By Aditi Sangal, Jessie Yeung, Adam Renton, Ben Morse, Matias Grez, Jack Bantock and Patrick Sung, CNN
From CNN's Gawon Bae
The Beijing Olympic Committee identified no new Covid-19 cases among Games-related personnel on Wednesday, it said in a statement Thursday.
It is the first time no new infections have been detected since the beginning of the Winter Olympics and follows a steady decline in cases for the past two weeks.
Olympic cases: Since the "closed loop" system officially began on Jan. 23, a total of 435 Olympics-related cases have been identified, including 183 infections among athletes and team officials.
Canada held on to secure victory in the women's ice hockey final on Thursday as they saw a 3-0 lead evaporate under late pressure from their old rivals, Team USA.
Sarah Nurse got the Canadians off the mark in the first period right after one of their efforts was ruled out for offside.
Canada's captain Marie-Philip Poulin then racked up two more goals to put her team into a 3-0 lead as the game threatened to become a thrashing for the US.
But it didn't work out that way.
Late in the second period, Hilary Knight pulled one back for Team USA and it was game on.
Into the third period, a tangible sense of desperation rose in the final minutes, with American players throwing everything they had in a frantic attempt to make up the gap, bodies piling on top of each other in front of the Canadian goal.
Team USA scored a second through Amanda Kessel, making it 3-2 with just 12 seconds on the clock.
The US outshot Canada 40-21 but ultimately it wasn't enough, as the Canadians erupted into ecstatic cheers at the final buzzer and leapt into a group hug. Some US players left the rink visibly in tears.
Four years ago at the Pyeongchang Games, the US beat Canada in a penalty shootout in the final to win Olympic gold.
Between them, the two teams have won every Olympic gold medal in this sport.
Cheerleaders and Bing Dwen Dwen: The mood in the stands was upbeat and excited throughout the match, with hip hop tracks by artists including Dr. Dre blasted through speakers during breaks between periods.
There was a solid crowd cheering on both teams, with fans waving American and Canadian flags, and some even beating drums after goals.
There were also official cheerleaders present, wearing neutral blue hockey sweaters and helping drum up enthusiasm. At one point, the Olympic panda mascot Bing Dwen Dwen — the unexpected breakout star of the Games — joined the cheerleaders in dancing.
Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, watched the match as well, and was spotted taking photos with the bronze-winning Finland team.
Canada is the new women's Olympic ice hockey champion after securing a 3-2 victory in Beijing on Thursday over their old rivals, the USA.
The win is sweet revenge for the Canadian team, which lost to the US in the gold medal game in Pyeongchang four years ago.
It's another disappointment for Team USA's Mikaela Shiffrin, who crashed out of the alpine combined slalom after a strong start.
The event combines a downhill portion followed by the slalom. Shiffrin placed fifth in the downhill, a solid position with a chance at the podium — but slid off course during the slalom, taking her out of the running.
She had a difficult start to the Games, crashing out of her first two events.
Czech skier Ester Ledecká is currently in the lead.
From CNN's Holly Yan
Gone are the days when Olympic figure skating was scored solely at the judges' discretion, with subjective points awarded on a 6.0 scale.
A 2002 Olympic figure skating scandal — with allegations of score-fixing — upended the sport and led to a complete overhaul of the scoring system — one that awards more points for stamina and strenuous athletic feats.
Now, another Olympic skating controversy has gripped die-hard and casual fans alike.
Gold-medal favorite Kamila Valieva, 15, gave a test sample that later tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine on December 25, the day she won the Russian national championship.
Valieva was allowed to compete for more gold in the Olympic women's individual figure skating event. Her routine for the free skate — the final portion of the women's competition — features quadruple jumps that are untouchable by most of her competitors.
Here's how the sport has evolved in recent years to reward increased athleticism and stamina:
More difficult jumps = more points: In 2004, the International Skating Union ditched the subjective "6.0" scoring system for the more rubric-based International Judging System that gives certain base points for jumps depending on their degree of difficulty and how many times the skater rotates in the air.
After each jump, skaters can gain or lose points from the base value depending on the grade of execution — how well or poorly they executed the jump.
All those numbers are part of the technical score. There's also the presentation score, which rewards artistry and skating skills between jumps.
But in recent years, skaters have been able to win competitions largely due to points racked up from jumping — with quadruple jumps playing a larger role in men's and women's skating.
Why better stamina can win skaters more points: In women's figure skating, athletes perform two routines: the short program, which is about 2 minutes and 40 seconds long, and the free skate, which is about 4 minutes long.
With the current scoring system, jumps performed in the second half of the free skate can get a 10% bonus because it's more difficult to perform them on tired legs.
Read the full story:
From CNN's Hannah Ritchie
The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, met with the United States figure skating team on Thursday to discuss the ongoing medal delay in their event.
The team figure skating event concluded on Feb. 7, following several days of intense competition after which the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) took gold, the US won silver and Japan bronze.
A doping violation involving Russia’s breakout star Kamila Valieva — which only came to light the day after the competition — has caused an ongoing medal delay for all three teams while the IOC continues its investigation into the matter.
Speaking at a regular IOC news conference, spokesperson Mark Adams said the governing body had reached out to both Team USA and the Japanese Olympic Committee regarding the matter.
"We can confirm that a meeting occurred today between president Bach and the USA figure skating team, however the details and content of that discussion should remain between them. So, for obvious reasons, we won’t be commenting further," Adams told reporters.
“We’ve spoken to the Japanese Olympic Committee who’ve told us that they fully accept the IOC’s approach to the situation. That’s the reason why there was no meeting with their athletes."
It's relief at last for the United States, with Hilary Knight scoring the team's first goal in the women's ice hockey final against rival Canada.
Canada has dominated the game so far, and is leading 3-1 late in the second period.
Team USA have it all to do now after Canada's captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored her second goal of the women's ice hockey final to put her team up 3-0.
We are about halfway through the second period.
Canada's captain Marie-Philip Poulin has just put her team 2-0 up in the women's ice hockey finals against old rivals the USA with a few minutes left in the first period.
