Olympics Live: Austria’s Haemmerle wins men’s snowboardcross
BEIJING (AP) — The Latest on the Beijing Winter Olympics:
___
Alessandro Haemmerle of Austria held off Canada’s Eliot Grondin in a photo finish to win the men’s snowboardcross at Genting Snow Park.
The 20-year-old Grondin made it close by almost diving toward the finish line with his board. It wasn’t enough to overtake Haemmerle, who took home a medal — gold at that — in his third Olympics. Omar Visintin of Italy took home the bronze.
This was the first men’s Olympic snowboardcross race not won by either Seth Wescott or Pierre Vaultier. The retired racers cleared the stage for Haemmerle’s win.
Jake Vedder wound up sixth as a late injury replacement for the United States. He took the place of Alex Deibold, who suffered a head injury in a crash during qualifying at a World Cup event leading up to the Olympics and couldn’t compete.
___
Austrian skier Johannes Strolz won the Olympic gold medal in the Alpine combined race 34 years after his father did the same.
The 29-year-old Strolz was fourth fastest after the downhill run but he was half a second quicker than anyone else in the slalom. He edged first-run leader Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway by 0.58 seconds. Jack Crawford of Canada took bronze.
The combined adds the times from one downhill run and one slalom run.
Strolz’s father won gold in combined at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Hubert Strolz also won silver in the giant slalom that year.
Kilde won his second medal of the Beijing Games. He also took bronze in the super-G on Tuesday.
___
Figure skater Nathan Chen has won gold, joining an exclusive club of U.S. Olympic champions in the sport and capping a four-year journey that started after his medal hopes were dashed at the Pyeongchang Games.
The 22-year-old’s win in Beijing will make him the seventh U.S. men’s skater to step atop the podium. Chen delivered a rousing performance of his “Rocketman” free skate, drawing cheers from the limited crowd of spectators.
Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno won silver and bronze, respectively.
In Pyeongchang, Chen was taken out of medal contention after delivering what he called a “disastrous” short program. Afterward, he worked relentlessly with coach Rafael Arutyunyan to strengthen every aspect of his figure skating. His path back to the Olympics included three straight world titles and his sixth national championship.
Then earlier this week, Chen vindicated his disappointing performance from four years ago with a record-shattering short skate that put him nearly 6 points ahead of his next closest challenger.
Long-time rival Yuzuru Hanyu, the two-time defending Olympic champion from Japan, came into the free skate with a deficit so great that not even his planned quad axel in the free skate – which he missed – would’ve made up for it. He finished in fourth place after falling in his attempt to become the first figure skater to land the quad axel in competition.
American Vincent Zhou, who competed with Chen in the team event, withdrew after testing positive for COVID-19.
___
Italian standout Sofia Goggia has decided not to enter the super-G race at the Beijing Olympics as she works her way back from a crash last month. She is still hoping to defend her downhill title on Tuesday.
The powerhouse Italian team says its four starters for Friday’s super-G are Federica Brignone, Marta Bassino, Elena Curtoni and Francesca Marsaglia.
Brignone, Curtoni and Goggia are 1-2-3 in this season’s World Cup super-G standings. Goggia won two races in the discipline this season. But she also sprained her left knee, partially tore a cruciate ligament, had a “minor fracture” of the fibula bone in her leg, plus some tendon damage, after the crash in a super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Jan. 23.
___
Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu fell on his attempt to become the first figure skater to land the quad axel in competition, then fell again on a quad salchow during what could be the two-time gold medalist’s final Olympic performance.
Hanyu has toyed with the 4 1/2-rotation jump for months, and the 27-year-old Japanese star viewed it as not only a jump to keep him enthused about skating but also one that could even the playing field with Nathan Chen.
His longtime American rival, while playing with the quad axel in practice, has never seriously considered it for competition.
The Winnie-the-Pooh-loving Hanyu, whose difficulties in his short program left him out of the final group for Thursday’s free skate, finished the rest of his performance without any other problems. But those miscues alone were enough to dash his chances of earning a medal at the Beijing Games.
