Winter Olympics day 14: pairs figure skating and latest news – live!

I’m off for a cup of tea. I’ll be back in time for the curling and the bobsleigh in an hour. My esteemed colleagues will guide you through the next little bit.

Quotes from the Finland men’s ice hocky captain, Valtteri Filppula, via the Olympics website, following his team’s 2-0 semi-final win against Slovakia earlier today:

“Close game for sure. There wasn’t a lot of room out there. I think both teams played well defensively, and we spent more time defending our net, which we did a good job of today and our goalie played well. It was a hard game and it was a good thing we were able to get the lead, because they came [at us] really hard and there wasn’t a lot of room. … It [winning gold] would be huge. Obviously, that’s been the goal and I think, coming into the tournament, we knew we had a good chance if everything goes well and now we have just one game left. It’s going to be, at least for me, the last time I play in the Olympics and the last game, so I’m going to have to try and enjoy it as much as I can.”

Great Britain’s women are in curling action in a little over an hour: they face Sweden in the semi-final, with Japan v Switzerland the other last-four encounter.

Eve Muirhead and co. achieved a convincing win against Sweden in the round robin – it was 8-2 then – so more of the same would do nicely from a British point of view.

Presuming Storm Eunice doesn’t knock out my internet and telly beforehand, I’ll be bringing you updates from that, and all the action later today.

The last Alpine skiing race of the Beijing Olympics has been rescheduled to an hour earlier than planned because of forecast strong wind. The mixed team parallel event is now set to start at 10am on Saturday Beijing time, instead of 11am. The wind is supposed to top 20mph.

The team event involves men and women from each participating country and is the last chance for American Mikaela Shiffrin to pick up a 2022 Winter Games medal. Only one of the 10 athletes who earned individual Alpine golds in Beijing was listed on the team rosters released Friday: Austria’s Johannes Strolz. He won the men’s combined last week and also picked up a silver in slalom on Wednesday.

There is a 16-team bracket but only 15 nations entered, so top-ranked Austria will get a first-round bye. The first-round matches are United States v Slovakia, Switzerland v China, Italy v Russia, Norway v Poland, France v Czech Republic, Germany v Sweden, and Slovenia v Canada. (AP)

The medal table is here. Norway, as mentioned previously, have broken the record for gold medals at a single Winter Games: they now have 15, following JT Boe’s latest biathlon masterclass:

In the mixed pairs figure skating, there were due to be 20 pairs, but it seems the Hungarian duo have withdrawn. So that makes 19 – I achieved grade ‘C’ in GCSE maths, you know. Anyway, the Georgian team are out there now – Karina Safina and Luka Berulava – sporting grey sequinned outfits.

“How good was that for starters?” asks Simon Reed on Eurosport, at the end of their routine.

Overnight (if you happen to be in the UK or Europe), Eileen Gu was at it again, winning freeski halfpipe gold:

“The overriding emotion is just this deep-seated sense of gratitude and resolution, just like this all coming together, years and years in the making and it’s like letting out a deep breath,” she said.

Coming up in a few minutes: The short program in the mixed pairs figure skating.

Johannes Thingnes Boe’s brilliant skiing more than made up for some errant shooting in difficult conditions to win gold in the men’s 15km mass start, setting a new record with Norway’s 15th gold of the Beijing Games. With Boe blowing kisses to the TV cameras as he crossed the line, the Norwegians have now taken more gold medals at a single Games than any other nation, breaking the previous record of 14 that they shared with Germany and Canada.

Martin Ponsiluoma of Sweden finished 40.3sec after Boe to take the silver, with fellow Norwegian Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen picking up the bronze medal 1min 12.5sec after his countryman. France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet missed his chance to take a sixth medal and become the most successful athlete at a single Winter Games, finishing fourth after five costly misses in a whistling, freezing wind that made shooting difficult.

After a tense opening with the athletes tightly packed, Boe wasn’t bothered by an early miss, flying around his penalty loop and then retaking the lead as the front runners entered the second shoot, and a perfect five-shot salvo sent him back out in lead. Germany’s Philipp Nawrath kept the pressure on Boe, entering the first standing shoot a few seconds behind, but he missed three of his five shots to drop out of contention as Sweden’s Ponsiluoma took on the role of the main challenger.

Alone on the range for the final time, Boe blasted through his five shots, missing the last two as Maillet and Ponsiluoma arrived, but the Frenchman missed twice and the Swede once, allowing Boe to streak away once. Despite three misses, Christiansen surged late, passing Maillet and trying to join in the chase for Boe, but with his fifth Olympic gold medal and a record in his sights, Boe was never going to be caught and Norway’s status as a winter sports super-power was confirmed. (Reuters)

The Dutchman Thomas Krol swept around the National Speed Skating Oval to win the men’s 1,000m, handing the Netherlands its 11th medal in speed skating at this Winter Games. Although slow to start, the 29-year-old quickly gained pace and crossed the finish line in 1min 07.92sec.

