Key events
Women’s curling: Canada level things up at 1-1 after two ends, hitting their hammer off one of the American stones to score a single point. Bronze is up for grabs in this one.
Klæbo reaction: Norway’s skiers have been speaking to the press after Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won his historic sixth gold medal of these Olympics in the 50km mass start.
Klæbo himself said:
It’s unbelievable. It still feels really good to race, and I’m always looking forward to going out there and fighting for the medal.
Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget (silver) said:
I’m starting to believe maybe he is a machine. It’s close to impossible to beat him in the finish.
A couple more events are getting under way this lunchtime. In Cortina, it’s Canada v USA in the bronze-medal match of the women’s curling. In Rasen-Anthol, the starting gun has sounded for women’s 12.5km mass start in the biathlon.
Bobsleigh: The Austrian pilot Jakob Mandlbauer has been taken to hospital after his bob turned over during the second heat. Mandlbauer was treated on the track for around 20 minutes and taken to hospital with neck pain. His teammates were checked at the track and apparently unhurt.
Bobsleigh: Let’s take a look at the 4-man standings after the second heat that finished in the last hour. Great Britain’s team led by Brad Hall have dropped down after finishing the first heat in third.
1. Germany (J Lochner) 1min 48.61sec
2. Germany (F Friedrich) +0.43s
3. Germany (A Ammour) +0.59s
4. Switzerland (M Vogt) +0.71s
7. Great Britain (B Hall) +0.82s
It’s tight!
Bobsleigh: Germany may be out front in the four-man bobsled, but the nation’s relative lack of success at the Milan Cortina Games from four years ago has seen them slide down the medals table, and an unwanted status as the team with the most fourth-placed finishes.
From ending Beijing 2022 as the second most successful nation, Team Deutschland headed into the closing weekend fifth overall. German athletes have finished fourth 12 times and the hope of finishing third overall in the table has gone.
Of the 22 medals won by Saturday, six were gold – behind the Netherlands on eight. Hosts Italy were in third place on nine golds and with 27 medals. Germany won 27 medals in Beijing, of which 12 were gold. Reuters
Skimo relay: That’s redemption of sorts for Emily Harrop, who was fancied to win the individual women’s race for France but finished behind Switzerland’s Marianne Fatton. It was her blistering first lap that set up Thibault Anselmet nicely, although his final lap was just as impressive.
Skimo relay: The USA are best of the rest, followed by Italy, Austria, Germany, China, Poland, Norway and Slovakia. Australia are miles behind with Phillip Bellingham still trudging up the steps.
🥇 France win the mixed skimo relay
Thibault Anselmet crosses the line and wins gold alongside Emily Harrop! Switzerland finish in silver-medal position.
Gold: France 26min 57.4sec
Silver: Switzerland +11.9s
Bronze: Spain +26.5s
Oriol Cardona Coll collapses in a heap and Spain will, as it stands, win bronze despite a three-second penalty for their handover.
Skimo relay: Anselmet heads up the steps. Kistler, chest exposed to the elements with his zip down, is 11 seconds behind on the final descent. Anselmet is celebrating already.
Skimo relay: Kistler gained a couple of seconds on the first descent of the final lap. Cardona Coll is 15 seconds further back in third but needs a big gap to fourth with Spain facing a time penalty.
Skimo relay: Anselmet has re-established a 10-sec lead on Switzerland’s Kistler after the first ascent. It was some climb from the Frenchman.
Skimo relay: Individual gold medallist Cardona Coll retakes third place for Spain but they will face a penalty after Alonso overstepped the handover line by quite a distance.
Skimo relay: Fatton has done wonders for Switzerland! There is barely anything separating Anselmet in gold and Kistler after the handover. Spain have dropped out the medal places.
Skimo relay: Gibson of the USA drops her pole on the steps but recovers to set off after Alonso Rodriguez. Fatton is closing on Harrop – 11.8sec the gap to first. Anselmet takes over for the final lap as he seeks gold for France.
Skimo relay: Fatton has opened up a sizeable gap on Alonso Rodriguez, who is being chased by Italy and the USA now. Harrop is up the steps and on her way to the final descent.
Skimo relay: France’s Harrop heads for the first descent of lap three with a huge 27.9-second lead! Switzerland and Spain are surely fighting for silver now. The USA and Italy are not totally out of medal contention.
Skimo relay: Alonso Rodriguez and Fatton are heading up the first ascent together as they try to reel in Harrop. Fatton won gold in the individual event, so the chase is on.
Skimo relay: Anselmet heads down the second descent with a 12-second lead over the Swiss, although it was 18 back to the Spaniards in third at one point during the Frenchman’s lap. He hands back over to Harrop.
Skimo relay: The men are off up the first climb in pursuit of France’s Anselmet after some smooth handovers. He held a 9.5sec lead at the handover.
Skimo relay: This is the first of 4 laps – the women and men alternate. Harrop has a 10-second lead over Alonso Rodriguez (Spa) and Fatton (Swi) as she hands over to her French teammate Anselmet.
Skimo relay: Harrop has an 8-second lead as she storms up the slope towards the stairway.
