Winter Olympics LIVE: Team GB’s Katie Ormerod fails to advance to snowboarding slopestyle final

The 2022 Winter Olympics gets into full swing on Saturday, the day after the opening ceremony at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium.

The ceremony took place at the Bird’s Nest stadium, built and used for the 2008 summer Olympic games, as Beijing becomes the first city to host both editions of the games. The stadium also served as the venue for Track and Field as well the men’s 2008 gold medal soccer game, but will not host any sporting events in 2022.

The events will get underway with mixed doubles curling matches between Australia and Norway, and Switzerland and Sweden.

Great Britain’s Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat will return to the ice in mixed doubles curling with round-robin match-ups against the Czech Republic and Italy.

In skiing, Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury, the defending Olympic gold medalist, a 3-time world champion, and 9-time overall World Cup champion, will compete in the Men’s Moguls Final.

Dutch speed skating star Irene Schouten will try and secure gold in the women’s 3,000m.

Schouten could become the second female skater in history to win four gold medals at a single Games, matching the mark set by Russia’s Lidia Skoblikova at Innsbruck 1964.

Katie Ormerod fails to advance to slopestye final

06:37 , Stuti Mishra

Katie Ormerod finally fulfilled her dream of becoming an Olympian but did not advance to the final of the women’s snowboard slopestyle final at Genting Snow Park.

The 24-year-old hovered in the 12th and final qualifying place after her first run but a worse score on her second run saw her slide seven places to 19th on the first full day of the Beijing Games.

Nevertheless, it was a notable day for Ormerod, who had fallen on the eve of competition in Pyeongchang in 2018, shattering her heel and subsequently requiring seven operations and the insertion of two metal pins.

“I’ve been waiting a really long time for this moment to drop in and compete in an Olympic Games,” Ormerod said.

“I was stood at the top before my first run when I was about to drop in and I was like, ‘wow, this is my moment, I’ve become an Olympian finally’.

“It was a really special moment and just to land that first run and get down - I’ve never felt a feeling like that. It was pure joy, and I’m so proud of myself for everything I’ve gone through, to finally get there again.

“It’s been awesome being out here. You definitely know you’re at the Olympics - the Olympic vibe is high. To finally drop in and know I’m an Olympian now.”

Ormerod‘s remarkable recovery culminated in five podium places in a truncated 2020 season which also saw her win the Crystal Globe as the overall World Cup leader.

Ormerod produced a cautious first run, nailing a straight flip but touching down on her final jump and scoring 47.38 to finish right on the brink of a place in Sunday’s final.

A mistake on a rail contributed a lower second score of 44.01 in her second run, and improvements by seven of her rivals, who had trailed the Briton after run one, ended her hopes of reaching the final.

New Zealand favourite Zoi Sadowski Synnott leads the field with a score of 86.75, with seven other athletes nailing scores of over 70.

Ormerod‘s first Olympics are not over as she says she’ll return later in the Games for the big air, with qualification taking place on 14 February.

“I’m just going to rest in between and put all my focus into that,” she said.

Alpine skiing: Odermatt blasts organisers after training cancelled

06:20 , Stuti Mishra

Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt hit out at Olympic ski organisers after today’s downhill training was cancelled with just three runners having completed the course.

High winds led organisers to pull the plug on the third training run for Sunday’s opening medal event with Austria’s Matthias Mayer, Italian Christof Innerhofer and favourite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway the only racers able to get on the track.

“Due to the present situation with high winds and no window in the forecast for decreasing winds, in the best interest of safety, the jury together with the organiser have decided to cancel today’s run,” the International Ski Federation (FIS) said in a statement.

But Odermatt, the overall World Cup leader and a contender in the downhill, was upset with the way the situation had been handled.

“It’s just not fair and for me the big, big issue is how they (the race Jury) communicate to us athletes,” he said.

“They just make a decision at 11:15, something like that, cancelling the training, even if the last two days we started one hour later.

“They don’t even ask what we think. After two or three sentences we spoke with FIS, the jury, they turned off the radio and didn’t answer anymore,” he added.

“Like this, it’s just not working.”

Odermatt said there would be a slight advantage for the trio who were able to get in a third run on the unfamiliar course which has never been competed on before.

“If it’s in Wengen or Kitzbuehel everybody knows the slope but here everything is new, everything is different,” said the Swiss. “So, every run really helps you to find the perfect set up or line.

“Hopefully tomorrow the wind will calm down and we can have a fair race.”

Snowboarding: Sadowski-Synnott eases into finals

06:02 , Stuti Mishra

New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott cruised into the finals of the women’s snowboard slopestyle qualifiers at the Beijing Olympics, putting down a smooth run in blustery weather, while Kokomo Murase of Japan made a confident debut.

