Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

BC-Olympic Digest, ADVISORY

Via AP news wire
Tuesday 15 February 2022 10:16 GMT
APTOPIX Beijing Olympics Snowboard Big Air
APTOPIX Beijing Olympics Snowboard Big Air (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Hello from Beijing!

Today is Day 11 of the Beijing Olympics. Here are AP’s coverage plans. All times are Eastern. For questions, please email Amanda Barrett at abarrett@ap.org. Find the latest Olympics coverage plans on Coverage Plan. For expanded content, visit AP’s Olympics hub on AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 877-836-9477. For questions about the digital news experience or medals tables, please email Barry Bedlan at bbedlan@ap.org.

HAPPENING IN BEIJING

Close finishes were the big news of the day. Swiss freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud won the slopestyle contest over fan favorite Eileen Gu by .33 points. Swiss teammate Corinne Suter defeated Alpine racer Sofia Goggia by 0.16 seconds in the women's downhill.

___

TRENDING NEWS

OLY--CUR-SKIP’S SORE THROAT — Tabitha Peterson is fighting a tricky and troublesome injury as she tries to guide the U.S. women’s curling team to the Olympic medal round. The American skip is losing her voice. That’s no small problem when a big part of your job is shouting instructions to your teammates at the other end of the 146-foot sheet of ice. By Jimmy Golen. SENT: 765 words, photos.

OLY—BUS BLUR-PHOTO GALLERY — AP photographer Jae. C. Hong shows the view from the bus in Beijing. By Stephen Wade. SENT: 280 words, photos.

___

TOP STORIES

OLY-FIG-WOMEN'S SHORT PROGRAM — Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was worn out after a grueling doping hearing ended with her being allowed to skate Tuesday in the women’s short program at the Beijing Olympics. The 15-year-old Valieva is the overwhelming favorite for the gold medal alongside Russian teammates Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova, who are aiming for the first sweep by any nation of the women’s Olympic podium. By Dave Skretta and James Ellingworth. SENT: 738 words, photos.

OLY-FRE-WOMEN’S SLOPESTYLE — Eileen Gu earned a silver medal with her final run of the Olympic women’s ski slopestyle contest on Tuesday, keeping alive her quest to become the first action-sports athlete to capture three medals at the same Winter Games. Gu’s bid for another gold medal was thwarted by Mathilde Gremaud. By Pat Graham. SENT: 524 words, photos. OLY--FRE-GREMAUD’S GOLD — Mathilde Gremaud has long known that every point counts in her sport. At the Beijing Games, every fraction of a point counts, too. By Pat Graham. SENT: 584 words, photos.

GU’S CHOICE: The American-born superstar skier’s decision to compete for China rather than the country of her birth raised eyebrows stateside, but a closer look at Eileen Gu’s family’s history, and at the changing nature of the Chinese emigre community in the U.S., might cast her choice in a slightly different light. By Janie Har and Sarah DiLorenzo. UPCOMING: 1,386 words, photos.

DOPING-THE DISTRACTION: Those first few days of the Beijing Olympics, the questions came hard and fast: Uyghurs. The closed loop. Jack Ma. Appeasing a dictatorship. Then came the Russian doping scandal. Now, the IOC is buried in details about drug tests and legal procedure. Was the dog wagged? By Stephen Wade. SENT: 816 words, photos.

OLY—ATHLETE ACTIVISM: Top snowboarders and skiers like Ormerod are in Beijing going for the gold, but quite a few are also working to raise awareness of climate change, driven by worry about what warmer winters are doing to their sport. They see climate activism as a natural extension of what they do, and something that’s been getting widespread acceptance. Other types of activism are less welcome at the Olympics. By Kelvin Chan. SENT: 992 words, photos.

OLY--BEIJING-THE SPECTATORS — A spectator’s single clap echoed through the mostly empty National Aquatics Center after the British curling team knocked a Swiss stone out of position, a difficult move that usually would trigger cheers from fans. Skiing, skating and other competitions take place before a global TV audience, but few see them in person. By Sam McNeil. SENT: 695 words, photos.

OLY-DAY 10-PHOTO-GALLERY — Athletes soar on day 10 of the Winter Olympics. SENT: 46 words, 24 photos.

____

THE ATHLETES

OLY--FRE-CARLY'S KNEES —Freestyle halfpipe skier Carly Margulies is on her way to the Beijing Games after going through not one or two or three but seven knee surgeries. But her latest surgery, the one that landed her on the operating table two months before the Beijing Games, also had her thinking a thought she rarely contemplated: This could be it. By Pat Graham. SENT: 852 words, photos.

OLY--BOB-WOMEN-BACK TO WORK — A day after winning gold and silver in the women’s monobob competition, American bobsled stars Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor are back on the ice to start preparing for the two-person event that starts Friday. By Tim Reynolds. SENT: 738 words, photos.

OLY--HKO-AMERICANS IN TUNE — The United States men’s hockey team is in tune on and off the ice at the Olympics. The Americans are undefeated and the top seed going into the knockout round, where they face Slovakia in the quarterfinals. One way the team with players ranging from 19 to 35 has bonded is through the old-school music in the locker room. Matty Beniers, the youngest player on the team, brought his favorite playlist to Beijing, which has a nod to his mother, who spent more than a decade on Broadway. By Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno. UPCOMING: 500 words, photos by 8 a.m.

