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As the 2022 Winter Olympics nears its conclusion, there’s been no shortage of exhilarating moments and compelling storylines. For those that were sleeping during Friday’s pivotal moments — many of which occurred overnight for US viewers — here’s a tidy recap of some of the top stories.
⛷ Eileen Gu makes history with third 2022 medal
Eileen Gu has had a historic Olympic run, cementing her status as the face of China’s sporting dreams at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
The American-born teen, who competes for China, took gold in the women’s freeski halfpipe on Friday, adding to a medal haul that had already included a gold in last week’s big air event and a silver in Tuesday’s freeski slopestyle event.
Gu — whose face is plastered across China on billboards and magazine covers — is now the first athlete to capture three medals in three separate freestyle skiing events at a single Olympics.
After her performance on Friday, Gu spoke to the confidence that helped propel her to skiing stardom, revealing, “”At the top I said, ‘My name is Eileen Gu, and I’m the best halfpipe freeskier in the world.’”
🇺🇸 Team USA bobsledder to carry flag during the Closing Ceremony
American bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor will get the chance to carry the stars and stripes at Sunday’s Closing Ceremony. The four-time Olympian had been tapped as a flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony but was forced to miss out on the honor as she quarantined following a positive Covid-19 test.
🥇 Norway’s Winter Games dominance continues with 15th gold medal
Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bø has captured his fourth gold medal in Beijing, and fifth medal overall. This helps Norway set a Winter Games record with 15 total gold medals.
The 28-year-old won Friday’s men’s biathlon 15km mass start by more than 40 seconds, and had previously earned gold in the sprint, relay, and mixed relay biathlon events, as well as the bronze in the individual.
🥅 The ROC advances to gold medal match in men’s hockey, will meet Finland
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) moves on to the gold medal game in men’s hockey, skating past Sweden 2-1 in the 8th round of a penalty shootout.
The ROC will take on Finland in Sunday’s gold medal match.
Five medals were at stake across biathlon, freestyle skiing and speed skating events on Friday at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Here’s who won:
Biathlon:
Justine Braisaz-Bouchet of France won the women’s 12.5km mass start event.
Johannes Thingnes Bø won the men’s 15km mass start event, giving Norway a historic medal tally at the Winter Olympics.
Freestyle Skiing
China’s Eileen Gu won the women’s freeski halfpipe and became first freeskier to win three medals in a single Games.
Switzerland’s Ryan Regez clinched the gold at men’s ski cross big event.
Speed Skating
Thomas Krol of the Netherlands won the men’s 1,000m event.
Here’s where the official Olympic Medal Count stands.
Here’s a look at the best photos from day 14 of the Winter Games:
Take a look back at the best photos from the Olympics so far.
As another action-packed day at this year’s Winter Games comes to its conclusion, take a look at some of the best quotes from Day 14.
Freestyle skier Eileen Gu reflected on her haul of two gold medals and a silver as she became the first freestyle skier to bag three medals at a single Games.
The 18-year-old won her second gold in the halfpipe final on Friday.
Elsewhere, figure skating bronze medalist Kaori Sakamoto shines a light on the superstitions she has before competing.
Perhaps more athletes will start adopting such hygiene rituals.
It may have been freezing cold for the men’s 15km mass start biathlon, but Norwegian bronze medalist Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen didn’t care one bit after making the podium.
The bitter weather has certainly played a role at this year’s Games, but medals just seem to take the edge off.
All quotes are attributed to Beijing 2022.
Great Britain edged out Sweden 12-11 in the women’s semifinal on Friday to advance to the final, where the team will face Japan.
Great Britain, led by Eve Muirhead, secured the second medal for the country after the men’s curling team advanced to the final on Thursday.
The British women overcame a 4-0 deficit in the first end before bouncing back in a nail-biting match that finished when Team GB sealed the victory with the hammer in the extra end.
In the other semifinal, Japan pulled off the major upset by ousting world champion Switzerland 8-6.
Great Britain and Japan will compete for the gold on Sunday, while Switzerland will play Sweden in the women’s bronze medal match on Saturday.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) has advanced to the gold medal game in men’s ice hockey, defeating Sweden 2-1 in a thriller at the Beijing Olympics.
After being tied at the end of regulation and overtime sudden death, the match went into a penalty shootout where the ROC’s Arseni Gritsyuk sealed the victory for the defending champions in the eighth round.
“Honestly, it was really nerve-wracking,” the ROC’s Mikhail Grigorenko said.
“We knew it was not going to be a high-scoring game. I think every player on my team played his heart out. We played for each other. Credit to the Swedes, they fought hard.”
The ROC will face Finland the men’s final on Sunday. Sweden will face Slovakia in the bronze medal match on Sunday.
US alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin took to social media on Friday to address her previous day’s posts, saying they weren’t intended for the haters but for the people getting hate.
“I truly believe that if you try to address the haters by hating on the haters, it really only continues to spread hate and it doesn’t fix the problem,” the two-time Olympic gold medalist said. “The haters are there because they have decided they want to hate you and you’re really not going to do anything to stop hating you, so you might as well not waste your energy on that.”
On Thursday, the 26-year-old posted several screenshots on her Instagram Stories with the first four showing words and phrases written in text filled with harsh criticism, including “Choker” … “ Can’t handle the pressure” … “Arrogant”… “Disgrace. Unacceptable.”
