Picture this: you are on the verge of breaking an Olympic record. The cheers, the spotlight, your name etched in history. The magical initials – OR – next to your name until it is next broken. You have got a gold medal waiting to be draped around your neck? Wait, no gold? Silver, maybe? Nope? Surely bronze? No?! Fourth place?! Ouch.
Such is the life of Joep Wennemars of the Netherlands, who went under the previous Olympic record in the men’s 1500m speed skating. But so did three others.
Ning Zhongyan of China was crowned champion after setting a new Olympic record time of 1min 41.98sec, beating the pre-race favourite Jordan Stolz of the US, who finished with silver in 1:42.75. Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands won the bronze with a time of 1:42.82. Ning proved to be the fastest of them all, taking over a second off the Beijing 2022 Olympic record of 1:43.21 set by bronze medallist Nuis.
“After the Beijing Winter Olympics, the level in speed skating just kept getting higher and higher,” Ning said. “It felt like there was a mountain in front of me, and no matter what I did, I just could not get past it. But I never stopped believing in myself. I kept telling myself to stay patient, to keep putting in the work, to trust that all the effort would add up one day. Today was that day.”
A win would have made Stolz the second American athlete to collect three or more gold medals in any sport at a single Winter Games but the 21-year-old, who won the 500m and 1000m earlier at these Games, had a poor start by his standards and could not make up the time. “Ning had the race of his life,” he said. “I was actually really happy that Ning was able to pull it off. I really like Ning.
“I thought maybe on a good day I could probably catch that time but today wasn’t the day. I didn’t quite feel it from the beginning of the race. I didn’t have it in the legs but I’m still happy with silver and three medals.”
Elsewhere and for the first time ever, ski mountaineering – commonly known as skimo – took centre stage as the sport’s inaugural champions etched their names into the Games’ record books while battling against exhaustion, freezing temperatures and an unforgiving course.
Skimo, rooted in the 19th century’s more relaxed ski touring, has been modernised for the Games, delivering an exciting, high-speed sprint version. Athletes first climb 60m up a steep slope, using skins to give their skis grip. Then they tackle a 10m staircase in ski boots, before switching gears again to ski across a flat section before the heart-pounding descent to the finish line. Competitors can gain or lose speed in transition between phases, stripping off and putting on their skis and skins at breakneck speed.
The course in Bormio resembled a giant snow globe, as the snow came down thick and fast, with the skiers flying through the iconic Stelvio slope – a familiar spot for Swiss athletes, who have won multiple Alpine skiing golds here.
It was then little surprise that the day started with Switzerland’s Marianne Fatton feeling right at home, becoming the first Olympic champion in ski mountaineering. The world champion held off a tough challenge from Emily Harrop, a four-time skimo overall champion and the heavy favourite heading into the race. The Frenchwoman’s race was marred by a mistake in the transition stages, costing her the chance at gold. “The main error I made was not getting my skis back on and not being precise enough. That shows how important details are,” she said.
Ana Alonso Rodriguez of Spain earned a well-deserved bronze. The 30-year-old was competing with torn anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament, which she sustained in October after being hit by a car while cycling.
Gaining inspiration from his compatriot, Oriol Cardona Coll triumphed in the men’s sprint shortly after, securing Spain’s first Winter Olympics gold in 54 years, and second overall after Francisco Fernández Ochoa’s slalom win at the 1972 Games in Sapporo. Cardona Coll, who is also a mountain runner, dominated the six-man final with his quick transitions and sheer stamina. “I’ve been dreaming about being here, about winning the race, and finally the dream has come true,” the 31-year-old said. “It means a lot for us, as a country. It means a lot for the ski mountaineering family to be here.”
Nikita Filippov won silver, becoming the first competitor of these Games to win a medal for the Individual Neutral Athletes team – approved individual Russian and Belarusian athletes. On being unable to celebrate his country, the Russian said: “It’s OK. Everybody knows what country I am from. I’m just happy to be here and to have realised my childhood dream.”
Heated Rivalries: Canada v US ice hockey showdown (part I?)
For Americans, the tension was palpable, hearts in their throats. For Canadians, it was in their ears, nerves electrifying every moment. This is the one that matters. For many, the Winter Olympics boil down to two matchups: the women’s and men’s gold medal hockey games.
This rivalry is never short of drama and this game, the women’s final, was no exception. The US team, having dominated an ageing Canada squad 5-0 earlier in the tournament, needed overtime to clinch the gold despite it being one of the best performances the Canadians had put together in years. In the end, Megan Keller was the hero for the Americans with Hilary Knight, one of the greatest players in women’s hockey, ending her Olympic career with the ultimate prize.
This rivalry is never short of drama and this game was no exception. Though the men’s semi-finals are still to come, the buzz has been building for another potential US-Canada gold medal matchup. If it happens, will the Americans enjoy a double over their northern neighbours? Or will the Canadians, in their most cherished sport, have their moment of glory?
As it stands
The US go ahead of Italy’s total tally after figure skating gold while team Russia/Belarus neutral gets on the unofficial board.
1 🇳🇴 Norway 🥇 16 🥈 8 🥉 10 – Total: 34
2 🇺🇸 United States 🥇 9 🥈 12 🥉 6 – Total: 27
3 🇮🇹 Italy 🥇 9 🥈 5 🥉 12 – Total: 26
4 🇫🇷 France 🥇 6 🥈 8 🥉 5 – Total: 19
5 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🥇 6 🥈 7 🥉 3 – Total: 16
– – –
11 🇨🇦 Canada 🥇 4 🥈 5 🥉 6 – Total: 15
13 🇦🇺 Australia 🥇 3 🥈 2 🥉 1 – Total: 6
14 🇬🇧 Great Britain 🥇 3 🥈 0 🥉 0 – Total: 3
— 🟦 *AIN 🥇 0 🥈 1 🥉 0 – Total: 1
*AIN is the official code for Individual Neutral Athletes, the name used to represent approved Russian and Belarusian athletes. The IOC does not include Individual Neutral Athletes in the official medal table.
Picture of the day
Further reading from the Guardian
What to look out for today
Times are all in local time in Milan and Cortina. For Sydney it is +10 hours, for London it is -1 hour, for New York it is -6 hours and San Francisco it is -9 hours.
Freestyle skiing – 1.10pm🥇, 1.30pm🥇, 7.30pm🥇: the women’s cross finals, and men’s aerials finals will take up the afternoon before the men’s freeski half-pipe finals under the lights.
Curling – 2.05pm, 7.05pm🥉: Canada take on Sweden before the US take on Switzerland in the women’s semi-finals before the men’s bronze medal match
Biathlon – 2.15pm🥇: Will France continue dominating this discipline in the men’s 15km mass start?
Speed skating – 4.30pm🥇: Great Britain’s Ellia Smeding is in action in the women’s 1500m.
Ice hockey – 4.40pm, 9.10pm: the men’s semi-finals double header sees Canada take on Finland before the US face Slovakia.
Short track speed skating – 9.30pm🥇, 10.07pm🥇: late medals will be handed out in the men’s 5000m relay and the women’s 1500m.
The last word
The one big takeaway for me is, Beijing, we had no crowd and here, I have loved playing in front of the crowd so much. That’s what we train for. This is what we love to do and in that environment out there, the girls have thrived on that. I just couldn’t be prouder of them – Jennifer Dodds after Great Britain’s women’s curling team finished their Olympic campaign with a 7-4 victory over Italy. The win was not enough, as they also needed Switzerland to beat the United States in their final round-robin match to move into the semi-finals.
Hit reply or email OlympicBriefing@theguardian.com to get in touch.
