Winter Olympics 2022 day four: Sweden beat GB to curling bronze, snowboard slalom – live!

Anton Smolski of Belarus goes second in the 20km biathlon! He comes in 14.8sec down on Fillon Maillet, having recorded 20/20 at the range. Sharp shooting.

In the women’s ice hockey, Japan lead Czech Republic 1-0 in their Group B top-of-the-table encounter, in the second period. Haruka Toko got the goal in the first period.

Before this match, Japan topped the group with seven points from two matches, Czech Republic sit second with six points.

Sean Ingle and Vincent Ni with a fashion update from China:

The wait for Britain’s first gold medal at these Winter Olympics goes on, but Team GB has become a surprise success off the snow and ice after its opening ceremony kit became a sensation on Weibo, the most widely used social media platform in China.

Reaction to the British team, who wore a Ben Sherman duffle coat and Chelsea boots during the ceremony, reached No 8 on the Weibo Hot Topic section, with the Olympics and the start of the Chinese lunar new year the most popular.

Fillon Maillet, of France, roars home 31.1sec ahead of the defending Olympic champion, Boe! Surely no one is going to catch him, and he will take gold in the 20km men’s biathlon? He slides to the ground, not having the energy to take his skis off, and gasps for air. What an effort. He started the final lap 30 or so seconds behind, so that was some phenomenally fast skiing.

Johannes Thingnes Boe finishes in 49’18”. He’s the first across the line … and Tsevetkov comes home second overall! Can Fillon Maillet overhaul them both?

Tsevetkov takes off his skis, and crashes to the snow in exhaustion. Boe is right there, too, but the two athletes don’t acknowledge each other.

In the biathlon, Johannes Thingnes Boe misses a shot on his fourth visit to the range! That’s his second miss … and then Tsvetkov misses with his 20th and final shot! He was one away from ‘shooting clean’. Tarjei Boe is third, Fillon Maillet of France in fourth as it stands.

Marie-Philip Poulin capped a three-goal run by scoring on a penalty shot with 2‘35“ left in the second period, and Canada upended the defending Olympic champion United States 4-2 on Tuesday to claim the women’s hockey tournament’s top seed entering the playoff round.

Maxim Tsvetkov (ROC) now tops the live standings in the 20km biathlon. Boe (JT) and Boe (T), both of Norway, are second and third respectively.

“For me it is a puppet theatre ... I am unbelievably angry and I don’t understand it.”

A story from last night, on the chaos that unfolded at the ski jumping yesterday:

Christian Gow of Canada nails five out of five on his first visit to the range, and moves second in the live standings … but is then knocked down to third by Quentin Fillon Maillet of France, who goes top.

Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway, the defending champion in the 20km biathlon, shoots four out of five first up. So he can ill afford another miss in his next 15 shots if he is going to have any chance of defending his title.

Defending champion Matthias Mayer of Austria won the men’s super-G at the Beijing Games, capturing a third Olympic gold medal on Tuesday.

Ryan Cochran-Siegle of the United States won a shock silver medal, finishing 0.04 seconds behind in second. World Cup super-G leader Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway was 0.42 behind in third.

After sealing her gold medal in the women’s freeski big air, Reuters reports that Eileen Gu was asked by journalists whether she holds dual nationality:

San Francisco-born Eileen Gu, who lifted the host country to the top of the medals table at the Beijing Olympics with a freeski Big Air gold on Tuesday, remained evasive on whether she was still holding an American passport. China does not allow dual nationality, and state media have previously reported that the 18-year-old renounced her US citizenship after she became a Chinese national at the age of 15. Gu would not confirm that on Tuesday.

“So I grew up spending 25-30% (of my time) in China. I’m fluent in Mandarin and English and fluent culturally in both,” she answered, when asked if she was still an American citizen. “So coming here, I really feel there was a sense of coming home. I feel just as American as Chinese. I don’t feel I’m taking advantage of one or another. They understand that my mission is to foster a connection between countries and not a divisive force.” When the reporter asked again, the news conference moderator interjected: “Next question, please.” (Reuters)

Great Britain missed out on their first medal of Beijing 2022 after Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat suffered a crushing defeat to the Swedish team in their mixed curling bronze medal match.

Less than 24 hours after their gold medal dreams were snatched away in a final stone loss to Norway, Dodds and Mouat were unable to recover after going 4-1 down in the second end and lost 9-3.

The men’s 20km biathlon is coming up very shortly, which should be fun to watch, and suitably hellish for the competitors.

In the women’s sprint freestyle cross-country skiing qualifier, Jonna Sundling of Sweden leads the current heat, with a time of 3min 09secs.

Thank you Jonathan and hello everyone. Eileen Gu delivered in some style earlier today in the women’s freeski big air, pulling off an incredible final jump, scoring 94.50 with the judges, to beat Tess Ledeux (France) and Mathilde Gremaud (Switzerland) into silver and bronze respectively. Kirsty Muir of Great Britain finished fifth.

On the Menu

Before I pass the baton to Luke McLaughlin in sunny England, we’re about to go cross country skiing, before we don our rifles and head over to the men’s 20km Biathlon. Just wrapping up, Canada prevailed 4-2 over the United States in the Women’s Hockey in what will surely be the gold medal game, while Great Britain’s mixed doubles curlers met their match in the clinical, ruthless Swedes. Over to you Luke!

Slovenia’s Tim Mastnak seemingly had it in the bag but got the wobbles when it mattered. Snowboarding is often thought of as a young person’s caper, but it was a battle of the veterans in the final. The 36-year-old in his Fourth Olympics has come up trumps and can scarcely believe his good fortune.

