China's 'snow princess' Gu triumphs in halfpipe, bags second gold
With the roar of home fans cheering her on, China's "snow princess" Eileen Gu cruised to victory in the women's freestyle skiing halfpipe final on Friday, claiming her second gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
Gu, who has become the popular face of the Beijing Games, was in full command of the contest from the start, soaring above the pipe higher than any other skier as she nailed back-to-back 900s with advanced mid-air grabs.
Gu wiped away a tear after she scored 95.25 in her second monster run, which virtually assured her the title and became her best score of the day.
Her gold medal locked down, the 18-year-old skier hugged her mother and her coach at the top of the pipe before dropping into a victory run.
Breaking down in tears afterwards, Gu told reporters her victory was the result of years of hard work where she juggled hours of daily training with her career as a model and student.
"It's like letting out a deep breath," Gu said wearing a panda hat that she changed into after the final.
"I feel exhausted, from opening ceremony to today I've been skiing every day so I'm tired but I feel at peace, I feel grateful, I feel passionate and I feel proud," she said.
The San Francisco-born skier, who competed in the U.S. team when she was younger but switched to compete for China in 2019, had said that her goal was to reach the podium at all three of her freeski events.
Gu has managed just that, picking up gold in Big Air, silver in slopestyle and nabbing yet another gold at Friday's halfpipe.
Canada's Cassie Sharpe, who won gold in the event in Pyeongchang four years ago settled for silver with her highest score of 90.75. The 29-year-old Canadian said she was "stoked" about her podium finish at Friday's event after undergoing knee surgery a year ago.
"Being able to flip around to get on the snow just under four months ago to make it to the Games and get on the podium, I am extremely proud and pretty satisfied," she said.
The Canadian skier also acknowledged Gu's success, saying the skier was sure to change the face of the sport.
"She is a machine, I don't know how she does it. She competed in all three disciplines and she podiumed in all three," Sharpe said.
Fellow Canadian Rachael Karker took bronze with her best run of 87.75.
The stands at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, normally sparsely filled due to the pandemic, were packed with fans on Friday who began chanting Gu's name even before she dropped into the course.
A large crowd of Team China staff bundled up in white and red puffer jackets unfurled the national flag at the bottom of the halfpipe, while others waved blue placards bearing Gu's name in Chinese.
At the top of the halfpipe before dropping into her first and second runs, Gu said she repeated a mantra to herself that she was the best freeskier in the world.
"I said I'm really grateful to be here, I can't believe this is real, I love skiing so much and I love you all," Gu said she told herself.
Now that she was done with her events, she was looking forward to sharing an "amazing" lamb hot pot lunch with her grandmother, who travelled to China from the United States to see her compete for the very first time.
"It'll be really special," Gu said.
Biathlon-Braisaz-Bouchet wins women's mass start gold for France
Justine Braisaz-Bouchet of France managed the rough shooting conditions brilliantly to hold off a twin Norwegian challenge and blaze to victory in the women's Olympic 12.5 km mass start on Friday, the final women's biathlon race of the Games.
Tiril Eckhoff, bronze medallist in the last two Olympics, took silver and Norwegian compatriot Marte Olsbu Roeiseland the bronze to add to three golds and a bronze already collected in Beijing.
The race was brought forward from Saturday because of the weather but the wind played a decisive role in the destination of the medals.
The Norwegian pair set the pace with Roieseland and Eckhoff both shooting clean on their first two prone visits, despite the bitterly cold wind whistling across the range and rattling the red guide flags.
The pair opened up a lead of 33 seconds but that vanished at the first standing shoot as the wind suddenly picked up and caused chaos on the leaderboard.
The Norwegians racked up costly misses, and took a long time about it, and had to embark on mentally and physically demanding 150m penalty laps. Braisaz-Bouchet made the most of the window of opportunity at the third shoot to take the lead, quickly increasing it to 15.5 seconds over Roieseland by 8.4 km.
