Winter Olympics recap: Kamila Valieva misses figure skating podium; USA women's hockey loses in final

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Over the course of a few brief moments at the Beijing Olympics, the U.S. women's hockey team was defeated by Canada in the gold-medal game and Mikaela Shiffrin's frustration at the Winter Games continued after skiing out of a third event.

Marie-Philip Poulin scored two goals to help Canada build a 3-0 lead en route to a 3-2 victory over the U.S. Canada snatched gold back from the U.S. as the Americans failed to defend their Olympic crown from four years ago.

Shiffrin skied out in the slalom Thursday after losing her balance at gate 10. Shiffrin still has one last chance at a medal. She has said she plans to do the team event Saturday.

In women's figure skating, Russian gold medal favorite (and center of controversy) Kamila Valieva stumbled throughout her final performance and finished fourth.

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MEDAL COUNT: How each country is performing at the Winter Games

Kamila Valieva stumbles, misses out on medal

BEIJING — In a story full of shocking twists, this might be the one that nobody saw coming.

With a disastrous performance in her long program Thursday, Russian teenager and heavy gold-medal favorite Kamila Valieva dropped out of first place and all the way outside of medal contention, finishing fourth.

It was a shocking finale to a weeklong international saga. Valieva, 15, had been at the center of a media hurricane after news that she tested positive for a banned substance – and subsequent news that the Court of Arbitration for Sport would allow her to compete anyways.

Valieva sat stunned in the kiss-and-cry as her score was announced, and for several minutes thereafter.

Compatriots Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova ended up taking gold and silver, respectively, followed by Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, who won bronze.

– Tom Schad

USA men's curling team loses, relegated to bronze-medal game

BEIJING – There will be no “Miracurl on Ice,” Part 2.

The U.S. men’s curling team is out of contention for a second consecutive gold medal after losing its semifinal to Great Britain, 8-4, on Thursday night. Instead, it will play Canada in the bronze medal game on Friday.

“It’s hugely disappointing, but at the same time I was super proud of how we played and how we battled in the game," U.S. skipper John Shuster said. "I’m sure the disappointment will set in and it will feel worse, but I think honestly they’re a great curling team and they don’t make too many mistakes.”

Trailing 5-4 at the halfway mark, the Americans’ strategy was to string together blank ends in order to have the hammer late – and just as importantly keep it away from Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat, the top-ranked curler in the world.

A potential opportunity came in the ninth end when the board opened up for the Americans to pounce and potentially grab the lead. Instead, vice-skipper Chris Plys hit the guards with both of his throws – an utterly disastrous outcome – which essentially eliminated the possibility of the U.S. taking the lead.

At that point, Shuster could have drawn in for the tie, handing the hammer back to Great Britain for the 10th end. Instead, he chose to concede a point in order to keep the last stone advantage to potentially tie or win.

"The chance of winning against those guys tied without the hammer (is small)," Shuster said.

Despite those untimely mistakes in the ninth, Shuster did get a chance to knock Great Britain’s last stone out of the house and tie the game. Shuster has built a reputation in the Olympics as a big-shot maker, giving the Americans a little hope that he could make something happen again. This time, though, he missed on his attempt to run the guard back, sending the U.S. into the bronze medal game.

Shuster led the U.S. to bronze in 2006.

– Dan Wolken

Alysa Liu will be top finisher for US women

BEIJING – Alysa Liu ensured that she will be the top-finishing American woman at the Beijing Olympics after another relatively smooth program.

With an overall score of 208.95, Liu was sitting in first place at the conclusion of her program, ahead of compatriots Mariah Bell (202.30) and Karen Chen (179.93). There were still seven skaters remaining after Liu.

Liu, 16, is the youngest member of Team USA in Beijing. She attempted and cleanly landed a planned triple axel in her long program Thursday, but it appeared to be underrotated.

– Tom Schad

US figure skater Mariah Bell ends program on high note

BEIJING – Mariah Bell’s first Olympics ended on a high note.

