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Snowboard star Jacobellis helps US to first gold at Games
9.41 am: Lindsey Jacobellis helped the United States to its first gold medal at the Olympics. The 36-year-old snowboarder took gold in the snowboard cross at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou. The 36-year-old American was ahead of the French Chloé Trespeuch (silver) and Meryeta O’Dine from Canada (bronze) in the final.
Jacobellis is participating in the Olympic Games for the fifth time. On her 2006 debut in Turin, during the Olympic introduction of the snowboardcross event, she finished second behind Switzerland’s Tanja Frieden after falling into the leading position just before the finish. In the three Games after that, Jacobellis always narrowly missed the medals with a fifth, seventh and fourth place. She became individual world champion five times and once with the American team.
The United States was without Olympic titles until the gold of Jacobellis. The Americans had already won five silver medals and one bronze.
All Olympic games can be followed live and can be viewed via Eurosport/discovery+†
Snowboard legend White can say goodbye in Olympic final
8.41 am: Three-time Olympic champion Shaun White can celebrate his retirement from snowboarding in a final. At the Beijing Winter Games, the 35-year-old American had problems in qualifying on his first appearance on the halfpipe with a mediocre score of 24.25. But the snowboarding legend recovered and after his second run was allowed to reach the finals in fourth place. It takes place on Friday.
White had to control his nerves on his second run, but succeeded with a score of 86.25. Of the twelve snowboarders who return on Friday for the battle for the medals, the Japanese Ayumu Hirano had the highest score: 93.25.
White confirmed on Saturday that he will retire after Beijing 2022. “I enjoy every moment here,” said the American, who was the best at the 2006, 2010 and 2018 Games. In 2014 he finished fourth. White, hampered by injuries and a corona infection, only qualified for the Games in January.
Slalom title at Games for Slovakian Vlhova
8.07 am: Slovakian skier Petra Vlhova has won gold in the slalom at the Beijing Olympics. Vlhova (26) was only eighth on the first run, but fastest on her second out, resulting in a total time of 1.44.98. She was eight hundredths of a second faster than the Austrian Katharina Liensberger, the reigning world champion in the technical part. Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener followed shortly behind in third.
The top 3 after the first run failed to reach the podium. Lena Dürr, the German surprise with the fastest time halfway through, ended up in fourth place. The Swiss Michelle Gisin dropped to 6th place Sara Hector, previously winner of the giant slalom, missed a gate in the second run.
American favorite Mikaela Shiffrin missed the fourth gate in the first run. Two days earlier, she also lost out in the first run in the giant slalom.
Vlhova, who has never won an Olympic medal before, was also the world cup leader in slalom.
Adriana Jelinkova would also participate in the slalom, but the Dutchman withdrew on Tuesday after she tested positive for the corona virus in China.
Skier Shiffrin also fails at Games after giant slalom
07:07: Mikaela Shiffrin has again been unable to fulfill her favorite role in the Olympic Games in Beijing. The 26-year-old American missed the fourth gate on Wednesday in the slalom in the Ice River in Yanqing and was unable to finish.
Shiffrin sat in the snow for a while after her miss with her head in her hands. Two days earlier, she also lost out in the first run in the giant slalom. The skier thus remains on two Olympic titles for the time being. Shiffrin was the best in giant slalom four years ago in Pyeongchang. In 2014, at her first Olympics, she won the slalom.
“It feels like a big disappointment,” said Shiffrin, four-time world champion, who has competed in several tracks in China and can still take gold. “My whole career has taught me to trust the way I ski. The pressure was high, but that didn’t feel like the biggest problem today. It’s not the end of the world either, but I do have a lot to think about.”
Adriana Jelinkova would also participate in the slalom, but the Dutchman withdrew on Tuesday after she tested positive for the corona virus in China.
Lowest number of corona cases in one day at Games since the beginning
07:04 am: Five new corona cases were diagnosed on Tuesday at the Beijing Olympics. That is the lowest number since the start of the count on January 23, when the first athletes and coaches went to China, the organization reports on Wednesday.
Three of the five cases involved people who arrived at Beijing airport and had to be tested there because they wanted to enter the Olympic ‘bubble’. The other two people who tested positive were already in the sports bubble.
All participants in the Games, from athletes to journalists, must be tested daily for the corona virus. They are kept separate from the Chinese population. More than 70,000 tests were conducted on Tuesday.
The total of positive corona cases at the Beijing Games now stands at 398.
Adriana Jelinkova is the only TeamNL athlete to test positive in China. This probably had to do with her positive result at the beginning of January, sports umbrella organization NOC*NSF reported. The skier still participated in the giant slalom, but she canceled the slalom on Wednesday. Jelinkova has now gone home.
Freestyle skier Ruud gives Norway fourth gold at Games
6.58 am: Birk Ruud helped Norway to its fourth gold medal at the Olympics. The 21-year-old freestyle skier won the big air event in Beijing.
Ruud came to a score of 187.75 points. The silver went to the American Colby Stevenson (183.00). Henrik Harlaut from Sweden was third with 181.00 points. Ruud recorded scores of 95.75 and 92.00 points in his first two runs. As he started his third and final run, he already knew the competition couldn’t catch up with him. Ruud went down with the Norwegian flag in his hands.
The day before, the women’s victory in this new Olympic event went to the Chinese Eileen Gu.
Norway takes the lead in the medal standings from Sweden thanks to Ruud’s win. The Norwegians have four gold, one silver and four bronze medals. Sweden has four golds, one silver and two bronze. The Netherlands (three gold, three silver, one bronze) is now third.
The United States is still waiting for the first gold in Beijing.