Winter Olympics closing ceremony LIVE: Team GB women win first gold medal in curling as Beijing Games end
Follow latest updates from Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 as Team GB chase their first medal of the Games
Great Britain’s women, led by Eve Muirhead, went one better than the men in their gold medal match against Japan at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The men’s team fell short yesterday when Sweden claimed gold to deny Bruce Mouat and his team. Swedish skip Niklas Edin proved too good and repeated their victory over Great Britain in a 2014 semi-final. Muirhead overcame almost impossible odds to steer her women’s curling team into the Olympic final where she completed an incredible journey to finally fulfil an ambition that appeared beyond her after a decade at the top of her sport. Team coach Murdoch put her chances of salvaging victory at “less than 10 per cent” after shipping four shots in a disastrous opening end to defending Olympic champions Sweden, but they clawed back to clinch a thrilling 12-11 victory in an extra end.
In the final, Muirhead guided Great Britain to their first and only gold of the Games, beating Japan 10-3 to claim the joint-biggest margin of victory in a final since the sport was reintroduced in ‘98. With all events now closed and the medals handed out, it only remains for the closing ceremony to take place and the baton to be passed on to Italy.
Follow live coverage from the Winter Olympics below:
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IOC criticise treatment of Kamila Valieva
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has launched a scathing attack on the team behind Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old figure skater at the centre of a drugs probe who wilted under the global glare of the Winter Olympics in Beijing on Thursday night.
Bach said he was “disturbed” by the “chilling” attitude of Valieva’s coaches as she left the ice in tears after falling twice in an error-strewn performance that resulted in her slumping from first place after Tuesday’s women’s short program to fourth and out of the medals.
Valieva appeared to be confronted by her controversial coach Eteri Tutberidze, who, according to Russian media reports, immediately questioned why the teenager “stopped fighting” after making an initial mistake on her opening triple axel, and did not offer a customary embrace.
Bach said: “I was very disturbed when I watched the competition on TV - when I afterwards saw how she was received by her closest entourage with what appeared to be tremendous coolness - it was chilling to see this.
“Rather than giving her comfort, rather than trying to help her. You could feel this chilling atmosphere, this distance. If you were interpreting the body language, it got even worse. It was even dismissive.”
Shiffrin set for last chance
American Mikaela Shiffrin gets her last chance to win a medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Saturday when the mixed team parallel event closes the Alpine skiing programme.
All eyes will once again be on Shiffrin, Alpine skiing’s biggest star, who will be competing in her sixth event of the Games but has so far ended up with ninth place in super-G, 18th in the downhill and three Did Not Finish results.
Reigning mixed team Olympic champions Switzerland will be the team to beat on Saturday. They have already won nine Alpine skiing medals at these Games, including five gold.
Austria won silver in the Pyeongchang event, where world champions Norway took bronze.
China mesmerise in figure skating
After a day filled with high drama and heartbreak for one 15-year-old Russian figure skater, China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong brought joy back to the Beijing Games rink with a mesmerising skate to shatter the world record in the short programme on Friday.
The pairs event is capping the figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics in a departure from tradition - the higher-profile women’s singles usually go last - with host nation China fielding a strong contender for the title in Sui and Han.
Silver medallists at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, the pair broke their own world record in the short programme with a score of 84.41 points, drawing cheers and applause from a sparse but ecstatic home crowd at the Capital Indoor Stadium. “We have support in the venue, in front of the TV, all the people cheering for us empower us to perform better,” Sui said.
Competing at a familiar venue at home also helped, her partner added.
Great Britain come back to book curling final place
Eve Muirhead staged a stunning fightback to steer Great Britain’s women’s curling team into the Olympic final in Beijing with a thrilling 12-11 win over defending champions Sweden.
Muirhead recovered from a nightmare start when she conceded four in the first end to move to the brink of victory with a magical final stone of the ninth that scored four of her own.
That thrust Britain into the lead for the first time in the match, turning an 8-7 deficit into an 11-8 advantage, only for Swedish skip Anna Hasselborg to reply with a three of her own to force an extra end.
Great Britain held the ‘hammer’, or final stone, but Muirhead did not need it as Hasselborg’s attempt with her final stone drifted wide and gifted the Britons the point they needed to seal a stunning win.
It means the 31-year-old Muirhead will experience her first Olympic final at the fourth time of asking, along with team-mates Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds and Hailey Duff.
Germany power ahead in opening bobsleigh runs
Germany’s Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi powered ahead in the first two rounds of the women’s bobsleigh in Yanqing on Friday, with only compatriots Mariama Jamanka and Alexandra Burghardt keeping within half a second of their scorching runs.
