Valieva dominates the ice despite doping scandal
Russian teenager Kamila Valieva dominated the Olympic ice on Tuesday night, fighting back tears as she completed a skate that put her at the top of the short programme standings.
The 15-year-old has been engulfed by a doping scandal in Beijing, but was cheered by spectators as she took to the ice for first time since news of her failed drugs test.
For two minutes and 40 seconds, millions around the world watched her every move, her music, In Memoriam by Kirill Richter, almost drowned out by the clicking of cameras.
Valieva tested positive for a banned heart drug after the national championships on Dec. 25, but the result was not revealed until Feb. 8, after she and her Russian Olympic Committee team mates had competed in the team competition in Beijing.
This time, the routine that had dazzled fans only days earlier got off to a less than perfect start.
Valieva had been expected to execute three high-flying triple jumps. But in front of her coach Eteri Tutberidze and doctor Filipp Shvetsky, also now in the spotlight, she stumbled on the opening triple Axel - having fallen twice as she attempted that jump during afternoon practice.
Valieva, wearing a flowing crystal-encrusted purple dress, completed her triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, but her score of 82.16 way was below the 90.18 score she got at the team event.
Such is her dominance, however, that it was still enough to put her ahead of fellow Russian Anna Shcherbakova, the world champion, on 80.20, and third-placed Kaori Sakamoto, from Japan, on 79.84.
Alexandra Trusova, also representing the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), was fourth with a score of 74.60.
The leading skaters progress to the free skate on Thursday, where no medals will be awarded if Valieva, whose positive drug test has cast a shadow over the entire Beijing Games, finishes in the top three.
Valieva was cleared to compete by sport's highest court, but will not face a hearing for her doping charge until well after the end of the Games. Olympic officials cannot award the medals until the doping case is resolved.
Her defence argued in the Court of Arbitration for Sport that her positive test was caused by a mix-up with her grandfather's heart medication, an IOC official said.
China's Su bags Big Air gold, Roisland takes silver
China’s teen sensation Su Yiming gave himself an early 18th birthday present by grabbing gold in the men's snowboarding Big Air event at the Olympics on Tuesday, marking China's first ever gold medal in snowboard and sixth gold in Beijing.
Su, who also won silver in the slopestyle event, delivered a stellar performance before the largest crowd at the Shougang venue since the Games started, with his parents cheering him on. He can now celebrate his birthday on Friday with his medals.
Su started with a frontside 1800 tail grab and came back with a backside triple cork 1800 for his second run that earned 93.00 points and sparked huge cheers from the crowd, as fans waved Chinese flags and shouted his name.
"I've been dreaming about winning a gold medal before I turn 18. Now my dream came true. This is the best birthday gift," said Su, who did not try his hardest 1980 tricks after securing gold with a combined score of 182.50 from the first two runs.
Norway's Mons Roisland who climbed into second place after his last run included a backside 1620, took silver with 171.75, while Canada's Max Parrot finished with the bronze in 170.25.
"It’s unbelievable. I’m still shaking. I landed everything I wanted to," said Roisland after claiming his first Olympic medal after an eventful time in Beijing.
He had to isolate as a close contact of a COVID-19 case and compete without his coach who had coronavirus.
Parrot, who takes home a second medal after his gold in slopestyle on Monday, said he went for a more conservative strategy after crashing on his first run.
"I would have loved to get more gold but with my first crash I had so much pressure for second and third. I chose to go for a safety run instead of going for gold. I knew I wasn’t going to take first place ... but my strategy worked out," he said.
Canadian veteran Mark McMorris did not make it to the podium after failing to land his signature tricks and finished 10th.
"I didn’t go in hopes of a medal, I went in the hope of landing a trick. I was pretty damn close in my last one. It’s definitely frustrating," he said.
Biathlon-Lagreid ecstatic as Christiansen strikes gold for Norway
When Sturla Holm Lagreid handed over to Tarjei Boe in Tuesday's Olympic biathlon relay he was sure Norway's hopes of gold were gone, but a collapse by Eduard Latypov and a stunning final leg by Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen delivered a stunning victory.
While Latypov, representing the Russian Olympic Committee, missed four of his five shots on his final visit to the range, Christiansen's five-shot salvo was perfect and he powered home to take the gold medal before being mobbed by his team mates.
"I was so pumped up when he left the shooting, I was screaming with all I had because it was such an incredible moment for me, to watch him go out there in the lead and the secure the gold," an elated Lagreid told Reuters.
There was little to suggest a Norwegian win when Lagreid handed over to the elder Boe brother in seventh place, more than 40 seconds behind the ROC team, but Tarjei and his brother Johannes battled back to get close enough for Christiansen to exploit Latypov's wayward shooting.
"We weren't really in the gold fight in the beginning, but when the Russian started with these mistakes, there was a chance for the gold," Lagreid said.
"It was still unbelievable to watch Vetle hit every target in the last standing shoot and just go for it."
The Norwegians are enjoying a stellar Games at the National Biathlon Centre, picking up five gold, one silver and four bronze medals, and Lagreid said the team would be celebrating.
"We have to suit up tonight and maybe we will have something else for dinner, other than pasta and water," he said, his face lit up by a golden grin.
Freestyle skiing-Swiss Gremaud wins slopestyle gold, 'relieved' Gu settles for silver
Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud won gold in the women's freeski slopestyle at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday, while China's home favourite, Eileen Gu, was roared on by fans in the final but had to settle for silver.
