A final result in the men’s ice hockey, and another surprise as Sweden beat Canada 2-0 with two goals in the third period. That means Canada join the USA in crashing out today. The semi-finals will be ROC v Sweden and Finland v Slovakia.
Catch up with today’s other stories:
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Elise Christie has told the BBC that she is planning an unexpected return to the ice in 2026. “Watching the 500 metres event the other day, I’ve made a vow I’m going to do everything I can to try to get back out at the next one,” the former world champion said.
“It’s not going to be easy and it’s not something I can say I’ll definitely be able to do because I don’t have the financial backing to do it at the minute,” Christie added.
And that’s the end of day 12. Another gem. See you tomorrow. Bye!
Curling: Canada have the hammer in their extra end against China, who knocked off Team GB earlier today it is worth recalling. If they finish it here, they advance their record to 5-3 and will be in the box seat to join Sweden and the Swiss in the final four - at least they will control their own destiny when facing Denmark tomorrow. But they have some work to do - China have a shot in position, and a guard. Jennifer Jones, two to go for Canada, takes out the guard but knocks it onto the nose of the shot, moving the second stone alongside the button! Here goes China’s Wang Rui, brought in as the alternative skip... and it’s spot on. Two on the button. Back to Jones with the final stone of the extra end; they take their time out. Down the middle... and she’s missed! Badly! China win 11-9, saluting in the extra end. Goodness me, China have really thrown a spanner in the works today, beating GB then Canada. Needless to say, it will be a massive final session at the water cube tomorrow.
Curling: A very poor stone from Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont, missing Korea’s stone on the button with their final shot! If Kim Eun-jung can one into two here, they’ll take the match 8-7. All eyes on the Korean skip - from right to left she takes it... and she’s spot on! Korea (4-4) keep their hopes alive of a semi-final berth.
Curling: Sweden defeat ROC 8-5, a fine performance after going down 3-0 early and, in the process, ensuring that they will be there with the Swiss in the semi-finals.
Curling: China, with the hammer, are going to have the chance to put their match against Canada to an extra end with the final stone of the night. So it is with Korea and Denmark; the very same situation, barely a stone in the house. Canada’s final stone first and it’s well directed - they have two shots in position. Over to Han Yu, the Chinse skipper and... it is good! Yep, by inches, but to an extra end.
Curling: Japan win 10-7 over the USA, who are out of contention. Despite being in third position they aren’t a lock for the semi-finals - and have top-of-the-table Switzerland tomorrow to finish the round robin - but they’ve done the job tonight.
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Ice Hockey: At the National Indoor Centre, still no score as yet in the men’s quarter final between Sweden and Canada with five minutes left in the second period.
Curling: No points scores in the ninth between Sweden (2) and ROC (10) with the higher-ranked team 6-5 but the Russians have the hammer in the tenth. That’s got extra end written all over it. And Canada (4) have the final shot in their tenth end as well, leading China (9) 9-8. A funny old match that one, with Canada scoring five of their nine points in just one end - the sixth. They must hold their nerve here.
Curling: right, let’s try and watch four of these at once. Korea (7) and Denmark (9), the latter with the hammer, 6-6 with three stones to come in the ninth. Madeleine Dupont drives and catches the Korean shot on the nose but leaves two big targets at the top of the four foot ring. Kim Eun-jung’s final stone - is she on target? Yep! Stones everywhere. That’s a brilliant bit of curling - Denmark had three in position and now need to thread the needle to stay ahead... but Dupont closes it out. Denmark 7-6 with an end to go. Meanwhile, a steal from Japan in their penultimate end, they lead the USA 10-7 and hold the hammer to finish the match and end America’s medal hopes.
The Daily Briefing - it’s here as well. Always a helpful read, do yourself a favour.
Ice Hockey: Still no goals at the National Indoor Stadium in the men’s quarterfinal between Sweden and Canada. They’re three minutes into the second period.
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Curling: With a couple of ends to go in regulation (surely some extra ends await in the close matches), here’s how the teams are placed. Of note since the last update, Sweden used the hammer well, adding a couple of points to take the lead back.
Team GB: More from Sean Ingle, who had a chat with veteran slalom athlete Dave Ryding after finishing 13th in the event at his fourth Winter Olympics.
The popular 35-year-old, who learned his trade on a dry slope in Lancashire where wandering sheep and their slippy excrement were a frequent hazard, has developed into one of the world’s best alpine skiers. But a mistake while leading on his first run cost him the best part of a second and any chance he had of finishing his career with an Olympic medal.
“I started great in the first run and lost the rhythm,” he admitted. “My second run I knew that I wasn’t quite flowing enough. You can feel it when you’re skiing. It felt more like a struggle than a flow. I gave it what I had. which I always do, so I can’t be too disappointed. It was just what it was today.”
Figure skating: Tomorrow is going to be quite something. Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian marvel, is in top position after last night’s short program in the women’s figure skating. If she can do as she did in the team event in the free skate, she’ll win again. But... but. Sean Ingle in Beijing has the latest on the sorry saga.
It has been revealed that Kamila Valieva listed two legal substances used to improve heart function on an anti-doping control form she filled out before her drug case at the Olympics emerged.
Though both are legal, the inclusion of L-carnitine and Hypoxen on the form undercuts the argument that a banned substance, trimetazidine, might have entered the skater’s system accidentally, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Travis Tygart, the chief executive of US Anti-Doping Agency, also warned that such medication was “an indication that something more serious is going on,” adding that “it totally undermines the credibility” of the Russian’s defence.
Curling: What we’re really after here is a live ladder. If we had one, the positions would be bouncing around end to end, such is the logjam from 2nd to 7th on a night where there are a number of high-scoring matches around the rinks. A huge play from the USA in the seventh end, picking up four points to pull level with Japan.
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The photos have landed. The very best of day 12 at Beijing - get this into you.