Shiffrin failed to medal in all four individual alpine skiing events she participated at the Beijing Games, registering a did-not-finish (DNF) in three of them.
“The people out there who are experiencing any kind of those messages, those comments, that make you feel about this small, that make you feel like your entire self-worth is summed up in awful sentence sent by an awful person who thinks awful things about you,” the 26-year-old wrote.
“The whole premise of it, I don’t really understand, but that message, that was meant for you guys to get up and to keep going. Get out of bed the next day even though you’re getting these messages that make you feel awful… awful.
“That’s okay, they’re always going to be there and you can choose to take them and dwell on them and let them make you want to retire, let them make you want to disappear and just never be seen again or you can just say, ‘Hey, I’ve got a great sense of humor and I’ve got a lot more to give to this world, so back off and let me do my thing,’ and I think a lot of you out there who might be experiencing these hate messages — I think a lot of you have that fire in you, so you just go for it and don’t send a message to your haters.
“They don’t deserve your time being wasted on them. You just spread that message to the next person getting hate.”
Shiffrin will have one more shot at a medal as she is scheduled to compete in the mixed team parallel slalom competition on Saturday.
Chinese pair Sui Wenjing and Han Cong produced a mesmerizing performance to shatter their own world record in the pairs short program at the Beijing Games on Friday.
Sui and Han — silver medalists four years ago at the PyeongChang Games — scored 84.41 points, beating the previous total of 82.83 they set during the team event.
The duo were skating to the “Mission Impossible 2 Orchestra Suite: Part 1” by Hans Zimmer.
Sui told reporters after the pair’s routine that a record wasn’t the goal: “To be honest, we didn’t pay much attention to how many points we could get, we focused more on if we could enjoy the program and performance today.
“I think today we enjoyed it and we are happy. I hope we can perform our best tomorrow. The short program is just the beginning.”
The Chinese pair top the standings heading into Saturday’s free skating competition.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) occupy the second and third places with both pairs scoring personal bests.
Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov ended with a score of 84.25, ahead of world champions Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov’s on 82.76 points.
“Wow, the view from up here is great!”
Hailey Kops probably didn’t say that, but she would have gotten a fantastic view of the Capital Indoor Stadium after being flung in the air by teammate Evgeni Krasnopolski during the pairs skating short program.
Although he might not look confident at that exact moment in time, we can report that Krasnopolski safely caught Kops, and the pairing from Israel finished in 15th position at the end of the short program.
The International Figure Skating Union (ISU) will hold a vote at its Congress in June on a proposal to raise the minimum age for competitors to 17, the governing body told CNN on Friday.
The sport has been at the center of attention after 15-year-old Russian skater Kamila Valieva was allowed to continuing compete at the Beijing Games despite failing a drug test in December 2021.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided Valieva should be allowed to compete due to “exceptional circumstances,” including specific provisions linked to her status as a “protected person” – because she is a minor – under the World Anti-Doping Code.
Questions have also surrounded the adults around the teen figure skater responsible for her skating and welfare.
Both the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) have said they will be investigating the 15-year-old’s entourage.
The ISU Congress 2022 is scheduled to take place from June 6-10 in Phuket, Thailand.
The ISU added that for proposals to be accepted, a two-thirds majority vote by ISU Members is required.
The agenda for the Congress is due to be published on April 30, 2022.
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.
Team USA ice dancers Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue have told CNN they have their “empty medal box waiting in our room,” as they wait to receive their figure skating team event medal which has been postponed without a date in light of Kamila Valieva’s ongoing doping case.
Speaking to CNN’s Coy Wire, Hubbell said they were “disappointed” at being informed at the last minute on February 8 that the medal ceremony would be delayed. The US had finished second behind the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).
“We were really looking forward to sharing that Olympic moment together. It’s an incredibly difficult situation for everyone involved, but certainly I don’t think that it’s fair to any of the athletes who medal that we have to forego that Olympic moment … it’s hard to go home empty-handed,” Hubbell said.
Donohue added that he hopes the situation would be solved “as quickly as possible,” both for the athletes and for the integrity of sport.
“We have a whole team of athletes that have finished competing and are staring looking at an empty box and the unknown of the future and missing out on that Olympics moment,” Donohue said.
Valieva finished fourth in the women’s individual skating competition while her teammates Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova won the gold and silver respectively. Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto took the bronze.
“It’s really sad to see a group of athletes working under the same coach that obviously do not have that same respect for each other,” Hubbell said.
She added: “I felt very bad to see the Japanese athlete celebrating and being excited about her victory next to two people that didn’t seem like they were able to enjoy their moment.”
Speaking about 15-year-old Valieva, Donohue said it was awful that everything she had done to this point would be put into question as a result of her ongoing doping case.
“The story isn’t about a young Olympian. It’s about a scandal. And she’s getting swallowed up in that. I think that’s terrible,” he said.
The two ice dancers were among the US skaters that met with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Wednesday, which Bach described on Friday as “very fruitful.”
Both Hubbell and Donohue said they appreciated meeting the president to share their perspectives on the Valieva situation.
“We didn’t leave the meeting feeling, I don’t think any better about this situation, but at least you know, we had our chance to kind of say what it feels like to be an athlete in our shoes,” Hubbell said.
Donohue confirmed that they have received Olympic torches from the IOC, which Bach earlier clarified was a “token of appreciation” for an honest meeting, not a consolation for an Olympic medal.
