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More than 1.8 million corona tests, 437 positive
10.39 am: More than 1.8 million corona tests during the Beijing Olympics resulted in 437 positive cases. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) took stock on the final day of the Winter Games. “The closed ‘bubble’ system was a great success,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “Beijing was one of the safest places on Earth, if not the safest.”
Most positive tests were taken at Beijing airport. There, all foreign participants (athletes, coaches, officials and journalists) were tested on arrival. The 13,654 tests at the airport yielded 265 positive results. Anyone who had a positive result had to be placed in isolation. All participants were tested daily for corona during the Games. Those nearly 1.8 million tests yielded 172 positive results.
The 437 positive cases include 98 athletes and 87 team officials. The other 252 cases are other ‘stakeholders’, as the IOC describes it. “We sympathize with the athletes who paid the price for safety at these Games and had to be in isolation,” Bach said. “Some couldn’t even participate. That is the worst thing that can happen to an athlete, an extreme mental and psychological challenge.”
Within TeamNL, only alpine skier Adriana Jelinkova tested positive during the Winter Games. Jelinkova contracted the coronavirus at the beginning of January and, according to sports umbrella organization NOC * NSF, ensured that she always had test values around the limit values applied in China. Because of all the stress that this caused her, Jelinkova went back home after the giant slalom. She skipped the slalom.
Finland ice hockey players win Olympic title for the first time
07:44: Finland won its first Olympic ice hockey championship at the Beijing Games. The Finnish team defeated defending champion Russia 2-1 in the National Indoor Stadium in the Chinese capital.
The Russian ice hockey players still took the lead in the final. Mikhail Grigorenko made it 1-0 in the first period when the Russians had one more man on the ice. The Finns tied the score in the second period via Ville Pokka. Immediately at the start of the third period, Finland struck with the 2-1. Hannes Björninen scored and that turned out to be the winning goal.
It is Finland’s first Olympic title in ice hockey. The ice hockey players previously lost the Olympic finals in 1988 (against the Soviet Union) and in 2006 (against Sweden). The Scandinavian country won the bronze medal four times. The ice hockey players gave Finland its second gold medal at the Beijing Games.
The ice hockey final is traditionally the last part of the Winter Games. The closing ceremony will take place later on Sunday.
Curling women help Brits on the final day of Games to first gold
07.23: hours: Great Britain won its first gold medal on the closing day of the Olympics. That was thanks to the curling women, who were 10-3 too strong for Japan in the final.
A day earlier, the British curling men lost in the final against Sweden. The British sports team did not get any further than the gold and silver in curling in China in the past two weeks.
The British curling women had escaped in the semi-finals. After trailing 4-0 against Sweden, they still managed to win.
It was the second Olympic title for the curlers from Great Britain, after winning the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
The curling competitions have been held at the National Aquatics Center for the past two weeks. During the Summer Games of 2008, the competitions in long track swimming were held there.
Cross-country skier Johaug gives Norway sixteenth gold in Beijing
7:21 am: Therese Johaug has won her third title at the Beijing Olympics. The Norwegian cross-country skier was the best on the 30 kilometer mass start. The silver went to the American Jessie Diggins and the Finnish Kerttu Niskanen won the bronze.
The 33-year-old Johaug started the Games with a win in the skiathlon over 15 kilometers, a combination of 7.5 kilometers classic style and 7.5 kilometers freestyle. The fourteen-time world champion then also won the 10 kilometers.
Norway wins the medal standings of the Games with no fewer than sixteen gold medals. Until the Beijing Games, the country did not go further than fourteen golds in one Winter Games.
Shiffrin ends in Beijing without a medal
7:19 AM: Mikaela Shiffrin leaves the Olympics without a medal. The American skier, who was favorite in several parts, missed the last chance for a medal on Sunday. Norway won the bronze medal against the United States in the mixed team competition.
Two-time Olympic champion Shiffrin was previously unable to compete for medals in the giant slalom, slalom, super-G and combination medals at these Games.
Austria secured the gold and Germany had to settle for silver in the part that was scheduled for the second time at the Olympic Games. The battle for the medals would actually be Saturday. The games could not take place then, because there was a lot of wind.
In the medal table, Austria rose to seventh place, directly behind the Netherlands. Austria has seven gold medals, the Netherlands eight.