German one-two in the men's skeleton as Christopher Grotheer takes the gold

Day 7 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

By Aditi Sangal, Matias Grez, Ben Church, Jessie Yeung, Adam Renton and Patrick Sung, CNN

Updated 6:11 p.m. ET, February 11, 2022
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12:11 p.m. ET, February 11, 2022

German one-two in the men's skeleton as Christopher Grotheer takes the gold

From CNN's Patrick Sung

From left, Germany's Christopher Grotheer and fellow countryman Axel Jungk celebrate finishing first and second in the men's skeleton on February 11. The medals were Germany's first ever in men's skeleton, despite being a sliding sport powerhouse.
From left, Germany's Christopher Grotheer and fellow countryman Axel Jungk celebrate finishing first and second in the men's skeleton on February 11. The medals were Germany's first ever in men's skeleton, despite being a sliding sport powerhouse. (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)

Germany's Christopher Grotheer won gold with a time of 4:01.01, while fellow countryman Axel Jungk finished 0.66 seconds behind in second place to seal Germany's first ever medals in men's skeleton on Friday at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre.

Yan Wengang finished 0.1 seconds behind Jungk to win China's first ever medal in a sliding sport — and in the process become the second man not from Europe or North America to stand on an Olympic skeleton podium, after South Korea's Yun Sung-bin won gold at PyeongChang 2018.

A two-time world champion in men's skeleton, Grotheer couldn't hide his excitement.

"Unbelievable. I am so proud. I can't understand what's happened today," he said after his win. "I went late to bed and I slept to 9:00. It was OK. But it was a really, really long day and a big time to think about tonight."
Grotheer's compatriot Jungk was even more explicit in his elation: "It's crazy, it's unbelievable. I am nearly speechless. I am so f***ing happy to call this wonderful medal my own for the rest of my life."

Grotheer's triumph put Germany on 100 gold medals in Winter Olympic history, making them the third National Olympic Committee to reach the number after Norway (138) and the United States (109).

10:32 a.m. ET, February 11, 2022

Even a flying Swede can't stop Canada cruising into ice hockey semifinals

From CNN Sport staff

"I believe I can fly."
"I believe I can fly." (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

You should expect the unexpected at any Olympic event, but Sweden's Jessica Adolfsson appears to have surprised even her own teammates with her powers of levitation here...

Despite her magical attempts, Adolfsson could do little to stop Canada thrashing Sweden 11-0 in the women's ice hockey quarterfinals on Friday.

Canada will progress to Monday's semifinal but do not yet know their next opponent.

9:38 a.m. ET, February 11, 2022

CAS is yet to receive applications appealing the decision to lift Valieva’s provisional doping suspension

From CNN's Aleks Klosok

Russia's Kamila Valieva attends a training session on February 11.
Russia's Kamila Valieva attends a training session on February 11. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images)

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has “not received applications in relation to the figure skating matter,” it told CNN Friday, adding that if an application is filed, a short media release will be issued on its website.

The International Testing Agency (ITA), on behalf of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and International Skating Union (ISU) said earlier Friday they would be appealing the Russian Anti-Doping Agency’s (RUSADA) decision to lift a provisional suspension on figure skater Kamila Valieva following a doping violation.

CAS has set up two temporary offices in Beijing designed to “provide rapid, high quality dispute resolution services immediately before and during the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022,” according to a press release issued by the arbitration body on Jan. 18.

The CAS Ad Hoc Division will “resolve any legal disputes submitted to it during the Games within a timeframe compatible with the competition schedule.”

The CAS Anti-Doping Division, which consists of a six-member panel, will be responsible for determining whether or not to reinstate Valieva’s provisional suspension once it receives any applications.

The chairman of the panel is Swiss former federal judge Ivo Eusebio, who was previously a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) disciplinary commission.

His co-president in the proceedings will be American David W. Rivkin, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.

They will be joined by four other arbitrators: Australian lawyer John Boultbee, CEO of Australia’s National Sports Tribunal; Australian judge Tricia Kavanagh, who was on the inaugural CAS Anti-Doping Division at the 2016 Rio Olympics; Swiss lawyer Raphaëlle Favre Schnyder, a partner at Barandun LLP; and Austrian judge Martina Spreitzer-Kropiunik.

