The penultimate day of the Winter Olympics brings a packed schedule — and for some athletes, a last chance to medal. Here are the names and events to look out for on Saturday:
⛷️ One more shot: Team USA's Mikaela Shiffrin will compete for the sixth and final time at these Games at the alpine skiing mixed team event today. Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, has had a difficult run these past two weeks, crashing out of three events. She finished two others, but placed ninth and 18th, far from the podium. “Why do I keep coming back? Gosh knows it hurts more than it feels good lately,” Shiffrin tweeted Thursday after failing to finish the combined event, calling out some of the online abuse she has received.
🛷 Last race before closing ceremony: Four-time Olympic bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor from the US will compete in the two-woman bobsleigh, hoping to score a gold before attending the closing ceremony tomorrow as a flag bearer. She had originally been elected as a flag bearer for the opening ceremony, but was forced to miss it after testing positive for Covid. After the first two heats for the race today, Meyers Taylor is in third, with Germany's Laura Nolte and Mariama Jamanka taking first and second.
⛸️ Chinese stars on ice: The final figure skating competition will be the pairs free skate today, with China's Sui Wenjing and Han Cong looking to score another victory. The event combines the scores of the free skate with the short program — and the pair are already top of the leaderboard with a score of 84.41 following a short program that has been described as "the greatest ever," eclipsing their previous world record, set less than two weeks ago.
🥌 Reigning champions defend title: Sweden and Great Britain are facing off for gold in the men's curling final today. Three-time defending world champion Sweden got off to a 7-0 start at these Olympics and was the first team to qualify for the semifinals — but lost their final two games in the round-robin play. Meanwhile, Great Britain hasn't been in the gold medal game since 2014.
⛸️ Start your engines (or skates): Speed skating concludes today with the mass start events for both men and women, meaning two semifinals of 15 skaters in each discipline, with eight athletes from each skate advancing to the finals. This mass start is unusual — and has been described as "NASCAR on ice." USA's Joey Mantia is the reigning men's world champion, but is still searching for his first individual medal. In the women's event, Japan's Nana Takagi is looking for redemption after losing out on gold in the team event, and Dutch skater Irene Schouten could score a medal in all four of her events.