Skimo: The mixed relay is under way! The women tackle the course (a different one to the individual events) before their male counterparts head for the line. Emily Harrop of France has built up a substantial lead as she comes down the first descent.
🥇 Simone Deromedis (Ita) wins men’s ski cross
In all the Klaebo excitement, the men’s ski cross finals have concluded with Italy’s Simone Deromedis beating his teammate Federico Tomasoni to the title on home snow!
Gold: Simone Deromedis (Ita)
Silver: Federico Tomasoni (Ita)
Bronze: Alex Fiva (Swi)
Fourth: Satoshi Faruno (Jpn)
Men’s 50km mass start final standings:
1. JH Klaebo (Nor) 2hr 6min 44.8sec
2. ML Nyenget (Nor) +8.9s
3. E Iversen (Nor) +30.7s
4. T Schely (Fra) +2m 59.7s
5. S Korostelev (AIN) +3m 38.3s
6. A Musgrave (GB) +3m 58.7s
Plenty of athletes still coming over the line.
Thanks Tanya. Yes, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo wins his sixth gold – a record for one athlete at a single Winter Olympics. The 29-year-old now has 13 Olympic medals in total (11 golds!).
Eric Heiden of the USA won five golds in speed skating at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.
Part man, part ice, part snow god – Klæbo smiles with excellent teeth and hugs the mortals who compete for the other places. It has been such a joy to watch him this week. And with that, over to Billy for the lunchtime slot.
🥇 Klæbo wins historic gold number six!
Men’s 50km mass start: Klaebo smiles and almost at a standhill crosses the line and immediately collapses in a heap. Nyenget gave it his best shot but seems happy with silver, and Iversen finishes third for a Norwegian clean sweep.
Men’s 50km mass start: And Klæbo pounces! Like a sports car, he accelerates up the hill, Nyenget has nothing left.
Men’s 50km mass start: Nyenget still has the lead – just. One big hill, legs somehow still swinging, slip, slop. They can hear the cowbells and cheers of the stadium. One km to go.
Men’s 50km mass start: Nyenget powers up the hill. But he can’t shake Klæbo off. They tuck into position down the hill with 2.2km to go.
Men’s 50km mass start: can Nyenget hold Klæbo off? Klæbo nestles comfortably on his shoulder, confident of his better finish.
Men’s 50km mass start: Saveily Korostelev is still in fourth following behind, as the Norweigians pile ahead, and Klaebo and Nyenget havenow broken away from Iversen, who stumbles and is now eight seconds behind.
Men’s 50km mass start: three slim limb red suits in a line. None has changed their skis throughout the race. They round a wooden chalet, digging their poles into the snow.
Men’s 50km mass start: as the Norweigians head into the wilderness, GB’s Andrew Musgrave is sixth at the bell.
Men’s 50km mass start: the three Norweigians start the final loop, nearly two minutes ahead of the rest. Klaebo is currently in third, but only by half a ski’s length.
An email drops, hello there John Donoghue.
“Looks like Christopher Lillis isn’t a Loser!”
Wasn’t that aerial perfection just the perfect riposte!
Bobsleigh: after that horrible crash, the fourth Austrian athlete has been stretchered away. Wishing him the very best in his recovery.
The action has restarted, with the Romanian quartet very pleased with their time. I can’t get my head around how difficult mentally it must be to go hard when you’ve seen a crash happen before your eyes. But these athletes are cut from granite.
Men’s 50km mass start: back to the muscle-melting endurance test, where it’s still a Norweigian one-two-three and Klaebo is is on the cusp of his sixth gold. There’s about half an hour to go.
GB’s Andrew Musgrave is busy in seventh, Joe Davies in 13th.
A bad wax job
Sweden’s biathletes have struggled to deliver medals at the Winter Games and on Friday they finally ran out of patience with their waxing team, blaming a bad job on their skis for an embarrassingly poor performance in the men’s mass start.
Usually counted among favourites in any biathlon event, the Swedes had a dismal day in the final men’s race of the Games, with Sebastian Samuelsson finishing 18th, Martin Ponsiluoma 21st and Jesper Nelin 26th in the 30-man field.
“The skis were the worst I ever had. They were crap,” a frustrated Samuelsson told Swedish TV after the race. “Today the glide from the skis was very bad … I’m here to fight for medals, but today I go without.“
Ski waxing is one of the most important elements of race preparation for biathletes and cross-country skiers, and getting the blend right for the combination of snow, temperature and altitude helps the athletes fly around the course, while getting it wrong makes it akin to skiing through treacle.
Reuters
Bobsleigh: worrying news from the sliding centre, where there has been a crash. The unfortunate Austrian team, piloted by Jakob Mandlbauer, hit a corner, toppled over and slid a fair section of the track on the side of the sleigh. We’re told that three members of the team got out but one is still being attended to.
🥇The USA take team gold in the aerials
Mixed team aerials: Christopher Lillis, who won Donald Trump’s ire after saying he was heartbroken over events in the US, nails the jump, punches the air, gets 117.19 and the gold goes to the USA! Switzerland take a surprise silver, and China must be content with bronze.
