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Kramer on Sunday in first ride 5000 meters, Roest also for the mop
Sven Kramer has to finish his very last 5000 meters of his career in the first stage. The three-time Olympic champion in the 5000 meters and title holder has to start against Dane Viktor Hald Thorup in the first of ten stages, that is the outcome of the draw for Sunday’s game.
Patrick Roest drives in stage 5, also before the mopping break. His opponent is the Italian Andrea Giovannini. Jorrit Bergsma comes into action in the sixth stage, immediately after the mopping break. He takes on the Japanese Seitaro Ichinohe.
Top favorite Nils van der Poel starts in the last stage. The Swedish world champion and world record holder will face Belgian Bart Swings as his opponent. In the stage before this, Ted-Jan Bloemen from Canada will compete against the Russian Roeslan Zakharov.
Snowboard champion White waves goodbye
10.21 am: American snowboarder Shaun White retires after the Olympics. White, 35, a three-time Olympic champion, announced this before his first appearance in Beijing. “I enjoy every moment here,” said White.
The striking American, also successful as a businessman, took gold in the halfpipe at the 2006, 2010 and 2018 Games. In 2014 he finished fourth. White struggled to qualify for his fifth Games. Due to injuries and infection with the corona virus, he threatened to seize a place in the American team. Only last month White won a ticket to Beijing by finishing third at the World Cup in Laax.
“This will be my last tournament, which makes it very special,” said White. The American says he has come to this decision as a result of his physical problems. The snowboard champion walked into the stadium with ‘Team USA’ on Friday at the opening ceremony of the Games.
Norwegian cross-country skier Johaug takes first gold
9.39am: Therese Johaug has won the first gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. The 33-year-old Norwegian triumphed in the 15-kilometer skiathlon, a combination of 7.5 kilometers of classic style and 7.5 kilometers of freestyle.
Johaug soon took the initiative in the artificial snow competition in Zhangjiakou. After the substitution, the fourteen-time world champion jumped away from the leading group, after which the Norwegian won her first individual Olympic title. Johaug had already won gold with the Norwegian relay team in the 4×5 kilometer at the 2010 Games in Vancouver. Four years later in Sochi she took silver (30 kilometers) and bronze (10 kilometers). The cross-country skier was absent from the 2018 Pyeongchang Games due to a doping suspension. She tested positive for a banned substance that she says she had injected into her body through a sunscreen for the lips.
Johaug succeeds the Swedish Charlotte Kalla as Olympic champion in the skiathlon. Kalla won the first gold medal of the Games in South Korea four years ago.
Beijing reports 45 new corona infections on the first day of Games
6:54 AM: On the first official day of competition of the Olympic Games in Beijing, the organization reported 45 new corona infections. Friday’s tests found 25 cases in athletes and their companions and 20 infections in other individuals.
At Beijing airport, 26 of the 45 positive tests were found in people who arrived on Friday. The other 19 positive cases were in the so-called ‘super bubble’ in the Chinese capital, where everyone involved in the Olympics is tested daily.
As a result, the total number of positive tests at the Games has risen to 353. According to the organization, 12,500 people have arrived at Beijing airport until Friday.
A strict policy applies to the Winter Games in China due to the corona pandemic. Everyone involved, from athletes to journalists, is completely isolated from the rest of the Chinese population. Anyone who has contracted the virus will be isolated in a specially designated hotel. Only after two negative PCR tests with at least 24 hours in between can those affected leave the isolation hotel.
It is quite windy in the mountains of Yanqing.
Ⓒ HH/ANP
Last training for Olympic downhill canceled due to wind
6.16 am: High winds in the mountains of Yanqing have led to the cancellation of the alpine skiers’ last training session before Sunday’s Olympic downhill. After three skiers came down, the organization decided to suspend the training due to “safety concerns”.
“It was fun to ski, but the wind made it very crazy,” said Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who, like Austrian Matthias Mayer and Christof Innerhofer from Italy, was able to complete his third training session. “It is good that they have canceled this training. The wind comes from all directions: from the side, from behind and sometimes suddenly from below at the jumps. It was all or nothing and therefore very difficult to control.”
For the alpine skiers, the Beijing Olympics start on Sunday with the downhill. It starts at 4.00 am Dutch time. Monday is women’s giant slalom.