Curling: progress scores in the women’s event, session 11. Seven teams can make the the semi-finals and medal rounds - Switzerland are the only outfit guaranteed to finish in the top four. For Team GB, having dropped that match to China today, they have to beat the ROC tomorrow and even then their destiny isn’t in their own hands.
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Ice Hockey: Still no score between Sweden and Canada in the men’s quarterfinal, deep into the first period.
And that’s it for the medals on this 12th day at Beijing. Sure enough, Norway remain at the top with 13 gold medals, ten of those in cross country skiing in one form or another. Germany have ten of their own in second spot, seven in the sliding centre. By way of comparison, it was the same two countries that led the way four years ago in Pyeongchang with 14 gold medals apiece.
Ice Hockey: Moving from Wukesong and the women’s bronze medal game to the National Indoor Stadium for a men’s quarterfinal between Sweden and Canada. The former had the better of the early stages if the tournament, finishing second in their group. The latter had go via the repechage to reach the final eight, thumping China yesterday. No goals for either team as yet, five minutes into the opening period.
Finland win the bronze medal!
Ice Hockey: The floodgates have opened with Finland piling on three goals in the third and final period. Class from veteran Michelle Karvinen to finish on the near post within the final minute. And here is the siren, Finland win 4-0 over Switzerland. That’s the fourth time they’ve claimed bronze in this event.
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Speed skating: Arianna Fontana (ITA) has an 11th Olympic medal - brilliant. It’s unclear what colour it is though, the photo yet to come back between her and Suzanne Schulting (NED) for silver. Meanwhile, Desmet came late but doesn’t get a medal - a fine competitor. And Fontana gets the nod! Schulting, the world champion, has to settle with bronze. Another wonderful final in the women’s short track.
GOLD - Choi Minjeong (KOR) 2:08:44
SILVER - Arianna Fontana (ITA) 2:08:60
BRONZE - Suzanne Schulting (NED) 2:08:69
Gold for Korea!
Speed skating: It is a race in three as the bell rings, Minjeong, Fontana, Schulting... and it’s Choi Mingjeong! She’s defended her title! A mighty performance!
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Speed skating: Fontana at the back, Desmet is with her. A move from Han with Schulting going with her to shut down the breakaway. Eight laps to go; they’re back in a bunch. Minjeong, the 2018 champion, is leading the way. Fontana is threading her way through the field, the champion is sitting in fourth. Four laps to go!
Speed skating: To the final of the women’s 1500m. A reminder of the start list:
- Choi Minjeong (KOR)
- Yutong Han (CHN)
- Xandra Velzeboer (NED)
- Suzanne Schulting (NED)
- Hanne Desmet (BEL)
- Lee Yubin (KOR)
- Arianna Fontana (ITA)
And they’re away in the race for gold!
Ice Hockey: Finland get a second! Early in this final period, Susanna Tapani, the 28-year-old forward, delivers a bit of breathing room in the bronze medal game against Switzerland. The Finnish women are on track to match their result from 2018.
Curling: A correction on what I said earlier about Team GB - they’re actually now in fifth place at 4-4. I didn’t realise they played earlier today before getting tonight’s session off, going down 8-4 to China. Here are the updated scores (and rankings!)
- (7) Korea 3 v (9) Denmark 5
- (3) Japan 6 v (6) USA 2
- (10) ROC 4 v (2) Sweden 2
- (4) Canada 3 v (8) China 3
Speed skating: We’re nearly ready for the women’s 1500m final; it’s about 10 minutes before they jump in the medal final. Here’s the official start list.
- Choi Minjeong (KOR)
- Yutong Han (CHN)
- Xandra Velzeboer (NED)
- Suzanne Schulting (NED)
- Hanne Desmet (BEL)
- Lee Yubin (KOR)
- Arianna Fontana (ITA)
Storylines everywhere here. Minjeong’s speed was extraordinary when it mattered most in the semi, swooping the field to break the Olympic Record that she set when taking this event four years ago. Fontana, a legend of the sport, is seeking an 11th medal and a third gold - she’s already been a winner here in the 500m. Schulting is the world champion, shooting for a third gold of these Games. And then there’s Desmet, who has skated so aggressively across the program. She could win this.
Curling: Some progress scores from the water cube in the women’s competition.
- (7) Korea 3 v (8) Denmark 2
- (5) Japan 4 v (4) USA 2
- (10) ROC 4 v (2) Sweden 2
- (6) Canada 1 v (9) China 3
Ice Hockey: We’re into the third and final period of the bronze medal game and the score remains the same with Finland’s women leading Switzerland 1-0.
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Speed skating: Photo finish for third... and it goes Italy’s way!
GOLD - Canada
SILVER - Korea
BRONZE - Italy
Back to Charles Hamelin, he won both this event and the 500m back in 2010 at his home games in Vancouver, the 1500m at Sochi in 2014 and finishes his career atop the podium again. His first medal was in 2006 at Turin in this relay - what a story; a six-time medal winner. He’s an Olympic champion alongside Steven Dubois, who skated a stunning final leg to lock the race down, Maxime Laoun and Pascal Dion.
Gold for Canada!
Speed skating: Canada are skating away! Korea have too much to do - it’s gold! Charles Hamelin gets a fourth gold medal to end his extraordinary career at age 37. “It’s a fairlytale finish for him and a wonderful victory for Canada!” Wow!
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Speed skating: 13 laps to go, Canada leading the way with Korea and China second and third but all five teams are skating in file - this is getting quicker and quicker. A fall! China now down! ROC move into third. Nine laps to go, here’s the chaos! Canada, with all their experience, are controlling the tempo. Grandstand finish coming!
Speed skating: The men’s 5000m relay final, with five teams instead of four, this is going to be loose - 20 skaters on the ice at any time. Find a telly for this one. China and Korea, who won silver and bronze at Pyeongchang, are here. As are Italy, Canada and the ROC. Predictions are useless here, anything could happen. Go!