9:24 a.m. ET, February 11, 2022

Suzanne Schulting defends women's short track 1,000m title via dramatic photo-finish

From CNN's Jack Bantock

Netherlands' Suzanne Schulting crosses the finish line just ahead of South Korea's Choi Min-jeong in the final of the women's 1,000m short track speed skating event on February 11.
Netherlands' Suzanne Schulting crosses the finish line just ahead of South Korea's Choi Min-jeong in the final of the women's 1,000m short track speed skating event on February 11. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images)

The Netherlands' Suzanne Schulting has won back-to-back women's 1,000m short track speed skating gold medals — by the thinnest of margins.

The 24-year-old defended the title she won at the PyeongChang Games four years ago by the slimmest of margins, pipping Korea's Choi Min-jeong at the finish line by just 0.052 seconds to win in 1:28.391.

"For the Netherlands, it means a lot," Schulting said.

"I worked so hard for the whole team. I got the gold, but I got the gold for the whole team, and I am super proud."

Schulting arrived in the final in blistering form and brimming with confidence after breaking the world record in the quarterfinal with a time of 1:26.514.

"I became really confident out there after skating a world record. I was really excited," she said.

"I was focusing on what I had to do and on my technique and everything. It's insane."

A nail-biting finish capped an already dramatic race, with legendary Italian speed skater Arianna Fontana — a 10-time Olympic medalist — crashing out as the skaters rounded for their final lap.

Fontana had taken gold ahead of Schulting in the 500m final on Monday to defend her own title from PyeongChang 2018 but saw her hopes for a second gold slide away in the 1,000m.

Having taken out Kristen Santos of the US in the process, the Italian received a penalty and did not finish.

Nicknamed the 'Queen of Korean Short Track,' according to the Olympic website, Choi's silver adds to the two gold medals she won in her home nation in 2018.

Debuting at her first Olympics, Belgium's Hanne Desmet took bronze, with Schulting quick to congratulate her friend and training partner.

"I am super proud of Hanne," Schulting said.

"We train together and we're friends. It makes it even more special."

8:22 a.m. ET, February 11, 2022

Norway's Marte Olsbu Røiseland wins women's biathlon 7.5km sprint for second Beijing gold

From CNN's Jack Bantock

Norwegian biathlete Marte Olsbu Røiseland celebrates on the podium after winning the 7.5km sprint on February 11. 
Norwegian biathlete Marte Olsbu Røiseland celebrates on the podium after winning the 7.5km sprint on February 11.  (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Norwegian biathlete Marte Olsbu Røiseland triumphed in the women's 7.5km sprint to win her second gold medal of Beijing 2022.

The 31-year-old finished in 20:44.3 to become the first Norwegian woman to win the event, adding to her gold in 4x6km mixed relay on Saturday and her bronze in the 15km individual on Monday.

Sweden's Elvira Öberg won silver — a first Olympic medal for the 22-year-old — in a race that also featured her sister Hanna, who finished 19th.

Italy's Dorothea Wierer completed the podium by winning bronze.

After taking silver in the 7.5km sprint and mixed relay in Pyeongchang four years ago, Røiseland has now gone one better in both at Beijing.

"It feels great. This is my best performance ever and I did it today," Røiseland told reporters.

"This year, I have enjoyed biathlon even more. I am smiling and having fun. I just feel so lucky that I'm here and that I can race good races. I'm just enjoying it."

Røiseland revealed she was "disappointed" with her finish in Monday's 15km event — won by Germany's Denise Herrmann — but emphatically banished any lingering regrets in the sprint with a composed display of sharpshooting at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre.

"I was a bit disappointed because I missed the last shots, so I have worked a lot for three days now to try to focus on today and forget about the last race," Røiseland said.

"I think I did a really good job in my head before today's race and, for that, I'm really happy."

8:03 a.m. ET, February 11, 2022

Athletes get creative during skeleton event at Beijing 2022

From CNN's Ben Church

American Katie Uhlaender's patriotic eagle flies high in our style rankings.
American Katie Uhlaender's patriotic eagle flies high in our style rankings. (Daniel Mihalescu/AFP/Getty Images)

If you're going to throw yourself head-first down an icy track at speeds of over 100km/h, you might as well look good doing it.

Competitors for the skeleton event at Beijing 2022 have been doing just that as they get creative with their helmet designs.

From colorful parrots to patriotic eagles, it seems there is no artwork too imaginative for the track.

But Brazil's Nicole Rocha Silveira has the edge with this colorful macaw motif. Exquisite taste - 10/10.
But Brazil's Nicole Rocha Silveira has the edge with this colorful macaw motif. Exquisite taste - 10/10. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Helmets in the skeleton are certainly a necessity, as participants balance on small sleds and hurtle down a narrow track.

Athletes compete on the same course across two days, getting four runs each. The competitor with the fastest combined time wins the event.

