Heavy winds force postponement of men’s downhill skiing competition
BEIJING — Following several hour-long delays because of wind gusts at the new downhill course at Yanqing, organizers canceled the men’s downhill skiing medal event around 1 p.m. local time on Sunday. A new start time was not immediately announced.
The competition was slated to begin at 11 a.m. Sunday (10 p.m. Eastern on Saturday), but wind-related disruptions led to three postponements before the event was pushed to another day. Similar issues have stalled and suspended Olympic events since Friday, when downhill training runs were also delayed.
American Bryce Bennett was set to lead off the event, which includes his compatriots Ryan Cochran-Siegle and Travis Ganong.
Vincent Zhou struggles, Russians maintain their figure skating team event lead
BEIJING — American Vincent Zhou placed third in the men’s free skate after he under-rotated multiple jumps and bailed during his quadruple flip, turning it into a single flip. Zhou scored a 171.44, and the United States stays behind the Russian Olympic Committee in the figure skating team event. The U.S. team had a strong start Friday, but both skaters — Zhou and Karen Chen in the women’s short program — struggled Sunday.
Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama skated before Zhou and delivered an excellent program with four quadruple jumps to score a 208.94, the best mark of this segment.
With one day left in this event, the ROC leads with 45 points. The United States is in second with 42, ahead of Japan in third with 39. It would be difficult for Canada (30) or China (29) to move into medal position.
Mark Kondratiuk gives the ROC another strong performance
BEIJING — With the Russian Olympic Committee in the lead in the figure skating team event, Mark Kondratiuk provided another strong performance. Kondratiuk, this year’s European champion, scored a 181.65 after a clean free skate that included three quadruple jumps.
Before Kondratiuk, Canada’s Roman Sadovsky had a mistake-ridden program and China’s Jin Boyang had a few shaky landings on his jumps.
The final two skaters will be Yuma Kagiyama of Japan and Vincent Zhou of the United States.
Men’s downhill skiing delayed again by wind
Wind continues to delay the start of the men’s downhill skiing event at Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre. Shortly after noon local time Sunday, the downhill finals were postponed again to 2 p.m. Another ruling on the weather will be made around 1 p.m.
With wind causing disruptions all week, the downhill training runs were also delayed Friday and suspended early Saturday. The new downhill course at Yanqing, built for these Olympics, was already going to be challenge to the skiers unfamiliar with it.
China advances to free skate portion of team event on tiebreaker
BEIJING — Only five of 10 countries advance to the free skate portion of the figure skating team event, and China and Georgia tied for fifth with 22 points. China won the tiebreaker because it had the higher combined total from its top two finishes (first in the pair skating short program and fifth in the rhythm dance).
The five teams that advanced are the Russian Olympic Committee (36 points), the United States (34), Japan (29), Canada (24) and China. Each country will select a representative to perform a free skate in each discipline. The points earned from the team’s finishes in the short programs are combined with the free skate results.
The U.S. team is in position to win the silver medal behind the Russians, who are favored to win. The Americans have won the bronze in the previous two editions of this event.
Kamila Valieva delivers standout short program to lift Russians into the lead
BEIJING — Kamila Valieva, a 15-year-old figure skating star from Russia, made her Olympic debut with an exquisite short program performance in the team event.
Valieva, who executes difficult jumps with stunning grace, is expected to win the women’s individual competition later in the Games. Her 90.18 in the team event on Sunday morning in Beijing pushed the Russian Olympic Committee into the top spot with 36 points heading into the free skate portion of the competition.
She received a standing ovation from the other teams of skaters, who sit in rink-side booths while watching the team event.
Vincent Zhou to replace Nathan Chen in men’s free skate
Vincent Zhou, a 2018 Olympian and 2019 World Championship bronze medalist, will compete in Sunday’s men’s free skate in place of Nathan Chen during the team event.
The United States is in second place with 34 points — two points behind the Russian Olympic Committee — after the short programs and rhythm dance.
U.S. loses in mixed doubles curling as medal hopes take a hit
The Czech Republic handed the U.S. mixed curling duo of Vicky Persinger and Christopher Plys its second straight loss, 10-8, dealing a blow to the Americans’ hopes of moving out of the group stage.
The U.S. (3-4) likely needs to win its last two matches, against Switzerland (2-4) on Sunday night in Beijing and Great Britain (5-2) on Monday morning. And even then, the Americans might need some help. They’re tied with the Czech Republic for sixth out of 10 teams, and only the top four advance. Those top four are Italy (6-0), Great Britain (5-2), Sweden (5-2) and Canada (4-2).
In a back-and-forth match that saw the lead change hands five times, the U.S. led 8-7 after the seventh end. But the Czechs surged ahead with three points in the final frame.
Persinger is in her first Olympics, and Plys his first since 2010.
Windy conditions delay start of men’s downhill skiing
BEIJING — An hour after organizers delayed the start of Sunday’s men’s downhill skiing competition because of high winds, the event was again postponed by an hour. It is now tentatively scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. Sunday in Beijing (midnight Eastern).
Wind has been an issue for days at these Games. Windy conditions in the mountains also canceled the third round of training for women’s ski jumping in Zhangjiakou. And on Saturday, around the same time the women’s slopestyle qualification was starting at Genting Snow Park, men’s downhill training at the Alpine skiing course in Yanqing was suspended because of heavy winds.
Julia Marino wins first medal for U.S., claiming silver in women’s slopestyle; Zoi Sadowski-Synnott takes gold
By Washington Post Staff9:54 p.m.
After a stirring threat by American upstart Julia Marino, the New Zealand superstar Zoi Sadowski-Synnott captured the gold medal in women’s slopestyle with a 92.88 on the final run of the competition.
After Sadowski-Synnott cruised to an early lead with a score of 84.51, Marino strung together back-to-back 900-degree turns and then a double frontside 1080 on her second run. Her score of 87.68 put her in the lead entering the final run and put the pressure on Sadowski-Synnott.
Sadowski-Synnott, who qualified first, started off her line a bit after the rails but cut across the course to start with a backside 900 on her first jump. She finished with perhaps the best jump of the day, as Marino and bronze medalist Tess Coady of Australia swarmed her with congratulations.
From there, the score was only a formality — Marino displayed more technical precision, but Sadowski-Synnott soared higher and followed up world championships in 2019 and 2021 with her first gold medal. Coady finished her third run with a double frontside 1080 to win the bronze at 84.15.
Until Sadowski-Synnott’s final run, Marino was the surprise of the competition. The 24-year-old from Westport, Conn., finished 11th in slopestyle in 2018 and qualified sixth. In fact, she nearly duplicated her second run moments later but fell on the final jump.
Jamie Anderson, the American who won gold in the first two editions of women’s slopestyle at the Olympics, finished ninth with the score of 60.78 from her second run.
Karen Chen falls in her short program
BEIJING — After the United States had a strong start in the figure skating team event, Karen Chen fell on her final jump, a triple loop, and under-rotated another jump. She scored only a 65.20, the fourth-best score of the day, with Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee up next as the final skater in the women’s short program.
Japan’s Wakaba Higuchi, who skated immediately before Chen, scored a 74.7 and is in the lead.
Julia Marino moves into lead after second run of women’s slopestyle
An American contender moved into first place on the second run in the women’s slopestyle finals, but she came in as an underdog — Julia Marino, who qualified sixth with a score of 71.78, now leads the field after an outstanding 87.68 in the second run.
After stumbling in her first run, Marino pulled off back-to-back 900-degree turns on her first two twisting jumps and then finished with a double frontside 1080, landing all three to move past New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott. Marino, a 24-year-old from Westport, Conn., finished 11th in slopestyle at the PyeongChang Games.
Sadowski-Synnott, who qualified first, set the tone with an 84.51 on her first run and then, looking to pass Marino, fell backward coming off the last rail.
Jamie Anderson, the two-time reigning Olympic gold medalist in slopestyle, improved in her second run but didn’t complete her second jump. After a frontside 720, she aimed to lift off the quarter pipe and do a 540 but ended up with only a 360, which hindered her final jump. She finished with a 60.78 and now stands in eighth.
Canada’s Madeline Schizas takes the lead in the women’s short program
BEIJING — With an excellent short program performance, Canada’s Madeline Schizas overtook the top spot in this portion of the figure skating team event. In her Olympic debut, the 18-year-old hit all of her jumps to earn a 69.60.
Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia (67.56) previously had the best score. Some of the top women, including the Russian Olympic Committee’s Kamila Valieva and Karen Chen of the United States, have yet to skate.
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott takes control in first run of women’s slopestyle final
On a grueling first run at the women’s slopestyle final, New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott took control of the event with a strong ride punctuated by a backside 1080 on the final jump. She scored 84.51 to pace the field.
The first run proved to be a challenge for most of the contenders, as six of 12 stumbled or fell at some point and scored 35.01 or lower. Australia’s Tess Coady stands in second with a first-run score of 82.68, followed by Canada’s Laurie Blouin at 77.96.
Two-time reigning gold medalist Jamie Anderson, from South Lake Tahoe, Calif., scored 22.98 after catching the lip of her board coming off a rail early in the race. The other two Americans, Hailey Langland and Julia Marino, also stumbled.
They’ll all have a tough act to match after seeing Sadowski-Synnott’s first effort. Sadowski-Synnott won the slopestyle world championships in 2019 and 2021, as well as the gold medal at the X Games last month.