The 25-year-old, and oldest U.S. women’s figure skater since 1928, put together a clean free skate the judges ruled a 136.2 to temporarily move into first place. But with 11 competitors behind her, finishing on the podium remains a longshot.

Bell’s first half went smoothly and her more difficult back end of the program was well-executed. Both triple lutz’s went according to plan for the 2021 U.S. national champion.

Coach Adam Rippon had his hands in the air for those big jumps and greeted her with a warm embrace as she stepped off the rink.

– Chris Bumbaca

US figure skater Karen Chen falls during short program, will not medal

BEIJING – A mistake-filled Olympics for Karen Chen has mercifully come to end.

Chen almost made it through her free skate without falling but took a hard spill toward the end on a triple loop, the same move she fell on in the short program two nights ago. Earlier in the skate, her hand touched the ground on the first triple loop, a jump she expressed confidence in Tuesday night – and described as a cornerstone of her performance.

Chen’s score of 197.93 temporarily placed her in fifth. She will not medal.

The 2018 Olympian also fell during the short program of the team competition, in which the United States still took silver, but stayed upright in the long program.

Chen, who finished fourth at the world championships ahead of the last two Olympics, skated to “Butterfly Lovers” by Takako Nishizaki. The 22-year-old is expected to return to Cornell University.

– Chris Bumbaca

While you were sleeping

The U.S. women's hockey team couldn't defend its 2018 gold medal triumph, and Mikaela Shiffrin skied out again. Here's what you missed overnight while you were sleeping:

• The Americans failed to defend their women's hockey Olympic crown from four years ago, falling to Canada, 3-2, in the gold medal game. Marie-Philip Poulin scored two goals as Canada snatched gold back from the U.S.

• In position to win her first medal in Beijing, Mikaela Shiffrin skied out in the slalom of the Alpine combined event. This was the third time that Shiffrin skied out of an event at these Olympics after also skiing out of the giant slalom and slalom.

• All four American freeskiers advanced to the Beijing Olympics final in qualifying, giving the country its best chance at a podium sweep. Aaron Blunck, the top-ranked skier in the world this year, qualified in first place. Olympic newcomer Birk Irving followed Blunck in third, while David Wise qualified fourth. Alex Ferreira, who won a silver medal four years ago, qualified seventh.

Team USA goaltender Alex Cavallini played on torn MCL throughout Winter Olympics

BEIJING — After the United States' third game of group play during the 2022 Winter Olympics, goaltender Alex Cavallini hinted at obstacles that almost prevented her from participating in the Beijing Games.

Asked to elaborate, Cavallini replied on Feb. 6: "We'll talk after the Olympics."

Now that the tournament is over, with the U.S. taking silver after a 3-2 loss to Canada on Thursday, Cavallini revealed she tore her MCL on Jan. 14 and wasn't sure if she'd make the trip to China with her teammates.

"(I) didn't even know if I was going to make it on the flight here," said Cavallini, still "numb" from the defeat. "So for me to be able to battle – all thanks to our (medical) staff, and for our coaching staff to believe in me and support me along the way."

— Chris Bumbaca

Team USA speedskater Brittany Bowe captures bronze medal in women's 1,000 meters

American Brittany Bowe, who has been dominant at the distance over the last three years, won the bronze medal in the women's 1,000 meters Thursday.

Bowe finished third in 1:14.61 behind gold medalist Miho Takagi of Japan and Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands. Bowe, who holds the world record in the 1,000, was 1.42 seconds behind Takagi.

Even though it wasn't the gold medal she was chasing, Bowe has had a special Games, carrying the flag for the U.S. team in the opening ceremony. The three-time Olympian also saw her friend and teammate Erin Jackson win gold in the 500 earlier in the week. Bowe finished first in the 500 at the Olympic trials last month. But she gave up her Olympic spot to Jackson, who slipped and didn’t automatically qualify for the Olympic team. The United States ended up getting another spot in the race, but Bowe’s act of sportsmanship resonated.

