Day 3 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst says she is "really proud" after becoming the first athlete to win an individual gold medal in five separate Olympics.

The 35-year-old was victorious in the women's 1,500m speed skating event on Monday but still remembers her first gold medal from 2006.

Wüst, who now sits in third place alongside Norway’s Bjørn Dæhlie on the all-time Winter Games medal list with 12, also broke the Olympic record for the women's 1,500m event.

"This is just amazing. There's a lot of different emotions going through my mind right now. I mean, it's just bizarre that I was able to pull it off once again. 

"The whole week, I have been feeling great. I skated very well, and I knew I could trust myself. I was confident that I was able to do it today.

"To then have a race like this one is just incredible. I just have no words for it."

Despite still being at the top of her game, the speed skater has said she will retire this season — making Beijing 2022 her last Olympic Games.

She says her last race will be the World Cup final in her home country on March 12.

"Age is just a number, hey? It's just about how you feel," she said, before confirming she would "leave on top. I will quit."

The women’s ice hockey match between the ROC and Canada was delayed by an hour on Monday as the ROC’s Covid-19 test results had not arrived on time, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation said in a statement on Monday.

The puck was set to drop on the preliminary match at 12:10 p.m. local time but, according to ROC player Maria Batalova, the match was delayed after Canada refused to play until all the test results had arrived.

“We take the tests in the mornings and in the evenings, and the Canadian team wanted to wait for our morning test results and their own as well,” Batalova told the official Beijing 2022 website.

“At the beginning, there was an agreement that we will come out to play, and then they decided to wait for the test results."

The federation said in its statement that both teams got tested before 9 a.m. local time on Monday, but the results did not come through in time.

"Russia's results from this morning weren't back in yet," said Canada forward Natalie Spooner.

The ROC women's ice hockey team was subjected to three days in quarantine early last week after several players tested positive for Covid-19. The team has since been cleared to compete at the Games.

According to the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, both sets of players were later instructed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) that they could play the match wearing face masks.

The two teams abided by the regulation until the third period when the IIHF allowed the players to play with their masks off.

Team ROC played out the remainder of the game without masks, while the Canadian team maintained wearing personal protective equipment.

Canada eventually won the match 6-1, securing their second win in the Beijing Olympics’ preliminary round after Saturday’s victory against Finland.

German biathlete Denise Herrmann won gold in the women's 15km individual biathlon at the 2022 Beijing Games on Monday.

The 33-year-old crossed the finish line in 44 minutes and 12.7 seconds to earn her first-ever Olympic medal. 

For Herrmann, the gold was a dream come true and one that has yet to sink in.

Germany is the only delegation in history to win multiple Olympic gold medals in women's individual biathlon — with Antje Misersky-Harvey winning in 1992 and Andrea Henkel in 2002.

Herrmann's success is Germany's second gold medal of the Games and its third overall.

The silver medal for the women's 15km biathlon went to Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet of France, while Norwegian Marte Olsbu Røiseland won bronze.

Ireen Wüst became the first person to win an individual gold medal in five different Olympics after victory in the women's 1,500m speed skating event at Beijing 2022.

The Dutch skater won her first gold medal back in 2006 before winning at least one in every Games since — winning two gold medals in 2014.

“It’s really hard to describe. A lot of emotions, especially the good ones. I don’t realize it yet. It’s insane, actually,” she said after the race.

Wüst, the most decorated speed skater in the history of the Winter Olympics, blew away the field on Monday, winning gold in an Olympic record time of 1:53.28.

The 35-year-old now has a total of 12 Olympic medals to her name — she sits in third place alongside Norway’s Bjørn Dæhlie on the all-time Winter Games medal list.

Only the Norwegian pair of Ole Einar Bjørndalen (13) and Marit Bjørgen (15) now sit above Wüst.

The Dutch speed skater still has two competitions left at Beijing 2022.

Japan’s Miho Takagi claimed silver and Antoinette de Jong of the Netherlands took bronze in the 1,500m event on Monday.

Swedish skier Sara Hector won gold in the women's giant slalom, finishing with a time of 1:55.69.

Italian Federica Brignone won silver, finishing with a time of 1:55.97 and Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami took home bronze, with a time of 1:56.41.

"I'm so proud, I can't put it into words," Hector said after her gold-winning run.

"I really tried to push it and give it all I got. It's just amazing.

American star Mikaela Shiffrin, the defending gold medalist in women’s giant slalom, missed a gate early after crashing in her first run and was disqualified from the event.

After the race, she said that she "won't ever get over this."

Shiffrin, 26, has the potential to become the first American alpine ski racer to win three gold medals, but she is now down to four events to accomplish the feat.

Fellow American Nina O'Brien had a scary moment herself during the second run, after losing balance before the finish and crashing hard.

The US Ski and Snowboard team said O'Brien is alert and responsive. 

Sweden now has three gold medals at Beijing 2022. 

Mikaela Shiffrin says she won't forget her disastrous run in the women's giant slalom at Beijing 2022.

The three-time Olympic medalist got a Did Not Finish on her first run after missing a gate and failed to complete the course, ending any hopes of a medal in the event.

"I won't ever get over this. I have never got over any [disappointments in big races]. I still remember how much it hurts four years ago in Kronplatz when I fell before the last Olympics," she said.

