Olympics Live: Kamila Valieva ends short program on top | Health & Fitness

Kamila Valieva has topped the leaderboard at the end of the short program in women’s individual single skating. The 15-year-old Russian at the center of the latest Olympic doping controversy is primed to succeed in her pursuit of another gold medal.

Her score of 82.16 points put her in first place in the field of 30. Twenty-five skaters are moving on to Thursday’s free skate round. Valieva’s fellow Russian Anna Shcherbakova was in second, and Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto edged out another Russian for third.

It would have been 24, but the qualification rule was changed to advance one more person if Valieva made it to the next round.

Valieva tested positive in December for a banned heart medication, though the result only emerged last week, after her two brilliant performances in the team competition helped win gold for the Russian team.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled early Monday that Valieva should be allowed to compete in part because she is a minor, known as a “protected person,” and is subject to different rules from an adult athlete. But the decision from a three-person panel has been roundly criticized, including by others that performed before her Tuesday night.

Germany just made a whole lot of bobsled history at the Beijing Games.

Francesco Friedrich drove to a gold medal in the two-man event that ended Tuesday night. Germany also got second and third, with Johannes Lochner driving to silver and Christoph Hafer piloting his sled to the bronze.

That’s the first gold-silver-bronze sweep by any nation in any Olympic bobsled race.

It also gave Germany seven sliding gold medals so far in Beijing, more than any nation has ever won in bobsled, skeleton and luge at a single games. The Germans also have 12 sliding medals at these Olympics, matching the total that East Germany and West Germany combined for in 1976.

Frank DelDuca was the driver of the top U.S. sled, finishing 13th.

Kamila Valieva barely held onto her opening triple axel, then survived the rest of her short program as the Russian figure skater at the center of the latest Olympic doping controversy begins her pursuit of another gold medal.

Valieva’s score of 82.16 points put her in first place with four skaters left to perform Tuesday night.

The 15-year-old Valieva tested positive in December for a banned heart medication, though the result only emerged last week, after her two brilliant performances in the team competition helped win gold for the Russian team.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled early Monday that Valieva should be allowed to compete in part because she is a minor, known as a “protected person,” and is subject to different rules from an adult athlete. But the decision from a three-person panel has been roundly criticized, including by others that performed before her Tuesday night.

The US Olympic body’s athlete representative group has urged the IOC to reverse its decision to withhold presenting medals for team figure skating in Beijing.

The American team took silver behind the Russians whose winning team last week included Kamila Valieva, who is under investigation for doping. Japan took bronze.

The scheduled medal ceremony was pulled last week after a laboratory in Sweden flagged 15-year-old Valieva’s positive test for a heart medication banned in sports.

The USOPC Athletes’ Advisory Council says Olympic medalists deserve to be feted at a medal ceremony.

The athlete group says it is “devastated that that the United States figure skating team and others could potentially be leaving without such a celebration.”

The investigation of Valieva’s doping case will be prosecuted later in Russia. That verdict can be appealed against and take at least several months to resolve.

Norwegian favorite Jarl Magnus Riiber took the wrong turn early in the 10K cross-country race at the Olympics, a little more than 24 hours after coming out of isolation, and two teammates took advantage.

Joergen Graabak of Norway made the most of the opportunity, winning gold in Nordic combined Tuesday.

Graabak rallied from a deficit of 2 minutes, 7 seconds behind Riiber at the start of the cross-country race to finish first after placing 12th in ski jumping.

Graabak became the first two-time Nordic combined Olympic champion on the large hill after winning the event in 2014.

Norwegian teammate Jens Luraas Oftebro won silver, finishing four-tenths of a second behind. Akito Watabe of Japan earned bronze.

The athlete who jumps the farthest and impresses judges the most starts the cross-country portion of the Nordic combined event with a lead. The rest of the field follows, in order of the finish in ski jumping. The first to cross the finish line wins gold.

Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber jumped 142 meters (466 feet) and had 139.8 points in the first phase of Nordic combined, giving him a 44-second lead in the 10-kilometer cross-country race later Tuesday.

It was an impressive performance from the three-time world champion, who returned to the competition after being in isolation for more than 10 days because he tested positive for COVID-19.

Estonia’s Kristjan Ilves, who also had tested positive for COVID, will start the cross-country race second alongside Japan’s Ryota Yamaoto.