He waited tensely on the sidelines as he watched the last two races, before raising his fists in victory and covering his face in apparent disbelief when his gold medal was confirmed. His title makes the Netherlands the first country to win three consecutive gold medals in the distance. Laurent Dubreuil of Canada claimed silver in 1min 08.32sec and Haavard Lorentzen of Norway took bronze in 1min 08.48sec. (Reuters)

Paul MacInnes spoke to Kersten last month as he built up to the Olympics:

Hats off to Cornelius Kersten of Great Britain for an excellent ninth place in the men’s 1,000m speed skating.

He is the first long track speed skater to compete for Great Britain since 1992. He also finished ninth in the World Cup meeting in Norway in November, and a strong showing in those World Cup events allowed him to qualify for Beijing.

Krol takes it with a time of 1min 07.92sec! He looks like he can’t quite believe what he’s achieved. Laurent Dubreuil (Canada) grabs silver and Haavard Lorentzen (Norway) wins bronze. The previous leader, Michalski of Poland, is knocked off the podium and down to fourth.

He missed two shots on his final visit to the range, but he still closes out a dominant win. He has plenty of time to slow up on the final straight and wave to the smattering of fans in the stand. Silver for Sweden’s Ponsiluoma. Bronze for Vetle Christiansen of Norway. Fillon Maillet comes home having fallen out of contention with a nightmare shooting performance late in the race.

Boe is skiing to glory. His lead is nearly 40 seconds. He’s already won three gold medals and a bronze at these Games!

Biathlon men’s 15km mass start: THREE misses from Fillon Maillet on the final shoot! That’s a horror show. Boe of Norway leads by 17.8sec! Sweden’s Ponsiluoma looks set for silver with Christiansen of Norway rounding out the podium … Fillon Maillet is now fourth and is giving chase but it looks like that nightmare final visit to the range is going to cost him a medal.

Kersten, who was 0.23sec slower than Michalski, has now been bumped down to fifth. Ignat Golovatsiuk (Belarus) second.

Men’s 1,000 speed skating: Cornelius Kersten of Great Britain is now third-fastest! That’s an excellent effort. Still, no one can knock Poland’s Michalski off the top. Marten Liiv (Finland) in the silver-medal position, 0.9sec off Michalski’s pace, having bumped Kersten down a spot. There are 22 athletes finished so far.

Fillon Maillet shoots clean on the third visit to the range! Can he make up what is currently a 15.9sec deficit to Boe, up front? Sweden’s Martin Ponsiluoma has now slotted in in second pace, six seconds back.

That man again: Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway is now out front as the leading pack of biathletes come into the second shoot. Christian Gow (Canada) shoots clean. Fillon Maillet misses one again but will hope to make it up with his skiing. It’s all to play for: Boe holds a three-second lead over Philip Nawrath of Germany.

Men’s biathlon 15km mass start: One miss for Fillon Maillet on the first visit to the range. Sebastian Samuelsson of Sweden shoots clean, one of 10 skiers to do so, and he now leads the way.

Here we go with the men’s mass start, 15km biathlon. The Frenchman, Quentin Fillon Maillet, is punishing the rest of the athletes with a seriously hot pace to begin with. He’s trying to whittle down the field to a select group, right from the start. The bunch of skiers is already strung out.

Men’s 1,000m speed skating: Piotr Michalski of Poland continues to lead with a time of 1min 08.56sec. Pavel Kulizhnikov (ROC) second, 0.31sec behind, and Damian Zurek, also of Poland, is in the bronze-medal position, 0.52sec down.

In less than 15 minutes, we’ve got biathlon to enjoy: the men’s 15km mass start.

“Is society getting any better at recognising the humanity of those who walk the high wires of elite sports, where one momentary slip can undo a lifetime of work – if we define their work solely by what happens when people tune into the Olympics every four years?”

Mikaela Shiffrin’s two weeks of pain don’t detract from a lifetime of greatness, writes Beau Dure:

Speed Skating: Men’s 1,000m: Piotr Michalski, of Poland, has just gone fastest in the final. Nine pairs will skate, then they will take a break to resurface the ice, after which the remaining athletes will go for gold.

It’s over. Canada win 8-5 – the USA, having won gold four years ago, go home empty-handed. There are a few tears as Canada celebrate. The USA team just want to get off the ice.