Before Bowe’s race, Jackson tweeted a photo of the two together: “You are a mentor. A friend. A teammate. A sister. Thank you for playing a huge part in my journey to gold.”

It's the second Olympic bronze for Bowe, who finished third in the women's team pursuit four years ago with Heather Bergsma and Mia Manganello.

US men have shot at sweep of medals with 4 skiers in halfpipe final

ZHANGJIAKOU, China — The U.S. men’s success in the halfpipe hardly came as a surprise, even if it did come with suspense.

All four American freeskiers advanced to the Beijing Olympics final in qualifying Thursday, giving the country its best chance at a podium sweep.

The veteran team, which is largely the same from Pyeongchang four years ago, entered these Games with every skier in the top eight of the International Ski Federation’s points list.

The final will be held Saturday.

– Rachel Axon

IOC optimistic NHL players will participate in 2026 Winter Olympics

BEIJING — International Ice Hockey Federation president Luc Tardif said Thursday he is optimistic NHL players will participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, though he wants an agreement reached further in advance than this time around.

The league, NHL Players’ Association, IIHF and IOC worked out a deal for the 2022 Games that was not announced until September. The NHL withdrew in late December after the omicron variant-fueled wave of the coronavirus pandemic caused mass postponements of games, making this the second consecutive Olympics without the world’s best hockey players.

Tardif said he would like an agreement more than a year in advance of the 2026 tournament. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press by email that league officials do not anticipate an issue reaching an agreement “on a relatively expedited basis.”

The NHL has not participated in the Olympics since 2014, ending a run of five appearances in a row dating to 1998. Players did not take part in 2018 because of disagreements over the costs of insurance and travel.

– Associated Press

US women’s hockey team falls to Canada in gold medal game, settles for silver

BEIJING — For more than a decade, the two constants of the United States-Canada women’s hockey rivalry have been the evenness between the two teams and Marie-Philip Poulin scoring goals in Olympic gold medal games.

Only one of those things was on display for most of Thursday’s gold medal contest at the Beijing Olympics, and it wasn’t parity.

Poulin scored twice and Canada snatched gold back from the U.S. in a 3-2 win, as the Americans failed to defend their Olympic crown from four years ago.

The pings from two shots that hit the post – one from Hannah Brandt in the first period, another off Alex Carpenter’s stick in the third – will haunt Team USA for the next four years. The two misses provided the difference in a game Canada mostly controlled, save for an inspired – and desperate – third-period effort from the U.S.

– Chris Bumbaca

Mikaela Shiffrin skis out in slalom run of combined, will not medal

BEIJING — Mikaela Shiffrin will need help from her team if she’s to win any medals at the Beijing Olympics.

In position to win her first medal in Beijing after finishing fifth in the downhill portion of the Alpine combined, Shiffrin skied out in the slalom Thursday after losing her balance at gate 10 and falling to her hip two gates later, less than 10 seconds into her race. The combined is a run each of downhill and slalom, with results based on overall time.

Shiffrin had Did Not Finishes (DNF) in the giant slalom and slalom, as well, skiing off the course after the fifth gate in the first run of each race.

The combined was Shiffrin’s last individual event in Beijing. She’d been expected to contend for multiple medals here, after winning three in her previous two Games, but her best finish was ninth in the super-G.

Shiffrin still has one last chance at a medal. She has said she plans to do the team event Saturday, which features head-to-head races in a single-elimination bracket.

– Nancy Armour

Carly Margulies reaches freeski halfpipe Olympic finals after missing two years with knee injuries

ZHANGJIAKOU, China – For a first competition in more than two years, dropping into an Olympic halfpipe isn’t a bad way to go.

Understandably U.S. freeskier Carly Margulies to felt some nervous, but after putting up a score that made her somewhat safe, the Olympic newcomer relaxed.