The athlete who jumps the farthest and impresses judges the most starts the cross-country portion of Nordic combined with a lead. The rest of the field follows, in order of the finish in ski jumping. The first to cross the finish line wins gold.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Eric Frenzel of Germany is out of isolation and the team is hopeful he will be fit to compete Thursday in the Nordic combined team event.

Star figure skater Kamila Valieva joined Russian teammates Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova at Capital Indoor Stadium for a final run-through hours before the start of the women’s individual competition at the Beijing Games.

Valieva was cleared to compete Monday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport following a hearing into a positive drug test that surfaced the previous week. One of her lawyers has since said the heart medication that triggered the positive test came from a contaminated cup that the 15-year-old Valieva used after her grandfather.

Valieva looked calm and confident in the glittering purple dress of her short program, set to “In Memorian” by the composer Kirill Richter, though she did fall hard on a triple axel during the session. She was watched closely by her embattled coach, Eteri Tutberidze, who also coaches the other two Russian women.

For the second straight Olympics, Norway is the gold medalist in men’s team pursuit speedskating.

Norway won the gold-medal final with a time of 3 minutes, 38.08 seconds — nearly 2 1/2 seconds ahead of the Russian Olympic Committee.

The Norwegian trio of Hallgeir Engebraaten, Peder Kongshaug and Sverre Lunde Pedersen defeated the Netherlands in the semifinals, then led all the way in the final against the Russian Olympic Committee.

The Russian team settled for the silver, while the United States claimed the bronze by beating the Dutch in the B final.

The United States has won its second speedskating medal of the Beijing Olympics, taking the bronze in men’s team pursuit.

With 36-year-old Joey Mantia leading three American skaters through all eight laps, the U.S. denied Sven Kramer of the Netherlands his 10th career medal.

The U.S. finished in 3 minutes, 38.80 seconds, nearly 3 seconds ahead of the Dutch.

Also winning bronze with Mantia are Ethan Cepuran, Casey Dawson and Emery Lehman. Cepuran skated in the semifinals, then was replaced by Mantia for the bronze-medal race.

Canada has won speedskating gold in women’s team pursuit after a skater for defending Olympic champion Japan fell on the final turn.

Japan appeared to be heading for a second straight gold medal in the event, holding a lead of about 0.3 seconds with a half lap to go. But the final athlete in the three-skater train, Nana Takagi, lost her balance and skidded into the padding coming through the final turn.

That allowed the Canadian trio of Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann to pull out the victory in dramatic fashion.

Takagi got up and crossed the line far behind her two teammates, finally registering a time for Japan. She was in tears as she was consoled by her sister, Miho Takagi, and the other member of the Japanese team, Ayana Sato.

Canada won with an Olympic-record time of 2 minute, 53.44 seconds. The Japanese settled for silver, more than 11 seconds behind.

The Netherlands beat the Russian Olympic Committee in the bronze-medal final.

A Dutch team that included individual gold medalists Irene Schouten and Ireen Wust, joined by Marijke Groenewoud, led all the way to finish in 2:56.86. They were more than 2 seconds ahead of the Russians.

Norway has won biathlon gold in the men’s four-man relay.

Clean shooting by Norway’s Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen and an uncharacteristic miss by France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet allowed Norway to leave the range first and win with a time of 1 hour, 19 minutes, 50.2 seconds.

France held on for the silver, 27.4 seconds back and Russia stayed in front of Germany for the bronze, 45.3 seconds behind. The Russian athletes had led from the start of the race, but a series of missed shots on the very last shooting stage cost them the gold medal.

Strula Holm Laegreid led for Norway, followed by Tarjei Boe, Johannes Thingnes Boe and finally Christiansen. It was Johannes Boe and Tarjei Boe have both won four medals at the Beijing Olympics and Fillon Maillet’s has won five.

The relay race had been scheduled for 5 p.m., but was moved to 2:30 p.m. due to exceptionally cold temperatures at the stadium, which were expected to drop to minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 Celsius) by 6 p.m., meaning the racers would face dangerous conditions.

Nordic combined star Jarl Magnus Riiber of Norway is back.

The three-time world champion jumped 136 meters (446 feet) on the large hill in the trial round, sending a clear message that he’s fit to compete after being in isolation for more than 10 days after testing positive for COVID.

Only Austria’s Johannes Lamparter jumped farther, by half a meter, before the competition round Tuesday afternoon.

Riiber and the rest of the 48-man field will jump and take part in a 10K cross-country race later in the day at the Beijing Games.