China's "Snow Princess" Gu went all out from the beginning, landing a clean and controlled first run, but hit the deck on her second try, forcing her to sit on her skis to take a breath.
The fall piled the pressure on Gu ahead of her third and final run and while she earned 86.23 it was not enough to top Gremaud's best of 86.56, with Estonia's Kelly Sildaru taking bronze with 82.06.
Gu hugged her fellow medallists after her score was called out, making a heart gesture with her arms and waving to fans in the stands.
Taking a pork bun out of a plastic container after the final, the 18-year-old Gu apologised to a crowd of reporters for always eating while taking questions.
"I just have no other time to eat," the San Francisco-born skier said as she took a bite.
"I wanted to get on the podium more than anything, so landing that (third run) I felt happy, I felt relieved," Gu said, adding that she had put herself under intense pressure to land the double cork 1080 in her third and final run.
Gu said she would think about the narrow difference between her best score and that of the Swiss skier for a while, but said she was "honoured" to take silver and compete at the Olympics.
"I didn't win the contest but I still walked away with a silver medal after a gold medal (at Big Air) ... so I'm proud of myself," she said.
Gu competed in the US team as a child but switched to compete for China in 2019. She will next compete at the halfpipe qualifiers on Thursday.
Gremaud, 22, who won silver in slopestyle at the Pyeongchang Games in 2018 and bronze in the Big Air event last week, held back her firepower until her second run, which catapulted her to the top of the rankings.
Sildaru's runs were full of mid-air grabs but she lost balance and fell in her second run, losing her skis and having to walk down the course.
Sildaru, taking part in her first Olympic Games, said she had competed against Gu many times before at international contests, but had never seen so much local love for her.
"I understand the hype," the Estonian said, adding that she hoped to compete at an Olympics in her home country one day.
Tess Ledeux of France, who won the Big Air silver last week and was widely favoured to end up on the podium Tuesday, fell during one of her jumps, landing heavily and skidding down the course.
A despondent Ledeux struggled again in her third run, putting her helmeted head in hands as she ended the final in seventh place.
After the final, the RIA news agency reported that Russia's Freestyle Federation would complain about the low score given to Anastasia Tatalina, who said she should have received a higher score after landing a double cork 1440.
The Russian finished fourth.
Supporters bundled up in heavy coats cheered Gu on in the half-filled stands at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, waving small pink flags decorated with the popular Olympic mascot, a panda in an ice suit.
A line of venue staff and volunteers gathered for the final run, eager to catch a glimpse of Gu.
Alpine skiing-Swiss Suter pips Italy's Goggia to women's downhill gold in thriller
Switzerland's Corinne Suter powered to the gold medal in a thrilling women's downhill race at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday, pipping Italy's defending champion Sofia Goggia to the title by 0.16 seconds.
Suter, the reigning downhill world champion, swept down the piste, known as 'The Rock', in a time of 1:31.87, to knock Goggia off the top of the leaderboard and end her hopes of a remarkable comeback from injury.
"It's my biggest dream in my life, so today I don't know what to say," said Suter after a race which had been delayed by 30 minutes due to high winds in the upper section.
"In the finish area I wasn't sure if it was good or not, because sometimes I had the feeling that there was wind against me, and then with me, and also from the side. It was not so easy today, but now I'm super happy."
The Swiss are top of the Alpine medal table after Lara Gut-Behrami won gold in the women's super-G, while in the men's events Beat Feuz won the downhill and Marco Odermatt was the gold medallist in giant slalom.
It is the first time since 1980 at Lake Placid that the same country has won the downhill in the men's and women's events.
The 29-year-old Goggia, who had fought back to fitness after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury in a crash at Cortina d'Ampezzo last month, had to settle for the silver medal with her compatriot Nadia Delago taking bronze.
Goggia, the Pyeongchang 2018 winner and the dominant force in women's downhill, let out a huge scream at the finish line as she moved ahead of Delago into top spot, giving her the chance of a remarkable repeat win and an Italian sweep of the medals.
But then the 27-year-old Suter, Goggia's closest challenger on the World Cup circuit, produced an outstanding run to grab top spot, maintaining speed throughout the course and crucially in the bottom stage where she found the vital hundredths to beat the Italian.
"I gave everything I could. I was really happy with my skiing," said Goggia, who spent three days on crutches after her crash on Jan. 23.
"In the end I'm happy with my result, because being here at the Olympics after my crash in Cortina was not guaranteed at all.
"It's still a medal. It's still a great medal. It's an unbelievable medal because of the condition of the last 20 days.
"I found an incredible strength inside of myself, and I was travelling by a sort of light. I'm glad I gave everything to be here today, I'm glad and grateful that I could achieve another medal, and I'm happy with myself," said the Bergamo-born skier.
Another Italian Elena Curtoni, first out of the start hut, was in line for bronze until Suter's brilliant run and she ended in fifth place, behind German Kira Weidle.
American Mikaela Shiffrin, who failed to finish in her specialist events, slalom and giant slalom, was 18th as she looked to get some speed racing in ahead of Thursday's combined event.
Shiffrin paid tribute to Goggia's strength in coming back from her crash and injury to take silver.
"It feels a little impossible that she is here, after that crash. I don't think that anyone knows the full details of her injury but you know it is a significant one," she said.
"It is silver rather than gold but it is a medal that was very, very hard to find. It is really impressive. She has been dealing with a lot of pressure as well. Incredible she could come and perform like that."