“It’s been a while since I felt that,” she said. “It’s definitely nerve racking, but as soon as I put that first run down it was all fun from there.”

Margulies’s career as been littered with knee injuries, seven in all over the last decade or so. The tally is four anterior cruciate ligament tears and five to her meniscus, two on her left knee and five one her right.

Within the past two years, Margulies, 24, has had four knee injuries, including as recently as December. After that one, she thought she might be done.

“I thought my career was over, but after surgery there was hope,” she said.

Margulies qualified based on International Ski Federation points she’d accumulated before she missed so much time with injury. After her December surgery, that left her just weeks to get ready.

She qualified in 10th on Thursday at Genting Snow Park, putting her in an Olympic final just months after she thought her career might be over.

“It’s surreal,” Margulies said, “but I honestly feels like it goes to show how much work I put in to get here and my ability to continue to show my skills on snow even though I haven’t been able to practice that much. It just makes me really happy that I haven’t lost anything.”

– Rachel Axon

Hilary Knight gives US women's hockey team hope

BEIJING — It’s looking like silver for the USA in women’s hockey.

Canada leads 3-1 after two periods. Marie-Philip Poulin netted her second goal of the game, knocking a rebound off Alex Cavallini’s right pad. But Hilary Knight at least gave the U.S. life with three minutes to go in the period with a shorthanded goal to bring the deficit back to two.

According to NBC Sports, the three-goal deficit during the second period was the largest in a Games since the teams first met at an Olympics in 1998.

In no surprise, the U.S. leads in shots, 24-17.

– Chris Bumbaca

IOC news conference gets political

BEIJING — A Beijing 2022 spokesperson made several overtly political statements Thursday at a joint news conference with the International Olympic Committee – which has for years stressed the importance of keeping politics out of the Games.

In a particularly notable exchange, a reporter asked IOC spokesperson Mark Adams about the organization's relationship with Anta, a sporting goods manufacturer that sources cotton from China's Xinjiang region. The U.S. government has determined that forced-labor camps in the region are used as part of the cotton supply chain.

When Adams finished answering the question, Beijing 2022 spokesperson Yan Jiarong jumped in.

"I feel obliged to make a very quick comment," she said in English, before continuing in Chinese. "I think the so-called forced labor in Xinjiang is lies made up by deliberate groups, and the relevant organizations have provided a large amount of facts to dispute that. And we are against the politicizing of sports. Thank you."

Then, a few moments later, Adams was asked to provide the IOC's position on forced labor camps in Xinjiang.

"I don't think it's particularly relevant to this press conference. It's certainly not relevant to the IOC," he said in part. "We are very, very concerned about protecting human rights within our sphere, which is within the Olympic Games, within the staging of the Olympic Games."

Yan then reiterated her stance.

"I think these questions are very much based on lies," she said through an interpreter.

Yan had also interjected earlier in the news conference, after Adams fielded a question involving the Olympic delegation from Taiwan – which, for political reasons, competes as "Chinese Taipei."

"What I want to say is that there is only one China in the world," she said. "Taiwan is an undividable part of China. This is a well-recognized international principle, and we are recognized in the international community."

These were hardly the first questions about hot-button issues that have been asked of the IOC and Beijing 2022 organizers since the start of the Games – though spokespeople had, until Thursday, largely gone to great lengths to avoid answering them directly.

When asked about Yan's political statements, in the wake of the IOC's long-standing stance that the Games must be apolitical, Adams demurred.

"There are many views on all sorts of things, around the world," he said. "But our job is to make sure that the Games take place, and the magic of the Games can happen, and that we can improve the world through sport."

– Tom Schad

Sofia Goggia leaves her skis for Mikaela Shiffrin

BEIJING — It’s gotta be the skis.