But perhaps the real winner is one of these rather colorful helmets...

Australian Nicholas Timmings went for a ghost look. It's a bold strategy, but it works for him.
Australian Nicholas Timmings went for a ghost look. It's a bold strategy, but it works for him. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Read more about the skeleton and other events at Beijing 2022 in CNN's guide here.

7:44 a.m. ET, February 11, 2022

Finland's Iivo Niskanen dominates men's 15km classic skiing event to win gold

From CNN's Aditi Sangal

Finland's Iivo Niskanen competes in the men's 15km cross-country classic event on February 11.
Finland's Iivo Niskanen competes in the men's 15km cross-country classic event on February 11. (Sergei Bobylev/TASS/Getty Images)

Finland's Iivo Niskanen captured cross-country skiing gold in the men's 15km classic event on Friday, winning by 23.2 seconds ahead of the Russian Olympic Committee's Alexander Bolshunov.

Norway's Johannes Høsflot Klæbo took the bronze medal.

After the event, Niskanen made clear that he has been waiting for this opportunity for the past eight years.

"I was fourth, 0.2 seconds behind the medal in Sochi (2014), at this distance, and it's been a long eight years to wait for this race again in the Olympic program.

"Now I managed to win it. I have been focusing on it all the time. This is a really big victory for me."

This is the third Olympic gold medal for the 30-year-old Finnish skier and another win in the bag for the Niskanen family, as his elder sister, Kerttu Niskanen, won the silver medal for the women’s 10km classic event on Thursday.

7:16 a.m. ET, February 11, 2022

An event guide to the Games: Freestyle skiing

From CNN's Sana Noor Haq and Matias Grez

Chinese freestyle skier Xu Mengtao competes in the mixed team aerials final on February 10.
Chinese freestyle skier Xu Mengtao competes in the mixed team aerials final on February 10. (Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images)

Featuring balletic techniques and acrobatic skills, the International Ski Federation (FIS) first recognized freestyle skiing as a discipline in 1979.

Athletes ski in a motion that is similar to skating. They perform technically challenging moves during their runs and are scored on different aspects of their performance, depending on the competition they're participating in.

In the aerials events, slopestyle, moguls and halfpipe, judges score competitors based on the finesse of their tricks and the form of their runs.

However, athletes in the big air are judged by the distance and height of their jumps. As for the ski cross, the competition is a timed event — so the athlete who traverses the finish line first takes gold.

Freestyle skiing made its debut as a demonstration sport at the Winter Games in 1988 in Calgary, Canada, and was given medal status at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.

Eileen Gu, who elected to represent her mother's native China over the USA, has been the poster child for these Games and was arguably the biggest name participating in freestyle skiing.

Competing under immense pressure, the 18-year-old wasn't fazed in the slightest and won gold in the women's big air final to delight of the home fans at Beijing 2022.

Gu's victory was so popular in China that fans temporarily crashed the country's leading social media platform, as tens of millions rushed online to celebrate the teenage sensation winning her first gold medal.

7:15 a.m. ET, February 11, 2022

Nils van der Poel wins gold in men’s 10,000m speed skating in world record time

From CNN's Homero de La Fuente

Sweden's Nils van der Poel skates on the way to a new world record during the men's 10,000m speed skating event on February 11.
Sweden's Nils van der Poel skates on the way to a new world record during the men's 10,000m speed skating event on February 11. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Sweden's Nils van der Poel smashed his own world record in the men’s 10,000m speedskating event to secure his second gold medal of the Beijing Olympics on Friday.

Van der Poel’s time of 12:30.74, was over two seconds faster than the previous mark he set last February at the World Championships in the Netherlands. 

After the race, van Der Poel said, "Going in, I thought I should be set to beat second. I was sticking to going after that. Technically, I didn’t have my best race, but physically, I am in great shape.

"I didn’t want to risk going too hard too early. With five laps to go, I felt like the world record was in reach, so I just went for that.

"I am very satisfied. This was the main goal when I started three years ago. It turned out a lot better than I could have ever imagined."

With the victory, the Swede became the first men’s speed skater to win the 5,000m and the 10,000m events at the same Winter Games since Dutch speed skater Jochem Uytdehaage in 2002. 

Patrick Roest of the Netherlands finished with a time of 12:44.59 — 13.85 seconds behind the Swede — to win the silver medal. Italy’s Davide Ghiotto notched a time of 12:45.98 to claim the bronze. 

The gold medal is the fifth for Sweden, which now sits one behind Norway and Germany’s six on the Olympic medal table.