In a clean ride over a course designed with Great Wall motifs, Sadowski-Synnott earned a best score of 86.75 after she successfully landed the backside 900 off the final jump.

“I was pretty stoked on that one, to put it down all the tricks together,” said the 20-year-old who is among the favourites.

However, Sadowski-Synnott is leaving some tricks up her sleeve for the finals, which will be held on Sunday.

“I have got a bit more in the tank for tomorrow,” she said.

Murase, who was too young to compete at Pyeongchang 2018, advanced in second place.

At the X Games in Oslo, Murase, now 17, became the youngest snowboarder to win at the event, capturing the Big Air title.

Swedes beat Swiss, Australia still winless in mixed doubles

05:40 , Stuti Mishra

Sweden have registered a 6-1 victory over Switzerland in the mixed curling doubles, boosting their chances of making it to the semi-finals.

Swedish pair Oskar Eriksson and Almida de Val eased past Switzerland’s Martin Rios and Jenny Perret to climb to second in the standings in the round-robin phase.

Meanwhile, Norway won their match with Australia 10-4 as the Pacific nation still searches for its first victory.

Teams play nine matches with the top four progressing to Monday’s semis.

Sweden take on Olympic champions Canada in Saturday’s afternoon session while Australia face group leaders Italy.

Hosts China will play the United States and world champions Britain face the Czech Republic.

Eileen Gu: Who is the California-born superstar freestyle skier aiming to win gold for China?

05:03 , Graeme Massie

She is the California-born freestyle skiing superstar who is set to take the Winter Olympics by storm.

Eileen Gu, 18, is a favorite to win gold at Beijing in all three of the sport’s main events: the big air, slopestyle and halfpipe.

But the San Francisco native, who has a Chinese mother and American father, will try and secure Olympic titles for China, instead of Team USA.

Gu, who was raised by her mother and maternal grandmother and learned to ski on the slopes of Tahoe, California, announced she was switching her allegiance to China in 2019, at the age of just 15.

“This was an incredibly tough decision for me to make,” Gu, who is nicknamed Snow Princess in China, wrote on Instagram when she announced it.

“The opportunity to help inspire millions of young people where my mom was born, during the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help to promote the sport I love.

“Through skiing, I hope to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between nations.”

Gu obtained a Chinese passport after her decision, although it is unknown whether she renounced her American passport in doing so.

The International Olympic Committee requires athletes to hold passports for the countries they compete for, and China does not recognise dual nationality.

But as a 15 year-old, US law means that she would not have been able to relinquish her American citizenship at that time, which the State Department say can only be done after 16.

One of her main sponsors, Red Bull, wrote on their website that Gu had given up her US citizenship, before taking that passage down.

“Nobody can deny I’m American, nobody can deny I’m Chinese,” Gu told The South China Morning Post in a 2021 interview.

But her switch has not come without criticism from other skiers.

“It is not my place to judge, but Eileen is from California, not from China, and her decision (to ski for China) seems opportunistic,” Jen Hudak, a former Winter X Games gold medalist told The New York Post.

“She became the athlete she is because she grew up in the United States, where she had access to premier training grounds and coaching that, as a female, she might not have had in China. I think she would be a different skier if she grew up in China.”

And she added: “This makes me sad. It would be nice to see the medals going to America.”

Gu, who is a brand ambassador for lingerie company Victoria’s Secret, Tiffany & Co. and Adidas, graduated from the prestigious University High School in San Francisco, and will attend Stanford University in 2022 after the Olympics.

She is also signed to the IMG modeling agency and has appeared on the cover of Vogue and Elle magazines in China.

While she has more than 240,000 followers on Instagram, Gu, who is known in China by her Mandarin name Ailing, has more than 1.3m followers on Sina Weibo.

Gu delivered a historic performance at her 2021 X Games debut in Aspen, Colorado, medalling in all three events, including golds in the halfpipe and Slopestyle, as well as a bronze in big air.

In doing so she became the first athlete representing China to win an X Games gold.

“This is something I wouldn’t even dare to dream of. I came into this contest with a goal of getting one podium, and I thought that was ambitious. It’s really just the adrenaline of my first X Games and being so hyped to be here that it was able to get me through,” she said after her victories.

When Beijing becomes the first city to host a Summer and Winter Olympics, it will do so with considerable controversy.

A coalition of human rights groups have called for a boycott of the games because of China’s treatment of the Uighurs, which has been classified as genocide by the US government.

President Joe Biden has also enforced a US diplomatic boycott of the Games, which has been followed by Canada, Australia and Britain, who will not send any officials to the event.

Gu has refused to comment on human rights issues in her adopted home country, but she told Time magazine that she believed sports was a force of change.

