Winter Olympics day one: Norway win first gold, biathlon and more – live! | Sport

Biathlon – Combined Relay

As we hand over to the lads, the French narrowly lead the Italians, however the Individuals have come from the clouds to be in medal rivalry. Norway has thrown this away with poor capturing. It’s meant an additional 500m of snowboarding penalties.

Biathlon – Combined Relay

We’re onto the capturing vary on leg 2 and the Norwegians had been effectively forward, however their competitor had a stinker with the rifle, incomes a hefty penalty and handing the Italians the lead. Its rotten rifle situations on the market.

Simply paying homage to the Ladies’s Skiathlon, it will remiss of me to not point out that the winner just lately served an 18-month doping ban. Johaug argued unsuccessfully that the she had taken the steroid to deal with her sunburnt lips.

Biathlon – Combined Relay

We’re off within the groups occasion. One more lung buster is on the playing cards right here. It’s windy and freezing – rotten situations for anybody on the capturing vary. There’s 20 nations competing, however the gold medal is predicted to be fought between the Norwegians and French.

“A stunning idea”

The IOC’s Mark Adams has described the choice to make use of Uyghur cross nation skier Dinigeer Yilamujiag to gentle the Olympic flame as “a beautiful idea”.

Human rights teams beg to vary, describing it as “essentially the most politically motivated transfer.”

China continues to disclaim allegations of genocide and the institution of pressured labour camps within the Xinjiang area.

Ladies’s 3000m Pace Skating

The Dutch have a mortgage on this occasion. They swept the rostrum in 2018 and certainly have received 15 of the 26 gold medals in pace skating on the previous two Video games. The good cash immediately is on Irene Schouten, the reigning world champion. She’ll be on the ice shortly.

And it’s the primary gold of the Olympics to Therese Johaug within the ladies’s Skiathlon. It was a complete rout. She’s received three world titles however that is her first particular person Olympic gold. Most opponents are collapsing throughout the road, supplying you with some indication of what a brutal occasion it’s.

Ladies’s Skiathlon

The commentator says this occasion is 50 per cent vitamin, 40 per cent athletic capability and ten per cent thoughts video games. Some extraordinary weighting in the direction of vitamin there! However there’s little question it will be a calorie burner. A shout out to Australia’s Jess Yeaton, who’s at present in 42^nd spot. Everybody who competes on this deserves some form of medal.

Ladies’s Skiathlon

Norway’s Johaug is romping this in. Give her the medal now. 5 athletes are battling it out for silver and bronze, however the chief is in one other race.

Ladies’s Skiathlon

We’re previous midway mark and into the freestyle part of the race. To the uninitiated (me), issues have sped up significantly. Our chief is Therase Johaug of Norway. Not surprisingly, she’s additionally an impressive runner, with a finest time of 32 minutes for the ten,000. She received a gold medal in a staff’s occasion in 2010, however this might be her first particular person gold.

USA v Russia

It’s not fairly the Miracle on Ice, and even Rocky 4, however with the world on tenterhooks proper now, the Russia-USA conflict within the ladies’s ice hockey ought to have some added intrigue. The Russian President is predicted to attend. His area’s on the brink, however he’s useful on the rink…

On the menu

That is the primary of six gold medals up for grabs immediately, with the ladies’s 3000m pace skating and combined biathlon kicking off shortly. The ladies’s ski leap and males’s freestyle moguls may also be determined.

Cross Nation Skiathlon

We’ve already had some falls, steep climbs and I can solely assume, loads of lactic acid. This 15km occasion combines classical and freestyle snowboarding, with the opponents switching methods on the midway level. I’m already exhausted watching them.

Cross Nation Skiathlon

It’s virtually gun time on this gruelling, intriguing occasion. It’s minus 12 levels Celsius, which doesn’t even bear interested by for an Australian. “Good situations for cross nation snowboarding”, in accordance with the commentators.

Curling

I feel I’ve perforated eardrums from among the exaltations – it’s a really vocal sport, they usually actually mic them up. Italy simply blew the Aussies away with a three-point finish, and now lead 7-3. In the meantime, Nice Britain have romped away to an 8-3 win over the Czechs – a cakewalk.

Cross Nation Snowboarding – Ladies’s

We’re simply 15 away from the beginning of the ladies’s cross nation. The Swedes Frida Karlsson Charlotte Kalla are the new pops, together with Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva and Norway’s Therese Johaug. These are among the finest endurance athletes on the planet, and the sheer state of the opponents on the end provides some indication as to what a lung buster it’s.

Curling updates

Australia path Italy 2-4 whereas Nice Britain are effectively in charge of the Czech Republic, up 6-2.

Ice Hockey

A proper royal shoeing within the ladies’s ice hockey match between Canada and Finland, with Canada walloping them 11-1. Sarah Nurse and Brianne Jenner each scored hat-tricks for the winners.

Curling

In the meantime, the Nice Britain combined doubles staff are making straightforward work of the Czech Republic, whereas the US are in a good tussle with China.

Curling

The Aussies are down 1-3 in opposition to the unbeaten Italians and almost sq. issues up however over-curled, jammed issues up, and break up the factors – leaving issues delicately poised at 2-3. I feel I vaguely obtained the lingo proper there.

Aussie Jakara Anthony Goes High

The Victorian unleashes a scintillating run to go prime in qualifying for the Ladies’s Moguls. She even pipped the peerless Frenchwoman Perrine Laffont, a former gold medallist. Commentary, fairly curiously, is being supplied by former cricketer Dirk Nannes.

Ladies’s Moguls

I already really feel like I’ve ruptured about 6 ACLs watching this. It’s a brutal caper and the situations look nasty. America’s Olivia Giaccio shot on to the early lead however 17-year-old Kumi Yamamiku simply rocketed into first place with a blazing run. “Nice absorption,” mentioned the commentator, and The Guardian concurs wholeheartedly. Aussie Britteny Cox is at present fifth.

Curling

Issues haven’t gone the best way of Australia’s curlers to this point. It not precisely a sport the occupies centre stage within the public consciousness, but it surely’s attracting its typical cohort of the curious and the bewildered. The Aussies had been effectively crushed by the husband and spouse pair of Norwegians, however they’ve gone down by a solitary level in 4 different video games, so that they’re not far off the mark. They tackle the Italian pair shortly.

Kiwi Qualifies in prime spot

Younger New Zealander Zoi Sadaowski-Synnott was the standout within the ladies’s Slowslope Snowboard qualifiers, with a prime rating of 86.75. The course is designed with Nice Wall motifs, however proved the blustery situations wrought havoc. Reigning double gold medallist Jamie Anderson struggled by her lofty requirements, qualifying fifth. “I felt actually pissed after my final run,” she mentioned.

The outstanding skills of Nathan Chen, the three time world champion and hottest of favourites within the males’s determine skating.

a shoutout from Richard Woods, an expat dwelling in China…

“Thanks for the protection. I’m strapped in. I used to be actually hoping to get to a day or two of the video games, as I reside solely a brief prepare journey away from Beijing, however work and the Covid-inspired guidelines about inter-provincial journey have put paid to that. Lackaday. Ah effectively – carry on the tea-trays, yard brushes and Jamaican bobsleighers!”

Aussies in Motion

For our Australian readers, there’s a number of different locals in motion on my watch, together with Seve De Campo within the Cross Nation skiathon and Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill within the Combined Doubles Curling. A number of hours in the past, they met their match in opposition to the Norwegians, who had been bronze medallists 4 years in the past, however again up once more in opposition to Italy shortly.