___

THE GAMES WE PLAY

OLY—SKI-WOMEN’S DOWNHILL — The only skier to beat Sofia Goggia in a downhill over the last two seasons beat Sofia Goggia again on Tuesday to win the Olympic gold medal in the event at the Beijing Games. Corinne Suter, a 27-year-old Swiss skier who injured both of her legs early in the season, edged Goggia by 0.16 seconds. SENT: 966 words, photos.

OLY--SKI-SUTER’S SUCCESS — What better way to prepare for an Olympic downhill race than by watching Lindsey Vonn. Swiss skier Corinne Suter checked out some old videos of the sport’s most successful downhiller before her run at the Beijing Games and then went out and won gold. By Andew Dampf. SENT: 683 words, photos.

OLY--SBD-MEN’S BIG AIR — Su Yiming gave host China its second gold medal at Big Air Shougang, matching Eileen Gu with a stunning show Tuesday in front of fans at the repurposed steel mill and winning the country’s first top prize in Olympic snowboarding. By Jake Seiner. SENT: 784 words, photos.

OLY-SBD-WOMEN'S BIG AIR — Anna Gasser of Austria executed a massive cab 1260 on her final jump to overtake Zoi Sadowski Synnott of New Zealand and win her second straight Olympic gold medal in women’s snowboarding big air Tuesday. By Jake Seiner. SENT: 609 words, photos.

OLY--SPD-SPEEDSKATING — Norway won its second straight Olympic gold medal in men’s team pursuit speedskating, and the Japanese women were headed for another gold as well Tuesday — until one of their skaters crashed on the final turn. The stunning fall by Nana Takagi, who was at the back of a three-skater train and appeared to simply lose her balance, handed the women’s team pursuit gold to Canada. By Paul Newberry. SENT: 350 words, photos. UPCOMING: 650 words by 7 a.m., photos.

OLY--HKO-QUALIFICATION PLAYOFFS — The top-seeded United States will face Slovakia in the quarterfinals of the men’s hockey tournament at the Olympics. It will be a special game for U.S. forward Matt Knies, whose parents are Slovak and who played a youth tournament for Slovakia and spent time there as a kid. Slovakia beat Germany 4-0 in the qualification round to knock out the defending silver medalists. By Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos by 5 a.m. EST. (U.S.-Slovakia game is 11:10 p.m. EST)

OLY--HKW-US-CANADA-GOLD MEDAL — American Hilary Knight calls it “a beautiful rivalry.” Canadian Marie-Philip Poulin sums it up as being “very fun.” Don’t be fooled by the pleasantries. One of international sports’ fiercest grudge matches will play out at the Beijing Winter Games on Thursday, when the U.S. and Canadian women’s hockey teams face off for gold. By Hockey Writer John Wawrow. SENT: 750 words, photos.

OLY--NOR-NORDIC COMBINED-LARGE HILL — Johannes Rydzek and Eric Frenzel are hoping to help Germany sweep the podium in Nordic combined on the large hill as they did at the 2018 Olympics. By Larry Lage. UPCOMING: 650 words, photos. Competition starts 6 a.m.

OLY—BOB-TWO MAN — Francesco Friedrich is the leader entering Tuesday’s final two runs of the two-man competition. Germany enters the second day of the event holding three of the top four positions. By Tim Reynolds. UPCOMING: 600 words by 10 a.m., photos.

OLY—BIA-MEN’S RELAY —Clean shooting cleared the way for the Boe brothers to win another Olympic gold medal for Norway in biathlon. Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen skied the final leg of the four-man relay and hit all five targets at the last range before crossing first. SENT: 260 words, photos. UPCOMING: 500 words by 6 a.m., photos.

____

UP TO THE MINUTE

— OLYMPICS ROUNDUP — Highlights of the day from the 2022 Winter Games.

— BEIJING OLYMPICS-THE LATEST — Real-time updates and photos from every venue around the Winter Games.

— BEIJING OLYMPICS-WHAT TO WATCH — A guide to key storylines each day. Moves after 1 a.m.

— MEDAL BRIEFS — A roundup of the day’s gold medals.

____

FEATURED IMAGES

OLYAG309 — Niek van der Velden of the Netherlands crashes as he lads during his run during the men’s snowboard big air finals.

OLYYA142 — Denmark goalkeeper Sebastian Dahm (32) celebrates winning their men’s qualification round hockey game.

OLYKS256 — Austria’s Daniel Bacher competes during the men’s slopestyle qualification.

OLYKS262 — Switzerland’s Andri Ragettli is silhouetted in front of the sun as he competes during the men’s slopestyle qualification.

OLYRM307 — Sofia Goggia, of Italy, celebrates after finishing the women’s downhill.

OLYKS129 — China’s Eileen Gu reacts as she competes during the women’s slopestyle finals.

OLYMB102 — Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, falls during a warm-up ahead.

____

GRAPHICS

Beijing Winter Olympics Medal Tracker

AP will be offering a daily medal roundup for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, showcasing the top 10 medal winners by country.

Beijing Winter Games Top 10 Medal Tracker 1C — A 1-column wide list of the most medals won, sorted by country, at the Beijing Olympic Games; ETA updated 10:30 a.m. Eastern time daily throughout the Olympics

Beijing Winter Games Top 10 Medal Tracker 2C — A 2-column wide list of the most medals won, sorted by country, at the Beijing Olympic Games; ETA updated 10:30 a.m. Eastern time daily throughout the Olympics

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in