It’s 23-year-old Nolte’s first Olympic outing, but she showed her mettle in forging ahead of competitors with at least ten medals between them, with a time of 2:02.05 after two runs.
Her closest competition comes from Jamanka and Burghardt, the former who surprised herself to win gold in Pyeongchang four years ago, with a time 0.50 seconds slower.
The Berliner reckoned she still had some improving to do.
“I think more about the work and my runs, because they weren’t perfect and especially in the second one I had some mistakes,” Jamanka told reporters after the heats. “That’s the thing I want to work on tomorrow.”
Great Britain stripped of Olympic silver
In summer Olympics news, Great Britain have been stripped of their silver medal in the 4x100 metre relay in Tokyo after team member CJ Ujah was found to have committed a doping violation.
The British team just lost out to Italy for the gold medal in Japan, with Ujah testing positive for the prohibited substances ostarine and S-23 after the race on 6 August.
A statement issued by the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS ADD) on Friday said Ujah did not challenge the anti-doping rule violation, but argued he had “not knowingly or intentionally doped, suggesting that the source of the prohibited substances could have been the ingestion of a contaminated supplement”.
ROC into gold medal game in ice hockey
Forward Arseni Gritsyuk sent defending champions Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) into the gold medal game when he scored the winning goal in the eighth round of a tense shootout against Sweden, with Finland awaiting them in the Beijing Olympic final.
Team ROC stood at the bench with their arms wrapped around one another, their gold medal title defence on the line, as Gritsyuk sent the decider ricocheting off the pole and into the net to secure the 2-1 win.
The clincher came at the end of a long and hard-fought battle against the Sochi silver medallists, who pushed it into overtime midway through a chippy third period.
ROC now face Finland, who defeated Slovakia 2-0 for a place in Sunday’s gold medal game.
When is Team GB women’s curling gold medal final? Start time, TV channel and more
Eve Muirhead staged a stunning fightback to steer Great Britain’s women’s curling team into the Olympic final in Beijing with a thrilling 12-11 win over defending champions Sweden.
They joined Bruce Mouat and the men’s team in guaranteeing a medal after overcoming a nightmare start at the National Aquatic Centre.
It means the 31-year-old Muirhead will experience her first Olympic final at the fourth time of asking, along with team-mates Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds and Hailey Duff.
Japan await in the gold medal match after beating Switzerland 8-6.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the gold medal match.
When is Team GB women’s curling gold medal final? Start time, TV channel and more
Eve Muirhead’s side won thrilling semi-final against Sweden after an extra end to set up a final against Japan
Karlsson left out of Sweden freestyle team
Frida Karlsson has not been included in Sweden’s team for Sunday’s 30km freestyle race, the final cross-country skiing competition of the Beijing Olympics, as she needs to take time to recover, the Swedish team said on Friday.
Karlsson, who is currently sixth in the World Cup standings, has struggled to find her best form in Beijing, collapsing after finishing fifth in the opening skiathlon race and finishing 12th in the 10km classic.
The Swedish team released a statement saying that Karlsson would not compete in the 30km race and that she would instead travel home to recuperate after her Olympic exertions.
“The medical assessment is that she would benefit from a little more recovery. She can stand at the starting line for the 30km, but the assessment is that in the long run it is best to skip Sunday,” team doctor Jan Wall said.
“I did not reach my goals. It feels heavy, and crappy, and empty now, but wow!! There are much worse things in life. Thank you for the experience, for the challenges and for the support. That’s what’s going to get me there next time,” Karlsson wrote on Instagram.
The Swedes will be represented by Ebba Andersson, Charlotte Kalla, Emma Ribom and Jonna Sundling.
Karlsson left out of Sweden freestyle team
Frida Karlsson has not been included in Sweden’s team for Sunday’s 30km freestyle race, the final cross-country skiing competition of the Beijing Olympics, as she needs to take time to recover, the Swedish team said on Friday.
Karlsson, who is currently sixth in the World Cup standings, has struggled to find her best form in Beijing, collapsing after finishing fifth in the opening skiathlon race and finishing 12th in the 10km classic.
The Swedish team released a statement saying that Karlsson would not compete in the 30km race and that she would instead travel home to recuperate after her Olympic exertions.
“The medical assessment is that she would benefit from a little more recovery. She can stand at the starting line for the 30km, but the assessment is that in the long run it is best to skip Sunday,” team doctor Jan Wall said.
“I did not reach my goals. It feels heavy, and crappy, and empty now, but wow!! There are much worse things in life. Thank you for the experience, for the challenges and for the support. That’s what’s going to get me there next time,” Karlsson wrote on Instagram.
The Swedes will be represented by Ebba Andersson, Charlotte Kalla, Emma Ribom and Jonna Sundling.
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