Estonia’s Kristjan Ilves, who also had tested positive for COVID-19, is competing after missing last week’s medal event.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Eric Frenzel of Germany has not been cleared for competition, but the team is holding out hope he can make a comeback for the team event. Germany’s Terence Weber was ruled out after testing positive for COVID-19 and replaced by Manuel Faisst, who traveled to China and may compete.

The Russians have set an Olympic record in men’s speedskating team pursuit to advance to the gold medal final against defending champion Norway.

The ROC squad of Daniil Aldoshkin, Sergei Trofimov and Ruslan Zakharov won a thrilling semifinal race against the world record holders from the United States. They crossed the line in 3 minutes, 36.62 seconds, beating the Olympic record of 3:37.08 set four years ago by the Norwegians.

The U.S. trio of Ethan Cepuran, Casey Dawson and Emery Lehman briefly grabbed the lead in the middle of the eight-lap race, but the Russians held a slight advantage almost the entire way. The Americans finished in 3:37.05, also bettering the previous Olympic record but only good enough to earn a spot against the Netherlands in a race later Tuesday for the bronze medal.

On the women’s side, defending Olympic champion Japan will meet Canada for the gold medal. The Netherlands will face ROC for the bronze.

Defending Olympic champion Japan has advanced to the final of women’s speedskating team pursuit.

The trio of Ayana Sato and sisters Miho and Nana Takagi easily won their semifinal race against the Russian team. They advance to the gold medal race later Tuesday against Canada.

The Canadians knocked off a team from the Netherlands that included gold medalists Irene Schouten and Ireen Wust. The Dutch will face the Russian team for the bronze medal.

Su Yiming gave host China its second gold medal at Big Air Shougang, matching Eileen Gu with a stunning show in front of fans at the repurposed steel mill and winning the country’s first top prize in Olympic snowboarding.

The 17-year-old child actor-turned-rider followed up his unexpected silver in slopestyle — he would’ve taken gold if not for a judging blunder — by joining Gu in cementing his celebrity status with a big air gold.

Gu won the freestyle skiing best-trick contest last week on her final jump, and the celebration briefly broke Chinese social media website Weibo.

Kamila Valieva’s lawyers say the Russian skater failed a doping test before the Olympics because of contamination from medication her grandfather was taking.

IOC member Denis Oswald says part of the 15-year-old’s defense is “contamination which happened with a product her grandfather was taking.”

The argument was made at a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing late Sunday night. The CAS judges ruled Monday that Valieva can compete in the women’s individual event despite testing positive for a banned heart medication.

Although she can skate, the investigation will continue for months, and she may be stripped of medals later. She helped the Russian team win gold last week and is the favorite in the women’s event starting Tuesday.

Valieva and her entourage will be investigated by the Russian anti-doping agency after the Olympics. Even if the Russian investigation clears her, the ruling will likely be appealed.

Oswald, a veteran sports lawyer who investigated Sochi Olympics doping scandal cases for the IOC, says lawyers for Valieva “presented elements that brought some doubts about her guilt.”

The CAS panel cited several reasons for allowing her to skate, including her status as a minor, the potential harm to her career and the delay in informing Russia about the positive test, from a sample taken on Dec. 25.

Even if she wins another medal, the International Olympic Committee announced no medals will be handed out in events that Valieva places in until after the full investigation.

The only skier to beat Sofia Goggia in a downhill over the last two seasons beat Sofia Goggia again 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.

Goggia hurt her left knee about a month ago but still managed to take the lead by nearly half a second. She let out a lengthy roar after crossing the line and then kissed a television camera.

Goggia has dominated the downhill in recent seasons and would have been the favorite if not for getting injured during a super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo less than a month ago. The 29-year-old Italian partially tore a ligament in her left knee and sustained a minor fracture in that leg, along with tendon damage.

Goggia had won the last eight World Cup downhills she finished, a streak that began in December 2020. But Suter won the last downhill race before the Olympics.

Mikaela Shiffrin, who did not finish her opening runs in either of her initial two events, finished in 18th place, 2.49 behind Suter.

The defending Olympic champion U.S. men’s curling team beat Switzerland 7-4 and moved within reach of a playoff berth.

John Shuster’s team is in fourth place after its fourth win, with matches against the two bottom teams in the standings — Italy and Denmark — remaining. Six wins would definitely earn the 2018 gold medalists a spot in the semifinals, and five might even be good enough.

The Swiss led 4-2 after six ends before the Americans (4-3) rolled off three scoring ends in a row. They picked up two points in the seventh with the last-rock advantage known as the hammer, then stole a point in the eighth and ninth when Switzerland held the edge.

