Key events
Faster, higher, stronger
Valentine news, of sorts, from our main man in Milan, Sean Ingle. He’s been at the IOC press conference, where spokesperson Mark Adams was asked about the village running out of free condoms after three days.
“All I would say is that it clearly shows that Valentine’s Day is in full swing in the village and I can’t say any more than that,” he said. “10,000 have been used, 2,800 athletes … Faster, higher, stronger, together, as they say.”
All those beautiful people have to expend their energy somehow…
Women’s cross-country skiing relay: Norway lead into the first check-point of the third leg, but Sweden’s Frida Karlsson is in supreme form and has already knocked ten seconds off the deficit, reducing it to 1 minute eight.
Women’s cross-country skiing relay: The drama! Andersson goes nose over tail again, loses a ski, and falls further behind. She can’t put the ski on so runs on one ski for maybe 200 metres until she is given a replacement.
Her compatriot waiting for the third leg does not look impressed. Norway hand over first, Finland second, Switzerland third, Italy fourth… and Andersson trails in one minute 18 behind.
But this Swedish team are so strong….
Women’s cross-country skiing relay: this looks so completely exhausting. The women somehow race up the hillside wearing huge long skies. They pant. And slip. And keep going. Slind now has a 12 second lead over Norwegian Andersson.
Women’s cross-Country Skiing relay: The skiers have reached a sort of mini maze near the spectators at the bottom of the hill, but then head right back up again. Andersson has caught the Italian skier and has the red-clad Norwegian in sight.
Women’s cross-Country Skiing relay: Sweden are favourites in this competition, but a slip and tumble by double silver medallist Ebba Andersson lets the surprised Norwegian and Italian skiers zip by. Finland lie fourth, and Austria fifth.
Ice hockey: A couple of men’s games have just started – it is goalless between out- of-touch Sweden and Slovakia; Lukas Reichel has put Germany 1-0 ahead against Latvia.
We’re still in the round-robin section of the men’s competition: Canada, Slovakia and the USA currently top the three groups. The knock-out rounds will start on February 18.
🥇Gold for Jakara Anthony in the women’s dual moguls
Women’s dual moguls: Anthony, so disappointed in the singles event, gets her gold at last. She raises her arms as she crosses the line first, and wins the judges hearts, and points, too. Delight in the big green puffa-coated Australian camp.
Jaelin Kauf takes silver, Elizabeth Lemley the bronze.
Women’s dual moguls: Lemley, who hurt her hand in her semi-final crash looks as if she might ski with one pole… she twists her wrist round and round… now takes both poles and prepares for the start. Laffont beats her down the slope but Lemley is awarded the bronze. Better in the air, apparently.
Women’s dual moguls: Carnage! In the first semi final Laffont misses a control gate, and Kauf crashes. But Kauf eventually makes it to the bottom and qualifies after Laffont is disqualified.
Anthony wins the second sf after Lemley, gold medallist in the singles, also ends up face down in the snow in her haste and is also disqualified.
So going for gold: Kauf v Anthony. Going for Bronze: Lemley v Laffont. Or as the Dual Moguls put it: Big final and Little Final.
Curling: Team GB pat their pockets, a 7-6 win over Canada wrapped up at the final end. A timely morale-booster after those first two defeats and a much better performance all round.
Women’s dual moguls: They don’t hang about, we’re back at the Livigno Aerials and Moguls park. Anastassiya Gorodko crashes out in the first quarter final, allowing the first American Jaelin Kauf a stress-free ski to the bottom.
But Perrine Laffont of France just beats the USA’s Tess Johnson in the next, and a rapid Jakara Anthony knocks out Olivia Giaccio. Oooof and a nasty landing for Hinako Tomitaka sends her off course, handing the last spot to Elizabeth Lemley.
So our semi-finals will be Kauf v Laffont, then Anthony v Lemley.
Curling: looking rosy for Team GB’s women. They go into the final end with a three point lead over Canada, 7-4.
Women’s dual moguls: It’s all very civilised out on the snow, the athletes have a hug when they reach the bottom. I was thinking the snow looked a bit grubby but it turns out the authorities put out pine needles – I think to help skiers find their way.