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Curling: Over at the water cube, we’re half an hour into the 11th session of the women’s event. A reminder that Team GB have the night off, currently in third position after seven matches in this round-robin stage. Some progress scores, with the table position of the teams coming into this session listed in brackets.
- (7) Korea 2 v (8) Denmark 1
- (5) Japan 4 v (4) USA 0
- (10) ROC 3 v (2) Sweden 0
- (6) Canada 0 v (9) China 3
Ice Hockey: during the B-Final of the men’s 5000m relay (the medal race follows), let’s go around the grounds. To begin, with a few minutes to go in the second period of the women’s bronze medal match, Finland are still 1-0 over Switzerland.
Speed skating: What a move from Choi Min-jeong! With two laps to go she went from fourth to first with a mighty swooping move ! Wow, an Olympic Record too, 2:16:83. From there, they were skating for second - Han Yutong (CHN) got it done. Xandra Velzeboer (NED) is quick enough to get the final qualifying spot from third. Bosh.
I’ll have the starting list for the final shortly, to begin about 45 minutes from now.
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Speed skating: The referee, always a big player in short-track speed skating, is reviewing the tape. Who is in strife here? It’s Jaszapati - she’s changed lanes at the wrong time and has lost her chance at making the Olympic Final as a result. Time for semi-final three with Choi Min-jeong (KOR), the winner in 2018, the skater to watch.
Speed skating: Santos (USA) is leading through the middle stages of the race, Schulting (NED) safely tucked away in third, waiting to make her move, followed by Desmet on her shoulder. With six laps to go Schulting and Desmet make their moves in unison; to first and second. Three laps to go, they’ve put a gap in the field to third and take the automatic qualifying spots in style. Petra Jaszapati (HUN) finishes in third, with a quicker time than Boutin from the first semi.
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Speed skating: Semi-final two includes the superstar Suzanne Schulting (NED), who is the world champion in this event and already has a couple of gold medals from Beijing 2022. Also present, Hanne Desmet (BEL) who snared a bronze in the 1000m and is a gusty racer, I’ve enjoyed her work across the fortnight. They’re away!
Speed skating: Okay, we’re to the semi-final stage of the women’s 1500m short track, three races to follow. There are seven skaters in the first of these, which includes all-timer Adianna Fontana (ITA) and Kim Boutin (CAN) who took bronze in this event four years ago and has never won Olympic gold. But it’s Lee Yubin from Korea who is leading the way at the business end, seeing of Fontana - coming around the outside - to take the win. Boutin finishes in third - she won’t qualify automatically for the final; we’ll know at the end of the third semi if her time is enough to sneak in.
Ice Hockey: En route to the speed skating, a score update in the bronze medal game with Finland’s women 1-0 up over Switzerland early in the second period. Viivi Vainikka, the 20-year-old forward, was the scorer, of the go-ahead goal.
Gold for China!
Freestyle aerials: Burov isn’t taking on the 5.0 jump, instead opting for a 4.525 back full-full double full... and he’s on the money! If the judges assess it as perfect he can leapfrog into gold but that degree of difficulty will hold him back. 129 is the magic number, does the Russian get there? No! 114.93 - it’s bronze, he’s elated! But Qi Guangpu is the Olympic champion - at long last, at his fourth Games, he will have a gold medal around his neck. An emotional response; flag in the air. “The best final that has ever taken place in the event,” says the TV caller. Brilliant stuff.
GOLD - Qi Guangpu (CHN) 129.00
SILVER - Oleksandr Abramenko (UKR)
BRONZE - Ilia Burov (ROC)
Freestyle aerials: 129 is the score to beat for Pirmin Werner of Switzerland. The 22-year-old is up, he’s through the tricks... but the form and the landing, neither are perfect. Qi Guangpu is going to stay in the lead with just the ROC’s Ilia Burov standing between him and an Olympic gold medal! Werner goes to third, 111.50. Over to Burov, the younger brother of the superstar Maxim, who can stun the world.
Freestyle aerials: Christopher Lillis sticking with the quin-twisting back double full-full double full... and he’s done as his countryman and over-rotated the landing. “Oh no!” he says when skiing over to the cameras. So close to something special - that won’t be enough for a medal, he’s in fourth with 103. Two jumpers to go!
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Freestyle aerials: Qi Guangpu (CHN) is third to go. It’s the same jump for the third time in a row and it’s the best of the set! He hits the snow with a mighty thud but he’s upright! Gosh, he got up so high - magnificent. He’s a double world champion, surely that puts him into the lead in this Olympic Final. It does, 129 on the dot! Christopher Lillis (USA) is next, who hit a 135 when it mattered most to win the team final. Go!
Freestyle aerials: Justin Schoenefeld to start the final! Here we go! And he botches his landing on the back double full-full-double full - the most difficult jump of the night. Barring something wild, 106.50 won’t get him a medal. Abramenko (UKR) the defending champion, is next... and he gets down, just, on a five-twist 5.0, the same just as the American. There was a hand touch; there will be a deduction. 116.50 is where the judges land. That small touch costs him big time. Four jumpers to go!
Freestyle aerials: Jia Zongyang (CHN) crashes his landing on the back full-full-double full! After dominating qualifying, he won’t be adding to his bronze medal in this event from 2018. Qi Guangpu (CHN) to finish - he’s already safe, in fourth spot - a 114.48 is his score, hitting the 4.525 safely and cleanly without any pizzazz. And we have out six Super Finalists, Schoenefeld earning the last spot. The following group will jump just once in the super final - everything on the line, best score wins.
- Ilia Burov (ROC) 129.50
- Pirmin Werner (SUI) 126.24
- Christopher Lillis (USA) 125.67
- Qi Guangpu (CHN) 125.22
- Oleksandr Abramenko (UKR) 123.53
- Justin Schoenefelt (USA) 123.53
Freestyle aerials: Noe Roth nearly over-rotates on the landing but keeps his hands off the snow. With a 4.525 he needs a lot to go right to move into the six... not to be. 110.41 is his score after some landing deductions. His competition is over. So, four qualifiers confirmed with just the Chinese pair to come: Burov (ROC), Werner (SUI), Lillis (USA) and Qi Guangpu (CHN).
