first curling medals in these Olympics. Shiffrin made a bad turn in the giant slalom on Monday, and knocked the American star out of that event in the beginning. Vlhova, Slovakia, finished 14th.
Van der Poel gives Sweden ice skating gold
BEIJING (AP) – Nils van der Poel has given Sweden his first Olympic medal since 1988. He made a fantastic comeback and won gold in the 5,000 meters at the Games in Beijing. Van der Poel was a big favorite who came into the event as the reigning world champion with an undefeated record on the season’s World Cup course. He lived up to the hype at the Ice Ribbon Oval and set the speed at the end to overcome Patrick Roest from the Netherlands with an Olympic record of 6 minutes, 8.84 seconds. The bronze went to Hallgeir Engebraaten from Norway.
Canada, ROC women disguise themselves on Olympic ice amid covid concerns
The Canadian and Russian women’s hockey teams had to wear masks for their preliminary matchup at the Olympics due to concerns about the coronavirus. The start of the match was delayed by 65 minutes after the Canadians remained in their locker room waiting for Russian test results. The International Ice Hockey Federation eventually reached a compromise by letting all players wear masks, a first winter game for women’s hockey. Canada won 6-1 to improve to 3-0. In other matches, Denmark defeated the Czech Republic 3-2, Sweden beat China 2-1 and Switzerland beat Finland 3-2.
Wüst enters history with yet another golden Olympic moment
Ireen Wüst can not really explain it. Something inside her only changes when she comes to an Olympic game. Her self-confidence soars. Her legs feel stronger. When she needs a little extra speed, she’s always there. It happened again at the Beijing Olympics, at the age of 35, which gave the Dutch skating star a class of his own. Wüst slipped into the record books with a victory of 1,500 meters. She will be the first athlete _ woman or man, winter or summer _ to win individual gold medals at five different Olympics.
Closed steelworks sends Olympic skiers – not smoke – to the sky
Shougang Group’s steelworks that once billowed smoke in smoky Beijing are sending something else to the skies this week – Olympic skiers. The vast industrial park was shut down in connection with Beijing’s efforts to clean up its image and air around the 2008 Games. It has since been turned into a sports and cultural center. One of its focal points is the Olympic big jump – the first permanent, city-based arena that the sport has ever had. Freestyle skiers will compete there for medals on Tuesday and Wednesday. Snowboarders will come by next week.
Better late than never because Clarey gets an Olympic medal at the age of 41
Everything has come late in life for Johan Clarey. Even winning an Olympic medal. The Frenchman turned 41 last month and has become the oldest man to win an Olympic medal in alpine skiing after coming second after Beat Feuz to take silver on the downhill at the Games in Beijing. The former oldest was Bode Miller, 36 in 2014. It was Clarey’s fourth Olympics and realistically the last shot to end up on the podium at a game. His best previous finish in an Olympics was 18th in the 2018 downhill race. Clarey was only 0.10 seconds behind Feuz and 0.08 ahead of two-time Olympic champion Matthias Mayer from Austria.
The American figure skater Zhou is looking for the COVID test
The American figure skater Vincent Zhou has tested positive for the coronavirus and is away from the individual competition. In a five-minute video posted on Instagram on Monday night, a teary-eyed Zhou announced that he had to withdraw. He had initially tested positive as part of a routine covid-19 screening and underwent additional tests. The 21-year-old had fought his way through a bad skate for the possible team silver medalists the day before, and was to compete in the individual competition that begins with the men’s short program on Tuesday.
Olympics in downhill gold follow the daughter’s birth for Beat Feuz
Beat Feuz finally has the only big victory missing in his overflowing collection of achievements in downhill skiing by taking Olympic gold. The little Swiss skier mastered a tricky course that had never before been competed by the world’s best and finished a slim 0.10 seconds ahead of 41-year-old Johan Clarey from France. The two-time Olympic champion Matthias Mayer from Austria was 0.16 behind and added a bronze medal to his career. Feuz won a silver medal in super-G and bronze in downhill at the 2018 Olympics and is the four-time reigning world cup champion in downhill. He also holds the career record with 45 World Cup placements in downhill.
US diplomat says human rights should be in focus
The U.S. ambassador to the United States says China’s choice of an Uighur athlete to help spread the Olympic flame in Beijing was an attempt by Chinese officials to “distract” from global attention to its human rights violations. The United States organizes a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics and sends athletes but not the traditional delegation of dignitaries, citing China’s alleged systemic and widespread abuses of ethnic and religious minorities in its western region, especially Xinjiang’s predominantly Muslim Uighurs. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told CNN’s “State of the Union” that Uighurs are victims of human rights violations and that they must be at the center.
Covid-19 deprives Olympic curlers of beloved social culture
Curling is a sport built around proximity. It starts with a handshake between the opponents before the game and goes to the traditional drinking sessions after the game where the winners usually buy the losers a round. That tradition almost disappeared after the corona virus appeared and curlers at the socially distant Olympics in Beijing are unlikely to share beer. The need for distance imposed by COVID-19 has caused particular anxiety throughout the curling community.
Italy takes its first ever Olympic curling medal
Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini took Italy’s first ever Olympic curling medal. And they did it with one of the most dominant performances in the history of the Winter Games. The Italian mixed doubles team beat Sweden 8-1 in seven finals in the semifinals. They are 10-0 in Beijing. Italy scored points in each of the first five finishes of the match. Italy plays Norway in the gold match on Tuesday. Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien advanced after beating Great Britain 6-5 on one last cut to the button. Almida de Val and Oskar Eriksson from Sweden will meet Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat from Great Britain for bronze.
Mastro maps halfpipe tricks that can only win the Olympics
American snowboarder Maddie Mastro has outlined a trick in her notebook that can only help her land on the podium at the Beijing Olympics. Maybe even on the top step. It is called front double 1080 and includes two flips and a 360-degree rotation with backward landing. It has been a wishful thinking that 21-year-old Mastro had only thought of trying. But recently she put those thoughts into action. Mastro can use it to top defending Olympic champion Chloe Kim in China. But it’s more about progression than podium places in Mastro’s eyes.
What message did China send by choosing a Uighur torchbearer?
In the face of international criticism of its treatment of minorities, China’s choice of a member of the Uighur Muslim group to help broadcast the Olympic flame was a display in spite of a message from communist authorities that they will not be affected. But some critics say the election shows that the government has been affected by complaints. Cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang went with sports colleague Zhao Jiawen, a member of the dominant ethnic group Han, to light the flame. Observers saw a response from Beijing to the allegations that they had oppressed Uighurs and imprisoned one million in prison-like political retraining camps.
Chinese dissident Ai expresses criticism when the Winter Games open
The Chinese dissident behind the stadium in Beijing, which hosted Friday’s opening ceremony of the Winter Games, has mocked the head of the UN health authority. He said China should give him “a gold medal” for not asking difficult questions about its handling of the covid-19 pandemic. Ai Weiwei, possibly China’s most famous dissident, aired criticism of Beijing’s human rights record and response to the pandemic, in an interview with The Associated Press Friday, in which he also targeted the World Health Organization’s Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Ai also accused governments of showing too much respect for China for business or political interests.