It the end, it was a walk in the park for the Czech superstar in her pet event. Three of her opponents failed to finish in the lead up, and the 26-year-old made mincemeat of Austria’s Daniela Ubling in the final. Now she switches the snowboard for the skis as she chases her fourth Olympic Gold.

Snowboard Giant Slalom Finals Minutes Away

They move quickly in the snowboarding competition! Ester Ledecka takes on Daniela Ubling in the women’s comp, while Austria’s Benjamin Karl tackles Slovenia’s Tim Mastak in the men’s.

Sweden 9 – Great Britain 3

It’s all over in the mixed doubles, with the respective pairs shaking hands and the Swedes taking Bronze. Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds had a great few days but the Swedes got the jump on them early and never looked back.

Women’s Snowboarding – Parallel Giant Slalom

Ledecka Into Final Four

The Czech star has had two runs today, and both her opponents have come a cropper, with Poland’s Aleksandra Krol falling in the quarter finals. We’re now onto the men’s quarters.

Curling – Mixed Doubles

Great Britain 1 – Sweden 9

We’re on the 6^th End, and the Swedes are having a complete lend. Oscar Eriksson, in particular, is in fine fettle. They’ve all but sown up the Bronze.

Curling – Mixed Doubles

Great Britain 1 – Sweden 8

The Swedish pair are pitiless. The Power Play will kick off the second half.

Men’s Snowboarding – Parallel Giant Slalom

To the uninitiated, this is such a great sport to watch. It’s one-on-one, with plenty of mind games and technical brilliance. Ester Ledecka was safely through in the women’s quarters and now we’re on to the fellas. Russia’s Dmiitri Loginov has just been rolled and is Loginout of these Olympics.

The Guardian’s take on the extraordinary Eileen Gu, one of the genuine superstars of these Games.

Curling – Mixed Doubles

Great Britain 1 – Sweden 7

A steal of three to the pesky Swedes. ‘Shop Early’ as they say in Curling circles.

Women’s and Men’s Snowboarding – Parallel Giant Slalom

The second snowboarding medal event is now underway, with the men’s and women’s events running simultaneously, and the final being decided just two hours after qualifying.

Ester Ledecka is the reigning champ and the hottest of favourites in the women’s event. She was the first athlete to compete in alpine skiing and snowboarding at an Olympics. She was also the first woman to win gold in two different disciplines at a Winter Olympics. This is her pet event. She was two seconds clear of anyone else in qualifying and appears to have a mortgage on the gold. Her stiffest competition is expected to come from Ramona Therasia Hosmeister (Germany), Daniela Ubling (Austria) and Ladina Jenny (Switzerland).

In the men’s competition, South Korea’s Lee Sangho was the fastest qualifier, while 22-year-old Russian Dmitri Loginov is looking to become the youngest man to win a medal in alpine snowboarding. I’ll be Loginov myself in about two hours. Sorry. To snare gold, he’ll have to top Benkamin Karl (Austria), Nevin Galmarini (Switzerland) and Zan Kosit (Slovenia).

Curling – Mixed Doubles

Great Britain 1 – Sweden 4

I have cursed the Brits. Half a second after pressing ‘go’ on that last update, the Swedes say ‘stuff you’ and unleash a 4 pointer!

Curling – Mixed Doubles

Bronze Medal Game

Great Britain 1 – Sweden 0

Thanks Beau, let’s kick off with some Curling, traditionally not my strong suit, but a crucial match nonetheless. At one point, the Brits were 4-2 the better of the husband and wife Norwegian pair. But Norway’s Kristin Skaslien had ice in her veins, and secured a berth in the big one. They’ll take on Italy, who gave Sweden a hiding, winning 8-1.

Early in proceedings, the Brits are up 1-0 but the Swedes have conditions to suit (so I’m assured).

Worth repeating: This game won’t decide the gold medal. Both teams should still easily advance to face each other again.

But you have to wonder if Ann Marie Desbiens and the shot-blocking Canadian defense are in the USA’s heads now. Desbiens made 51 saves. Someone surely counted the number of blocks, and it’ll be equally staggering.

And on that note — all yours, Jonathan. Good night from the USA.

Quick look at the mailbag:

Sandra Weingart: “Cranky person is wrong. Quip away, especially if it’s snarky. Yes, I was watching Nathan Chen and the wonderful Jason Brown, who is extremely unlikely to medal but skates so beautifully, but its only 11 pm in the Mountain Time Zone and 10 out on the left coast, so the western half of America is still awake.”

Jason Brown’s program was beautiful. Without quads, he won’t medal, but he’s fun to watch.

Barbara Roden: “Cute quips’? Love them; keep them coming! We Canucks take our hockey a bit too seriously sometimes, and it’s fun to read something that doesn’t treat every international game involving a Canadian hockey team as if we’re at mission control trying to get Apollo 13 back to Earth safely.”

You should see what happens on US soccer Twitter when the men lose. (When the women lose, it’s always someone else’s fault or bad luck.)

US power play, 1:50 left.

At the end of this game, I’ll be handing off to Jonathan Horn, checking in from Australia.

2:40 left. Time to pull the goalie?

And a rugby game has broken out along the boards. American commentators often call such action a “scrum,” but it’s more accurately a “ruck.”

Still the same story — plenty of US possession, no goal. 4:00 left.

This game is playing out a bit like the USA-Canada men’s soccer World Cup qualifier. The USA has the lion’s share of possession. But Canada’s defense is stout (six blocked shots on the last power play, by NBC’s count), their goalie makes the big save when necessary, and their counterattack is deadly.

The USA has outshot Canada 50-25. They’ve taken only two penalty minutes to Canada’s 10. And it’s still 4-2 Canada with 6:02 left.