Defending silver medalist Sweden (7-0) remained unbeaten with an 8-3 win over Denmark in the morning session. Britain (5-1) is in second, and Canada (5-2) beat China 10-8 to hold onto third place.

The Americans entered the day tied for fourth with Switzerland and Russia, which lost to Norway 12-5.

Defending champion Sofia Goggia won’t win a second straight Olympic gold medal in the women’s downhill.

The Italian took the lead in the race shortly after Mikaela Shiffrin completed her run but Corinne Suter then finished ahead of Goggia. Shiffrin was in 17th place with about half the racers still to come.

Nadia Delago of Italy was in third.

The 29-year-old Goggia was injured during a super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo last month. She partially tore a ligament in her left knee and sustained a minor fracture in that leg.

Suter would become the first woman since Lindsey Vonn to hold the Olympic and world championship titles in downhill at the same time.

The four-man biathlon relay race scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday has been moved to 2:30 p.m. due to exceptionally cold temperatures at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Stadium.

During the relay biathletes ski three laps and shoot twice, meaning they will spend about 20 to 30 minutes out in the cold on the track — in addition to the time they spend waiting for their turn. They also risk frostbite on their hands, since their trigger fingers are exposed while shooting.

At 11 a.m., the temperature at the stadium was 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 17 degrees Celsius) and was expected to drop to minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 degrees Celsius) by 6 p.m. That means the racers would face dangerous conditions.

Those were air temperatures and did not take into consideration the wind, which was blowing at almost 5 mph (8 kph.) The wind chill makes the actual temperature feel closer to minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 30 degrees Celsius.)

Eileen Gu took home another medal from the Beijing Games with a second-place finish in the women’s ski slopestyle competition. That means she could still 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. The freestyle skier from Switzerland won the event on a bitterly cold and hazy day when temperatures hovered around minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 Celsius). Kelly Sildaru of Estonia took home bronze.

Gu, the 18-year-old American-born freestyler who is competing for her mother’s home country of China, won the big air contest last week. She’s also competing in the halfpipe competition.

Sitting in eighth place after two runs, Gu used a strong final run to work her way onto the podium. She couldn’t catch Gremaud, who scored an 86.56 on her second run.

Anna Gasser of Austria has won her second straight Olympic gold medal in women’s snowboarding big air.

The 30-year-old Gasser held off a field with an average age of 21, including 20-year-old Zoi Sadowski Synnott of New Zealand, who last week won her country’s first ever Winter Olympics gold medal in slopestyle. Sadowski Synnott took silver Tuesday.

Kokomo Murase of Japan earned bronze with a pair of 1080s at Big Air Shougang. It was the first Olympic medal for the 17-year-old.

The start of the women’s downhill ski race at the Beijing Games has been delayed for at least 30 minutes because of wind.

An hour before the scheduled start of the race, the wind was whipping at about 15 mph (about 25 kph), with gusts topping 25 mph (40 kph) at the top of the hill.

The temperature was minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 Celsius).

Defending champion Sofia Goggia starts 13th, immediately after Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States.

The men’s downhill, which was supposed to open the Alpine competition on Feb 6., had to be postponed until the following day because of wind.

Eileen Gu fell on her second run and dropped into eighth place in the final of the women’s ski slopestyle competition at the Beijing Games.

Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland jumped into the lead after two of three runs. Kelly Sildaru of Estonia sits in second place and American Maggie Voisin in third.

Gu over-rotated on the third rail and tumbled to the snow. She fixed her helmet before skiing down.

Gu, the 18-year-old American-born freestyler who is competing for her mother’s home country of China, is trying to win her second gold of these Winter Olympics. She won the gold medal in big air last week. She’s also competing in the halfpipe contest later this week.

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva says she’s happy but worn out after a grueling doping hearing ended with her being allowed to skate at the Beijing Games.

The 15-year-old tells Russian state broadcaster Channel One that the past few days have been very difficult for her.

“I’m happy but I’m tired emotionally,” she said in comments broadcast Monday night.

Valieva is the favorite for the gold medal in the women’s competition alongside her Russian teammates Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova. The competition starts with the short program Tuesday night Beijing time and continues with the free skate Thursday.

There won’t be a medal ceremony if Valieva finishes in the top three because the International Olympic Committee is concerned she could still be banned over a failed drug test from Dec. 25. That test was not revealed until after she won team gold with the Russian Olympic Committee last week.

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