___
Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian superstar expected to deliver her nation its third straight Olympic gold medal in women’s figure skating, practiced Thursday, hours after reports that she tested positive for a banned substance.
Valieva tested positive for a banned heart medication before the Beijing Games, the Russian newspaper RBC reported.
The sample was reportedly obtained before Valieva won the European championship last month in Estonia, a performance that solidified her status as the leader of Russia’s “quad squad” of elite women’s figure skaters headed to Beijing.
It’s unclear if Russia is appealing or fighting the result. Her appearance at practice implies that the federation isn’t accepting the ruling.
A positive test could cost Russia the gold medal from the team competition and threaten Valieva’s chance to win the individual competition that starts Tuesday. She is the heavy favorite.
___
American Chloe Kim has won gold in the women’s halfpipe at the Beijing Olympics.
She turned in a strong opening run as she easily defended her Olympic halfpipe title.
The last rider to drop into the halfpipe, and the contest already over, the 21-year-old American still attempted to go big one last time.
She fell, quickly got back up and casually glided the rest of the way down the halfpipe Thursday as the Olympic champion. She greeted her fellow medalists at the bottom with an embrace.
The only real drama was for second place, with 32-year-old Queralt Castellet of Spain taking silver at her fifth appearance at the Olympic Games. Sena Tomita of Japan held off Cai Xuetong of China for bronze.
No one was matching Kim’s height or demanding array of tricks. Not after an opening performance that featured a variety of different spins and rotations, including a front and backside 1080 (three spins each). That flawless run even appeared to surprised her as she covered her mouth in excitement. She later told her coach it was the best one she’s done.
___
There are zero Americans entered in the men’s Alpine combined skiing race at the Beijing Games, the first time in Olympic history that event will take place without at least one U.S. representative.
Thursday’s race only has 27 total entrants from all countries, compared to 43 for the downhill and 47 for the super-G earlier in the week.
A spokesperson for the U.S. ski team said the original plan was to enter super-G silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle and Bryce Bennett in the combined, which adds the times from one downhill run and one slalom run.
But Bennett, who is from California, tweaked his back before finishing 17th in the super-G on Tuesday and is headed home.
Cochran-Siegle, who is from Vermont, decided to train in giant slalom ahead of that event, which is scheduled for Sunday.
At least one U.S. man has been in the Alpine combined at each of the previous 11 Winter Games where it was held. It was off the schedule between the 1948 and 1988 Olympics.
___
Donovan Carrillo has completed his free skate at the Beijing Olympics. He’s the first athlete from Mexico ever to advance to the final round of an Olympic figure skating competition.
The country hasn’t had an Olympic skater at all in three decades.
In Beijing, Carrillo is one of 33 athletes from nine Latin-American teams. And he’s the only one of the four athletes representing Mexico who stayed in the country to nurture his talents.
He was in fourth place after the first group of six at the men’s free skate, with a total score of 218.13.
___
Chloe Kim grabbed the lead after the first run of the women’s halfpipe as she tries to defend her Olympic title.
Kim performed two 1080s, three spins, and was so ecstatic over her performance she covered her mouth following her finish. She had the highest amplitude of any rider.
Her score of 94 topped Sena Tomita of Japan. In third place after the first run was Cia Xuetong of China.
There are three runs and the winner is whoever has the best score on any of the runs.
___
Olympic figure skating favorite Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned heart medication before her arrival at the Beijing Olympics, the Russian newspaper RBC reported, putting in jeopardy the team gold medal that she helped win earlier this week.
The sample was reportedly obtained in December, when the 15-year-old Valieva was still in Russia but did not come to light until after she had helped her team win the gold medal with dynamic performances in her short program and free skate.
The drug, Trimetazidine, is used to to treat angina — a type of chest pain marked by reduced blood flow to the heart — and is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency as a stimulant. It is the same drug that was involved in a Russian bobsled case at the 2018 Olympics that ended in a settlement and an athlete accepting an eight-month ban.
It is unclear whether Valieva has any heart problems.
—-