“It’s really easy to use sport as a form of unity and communication and friendship, because everybody is working toward a common goal,” she said.

“Because sport really is blind to race, gender, religion and nationality; it’s all just about pushing the human limit.”

Mariah Bell: Team USA star who will become the oldest American Olympic skater since 1928

04:01 , Graeme Massie

Mariah Bell: Team USA star who will become the oldest American Olympic skater since 1928

She is the American skating star who has waited a long time for her chance to shine in a sport dominated by teenagers whose careers are often over before they are old enough to vote.

But Mariah Bell is rewriting the history books as she competes in the Beijing Winter Olympics at the age of 25, becoming the oldest American women’s singles skater since 1928.

She secured her place when she became the oldest women’s national champion since 26-year-old Beatrix Loughran in 1927, winning her first national title at a record ninth attempt.

“Age is literally a number. It means nothing. If you have a dream, there is no limit on the time you have to achieve that dream, for sure,” said Bell.

The skater, who trains at Great Park Ice in Irvine, California, with coaches Rafael Arutyunyan and former US men’s star Adam Rippon, is aware of what she has achieved at her age.

“I’m 25, so it’s not like I’m ancient. In skating it kind of is,” Bell said after the medal ceremony last month in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Showing that age is just a number is part of what keeps me going. There’s a lot to say about experience. You can tap into that and really use that to your advantage in competitions.”

Bell’s success comes after a difficult 2021 in which her engagement got broken off, which she talked about candidly after winning last month.

“In the summer I was kind of hit with like the end of this relationship I did not see coming. And I felt lost, and I was broken for a little bit and I decided that this was something that I was completely capable of and I wasn’t going to let this dream slip away,” she said.

“I really just leaned into my support system, and you know, I’m so grateful for all the highs and all the lows, I wouldn’t change a thing.

“And to be through all of that and be 25 and to be on the Olympic team is a dream come true.”

Rippon who also trained under Arutyunyan in southern California, made his first and only Olympic team in 2018 at the age of 28.

In doing so he became the oldest American Olympic rookie since 1936, and understands what Bell is out to prove.

“Our goal is to go there and for her to show that being 25 is amazing,” Rippon said.

“That you can be 25, and you can be in the best shape of your life.”

Rippon was known for his fire work ethic in comparison to his younger opponents and says that he has imparted that on Bell.

“I basically treated her like I was (dog trainer) Cesar Millan, and she was a troubled dog that needed direction,” he said.

“I was super tough on her and made her do a million more things than she was used to doing in practice.”

How much money do US medallists earn?

03:06 , Graeme Massie

How much money do US medallists earn?

A US medallist gets paid $37,500 for gold, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze.

There is no prize money paid to athletes from the International Olympic Committee but each national federation is free to reward medallists however they like, with some countries more generous than others.

Singapore will pay any gold medalist $1m Singapore Dollars, which is around $740,000 US Dollars, while countries such as Great Britain do not pay their athletes anything.

Which are the largest teams competing in Beijing?

02:06 , Graeme Massie

The United States is the biggest team competing at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, according to the International Olympic Committee.

The US has brought 224 athletes, followed by Canada with 217, and the Russian Olympic Committee, known as ROC, in third place with 214 athletes.

Medals to be won on Day One

01:34 , Graeme Massie

There are six medal events on the first official day of the Winter Olympics:

- Mixed Relay (Biathlon)

- Women’s Skiathlon (Cross-Country Skiing)

- Men’s Moguls (Freestyle Skiing)

- Mixed Relay (Short Track Speed Skating)

- Women’s Normal Hill Individual (Ski Jumping)

- Women’s 3000m (Speed Skating)

US and Russian skaters almost collide on ice

01:02 , Graeme Massie

Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donahue of the United States and Nikita Katsalapov and Victoria Sinitsina of the Russian Olympic Committee almost had a nasty collision during warm-ups for the ice rhythm dance competition.

“It’s really no one’s fault,” one of the commentators said.

“Everyone’s just trying to get those elements in, get those nerves out and it’s hard to predict where each team is heading. But that can shake you on a warmup.”

The Americans went on to finish first in the qualifying round, with the Russian’s ending up in last place.

Protesters denounce Winter Olympics with mock medals for China’s ‘record-breaking atrocities’

00:52 , Graeme Massie

On the eve of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, an altogether different kind of event took place some 5,000 miles away in London.

There were flags, chants, and even medals. But the comparisons ended there.

Rather than celebrate the start of the Games, the gathering in the British capital – which was billed as an ‘alternative opening ceremony’ – opposed the sporting spectacle.

Protesters denounce Winter Olympics with mock medals for ‘record breaking atrocities’