On Monday, Team Germany celebrated a medal in Beijing. The DSV-Adler won bronze in the team competition. A day later, however, a gold medal is realistic.
The German Olympic team counts on some of the nine decisions at the Winter Games in China on Tuesday. It looks best in the two-man bobsleigh, where Francesco Friedrich leads ahead of Johannes Lochner at half-time. The decisive fourth run begins at 2.50 p.m. German time.
Before that, the German Nordic combined athletes were among the medal contenders in the second individual. A jump from the large hill is followed by cross-country skiing over ten kilometers (11.30 a.m.). The German biathlon men want their first precious metal of these games in the relay (7.30 a.m.). Ski racer Kira Weidle would like to intervene in the awarding of medals in the women’s downhill run (4:00 a.m.). The ice hockey team is aiming for a place in the quarter-finals with a win in the qualifying game against Slovakia (5.10 a.m.).
Olympic champions are also crowned in the team pursuits in speed skating, the big air finals for snowboarders and in ski freestyle in the women’s final in the slopestyle discipline. In figure skating, the women’s competition begins, in which the Russian favorite Kamila Valiewa is allowed to start despite her positive doping test (11.00 a.m.).
That will be important at the Olympics on Tuesday
Golden Prospects: Four years after double gold in Pyeongchang, Francesco Friedrich is also leading in Yanqing after two runs in the two-man bobsleigh, but is only 0.15 seconds ahead of his friend and competitor Johannes Lochner. Since both are far ahead of the competition, at half time everything speaks for a German Olympic victory. Bronze is also possible in the final two runs, Christoph Hafer is fourth, five hundredths of a second behind.
returnees: Combined athlete Vinzenz Geiger not only benefited from his irresistible final sprint on the cross-country ski run, but also from the absence of some competitors due to the corona virus. Norway’s serial winner Jarl Magnus Riiber was absent from the normal hill competition. At the start of the large hill, Riiber now wants to return. Eric Frenzel is also hoping to return to these games, while Terence Weber can no longer compete at the Olympics because he is still in quarantine.
Waiting time I: More than a few respectable placements for Benedikt Doll and Roman Rees have not jumped out for the German biathlon men in China. The first medal is to be won in the relay over 4 x 7.5 kilometers. But for that everything has to work out, because behind the favorites Norway and France the competition is fierce. Because temperatures of below minus 15 degrees are predicted in the mountains of Zhiangjiakou, the race will take place two and a half hours earlier than originally planned.
Waiting time II: For the German alpine team, there have been no medals in the Winter Games so far, and Kira Weidle wants to change that in the downhill. The girl from Starnberg was second in the last training session, just like in the first test run. “It wasn’t 100 percent attack yet. I can still gain a bit,” said Weidle.
win or out: With the start of the knockout games four years ago after a rather weak preliminary round, the path to the sensational Olympic silver medal for the German ice hockey team really began. That’s how it should be this time after the 1:5 against Canada, the 3:2 win against China and the 2:3 against the USA. With a win in the qualifier against Slovakia, the German team is in the quarter-finals. Former world champions Slovakia should be beatable, although 17-year-old talent Juraj Slavkovsky has stood out so far.
Permission: All eyes will be on Kamila Valieva in the women’s figure skating short program. The International Court of Arbitration for Sports allowed the 15-year-old team Olympic champion and European champion to start in Beijing. On December 25, Valiewa had given a positive doping test at the Russian championships, which only became known after the team gold. The long delay in the analysis and her age prompted the sports judges to reject the appeals against the lifting of her provisional ban after an urgent procedure. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Olympic results will last, because the main thing hasn’t been decided yet.