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Freestyle aerials: Oleksandr Abramenko (UKR) doesn’t get the love from the judges either, he stays in fifth place on the back of his 123.53 in the first round. Four jumpers to go - Eric Loughran the first... and the American is on his back at the landing! That’s him done. Just Noe Roth (7th), Jia Zongyang (7th) and Qi Guangpu (4th) to come.
Freestyle aerials: The first of the Ukranians, Oleksandr Okipniuk, and he’s going for the quin-twister too with the 4.9 degree of difficulty and he’s landed it! He was in 12th spot at the halfway mark but the judges don’t like it, 122.01 - he’s only 9th. He had four points deducted. To the naked eye, looks unlucky there. Christopher Lillis now, who started this round in second and doesn’t improve on 125.67, having to settle with 122.17. A stressful wait ahead of him with the defending champ next.
Freestyle aerials: Pirmin Werner (SUI), who was the leader after the first round, follows Burov with the back double full-full-full... and he’s just got it down. Does it outscore his 126.24 from the first time though? Nup, 114.93. He stays in second spot.
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Freestyle aerials: Stanislav Niktin’s turn at the popular back full-double full-full and it doesn’t go as well as Schoenefeld’s with the judges, his 119 won’t be enough for a berth in the Super Final. His ROC teammate now, Ilia Burov - remember that his brother, the world champion Maxim, didn’t reach the final 12. A higher degree of difficulty on the back double full-full-full and it’s good! “The first quin-twister of the night!” says the TV commentator. And the judges are very into it! The Russian moves into first position with 129.50 - he’ll surely get to the medal round with that.
Freestyle aerials: In the second round, you can’t repeat the jump from the first time around. To begin Stanislau Hladchenka and it’s a beauty! At 4.425, the Belarusian requires just about full points to push into the mid 120s - not quite; 116.29 is his score, placing him in ninth. He won’t reach the Super Final. Next up: Justin Shoenefeld, who won a gold medal in the team event. The same jump and it’s outstanding. The judges like it, a 123.53 - that’s enough for fifth. A tense wait whether it will remain enough by the end of the run... unlikely but possible.
A busy little burst here. The second round of the men’s freestyle aerial jumps are about to begin, which I’ll stick with for the most part. Also starting now: the 1500m quarterfinals in the women’s short-track speed skating and the bronze medal game of the women’s ice hockey, Finland v Switzerland. I’ll try to stay on top of it all.
Freestyle aerials: “You’re good!” roars Jia Zongyang’s coach as he’s midair with his back full-double full-full - he sure is, outstanding! The same jump as Roth with a 4.425 degree of difficulty but so much more air. To the top? Not quite - into fourth with 123.45. Difficult to see him not getting through to the Super Final. Over to Qi Guangpu (CHN), the double world champion, with the same jump once again. Gosh, that’s very good too. A lower degree of difficulty but so precise, and enough for third - 125.22 pops him just behind Lillis (USA) and Werner (SUI). A brilliant first round of jumps. They’ll tidy up the snow and go again shortly. Here are the top six so far - the qualifying spots for the Super Final ahead of the second attempts.
- Pirmin Werner (SUI) 126.24
- Christopher Lillis (USA) 125.67
- Qi Guangpu (CHN) 125.22
- Olesksandr Abramenko (UKR) 123.53
- Jia Zongyang (CHN) 123.45
- Noe Roth (SUI) 122.13
Freestyle aerials: Eric Loughran is the third of the Americans but he’ll have to do better than his 111.95 the second time around - he didn’t quite get the landing right, leaving him in seventh position. No such issues for Noe Roth, back full-double full-full - no worries! He’s fourth with 122.13, behind his Swiss teammate Pirmin Wermer who remains in first place with 126.24 with just the two Chinese superstars to go.
Freestyle aerials: Oleksandr Abramenko, the gold medallist in 2018, is into third after sticking a back full-full-double-full. And as TV explain, that’s on the back of no training having to endure seven days of isolation. Never write off a champion.
Freestyle aerials: Halfway through the first round and it’s time for Christopher Lillis, who hit a 135 to win the USA gold in the team event on Thursday. And he’s straight into second position here with his first attempt, earning a 125.67 with a clean back full-double-full-full. That should be enough for him to get to the final along with Pirmin Werner (SUI), who is in the lead after clocking a 126.24. Next: the Ukranians.
Freestyle aerials: Taking off in reverse order of where they qualified, the first four out of the blocks are already setting the standard with Justin Schoenefeld (USA) carding a 120.36 to lead the way with his back full-double-full-full. At this stage of the competition, each athlete jumps twice with their best taken rather than a cumulative score. The top six progress to that Super Final - one jump for glory.
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More cross-country gold for Norway, more gold for Klaebo. Why does this not surprise me as I take the baton from Luke? What a couple of weeks that team are having, way out in front of the medal tally. Speaking of the shiny stuff, three Olympic champions will be crowned on this the 12th evening of these XXIV Winter Games.
For the first of those finals, we’re back to Genting Park where the men’s freestyle aerials competition has reached the business end with 12 competitors left in the running after yesterday’s qualifying rounds. From that dozen, only six will make it through to the Super Final – that’s one jump only, the pressure intense.
The big shock yesterday was Maxim Burov not making it through – the Russian won four World Cup events leading up to Beijing. But plenty of the big guns did advance, including the 2018 champion, Oleksandr Abramenko. His Ukranian teammate Oleksandr Okipniuk there with him after recording the highest score in last night’s second heat. That, of course, came after Chinese stars Qi Guangpu and Jia Zongyang shot the lights out to start the competition – they’re desperate for success having fallen at the final hurdle in the team’s clash. And then of course the Americans, who overtook the Chinese in that event to win gold after Christopher Lillis’ magnificent jump - watch both for him and Justin Schoenefeld.