Mikaela Shiffrin put herself in position for a medal in the Alpine combined Thursday, skiing the fifth-best time in the downhill portion on Sofia Goggia’s skis. The Italian, the world’s best downhill skier, had left the skis for Shiffrin along with a note that said, “Fly Mika, you can.”

“I almost started crying,” Shiffrin said after the run, which left her 0.56 seconds off the lead. “I’m thankful I was able to get a feeling on those and, yeah, just tried to fly as best as I could.”

The combined is a run each of downhill and slalom, with final results based on overall time.

Though Shiffrin races downhill sparingly – she’s only done four races in the past two years – she only needs to be competitive in order to give herself a chance going into slalom, her specialty. Of the medal contenders, she had the best downhill time.

The two-time Olympic champion has had a rough go in Beijing, skiing off the course after the fifth gate in the first run of both the giant slalom and slalom, her two best events. Goggia had her own challenges just getting to Beijing – the Olympic downhill champion in 2018 shredded her knee in a Jan. 23 crash – and had expressed sympathy for Shiffrin.

After winning a silver medal in Tuesday’s downhill race, Goggia went a step further, leaving her skis for Shiffrin.

“They’re a pair of the skis she is currently training and competing on,” Shiffrin said. “She didn’t need them because she wasn’t competing (in the combined) here, so I was able to try them yesterday.”

Shiffrin had the fastest time in the downhill training Wednesday.

– Nancy Armour

Canada takes 2-0 lead on US in women's hockey gold-medal game

BEIJING — The U.S. is going to have to climb out of a two-goal hole to give themselves a chance at gold.

This was always going to be about the U.S. making the most of its chances on Canada goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens. Hannah Brandt missed a big one early, hitting the left post on an open net. Abby Roque couldn’t make anything on another chance later in the period.

A smart offsides challenge kept the game scoreless about seven minutes into the game, but Canada scored less than a minute later anyway to make it 1-0 anyway. Canada’s Sarah Nurse has now tied Hayley Wickenheiser for most points in an Olympic tournament with 17 (five goals, 12 assists).

With five minutes left in the period, familiar foe Marie-Philip Poulin struck again in the big moment. The Canadian captain has scored in four consecutive gold-medal games against the U.S., and her goal made it 2-0 after she swiped the puck from Kelly Pannek and put it past Alex Cavallini, who needs to step up and give her team a chance against a high-powered Canadian attack.

— Chris Bumbaca

Birthday girl Devin Logan fails to advance, but three US women make freeski halfpipe final

ZHANGJIAKOU, China — Devin Logan was hoping for more from her last Olympics, wanting her birthday to have more reason to celebrate.

But the three-time Olympian failed to advance through women’s freeski halfpipe qualifying at the Beijing Games on Thursday, finishing in 13th and one spot outside the final field.

Logan, who turns 29 today, has decided these are her last Game. While she has focused on halfpipe here, she long competed in that event and slopestyle and won a silver medal in slopestyle’s debut in Sochi in 2014.

“Definitely wanted more for myself. Being one out is always very difficult,” Logan said. “But this is my third Olympics, and I can say I even got here, which is a great achievement in my eyes. Of course I wanted more, wanted to showcase my skiing in the finals but you’ll be hearing me tomorrow cheering on the rest of the ladies.”

Logan’s American teammates all made the final behind China’s Eileen Gu, who was the top qualifier. Brita Sigourney, a bronze medalist four years ago, qualified eighth. Olympic newcomers Hanna Faulhaber and Carly Margulies qualified ninth and 10th, respectively.

Logan didn’t rule out a return to competition next season, but she does not plan to compete for another Games.

“Injuries, age, my body hurts. I’m all on Aleve right now and shoulder’s taped up,” she said. “You see the next generation pushing and it’s like, ‘OK, I think I left my mark and I think it’s going to be OK.’”

— Rachel Axon

US reaches men's curling semifinals, seeking second straight gold

BEIJING – The U.S. men’s curling team will have a chance to defend its gold medal after all.

