New Zealand's Nico Porteous celebrates after winning gold in the Men's Freeski Halfpipe. (Image: @TheNZTeam Twitter)
With the final day of the Winter Olympics nearing, Beijing continues to ramp up the excitement as seven gold medals were up for grabs today including in the cross-country skiing for the men and speed skating for the women.
Bobsleigh
It was Germany’s Laura Nolte that slid through to the top of ladderboard to win the gold medal.
The German Olympian kept up motivation as she took out first place with a time of 4:03.96.
For silver, Germany picked up yet another medal this time through superstar Jamanka Mariama who accomplished this with a time of 4:04.73.
American Elana Taylor Meyers finished off the top three with a respectable performance of 4:05.48.
Gold: Laura Nolte [GER]
Silver: Jamanka Mariama [GER]
Bronze: Elana Taylor Meyers [USA]
Cross-Country Skiing
Men’s 50km Mass Start Free
Drama had ensued moments before the event even began with Olympic officials choosing to shorten the course from 50km to 30km due to treacherous weather conditions, which was a first in the games history.
Russia dominated the cross-country skiing, taking out the top spots in first and second consecutively.
25-year-old Alexander Bolshunov won gold with his time of 1:11:32.7. Aside from his gold medal win in the event, he has also bagged a silver in the men’s 15km classic and a gold in the men’s 15km + 15km Skiathlon at Beijing.
Bolshunov’s Russian counterpart Ivan Yakimushkin secured the silver with his time of 1:11:38.2.
Current medal leader Norway saw another medal added to its collection, this time through skier Simen Hegstad Krueger. Krueger won bronze with the time of 1:11:39.7.
Gold: Alexander Bolshunov [ROC]
Silver: Ivan Yakimushkin [USA]
Bronze: Simen Hegstad Krueger [USA]
Curling
Men’s Gold Medal
Sweden took advantage of a miscalculation from team Great Britain as it was crowned victors in the gruelling battle with 5 – 4.
The dramatic final had Great Britain looking for its first men’s curling gold since 1924 as it was up against the reigning champions.
An early lead from Britain had quickly sizzled after Bruce Mouat’s attempt at a take-out missed by inches. Sweden’s Niklas Edin followed pull through with a steal and lead his team to the win.
Despite missing out on the gold, Great Britain walks away with the team’s first medal in the event since 2014.
Gold: Sweden
Silver: Great Britain
Women’s Bronze Medal
Sweden saw a back-to-back win in Women’s curling after it handed Switzerland it’s first loss of the Winter Olympics 9-7.
It was a tight match with neither team scoring more than one in any end until Switzerland’s Alina Paetz caused a tie 4-4 with a takeout for two in the eight period. Paetz played with perfection during her shot which lead to an extra end.
Paetz’s shot in the tenth period resulted in Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg to steal and hand Switzerland the loss. However her stone wasn’t able to hold its place as it left a clear shot for Hasselborg whose hit managed to take out the win.
Bronze: Sweden
Figure Skating
Pair Skating – Free Skating
Chinese duo Sui Wenjing and Han Cong dazzled the judges and took out the gold medal after their short program score of 84.41 and free skating score of 155.47 lead them to the a total score of 239.88.
Second place went to none other than Russia’s Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov whose combined score of 239.25 saw them take out the silver.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Aleksandr Galliamov and Anastasia Mishina secured a bronze medal for their country with a total score 237.71.
Gold: Sui Wenjing and Han Cong [CHN]
Silver: Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov [ROC]
Bronze: Aleksandr Galliamov and Anastasia Mishina [ROC]
Freestyle Skiing
Men’s Freeski Halfpipe
It was New Zealand’s freestyle skier Nico Porteous who took out the gold medal on day 15.
The country’s youngest medalist, who took out bronze in the 2018 games, improved on his result this time around after a best score of 93.00 saw the 20-year-old soar to the top of the leaderboard.
David Wise from the United States came in second place to win the silver with a best score of 90.75 on his first run.
Also adding to the United States’ medal collection was Alex Ferreira whose stellar performance of 86.75 on his first run saw him collect the bronze medal.
Gold: Nico Porteous [NZL]
Silver: David Wise [USA]
Bronze: Alex Ferreira [USA]
Ice Hockey
Men’s Bronze Medal
Slovakia has added yet another medal to its collection following its win against Sweden.
Taking out the bronze medal, Slovakia managed to fend off Sweden in a thrilling encounter leaving its opponents scoreless as the final score was 4-0.
Bronze: Slovakia
Speed Skating
Men’s Mass Start Final
Belguim’s Bart Swings won the gold for his performance in the Speed Skating event. The victory marks the first time the country has seen a Winter Olympic gold since 1948.
Previously winning a silver in the event back in 2018, Korean Jae Won Chung mirrored his PyeongChang performance as he came in second place in Beijing.
Another medal was claimed by his Korean counterpart as Seung Hoon Lee closed out the top three with his performance gaining the bronze.
Gold: Bart Swings [BEL]
Silver: Jae Won Chung [KOR]
Bronze: Seung Hoon Lee [KOR]
Women’s Mass Start Final
Securing her third gold of the competition was Netherland’s Irene Schouten who took first place.
Schouten had already won the Women’s 3000 and Women’s 5000 in the discipline of speed skating before she took out gold in the Women’s Mass Start final event.
Canadian superstar Ivanie Blondin walks away with the silver medal after she narrowly was beaten by Schouten.
31-year-old Francesca Lollobrigida helped Italy add to its medal count after she was awarded the bronze medal.
Gold: Irene Schouten [NED]
Silver: Ivanie Blondin [CAN]
Bronze: Francesca Lollobrigida [ITA]
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