In half an hour we’ll also be at the Capital Indoor Stadium for a huge night of short track speed skating. To begin, it’s the women’s 1500m where we’ll progress from six quarter finals into three semis then the medal race over the next two hours. Choi Min-jeong from Korea is defending her title but it’s the Dutch superstar Suzanne Schulting who has earned favouritism – not only is she the world champion over this distance but she has two gold medals already at Beijing in the 1000m and the 3000m relay; a silver too in the 500m dash. I’ll also keep an eye on Kim Boutin from Canada, who has three Olympic medals but none of them gold.
Spliced into the short track program tonight too is the men’s 5000m relay – the longest race on the schedule. Hungary, China and Canada made the podium at Pyeongchang but, in keeping with the fortnight they’ve had, the Hungarians didn’t make it through to the final five. Italy, Korea and the ROC join the Chinese and the Canadians for the chaos that only a short-track relay can deliver.
We’re also only 30 minutes away from the opening buzzer in the women’s ice hockey bronze medal game – Finland up against Switzerland. Then later tonight in the men’s division, it’s a quarterfinal between Sweden, who were 2nd in their group, against Canada, who made it through via the repechage, beating China 7-2 last night.
And last but not least, back to the water cube for the 11th session of women’s curling. A night off for Team GB, who are currently in third spot after seven matches, but a big night for Japan and the USA with the winner to stay in a semi-final position as we nudge towards the closing stages of the round robin stage.
Alright, let’s get into it! Talk to me throughout the night by sending me a note or pinging me a tweet.
That’s the lot from me today. I will leave you in the capable hands of Adam Collins.
And that’s that. Finland 5-1 Switzerland is a final score in the men’s hockey. Empty-net goals from Teemu Hartikainen and Iiro Pakarinen were the incidents of note in the third period. So that means Slovakia, ROC and Finland are the winning quarter-finalists, thus far, with Sweden v Canada coming up later today.
Men’s hockey: With under a minute to play in the third period, Finland lead Switzerland 5-1.
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The United States’ improbable, unbeaten run through the Olympic men’s hockey tournament came to a devastating halt at the quarter-final stage on Wednesday with a 3-2 penalty shootout defeat by Slovakia.
More from Clement Noel, via AP, whose slalom triumph is France’s first Olympic gold in Alpine skiing since Antoine Deneriaz won the downhill at the 2006 Turin Games.
“It was a goal for me to go back to France with a medal,” Noel said. “I knew I can do this but it’s always really difficult to do it in the most important moment. It’s not the same as a World Cup race. Everyone will push hard for the Olympics and I had to do the same without asking myself any questions.”
Slalom is also the most accessible discipline, evidenced by skiers from 61 nations entering the Olympic race. “You are able to train slalom in a lot of places in the world,” said Johannes Strolz of Austria who won slalom silver, having taken the gold in combined last week. “It’s great for our sport, great when a lot of athletes are competing for the top spots.
“Guys like Marcel Hirscher [the eight-times overall World Cup champion who retired in 2019] really set the bar high and inspired a lot of guys to ski fast,” Strolz said. “At the moment you don’t have a chance but [by] going 100% ... You hold back and you will be punished immediately by the other guys.”
“I knew that the last pitch was not good,” said Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway who finished fourth behind his compatriot Sebastian Foss Solevåg, who won bronze. “I skied too safe and technically bad. Noel deserved the win. He was by far the fastest in the second run.” (AP)
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The Swiss have pulled a goal back against Finland in the men’s ice hockey quarter-final and they trail 3-1.
What’s coming up later today? Quite a bit:
Freestyle Skiing: Men’s Aerials – Final
Women’s ice hockey bronze medal game: Finland v Switzerland
Men’s ice hockey quarter-final: Sweden v Canada
Short track skating: Women’s 1,500m quarter-finals, semi-finals and final
Short track skating: Men’s 5,000m relay
Women’s curling: Korea v Denmark, Canada v China and Japan v USA
The full schedule is here, as well as live scores –
With 13 gold, seven silver and eight bronze medals, Norway top the table. Germany are second and the USA, who endured a tough start to the Games to say the least, are now up to third:
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“It’s really stressful when you’re competing for an Olympic medal, you have one chance every four years ... right now, I have no words.”
The French skier Clement Noel reacts after his lightning-fast second run claimed gold in the men’s slalom earlier today. Noel moved up from sixth following the first leg to beat first-run leader Johannes Strolz of Austria by 0.61sec. The world champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag of Norway held his position and picked up the bronze, finishing 0.7sec behind. Noel finished fourth in the slalom at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Dave Ryding of Great Britain finished 13th.
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Gold for Norway in the men’s Team Sprint Classic cross-country skiing!
Simply too good from Klaebo. Maki tried to distance him on the final descent. But into the closing metres, and the final sprint, the Norwegian leaves his rivals in his wake. Finland win silver, ROC win bronze. Norway clock a time of 19min 22.99sec, Norway 2.46sec down, ROC 4.29sec back.
That’s a fifth Olympic gold medal for Klaebo, added to a silver and a bronze that’s he won at these Games. A legend of the sport.
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Joni Maki is out front for Finland. Klaebo on his tail for Norway. Terentev (ROC) is right there ... but Klaebo now makes his move! He streaks away at the front.
One circuit remaining for each of the athletes in the cross-country skiing, Men’s Team Sprint Classic Style, and it’s all bunched up with eight teams within 1.5sec of each other. All to play for.
Richard Jouve (France) has hauled them back into the reckoning for a medal with a speedy previous leg. Johannes Klaebo takes it up for Norway now.
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Men’s ice hockey: Finland – who of course, mounted that incredible comeback from 3-0 down in the third period against Sweden three days ago – now lead 3-0 in their quarter-final against Switzerland.