With a 7-5 win over Denmark on Thursday morning, the Americans clinched the fourth and final spot in the medal round and will face top seed Great Britain in the semifinals. The game will start at 8 p.m. Thursday in Beijing or 7 a.m. ET in the U.S.

The Americans, led by skipper John Shuster, finished 5-4 in the round robin tournament but needed the final win to get into the semifinals. After a slow start, things turned in the third end when Shuster drew for two to tie the game. Then in the fourth, Shuster was able to set up the board for a potential steal and Denmark skipper Mikkel Krause missed everything with the hammer, giving the U.S. three points.

The Americans played smartly with the lead and never allowed Denmark a chance to put together a big end. The U.S. gave up two in the ninth end but still had the lead with the hammer going into the final frame and successfully knocked away every Denmark stone to close out the win.

Team Shuster shockingly won the gold medal in Pyeongchang four years ago, making the medal round with the same 5-4 record before upsetting Canada and Sweden to make history for the U.S.

— Dan Wolken

Rivalry resumes as US plays Canada for women's hockey gold

BEJING — It all comes down to this for the U.S. women’s hockey team in their quest to repeat as Olympic champions.

Standing in the way is rival Canada, for the fourth consecutive time in a gold-medal game. The 2018 gold marked the first for the U.S. since 1998, and if victorious on Thursday, it will be the first time the Americans repeat.

The United States outshot Canada 53-27 in a 4-2 preliminary-round loss nine days ago. Canada goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 51 shots and has been stellar all tournament. Meanwhile, Canada's offense has been historic; the Canadians' 54 goals scored in six games are an Olympic record. The U.S. is second in team scoring in Beijing with 28 goals here.

Alex Cavallini starts in goal again for the U.S. – she’s been between the pipes for all three playoff round games.

— Chris Bumbaca

Mikaela Shiffrin has combined medal in sight after solid downhill

BEIJING — Mikaela Shiffrin is in position for her first medal.

A clean run in the downhill portion of the Alpine combined left Shiffrin 0.56 seconds back and in fifth place behind Austria’s Christine Scheyer. But neither Scheyer nor the other skiers in front of Shiffrin are slalom specialists, giving the American a chance to make up ground Thursday afternoon.

Wendy Holdener, the bronze medalist in 2018, is 0.43 seconds behind Shiffrin while reigning Olympic champion Michelle Gisin is 0.44 seconds behind.

The combined is one run each of the downhill and slalom.

Shiffrin was in sixth place after the downhill four years ago, but had the third-fastest run in slalom as she claimed the silver medal at the Pyeongchang Olympics. Gisin was third in the downhill and fourth in slalom 2018, while Holdener was 10th in the downhill and first in slalom.

One of the best technical skiers ever, Shiffrin can afford to give up some ground in the downhill. But she has to at least be competitive and her experience in downhill has been sparse recently. She has done only four downhill races, the last coming the first week of December, and hadn’t even been on downhill skis in two months before the first training run Saturday.

“Every day that I get on this track and I’m able to take a run and just do a solid run, top to bottom, it gives me the chance to be a little more calm in my mind,” Shiffrin said after finishing 18th in the downhill Tuesday. “I tend to think way too much and that makes it hard to ski freely. But I can’t (ski freely). I have to think because I haven’t really practiced downhill in two years.”

Shiffrin was expected to contend for multiple medals in Beijing, but her best finish so far is ninth place in the super-G. She did not finish either the giant slalom or slalom, her best events, skiing off the course after the fifth gate in the first run of both races.

A medal in the combined would be Shiffrin’s fourth at the Olympics, tying her with Julia Mancuso for most by a U.S. woman. In addition to her silver from the combined, Shiffrin has golds in slalom (2014) and giant slalom (2018).

— Nancy Armour

Gold medalist David Wise overcame adversity to make it back to third Olympics

David Wise couldn’t know it as he lay atop an Austrian mountain feeling his hip move and his foot fall limply, but the broken femur wouldn’t just shape his skiing career.