By the time the leading group made it to the range for the final time the wind was even more treacherous, and though Braisaz-Bouchet missed her first shot, she hit her next four and in quick time, to emerge with her lead increased to 48.5 seconds as all her rivals struggled to find the target.
The world number seven was able to ease home 15.3 seconds ahead of silver medallist Eckhoff and 34.9 ahead of Roieseland. and claim France's first medal in the mass start, which has now been won by five nations in its five appearances at the Olympics.
"I can't realise what happened," Braisaz-Bouchet said.
"In the first weeks of the Olympics I did not have the equipment or the shape, I don't know what happened, why I was so slow on the track, but I dealt with it.
"Today I was very serene and calm. During the first standing shoot, I said to myself: 'OK, I have good skis, I am in good shape, whatever happens, happens' and in the last shooting round, I was very calm.”
Eckhoff said: "The standing shooting conditions were very tough, it was very challenging so it is great fun to come in in second place - a personal best for me."
Roeiseland already had three golds and a bronze in her suitcase and had no complaints about collecting another "lesser medal". "It could not have gone better for me today," she said. "I felt tired so to make it to the podium at all is great. Today bronze tastes like gold.
"The standing shooting was very challenging, a lot of movements. I tried the best I could so I was satisfied with the result given the circumstances and it's great to be sharing the podium with Tiril."
Having come away from Pyeongchang with two silver medals, Roeiseland, a multi-world champion, said Beijing had exceeded her expectations. "I dreamt of Olympic gold and it has been more than I thought possible," she said. "I will remember it for the rest of my life -- these have been fantastic Olympic Games."
Switzerland win gold and silver in men's ski cross
First-time Olympian Ryan Regez of Switzerland took gold in the men's ski cross final on Friday at the Beijing Games, while fellow Swiss skier Alex Fiva claimed silver.
Regez dominated from the start, leading the pack to zoom over the technical section at the start of the course, putting plenty of distance between himself and the rest of the pack.
Sergey Ridzik of the Russian Olympic Committee, who won the bronze medal at the Pyeongchang Games four years ago, had to again settle for third place on Friday.
Heavy snow overnight complicated the event at the Genting Snow Park, with skiers flying over fresh powder on a course that is more than 1,200 metres long and features big jumps, rollers and high-banked turns.
The air temperature fell to -15.8 degree Celsius (3.6°F) ahead of the final.
Ukrainian Hunko tests positive for banned drug
Ukrainian bobsledder Lidiia Hunko has tested positive for a prohibited substance during the Beijing 2022 Olympics Games, the International Testing Agency (ITA) said on Friday.
Hunko, who finished 20th in the women's monobob, is the third athlete to test positive during the Games.
The ITA said she tested positive on Feb. 14 in Yanqing where the competition took place and she has been suspended provisionally.
"The athlete also has the right to request the analysis of the B-sample," the ITA, in charge of doping tests during the Olympics, said.
Her team could not be immediately reached for a comment.
Iranian Alpine skier Hossein Saveh-Shemshaki and Ukrainian cross-country skier Valentyna Kaminska are the other doping cases during the Games that end on Sunday.
Cross-country skier Johaug to call time on Olympic career after Sunday's 30km
Norway's Therese Johaug has said that she will sign off her Olympic career with the women's 30 km freestyle event that closes the Beijing Games on Sunday.
A relay winner at her first Olympics in 2010, the 33-year-old finally achieved her dream of winning an individual gold, picking up two in Beijing in the skiathlon and the 10 km classic races.
"Sunday will be my last Olympic race," she told reporters before hinting that her career may be coming to a close.
"It (my decision) won't happen until after the season, I'll have to go a few rounds with myself, it could take a long time," she added.
Johaug missed the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang due to a doping suspension, and Sunday represents the last chance to add to her collection of Olympic medals, which also includes a silver and a bronze from Sochi.
"I think it will be a very tough 30k. If it has not been important previously to allocate (energy) correctly on these trails, then it will definitely be important on Sunday," Johaug said.