Earlier on, ROC beat Denmark 3-1 and Slovakia shocked the USA 3-2 in a shootout.
Cross-Country Skiing – the Men’s Team Sprint Classic Style is under way. A large leading group is headed by Norway, with Canada, Italy, Finland, Sweden and ROC all in attendance.
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Gold for Germany in the women’s Team Sprint Classic cross-country skiing!
That was some finish. Sundling was in control for Sweden coming around the final bend and into the finish straight. Then it was a straight-out fight between Carl of Germany, Natalia Nepryaeva of ROC and Sundling. The German athlete was just too strong on the final push to the line. And the German celebrations at the finish line are enthusiastic to say the least.
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Cross-country skiiing – Women’s Team Sprint Classic: Sweden, USA, Finland, ROC and Germany look set to fight for the medals ... under two kilometres to go!
Jonna Sundling is on last-leg duties for Sweden. Krista Pärmäkoski for Finland and Victoria Carl for Germany. Jess Diggins has dropped back for the USA ...
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Men’s ice hockey: Finland hold their 2-0 quarter-final lead against Switzerland at the end of the first period.
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And in curling news:
Eve Muirhead’s hopes of a second Olympic medal were hanging by a thread after her women’s curling team lost 8-4 to the hosts China in Beijing. Muirhead’s only chance of reaching the semi-finals were left resting on Great Britain beating the ROC team in their last match and hoping a number of other results go their way.
The 31-year-old had hoped her team had finally gained momentum with a big win over Japan on Tuesday, but Muirhead missed a clever double take-out attempt to force an extra end with her final stone.
“It’s frustrating because we are playing really well as a team and we’ve had some great performances since winning the Europeans and coming through the qualifiers,” Muirhead said. “We need to hope a few results go our way but, because we beat Japan and the USA, we need to hope they drop a game. We need to come out and concentrate on our performance against Russia and focus on what we can do and then hope the curling Gods are on our side.” (PA)
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A bit of reaction from Canada here, via Reuters, following Japan’s late calamity in the team pursuit speed skating yesterday:
The Canadian women’s speed skating pursuit team, who glided to victory at the Beijing Olympics after Japan’s Nana Takagi suffered a late fall, said they felt sorry for their rivals. Takagi slipped at the last corner in Tuesday’s final to end the defending champions’ hopes of winning gold.
“It’s obviously a thing we’ve thought about for sure ... We were like, how do we feel about this? Because they did fall on the last corner,” Canada’s Isabelle Weidemann said. “But the other thing is that they weren’t able to do six laps is also how we look at it,” added the 26-year-old, who has won a silver and a bronze medal in individual races in Beijing.
Canada gradually cut Japan’s lead at the National Speed Skating Oval, narrowing the gap to 0.3sec before Takagi crashed into the wall. The Canadians finished in an Olympic record time. “We have a lot of respect for their team,” Weidemann said. “I also feel like we pushed the limit and so did they, and they weren’t able to hold it in the last corner. We stayed on our feet, and we also had the Olympic record. We really felt for the Japanese. They’ve been such incredible competitors, and it’s been a pretty big honour, racing against them.”
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Men’s Cross-Country Skiing – Team Sprint Classic Style: The 10-team lineup for the final will be Norway, France, Finland, Canada, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, plus ‘lucky losers’ ROC and USA.
And the women’s final is coming up first: The teams through are ROC, Germany, Finland, USA, Sweden, Austria, Norway, Sweden, France and Poland.
It’s a beautiful scene at the Zhangjiakou national cross-country skiing centre but the temperature is plummeting: Currently around -10C, and it’s only going to get colder as the sun goes down.
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Men’s ice hockey: Finland lead Sweden 2-0 in the first period of their quarter-final. Miro Aaltonen and Mikko Lehtonen with the goals.
Gold for Sweden in the women’s 4x6km relay biathlon!
Elvira Öberg brings it home for Sweden! The ROC team win silver, Germany win bronze, and disappointingly for them, Norway finish fourth and out of the medals.
ROC were 12sec behind Sweden, Germany 37.4sec back, and Norway 50.7sec down.
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Men’s curling: Great Britain close out an 8-6 win against the ROC team. That makes it six wins out of seven for Bruce Mouat and co. They are qualified, but have another round robin match against Canada tomorrow, and then go straight into their semi-final on the same day.
Bruce Mouat has a chat with Steve Cram on the BBC: “Tactically they [ROC] are a strong team ... it’s quite tough to keep a lead, but we were hitting really well today. It felt comfortable, but not completely comfortable ... if it’s Canada twice [tomorrow, in the round robin and then semi-final] then bring it on.”
Grant Hardie: “We had a great first end and it just kind of settles you down.”
Bobby Lammie: “We thought the ice was excellent and it’s been excellent all week.”
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Women’s 4x6km Relay Biathlon: Sweden have taken control of the race. Elvira Öberg is out at the front now and is on the shooting range ... she misses one out of five initially, but then reloads and nails the fifth target at the second time of asking. Sweden are around 24sec ahead, ROC and Germany will battle it out for silver, it seems.
Via the official Olympics site, quotes from the USA men’s hockey team captain, Andy Miele, after his side crashed out against Slovakia:
“It’s pretty hard to describe right now… We had our opportunities,” he said. “It’s unfortunate it’s over. I enjoyed my time. Just blessed to be here, blessed to have had this opportunity and to lead that team; they’re a great group and just try to enjoy the time we have left together here.”
And from the Slovak captain Marek Hrivik: “It was a great game. It was probably one of the best ones I’ve played so far in my career. It was intense, it was a battle, we know how good a team they have, how hard they fight out there on the ice, so we tried to match that and we just tried to grind it out and it worked, and we’re going far.”
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Men’s curling: The ROC team have fought back against Great Britain’s men. The score is 7-6 to GB in the 10th end. ROC will be looking to force an extra end. Great Britain will take a blank in this 10th and final end and a narrow win ...