The injury, the worst he’d endured, would alter how the two-time Olympic gold medalist saw himself, would change his relationships and would prepare him for the life-altering changes the coronavirus pandemic would bring months later.

Now, nearly three years later, the 31-year-old Wise takes the perspective that the adversity has given him and uses it to prepare for his third Olympics, where he will try to win his third consecutive gold in the freeski halfpipe. Qualifying is scheduled to begin at 11:30 p.m. ET.

“In some ways I felt like maybe breaking my leg kind of prepared me for the world to go crazy because I was going through so much on a personal side that I kind of developed this thankfulness to be alive, just a thankfulness for still being able to do what I wanted to do,” Wise said.

And his skiing, well, the lead-up to these Games hasn’t looked as dominant as it did in the past two quadrennia. But few would count Wise out, and his experiences in recent years have given him a new perspective.

“I’m less and less tied, in terms of identity, to a pair of skis,” Wise said. (Read the full story here.)

— Rachel Axon

Lipinski, Weir kept quiet while calling Kamila Valieva's short program

Typically NBC’s Olympic skating analysts Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir never stop talking. Their enthusiasm for the sport they both excelled in is their calling card — each triple axle described as a miracle of science, grace and beauty.

However, when Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva competed in the short program after failing a pre-Olympics drug test, they were uncharacteristically quiet.

Lipinski and Weir simply noted Valieva’s jumps from time to time, and their silence made the event unusually tense, even for such a high-pressure forum.

When Valieva was done, she broke down in tears. Weir said, simply, “All I can feel like I can say is that was the short program of Kamila Valieva at the Olympics.”

If you’ve watched any skating in the last few years, you know what a shock that is.

Beforehand Lipinski said, “I don’t know how many times over the past year I’ve said that she is the best figure skater I’ve ever seen, and just saying that now not only makes me confused, but it makes me angry, and again, I’m disoriented by everything that I thought I knew.”

After the end of the women’s short program, her score of 82.16 landed Valieva firmly in first place, though a well-known retired Olympic and world figure skating judge, who co-wrote the criteria for the program components on which the sport’s artistry is based and judged, told USA TODAY Sports' Christine Brennan that she should have finished third.

Afterwards Weir posted a short video on Twitter, calling it “the hardest event I’ve ever had to cover.”

The women's free skate is set for Thursday evening in Beijing (Thursday morning in the U.S.).

— Bill Goodykoontz

Mikaela Shiffrin seeks to conquer combined again

Mikaela Shiffrin has one final chance to take a medal home from Beijing, and she geared up for the Olympic combined by setting the fastest time in a downhill training session on Wednesday.

The combined, which adds the times from one downhill run and one slalom run, is scheduled to begin Thursday at 10:30 a.m. (9:30 p.m. ET) with the downhill portion. American Isabella Wright will be the first to ski first with Shiffrin scheduled to run ninth.

The two-time Olympic champion so far has failed to win a medal at the Beijing Games, skiing out in the giant slalom and the slalom – the two events she has gold medals in – and finishing ninth in the super-G and 18th in Tuesday’s downhill.

Shiffrin is the world champion in combined and also won silver in the event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.

The 26-year-old Shiffrin is far less experienced in the downhill but finished Wednesday’s training session 0.93 seconds ahead of Switzerland's Wendy Holdener, who won bronze in the combined in Pyeongchang, behind Shiffrin and Swiss teammate Michelle Gisin.

— Associated Press

Can Americans keep up with Eileen Gu in freeski halfpipe?

ZHANGJIAKOU, China – Eileen Gu’s last step toward a third Olympic medal during the Beijing Games starts with qualifying.

Gu, the American-born teen who competes for her mother’s native China, competes in the freeski halfpipe on Thursday. The top-ranked skier in the world in that event, Gu is looking to advance to Friday’s final and claim her third medal of these Olympics after capturing gold in big air and silver in slopestyle.

