Kirsty Muir: Team GB’s youngest athlete's first jump at Beijing Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympics is in full swing on a dramatic day four in Beijing after two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin went out of giant slalom after the 26-year-old lost an edge on the fifth gate of the first run and skied out. Still to come is a raft of action from ice hockey, luge, speed skating and ski jumping, as well as Great Britain’s mixed doubles curling semi-final against Norway. The Norwegians beat British duo Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat yesterday but both still reached the semis, where they meet again with medal hopes on the line.
Earlier on Monday, snowboarder Max Parrot soared in men’s snowboard slopestyle, as the cancer survivor won gold for Canada. An upgrade from the silver he earned at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, Parrot was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma- a type of blood cancer- in December 2018, forcing him to miss the whole of next season. But three years, he stands atop the Olympic podium, alongside his compatriot Mark McMorris who earned bronze.
Seventeen-year-old Kirsty Muir showed her mettle to soar into the final of the Olympic freestyle Big Air competition on the site of a former state-owned steel mill on the outskirts of Beijing. Muir, the youngest member of the 50-strong Team GB squad, nailed her first jump with a score of 89.25, the second biggest of the qualifying session which was only beaten by the French former World Cup winner Tess Ledeux.
Follow all the latest updates Winter Olympics news, updates and results below:
Winter Olympics 2022: Muir reacts to impressive performance
“I really enjoyed it, I skied well and I’m really happy to have landed my dub 12 in the first run. I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Kirsty Muir, Team GB’s youngest Olympian, said after reaching the Freeski Big Air Final.
“I just want to go and land my tricks [tomorrow] and ski my best. The snow this morning was really good - for the first run this morning, the speed was really good then just with the sun the snow’s just slowed down a little bit and a little bit of an uphill wind so we just had to get more speed for the second and third runs.”
Muir goes in the Big Air final from 0200 GMT tomorrow morning.
American figure skater Vincent Zhou has tested positive for Covid, it has been confirmed.
“As part of yesterday’s regular Covid-19 screening, Vincent Zhou tested positive,” it said in a statement, adding he was undergoing additional testing and will be able to compete in the men’s short programme on Tuesday should he test negative.
The 21-year-old competed in the team event on Sunday and team mate Karen Chen said she found out about his positive test result after performing her free skate on Monday. The United States won a silver medal in the team event.
“It’s definitely very unfortunate news,” Chen said. “I train with him all the time, and I know he deserves to be here, to be in this moment with all of us.
“Definitely disappointed about that, but I hope that we can invite him back here very soon.”
Peng Shuai has described reports she accused a high-ranking Chinese official of sexual assault as a “huge misunderstanding” as she repeated her denial the alleged incident ever took place.
The former doubles world number one said in a social media post in November that she was forced to have sex with former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli. Her post was swiftly deleted and her subsequent silence raised fears over her safety.
Peng attended Monday’s mixed curling match between China and Norway and, according to the IOC, stated her intention to attend more events at the Winter Olympics over the next two weeks. She also accepted an invitation to visit IOC headquarters in Lausanne.
Winter Olympics 2022: Johan Clarey oldest alpine skier to medal
France’s Johan Clarey, 41, became the oldest Alpine skier to medal at an Olympics as he secured silver on day three.
Clarey says he was aware his chances of becoming an Olympic medallist were fading.
“I knew I only had one chance left in my career to get a medal in the Olympics,” he said. “When you are a medallist, whether you are 20 or 41 it doesn’t matter.”
One of the biggest headlines of day three was ROC’s Kamila Valieva landing a quadruple jump. The figure skater became the first woman to land the move at an Olympics.
Fifteen-year-old Kamila Valieva lit up the ice on her Winter Olympics debut on Sunday, soaring through her short program in the team figure skating competition and hinting at the record-breaking feats that are to come.Valieva scored 90.18, just short of her own world record of 90.45 that she set at last month’s European Championships.Valieva and her Russian team-mates are set to become the first women to land quads in Olympic competitions.The figure skater contented herself by becoming only the fourth woman in history to land a triple axel at a Games.Sign up to our free newsletters by clicking here
Winter Olympics 2022: Kirsty Muir impresses on day three
For those in the know Kirsty Muir has been British skiing’s next big thing for a while but now the secret is truly out.
Freestyle skier Muir, 17, qualified seventh for Tuesday’s women’s Olympic Big Air final but seemed to be holding something in reserve.
Her first run – a dizzying two flips with one-and-a-half degrees rotation off a 50m ramp going 60mph – banked the second highest score of any competitor and some nods of recognition from experienced hands.
The Netherlands’ Ireen Wust became the first person to win individual gold medals at five different Winter Olympics by defending her 1500m speed skating title.
She also become the oldest Dutch athlete to win gold at the age of 35 and she has reacted to the amazing achievement.
“It’s insane,” she told reporters. “A lot of emotions, especially the good ones.”
The biggest event left of day three for British fans is the mixed doubles curling semi-final.
Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat will go up against Norway’s Kristen Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten in just over an hour’s time. They have had a mixed performance at the Games so far and so anything could happen in the semi.
“It’s going to be a battle out there tonight,” said Dodds. “If we tighten up the errors we made against them last night, it will be a close game – every time we have played them so far has always been close.”
Winter Olympics 2022: Biathlon results confirmed with Herrmann claiming gold
The results of the 15km biathlon have been confirmed and Germany’s Denise Herrmann has taken gold!
France’s Anais Chevalier-Bouchet wins silver and bronze is won by Norway’s Marte Olsbu Roeiseland.
What a turn up for events in the biathlon with favourites the Oberg sisters way off the podium. Elvira ended the competition in 13th with Hanna in 16th.
A reminder that Herrmann was a cross-country skier but wanted a new challenge and so took up the biathlon. So many fairytale stories coming out of these Games.
For a second successive Winter Olympics, Russian athletes will not compete under their nation’s banner at Beijing 2022.
In December 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) levied a four-year ban from international sport against Russia for running what it found to be a state-sponsored doping scheme.
This ban has since been reduced to two years, but qualified athletes will compete under the abbreviation ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) in China.
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