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Women’s 4x6km Relay Biathlon: Hanna Öberg is out there for Sweden an giving chase but the gap to Svetlana Mironova (ROC) is 28.2sec.
Tiril Eckhoff just endured a leg to forget for Norway ... Norway’s shooting penalties are 2+5.
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Cross-Country Skiing – Men’s Team Sprint Classic Style: Iivo Niskanen leads the way for Finland on the third leg in the second semi-final. Norway and Canada hot on his tail.
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It wasn’t the clean sweep of eight years ago, but a pair of Americans topped the men’s freeski slopestyle podium on Wednesday after Alex Hall soared to Olympic gold ahead of teammate Nick Goepper, who took the silver.
The International Olympic Committee has dismissed claims that a double standard was applied to US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson compared to Russian skater Kamila Valieva after both tested positive for a banned drug.
Women’s 4x6km Relay Biathlon: The ROC team lead on the second leg, by 10.7sec. Reztsova is skiing like a dream for the Russians. Italy, Sweden (27sec back), Germany (45.9sec down) and the Czech Republic (1min 17 sec back) make up the top five as it stands.
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Eve Muirhead spoke to the BBC after Great Britain’s women lost 8-4 to China in the curling: “China played very well ... we weren’t bad out there ... overall we can’t be too disappointed with that performance. We gave ourselves a lot of chances but just didn’t finish it off.”
Great Britain now have to win their final match, against ROC, and hope other results go their way if they are going to progress from the round robin stage.
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Thanks Emma. Hello everyone. I’ll bring you some reaction from that huge result in the ice hockey (where Slovakia beat the USA 3-2 to move into the semi-finals) as soon as I have it ... now to keep tabs on the Women’s 4x6km Relay biathlon, the Women’s Team Sprint Classic Style cross-country skiing, and the men’s curling, which are the events happening right now.
Lena Quintin of France, who are placed fifth and at this stage vying for one of those lucky loser spots, has moved to the outside lane in a bid to gain some ground on the rivals just a smidge ahead of her. We are in the fourth exchange.
Amid this excitement, I’m going to hand you over to my colleague Luke McLaughlin, who will steer you through the next few hours. Bye for now, been a pleasure.
The second semi is happening. It’s happening under the sun, in -14C.
For the uninitiated, the team sprint consists of six alternating sprints between two teammates around a course measuring about one and a half kilometres. Each lap they switch.
Right now they are in the third exchange and ROC have the lead, with the Finland, Norway and Sweden teams in second, third and fourth. The top four have settled into a rhythm and are breaking away from the chasing pack.
Germany have got it done with 4.03 seconds to spare over Team USA. Austria and Switzerland cross next are these are the four automatic qualifiers for the final.
China and Canada secure fifth and sixth and face a nervous wait to see how quick the second semi is. But for now, they need to rest, which is obvious in the way Chi Chunxue literally throws herself over the line.
An Australian team of Jessica Yeaton and Casey Wright finish eighth.
Cross-country skiing: Austria, Germany and the US are jostling for the top three positions in the first semi-final of the women’s team sprint classic. At the fourth exchange, the US have edged ahead but it’s all these three countries in terms of contenders. Switzerland are pretty clean in fourth ahead of the rest of the field.
I am no expert on cross-country skiing (to say the least) but am intrigued by the tactical approaches to this. The US’s Rosie Brennan is taking a slightly wider track as the others cruise in her slipstream. Germany’s Katharina Hennig is shaking up the pace with bursts of energy but still sits third. Austria is ahead now.
The rules are: The top four teams from each semi-final qualify to the final, as do the next two fastest teams from both semis.
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Curling: Do we need an update? We need an update. It is midway through the latest men’s round-robin session and GB lead ROC 5-2 after five ends. Sergei Glukhov scores late in the first half of this contest but it’ll take a lot to overturn this deficit.
In other matches, China and Switzerland are neck and neck at 3-3 and Italy are 5-3 ahead against Denmark.
Here are those comments on Valieva from the IOC I mentioned earlier (full story below):
The International Olympic Committee has dismissed claims that a double standard was applied to US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson compared to Russian skater Kamila Valieva after both tested positive for a banned drug.
Ice hockey: Big news in the men’s competition at the National Indoor Stadium, where Slovakia have beaten the US in a penalty shootout to reach the semi-finals. Huge result.
It was all happening on the Slovakian bench.
Ryding reflects on his performance.
“It was OK,” he tells the BBC. “I left myself way too much to do and for some reason I didn’t have my best skiing, it’s disappointing, it is very tight and I was missing my A game really.”
The 35-year-old thinks he has another year in him, and why not? Only this month he became Britain’s first World Cup race winner.
This is another great feature from Sean Ingle in Beijing if you haven’t had a chance to read yet:
Noel’s performance had shades of his display at the World Cup at home in Val D’Isere in December.
For those waking up in Britain, Dave ‘Rocket’ Ryding has finished 13th, 1.48 seconds off the top. He had a moment in the sun in the gold-medal position but it did not last long.
Clement Noel wins men's slalom gold!
He is France’s third men’s slalom Olympic champion. And the results show he has blitzed that field, finishing 0.61 seconds ahead. To put that into perspective, there are only 0.35 seconds separating places 2-8.
Gold: Clement Noel (FRA) – 1:44.09
Silver: Johannes Strolz (AUT) – 1:44.70
Bronze: Sebastian Foss-Solevåg (NOR) – 1:44.79
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Austria’s Johannes Strolz, who put down the fastest opening-run time, starts with a negative split, and another, and another. And now he’s in the red with a few gates to go. Can he get it done? He cannot, which means ...
Henrik Kristoffersen head down and he could well have claimed gold with the second part of his run but the opening stages have let him down. Little mistakes leave him in third, and now he faces a nervous wait.
Switzerland’s Loïc Meillard stutters early but recovers in an instant and regains the time he lost. It’s not enough for the lead but it is for second.