No freeskier has medaled in all three events, which recently joined the Olympic program with halfpipe and slopestyle being added in 2014 and big air first contested here.

Veteran U.S. skier Brita Sigourney enters the Olympics coming off a silver medal at X Games last month. The three-time Olympian took bronze in Pyeongchang four years ago

Olympic newcomer Hanna Faulhaber comes into the competition ranked fifth in the world and with two world cup podiums this season, along with X Games bronze last month.

Three-time Olympian Devin Logan, a silver medalist in slopestyle eight years ago, is competing in her final Games. And Carly Marguilies skies in her first Olympics.

— Rachel Axon

Women's figure skating comes down to free skate

With the short program in the rearview mirror, attention turns to the women's free skate and the medals that won't be awarded in figure skating following their completion if Kamila Valieva, who failed a pre-Olympic drug test, finishes in the top three.

But on the ice, the competition should still be fierce. The women's free skate event is expected to start at 6 p.m. Thursday in Beijing and 5 a.m. ET in the U.S.

Karen Chen, who is in the second of four groups, will be the first American to skate at approximately 6:47 a.m. ET. The third group features Americans Mariah Bell at approximately 7:23 a.m ET and Alysa Liu at approximately 7:46 a.m. ET.

The medals, though, are likely to be decided amongst the skaters in the fourth and final group, which begins around 8 a.m. ET. Valieva skates last of the six skaters in this group at approximately 8:49 a.m. ET.

Valieva was first in the short program, but a well-known retired Olympic and world figure skating judge, who co-wrote the criteria for the program components on which the sport’s artistry is based and judged, told USA TODAY Sports' Christine Brennan that she should have finished third.

Eileen Gu begins quest for Olympic medal trifecta

ZHANGJIAKOU, China – Eileen Gu knows she skis better under pressure.

Gu, who was born and raised in the United States but competes for her mother’s native China, won gold in the Olympic debut of freeski big air last week and took silver in slopestyle on Tuesday. Thursday, she'll begin her quest for a third Olympic medal when qualifying begins in freeski halfpipe.

“The trifecta has always been my biggest goal. It’s definitely lofty, but I know it’s something I can do.”

But the halfpipe is sure to carry a unique pressure for Gu.

Though she was born and raised in San Francisco, she decided in 2019 to compete for China. She has become the biggest star of these Games, beloved by the few fans selected to attend, and cheered by the Chinese press. She is ubiquitous in media, appearing in seemingly most commercials airing during Olympic competition.

She’s likely to face pressure again in finishing her trifecta, though it’ll be familiar. Gu won medals in all three events at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games as well as X Games and world championships in 2021 – winning two events in each of those competitions.

So Gu knows how to navigate this.

“My grandma's coming out today, so she's gonna watch me compete in halfpipe, which means the world to me,” Gu said. “She's never watching me compete before, so hopefully I can put on a good show for her.”

— Rachel Axon

Latest developments in Valieva doping case

An investigative website called The Dossier Center, published a document showing that Kamila Valieva took three legal substances: Hypoxen, L-carnitine and supradyn in additional to the banned heart medication trimetazidine.

Valieva's grandfather is part of her defense and saying that she might have been exposed to trimetazidine through him.

"The grandfather did not testify at the hearing," according to a brief synopsis in the document. "In his pre-recorded video (shot in a car), he claimed to use trimetazidine periodically when he suffered from 'attacks' and showed a packet of trimetazidine medication to the camera."

– Tom Schad

Team USA medal count rising

Heading into Thursday's action in Beijing, the United States sit fourth in the overall medal haul with 19, one ahead of Canada.

Norway leads the total medal count with 28, with 13 golds. The Russian Olympic Committee soared into second with 24 total medals, with Germany winning 20 medals so far, including 10 gold.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Winter Olympics recap: Kamila Valieva misses figure skating podium