"I remember thinking that was so heartbreaking and it wasn't even at the Olympics.

"That heartbreak never goes away and I think that's what drives me to keep working. Sometimes, they do still happen and unfortunately it happened today." 

Shiffrin still has another four events she can compete in at this year's Winter Games and is determined to put this initial disappointment behind her.

"My best chance for the next races is to move forward, to re-focus and I feel like I am in a good place to do that."

Switzerland's Beat Feuz claimed his country's first gold medal of Beijing 2022 in the men's downhill skiing final Monday, but you won't catch him throwing a massive party after winning a medal that he called "the world to me."

"Certainly, tonight, we'll celebrate together as a team, but in these Covid times and because the World Cup season continues, I'll have to delay the celebration until the spring," he said.

Feuz finished with a time of 1:42:69, beating out 41-year-old Frenchman Johan Clarey and Matthias Mayer of Austria, who won silver and bronze respectively.

The men's downhill competition had been postponed until Monday due to high winds over the weekend, but the weather played nice on Feuz's winning run as he took his debut Games gold.

"It was perfect weather, no wind, and I was just standing perfectly on the skis. A dream came true," he reflected.

"The Olympics are a big thing, and today, it worked for me. In (PyeongChang) four years ago, I was second and third, but today everything came together. It means the world to me."

The day was also momentous for France's Clarey, who — with his silver — became the oldest medalist ever in the sport of alpine skiing.

"I was pushing, pushing, taking a lot of risk. I knew I only had one chance left in my career to get a medal in the Olympics," Clarey said.

"When I was going down I knew I made a good run but you never know in downhill, sometimes you are fast, sometimes you are not and you never know why.

"But today, I was fast. Not enough for the gold but silver is just my happiness. 

"When you are a medalist, (whether) you are 20 or 41, it doesn't matter, it's just an Olympic medal. It's already a good memory."

A French sports journalist who interviewed tennis star Peng Shuai in Beijing on Sunday told CNN that his impression was that Peng was “cautious” when he asked about the sexual assault allegations she made against a retired Communist Party leader.

Marc Ventouillac, a senior reporter for L’Equipe, and his two colleagues sat down for an hour-long interview with Peng a day after she had a dinner with IOC President Thomas Bach. Both meetings were inside the Olympics "closed loop" in Beijing.

Peng had posted the allegations on Chinese social media site Weibo on November 2, in a post that was later deleted. In the interview, she told Ventouillac that the controversy around the incident was an “enormous misunderstanding.”

There were six people present at the interview, including Wang Kan, the chief of staff of the Chinese Olympic Committee, who also translated the interview.

There were three members of L’Equipe staff at the interview, and also a young woman Ventouillac thought was an Olympics volunteer. The newspaper had their own translation done from Chinese to French later.

He said they had to submit a list of questions in advance, and they were required to publish the story as a Q&A, instead of a piece with analysis and quotes. But they were also able to ask as many follow-up questions in the room as they wanted, and he didn’t feel that the interview was curtailed. 

“I didn't feel during the interview any censorship,” Ventouillac said, adding that Peng seemed relaxed and was “laughing” when speaking about sports.

But he said that her demeanor changed when they moved onto the topic of the alleged sexual assault.

Ventouillac said that as Peng understands English, he thought she was getting the sense of their questions, even though they were being translated into Chinese, a language that his team don’t speak. She was also wearing a mask, so all of her facial expressions weren’t visible.

Ventouillac added that Peng’s answers on the sexual assault questions were “very short.” 

“I asked, 'Why your post on Weibo was deleted so early?' and she said, 'Because I decided, I did it myself, to delete the post.' So then I asked, 'Why? Why delete Weibo posts?' 'Because I've decided.' Short questions, short answers.”

Ventouillac said they had been pursuing the interview since mid-January. He said they asked the IOC the best way to request an interview, and they were directed to the Chinese Olympic Committee, which arranged the interview.

He said that they predicted that Peng’s answers would remain the same as from previous reports, but he felt it was important for an independent journalist to see her in person to check she was OK.

Beijing 2022's official mascot has emerged as a fan favorite at the Winter Games.

Eliciting some of the biggest cheers from crowds — sometimes louder than those heard for the athletes — panda mascot Bing Dwen Dwen appears all over the Olympic venues. From dancing in the stands, to appearing on signage, on flags waved by spectators or held by Olympians, like American snowboarder Hailey Langland.

And miniature, stuffed Bing Dwen Dwen's are awarded to Olympians when they win a medal.

But good luck to anyone in China trying to find Bing Dwen Dwen souvenirs. There are reports that souvenir shops are sold out, with the Beijing organizing committee requesting the production of more Bing Dwen Dwen swag to satisfy fans.

Who is Bing Dwen Dwen? According to the official Olympic website, "Bing" has several meanings in Mandarin Chinese, though the most common is ice. The word also symbolizes purity and strength.

“Dwen Dwen” means robust and lively, and also represents children.

The "shell" design enables the panda — China's national animal — to skate, snowboard and ski.

The Bing Dwen Dwen design, created by Cao Xue, was chosen from more than 5,800 submissions from China and 35 countries as part of a global competition arranged by the Beijing 2022 organizing committee.