Now Norwegian reigning world champion Sebastian Foss-Solevåg has claimed his spot by shunting Meillard down to the bronze medal position.
The top three have opened up a bit of a gap now.
1. Clement Noel (1:44.09)
2. Sebastian Foss-Solevåg (1:44.79)
3. Loïc Meillard (1:44.79)
What can the final couple of skiers do?
Clément Noël has raced out of the gates and keeps his splits negative by more than half a second all the way until ... he extends it! Across he goes -0.86 quicker than Yule. France has not won gold in this event in two decades. Nobody else so far is touching the top. Still a few racers to come, though.
Italian Giuliano Razzoli is going for gold now, in an attempt to become the first in history to win two gold medals in this notoriously open event. The 2010 champion can’t get it done. He sits second (1:45.05), 0.10 seconds behind Yule. Bulgarian Albert Popov is third (1:45.15), ROC’s Alexander Khoroshilov fourth and Swiss Ramon Zenhäusern fifth, in front of Ryding, who is now well out of the running.
Alexis Pinturault manages a -0.01 early split but the Frenchman soon fades to +1.20.
And Atle Lie McGrath’s Olympics debut is over after falling, getting back up, then finishing 11.78 seconds behind Ryding. The Norwegian 21-year-old has a future ahead of him.
Oh hello! Daniel Yule is looking the goods. He is dancing around the gates with ease and, crucially, with negative splits. The Swiss (with Scottish parents) overtakes Ryding.
“Let’s see where we end up,” Yule says. “Let’s go.
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Some mistakes on some of the last gates from the finish are ruining a few of the skiers’ rhythms but Britain’s Dave Ryding recovers after an almost blip to better Luca Aerni’s leading combined time of 1:45.83 by 0.26 seconds and take position at the summit. Ryding, who in January became GB’s first racer to win a World Cup event, has set the combined time to beat at 1:45.57.
Bad news for Canadian Erik Read, who was quicker than Schwarz in his early splits but took a tumble and is out of contention. Croatia’s Filip Zubčić finishes 0.07 seconds shy of the top time and sits second in front of German Alexander Schmid.
Alpine skiing: The second run of the men’s slalom is starting and there are medals waiting to be claimed by a wide-open field which started with 87 skiers, of which 52 were left at the end of the first run.
Team GB’s Dave Ryding will be up soon and sits in 15th position after run one. Already a couple have failed to finish their second run after getting caught on some tricky early gates, but Austria’s Marco Schwarz has made it through.
The second run is in reverse order, with those out of the gates earlier likely to get slightly better conditions.
Curling: Team GB’s women lost today’s round-robin match against China, in a contest that was a little closer than what the 8-4 scoreline suggests. Eve Muirhead narrowly missed two vital shots in the last three ends.
“China played very well, we weren’t bad out there,” Muirhead said afterwards. “Overall, we can’t be too disappointed [with] that performance. We gave ourselves a lot of chances, but unfortunately weren’t able to finish it off.”
They next play ROC on Thursday.
The Kamila Valieva story keeps ticking along. Yesterday, after her court of arbitration for sport reprieve, the Russian 15-year-old blitzed the women’s single skating competition and leads heading into Thursday’s free skating programme.
Here is the latest from Sean Ingle in Beijing:
In another development on Wednesday, the IOC has had something to say about these comments made by American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, who missed the summer Olympics after a positive cannabis test and spoke out about a perceived double standard between her case and that of Valieva. Sean will provide us with an update on that shortly.
Ice hockey: The men’s play-off quarter-finals have started and the US lead Slovakia 2-1 late in the second period.
There are silly mistakes, and there are silly mistakes that cost you a medal at the Olympics. Poor Jarl Magnus Riiber now knows something about the latter. The Norwegian was well in contention in the Nordic combined large hill/10km when he took a wrong turn and had to turn around and go back whence he came.
To compound the devastation, he had only just been cleared to compete after being released from two weeks of Covid-enforced isolation, during which time he was unable to train.
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Here is more on the slopestyle from my colleague on the ground, Bryan Armen Graham:
It wasn’t the clean sweep of eight years ago, but a pair of Americans topped the men’s freeski slopestyle podium on Wednesday morning after Alex Hall soared to Olympic gold ahead of team-mate Nick Goepper, who took the silver.
Sweden’s Jesper Tjader won the bronze ahead of Andri Ragettli, the defending world champion from Switzerland who qualified in first place but settled for fourth on another bitterly cold morning in the mountains roughly 120km northwest of Beijing.
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Preamble
Hello again and welcome to day 12 of the Beijing Games. Some stuff has already happened. The US have claimed a one-two in the men’s freeski slopestyle thanks to Alex Hall and Nick Goepper. The men’s slalom competitors have completed their first run and will be vying for medals in not too long, and the curling keeps on coming.
But there is more on the itinerary. Herewith:
Times are all in local Beijing time. For Sydney it is +3 hours, for London it is -8 hours, for New York it is -13 hours and San Francisco is -16 hours.
- 2.05pm and 8.05pm curling – more round-robin matches in a stage of the competition that appears to last forever but – especially in the women’s contest – has a lot at stake in each match 🥌
- 7pm-8pm freestyle skiing – men’s aerials final 🥇
- 1.45pm alpine skiing – second run of the men’s slalom 🥇
- 2pm and 4.40pm and 9.30pm men’s ice hockey – the four quarter-final matches. The US are up first 🏒
- 7.30pm women’s ice hockey – the bronze medal face-off between Switzerland and Finland 🥉
- 3.45pm biathlon – the women’s 4 x 6km relay 🥇
- 5pm-7.30pm cross-country skiing – the women’s team sprint and men’s team sprint have their semi-finals and finals 🥇
- 7.30pm-9.18pm short track speed skating – this session includes the women’s 1,500m contest and the men’s 5,000m relay 🥇
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