There are just a few days left of the 2022 Winter Olympics — meaning a few last chances for medals. In the men’s freeski halfpipe, New Zealand’s Nico Porteous won gold and Americans David Wise and Alex Ferreira took silver and bronze, respectively, in a crash-filled competition held despite high winds on Saturday.
Mikaela Shiffrin’s last race — the mixed team slalom — was supposed to be held, but has been postponed to tomorrow because of the conditions.
After the first two heats of the four-man bobsled, the two German teams lead, with two more heats Sunday morning before the medals are awarded. The Jamaican team sits in 28th place in its first appearance in 24 years.
We’ll have updates on the action here:
Team Great Britain medals
Sweden won gold in the men’s curling after edging past Great Britain, 5-4.
Sweden took control of the match early on, and took the hammer heading into the extra end. Sweden’s skipper Niklas Edin was in sharp form as he finally added a gold to his collection of silver from Pyeongchang 2018 and bronze from Sochi 2014.
The silver was Britain’s first medal of Beijing 2022 and ended fears of a first medal-less Winter Games since 1992. Bruce Mouat’s rink of Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie, Hammy McMillan and reserve Ross Whyte emulated the men’s team of Sochi 2014 who also returned home with silver.
Britain still has a shot at gold in the women’s final on Sunday when skipper Eve Muirhead’s team takes on Japan. — Tom Hamilton
Team race postponed
Mikaela Shiffrin will have to wait for her final chance at a 2022 Olympic medal, after the mixed team parallel event was canceled on Saturday due to high wind. Olympic organizers have announced it will now be held at 8 p.m. ET tomorrow. — D’Arcy Maine
MEDIA ALERT 🚨
Today’s Mixed Team Parallel is canceled due to weather. FIS, IOC, BOCOG, and OBS will meet immediately to discuss the potential rescheduling of the event. More information forthcoming. #Beijing2022— U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) February 19, 2022
U.S. men win silver and bronze
In a tough men’s freeski halfpipe final that saw gusty winds, challenging conditions and few landed runs, New Zealand’s Nico Porteous put down an impressive run to win gold. The 2018 Olympic bronze medalist and 2021 world champion, Porteous, 20, won the contest with his first-run score of 93 before conditions deteriorated. In his third run, Porteous was caught in a wind gust, took a nasty fall and landed nearly upside down. He skied to the bottom of the pipe clutching his left shoulder.
“These conditions are abysmal right now,” NBC commentator Tom Wallisch, an X Games gold medalist in freeskiing, said after Porteous’ fall. On the next run, top qualifier Aaron Blunck of the U.S. got caught upside down on a trick and crashed toward the middle of the halfpipe. He remained there for several minutes before skiing to the bottom of the pipe. He finished seventh.
At the start of the contest, all eyes were on American David Wise, the two-time defending gold medalist in the event. In his first run, Wise landed a solid, if scaled-back run to take silver, while his teammate, Alex Ferreira, the 2018 Olympic silver medalist, took bronze.
🤜🤛
When @mrDavidWise and @alexferreiraski make back-to-back Olympic podiums in the ski halfpipe together. #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/atbeNJlS1v
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) February 19, 2022
After the contest, NBC commentator Mike Tirico addressed the fact that halfpipe finals took place while the alpine event was postponed. “What we’re hearing is the wind conditions for tomorrow are just as bad in the forecast, so you run out of a window to hold the event,” he said. “The safety of the athletes was paramount there and perhaps a pause would have been called for.”
American Birk Irving finished in fifth place and three-time Olympian Gus Kenworthy, who represented the U.S. in Sochi and Pyeongchang, and Team Great Britain this time around, took the final halfpipe runs of his career. He announced before Beijing that he is retiring from competitive skiing.
In his second run, Kenworthy was caught in a massive wind gust and thrown off his line and he crashed hard onto his back on the deck. Remarkably, he landed a full third run to finish eighth and put a solid stamp on an incredible career. He spoke with NBC about the conditions after his final run.
“The wind is crazy,” he said. “They built this fence which is supposed to block the wind from going across the pipe, but what’s happening is, [the wind] is just spiraling in the pipe. It’s the biggest factor today. The top three runs are so impressive, but they’re not the runs those guys wanted to do. It shows a lot of resilience to land a run today and I’m happy they’re getting it done.” — Alyssa Roenigk
Will this be the last time we see quads?
One by one the Russian teen figure skaters took the ice for the free skate at the Beijing Games, and one by one they attempted the four-revolution jumps that are common in the men’s competition.
Beijing may be the last Olympics any woman attempts a quad.
The quadruple jumps that sent Russian world champ Anna Shcherbakova to the gold medal and teammate Alexandra Trusova to the silver – much to her chagrin – along with the failed attempts that dumped 15-year-old Kamila Valieva out of the medals altogether could be a thing of the past by the 2026 Games in Italy.
15-year-old Kamila Valiyeva made HERSTORY tonight by becoming the first woman to land a quad jump in an Olympic competition – and she landed TWO 👏#WinterOlympics | @NBCOlympics pic.twitter.com/SqPx4flwwZ
— On Her Turf (@OnHerTurf) February 7, 2022
That’s because more and more people are pushing for the age limit in figure skating to be raised above 16 following Valieva’s monumental collapse Thursday night. The maturing bodies of women make it much more difficult to land a jump that they could do in their teens. No woman older than 17 has ever landed a quad in competition.
Take the case of Alysa Liu. The 16-year-old American, who finished seventh at the Beijing Games, was able to land the four-revolution jumps until two years ago, but stopped attempting them following a growth spurt. Read more, from the AP, on the effects of a change in the age limit.
Jamaican bobsled time
Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, today was Jamaican bobsled time!
The Jamaican bobsled team, competing in the four-man event for the first time since 1998, is currently in 28th place — in a field of 28 — after the first day of competition. The team will have a third run on Sunday in Beijing, in hopes of qualifying for the fourth and final run later in the day.
Jamaica is now on the hill!! pic.twitter.com/xpXh147q6F
— Jamaica Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (@JBSFed) February 19, 2022
A German team, piloted by Francesco Friedrich, holds the lead by .03 of a second over another German team. It was a dominant day for the country, which holds three of the top four spots going into Sunday. The two American teams are in 13th and 14th. — D’Arcy Maine