Skier Adriana Jelinkova leaves Games

Michelle Dekker through to eighth finals in snowboarding

Snowboard star Michelle Dekker has reached the eighth finals in the parallel giant slalom at the Winter Games in Beijing. The 25-year-old Zoetermeerse finished in twelfth place in the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou after the qualifying and elimination round. Dekker returns to action at 07:30.

The snowboard star is participating in the Olympics for the third time. At the Sochi Games in 2014, she failed to reach the eighth finals with a 22nd place. Four years later in Pyeongchang, South Korea, she missed a place in the eighth finals by one hundredth of a second and finished seventeenth.

Skier Adriana Jelinkova leaves Games

Skier Adriana Jelinkova will no longer compete in the slalom during the Winter Games in Beijing on Wednesday. The Dutch have decided to fly back to the Netherlands immediately.

On Monday morning she already flew out of the corner during the giant slalom in the first run. Afterwards she told about the restless run-up to the race. Initially, she received a false positive corona test, so she only heard late whether she could start on Monday. Jelinkova contracted the coronavirus in early January. According to NOC*NSF, the positive test in Beijing is probably the result of this. The situation caused a lot of stress.

“With a proud, but above all disappointed feeling, I have decided in close consultation with my team to fly back immediately,” says Jelinkova. “In a battle against time to be fit in time for the Olympics, at a time when we all also have to watch out for our health, my Olympic debut turned out to be a disappointment.”

“It was a dream come true when I qualified last year. Because I’ve fought so hard to be here, it’s especially painful to realize that a number of external factors have had a major impact on my mental and physical well-being,” said Jelinkova. She is flying home today.

Welcome to this blog

In this blog beats NRC Tuesday, the fourth day of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Netherlands added three medals to the total yesterday. Ireen Wüst skated to gold in the 1,500 meters, ahead of Japan’s Miho Takagi and compatriot Antoinette de Jong. In the short track, Suzanne Schulting was second, behind the Italian favorite Arianna Fontana. These Dutchmen are in action today: