Day 14 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

There was a lot of noise from the Americans in the stands when Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc took to the rink for their short program routine in the pair skating event.

Big things were expected from the Team USA pair on their Olympic debut and they looked ecstatic with their performance, jumping for joy and fist pumping the air.

Speaking to Olympics.com, after their short program, LeDuc – the first openly non binary competitor in Winter Olympic history – said, "Today was a really joyous moment on the ice. We worked really hard to have that moment. Ashley and I both brought today our authentic selves. We lead with authenticity and lead with what makes us unique and different. That's hopefully the message that when people watch us, hopefully, they feel the same: inspired to lead with what makes them unique and different."

"Hopefully, we're making a path for others to not have to change things about themselves in order to find more success in skating or in other things that they pursue. I know the only reason that I can be open about my gender is because amazing, amazing queer people have come before me and laid the groundwork, and I am one of many and hopefully laying the work for others to come, as well."

The pair finished sixth overall and will qualify for the free skating event on Saturday but will face an uphill battle to secure a podium finish.

They'll certainly struggle to topple the current leaders, China's Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, who broke their own world record on Friday, scoring 84.41.

Cain-Gribble and LeDuc spoke to CNN ahead of the Games. Read more about their friendship on and off the ice here.

Team USA has announced four-time Olympic bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor as the Closing Ceremony flag bearer at Beijing 2022.

Meyers Taylor had originally been elected as the Opening Ceremony flag bearer but was forced to miss the ceremony after testing positive for Covid-19 – speedskater Brittany Bowe walked on behalf of Meyers Taylor.

In a statement Friday, Meyers Taylor said she was "so honored to be named the Opening Ceremony flag bearer, but after not being able to carry the flag, it’s even more humbling to lead the United States at the Closing Ceremony."

She added: "Congratulations to my fellow Team USA athletes on all their success in Beijing – I'm looking forward to carrying the flag with my teammates by my side and closing out these Games.” 

The 37-year-old, who won the silver medal in the Olympics debut of women’s monobob, is the second US athlete to have been elected as the Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony flag bearer, joining bobsled and skeleton athlete Jack Heaton, who did the same at St. Moritz in 1948.

The Closing Ceremony is scheduled for February 20.

Gus Kenworthy has competed twice for the US at the Winter Games but, at Beijing 2022, the star will be representing Team GB for the first time before retiring.

The 30-year-old isn’t entirely sure what his life will be like beyond competitive skiing, but he’s in no rush to find out.

In recent years, he has made a number of TV appearances, starring as ‘Chet Clancy’ in cult-favorite series “American Horror Story,” as well as being a guest judge on the iconic RuPaul’s “Drag Race All Stars.”

Kenworthy will compete for a podium place in the men’s freeski halfpipe final run on February 19.

Read more about Kenworthy's stellar career here.

First debuting at the 1924 Chamonix Winter Olympics, speed skating involves athletes racing alongside each other, with each skater hoping to set the fastest time out of all the participants in the field.

Athletes race across a 400m oval-shaped track for individual races, where the fastest places first. 

In the team pursuit, three-person squads representing two different countries compete in an eight-lap race on opposite sides of the track. Each team must race as a group, and their times are determined by the third person who crosses the finish line. 

There are 16 laps in the mass start event, which is a points-based competition. Almost 24 skaters can take part at the start of the event.

There will be 14 medals for the taking across 14 events at Beijing 2022, including the women's 500m, 1,000m, 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m, mass start and team pursuit; and the men's 500m, 1,000m, 1,500m, 3,000m, 5,000m, mass start and team pursuit.

The number of speed skating events held makes it the largest sport at this year's Winter Olympics and it runs until February 19.

Read more about all the events at Beijing 2022 here.

The Beijing Olympic Committee identified one new Covid-19 case among Olympics-related personnel on Thursday, it said in a statement.

The total number of confirmed Games-related Covid-19 cases since January 23 now stands at 436, of which 184 involve athletes and team officials.

The one new case involves an athlete or team official, which was found among new airport arrivals.

Since the "closed loop" system officially began on January 23, a total of 1,660,085 Covid-19 tests have been administered inside the "closed loop," and 13,610 people have arrived in Beijing, the statement added.

Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc are preparing to compete in their first Winter Olympics – the pinnacle of their eventful, and often challenging, figure skating careers.

LeDuc left professional skating for two years in 2014 and spent time working on a cruise ship, while Cain-Gribble was ready to retire from skating before switching from singles to pairs with LeDuc in 2016.

At times, both have found themselves at odds with skating’s norms: Cain-Gribble because of her physique (at five-foot-six she is taller than most women competing in pairs skating) and LeDuc, who identifies as gay and nonbinary, because of their sexuality.

"For a long time, Timothy and I didn't see ourselves represented, and so we didn't quite feel like we belonged," Cain-Gribble told CNN ahead of the Games.

"And for a long time, people had things to say about us. Even when we teamed up, they had a lot of things to say about my body or about Timothy's sexuality. People still will make those comments."

But together, the pair have forged what Cain-Gribbe calls “a very inclusive environment,” veering away from some of figure skating’s long-standing traditions in order to be their “true selves.”

That involves performing a lot of the same moves in their routines, wearing the same colors and patterns and choosing not to portray romantic stories.

"There's nothing inherently wrong with those stories, but often they're centralized and seen as the only narratives that you can portray, the only story that's worthy of being a champion or being successful,” LeDuc told CNN.

"Ashley and I are just different in that way; we've never done a romantic story and we've never been a romantic pair. We've always been about equality and showing two amazing athletes coming together to create something beautiful."

Having won the US national title last month, Cain-Gribble and LeDuc – who is set to become the first out, nonbinary athlete to compete at the Winter Olympics, according to Team USA – will compete in the pairs competition in Beijing later today.

Hear more from Cain-Gribble and LeDuc in the video below:

It's been 34 years since Jamaica made its Winter Olympic debut in bobsled at the 1988 Games, but the moment was immortalized by the cult film, "Cool Runnings."

Despite the four-man team crashing and receiving a "Did Not Finish" result, their efforts inspired an entire generation of Jamaican athletes.

Decades later, for the first time in Olympic history, the island nation qualified in three bobsled events.

"There's a very uncomfortable position of actually being alive to watch your legacy unfold," Dudley "Tal" Stokes, one of the team members from 1988, told CNN.

"Most people die before their legacy is revealed, but I've had to live it."

Read more about the impact of the 1988 team here.

Any pretenses of Johannes Thingnes Bø slowing down towards the end of Beijing 2022 were smashed to pieces on Friday at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre.

The 28-year-old finished over 40 seconds clear of second-placed Martin Ponsiluoma of Sweden to claim gold in the men's mass start.

Bø did incur four shooting penalties, but was able to make up for those mistakes with his speed on his skis.

"I've been really tired actually, the last two days after the relay. It was all about not accepting holiday thoughts, not accepting bad thoughts about not so high energy. I maintained the head, focused for another race and pushed quite hard for this," Bø said after the race.

It looked at one point as if France's Quentin Fillon Maillet might have been in position to make a late charge for his top spot, but some poor shooting from Fillon Maillet meant he slipped down to fourth place.

It Bø's fourth gold medal of Beijing 2022, and his fifth overall, after winning the sprint, relay and mixed relay as well as winning bronze in the individual.

His compatriot Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen finished in the bronze medal spot.

Bø added: "[In] my mind I thought, five medals in six races, four golds. Also the 15th gold medal for Norway during this Olympic Games. No one has ever done that before, so big day for the nation as well."

As Bø stated, his gold medal was Norway's 15th of Beijing 2022, a record for a single nation at a Winter Games.

Norway and Canada had previously won 14 gold medals at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang and the 2010 Games in Vancouver, respectively.

Dutchman Thomas Krol won gold in the men's 1,000m at Beijing 2022, handing the Netherlands its 11th medal in speed skating overall at this year's Games.

The 29-year-old’s victory also makes the Netherlands the first country to win three consecutive gold medals in this discipline.

Krol made up for his earlier disappointment when he had to settle for silver in the men’s 1,500m after finishing behind compatriot Kjeld Nuis.

"This is just fantastic. I'm crazy happy with this gold medal," Krol said afterwards.

"In comparison to the 1,500m, I didn't expect it to happen. When I saw my time, I wasn't really sure it would be enough. The one time (like in the 1,500m) you think it's enough, and it isn't, the other time you think it's not enough and then it is.

"This is really a dream coming true. I don't have proper words for it. Well, I do have words, of course, otherwise the interview would be pretty boring (laughs). This is something you hope for for so long."

Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil won silver with Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen of Norway taking bronze in Friday's final.