Anyway, they’ve zipped through very quickly and have already sorted the quarter finals, with four Americans in the final eight.
Women’s dual moguls: back to the snow, and the finals of the dual moguls. Here, two skiers race each other down the lumpy slope, pause to do a trick or two, and then race to the bottom.
Athletes are judged on turns, air and speed by a panel of judges. Crucially each race is an elimination, and the competitor with the highest score advances to the next round… and so it continues until the final.
Hina Fujiki of Japan crosses the line before her rival Tess Johnson, but Johnson goes through with higher marks from the judges.
Australia Jakara Anthony, who will be desperate for a medal after slipping and finishing last in the moguls singles, easily wins her race.
Curling: A much better morning for GB’s women, who are playing the current world champions, Canada. They are 5-3 up after seven ends and have the mighty hammer.
Giant Slalom: Leader Lucas Pinheiro Braathen is half Copacabana Beach, half Fjord. He was born in Norway and spent his childhood between the two countries, playing football in Brazil, and skiing in Norway. After competing as a Norwegian, he briefly retired in autumn 2023 before returning to skiing under the Brazilian flag.
He also likes to DJ, decorates his fingernails, collects art and has a fabulous flat in Milan. What a guy!
Giant Slalom: Giant slalom specialist and hometown boy Luca De Aliprandini sets off with high hopes, but loses a ski and ends up in an undignified slide down the mountain on his back.
Men’s Giant Slalom: a huge surprise unfolding on the slopes as Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro still leads the pack . If Pinheiro does go on to win, he would wear the first Brazilian Winter Olympic medal. The soft snow seems to be hampering the other competitors.
Now Sam Maes roars in frustration after his left ski flies up in the air and he swerves off the course.
Heraskevych presents helmet to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy
After being disqualified from the Winter Olympics, Vladyslav Heraskevych presented his ‘helmet of memory’ to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
In return, Zelenskyy gave Heraskevych a medal.
Men’s Giant Slalom: real Ski Sunday stuff this – precipitous slopes, zig-zagging turns. Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen is the fastest of the seven skiers to set off so far this morning. The competitors get two runs and the skier with the fastest total time is the winner.
All that glitters…
The medals table:
1 🇳🇴 Norway 🥇 8 🥈 3 🥉 7 – Total: 18
2 🇮🇹 Italy 🥇 6 🥈 3 🥉 9 – Total: 18
3 🇺🇸 United States 🥇 4 🥈 7 🥉 3 – Total: 14
4 🇫🇷 France 🥇 4 🥈 5 🥉 1 – Total: 10
5 🇩🇪 Germany 🥇 4 🥈 4 🥉 3 – Total: 11
Preamble
Hello! A golden morning for Team GB at last after Matt Skelton hurtled down the skeleton track last night to become the first British man to win individual gold since Robin Cousins at Lake Placid in 1980. It’s all about the proprioception, you see.
As the sun rises above the rooftops in Manchester (yes really) we can look forward to another haul of sparkling metal. Eight golds are on offer today across the slopes, the sliding centre and the ice .
The morning starts with a new event, the women’s dual moguls, where skiers race side by side to the bottom of the hill.
At midday the women’s 4 x 7.5km cross-country skiing relay kicks off. This promises two skiers racing along the tracks, while two race the free technique. Not quite sure how that is going to work, but looking forward to finding out.
There are two more finals on the slopes: the Men’s giant slalom, where Swiss super skier Marco Odermatt has his eye on gold for the second successive Olympics, followed by the women’s 7.5km sprint biathlon where the light-fingered Julia Simon goes again.
The women’s quarter finals continue in the ice hockey, where Canada play Germany, and Finland play Switzerland’; while the men’s teams are still in the preliminary stages. Qualifying also continues in the curling, with Team GB’s men and women both busy with the brushes – the women hope for their first win, against Canada, shortly, while the men take on Czechia at 13.05 GMT.
More aerodynamic speed skating follows at 5pm GMT, but after yesterday’s exhausting 10000m, this is a 500m sprint. Jordan Stolz of the USA starts favourite. Then short track speed skating to close the evening in the men’s 1500m.
I offer you also the large hill individual ski jumping final and the start of the women’s skeleton competition.
Cappuccino ready? Let’s go!
