Opinion

Kamila Valieva silences noise for two minutes with classic skate at Winter Olympics – Best of Beijing

Updated 29/03/2022 at 12:51 GMT

The Kamila Valieva doping saga returned to the ice as the Russian 15-year-old delivered a mesmerising performance in the women’s singles short programme – and is now the favourite for gold in Thursday’s free skate. Elsewhere, Jarl Magnus Riiber had a horror moment that probably cost him gold and the Germans won again in a sliding sport. Oh, and the wait for a Team GB medal continues…

'Listen to the support she is getting!' - Crowd goes wild for Valieva as she returns to ice

BEST MOMENTS OF DAY 11

Brave Valieva

Former Olympic champion Tara Lipinski says it will “leave a permanent scar on our sport”. Ex-Italian figure skater admits it “creates an enormous precedent”. The USA have accused Russia of “systemic disregard for clean sport”.

Beijing 2022

IOC 'strongly condemns' Russia for breaking Olympic Truce

24/02/2022 at 14:58

But put aside your opinions for just a moment. At the heart of the biggest story in recent Winter Olympics history is a 15-year-old girl. She was barely known outside of skating circles less than fortnight ago, now she is the most spoken about woman in sport.

And yet despite the enormous pressure – and many people willing her to crumble – the teenager channelled the pain etched across her face into a performance that will take its place in Olympics history, however the final verdict in her doping scandal falls.

'She ticked all the boxes' - Valieva smiles as she leaves ice after routine

She received a brilliant reception from the fans inside the Capital Indoor Stadium before she summoned up a remarkable skate in the women’s singles, backed by Kirill Richter’s In Memoriam, to top the short programme ahead of Thursday’s decisive free skate.

There is no denying that she is a remarkable skater, a skater who for two minutes silenced the noise – aside from a wobble on the triple axel – to produce a classic pressure performance.

“Just beautiful. No she didn’t land the triple axel but there was so much there that reminded us of what a sensational skater she is,” said Simon Reed on Eurosport commentary.

“No wonder the emotion. Can you just imagine what she’s been through. And all through it just remember, she is just 15.”

'She's done things that others can only dream about' - Valieva prepares for routine

'He's taken the wrong course'

"I feel like a complete idiot. That mistake took 30 seconds. It destroyed a lot."

It’s hard to disagree with poor Jarl Magnus Riiber. Trapped indoors with Covid and unable to learn the course, the Norwegian Nordic combined star took a disastrous wrong turn to blow his gold medal hopes.

He boasted a 45-second lead when he accidentally dived right on a path that led to the finish, rather than the route that would send him back out for the second of four circuits. Although the correct route was across a small barrier, he elected to turn round rather than risk disqualification with a hop.

His error cost him 35 seconds. By the end of the race, he was eighth, 39 seconds down on winner Joergen Graabak. Had he not thrown it away, it’s hard to see how he wouldn’t have found those four extra seconds to stay out in front.

'He's missed!' - Shock as Riiber goes wrong way to throw away gold

Boring, boring Germany

Look Germany, we get it. You’re good at sliding. Let someone else have a turn.

The Yanqing National Sliding Centre again played host to German domination on Tuesday as the first one-two-three was recorded at Beijing 2022 in the two-man bobsleigh. Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis were the leading duo in black, red and gold as their nation’s ridiculous medal spree continued.

Germany won all four luge golds and both skeleton titles before adding their first bobsleigh title. However, they suffered the humiliation of finishing without a medal in the women’s monobob. Seriously, it’s just pathetic.

As you can see, we’re not at all bitter after Team GB’s much-hyped duo of Brad Hall and Nick Gleeson overcooked a late corner on the third run and ended up crossing the line on their side. To their credit, they recovered to feature in the fourth run and finished a commendable 11th. But we’re ready for a medal now please.

'There is the danger!' - GB's Hall and Gleeson suffer dramatic crash in bobsleigh

THREE TO WATCH ON WEDNESDAY

Alpine skiing – Men’s slalom (Run one 2:15 GMT, run two 5:45 GMT)

Happy Dave Ryding day!

No pressure, but we sort of need you to win a medal. The Rocket charged to Britain’s first World Cup win in Alpine skiing in January, fuelling fever that he could repeat the trick in Beijing.

He will of course face stiff competition from a host of names, including Norwegian duo Lucas Braathen and Sebastian Foss-Solevag and Germany’s Linus Strasser.

Short track – Women’s 1500m (from 11:30 GMT)

The last edition for thrills and spills on the ice!

Dutch superstar Suzanne Schulting will attack her third gold in the women’s 1500m, although Italy’s Arianna Fontana will hope to follow up her stunning win in the 500m.

There’s also medals up for grabs in the men’s 5000m relay and with one final chance to medal, we expect plenty of risky manoeuvres… and crashes.

Ice hockey – Women’s bronze medal match: Finland v Switzerland (11:30 GMT)

You’ll have to boot up discovery+ on two devices with the ice hockey running concurrently with the short track, but we promise you it will be worth it.

After a bizarre group stage which saw every team from Group A progress to the quarter-finals – and only two teams out of 10 bow out – we’re finally into the business end.

Finland and Switzerland only actually won one group game each out of four, but they eased through the last eight to set up a medal showdown.

BRIT WATCH

We’ve already hyped up Dave Ryding, but given we are desperate for a medal – any colour! – let’s mention him one more time. The first run of the men’s slalom is at 02:15 GMT, with the second run (assuming he is still in the mix) from 05:45 GMT.

Eve Muirhead’s rink (4-3) need to win their remaining two matches to have the best chance of reaching the semi-finals in the women’s curling. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the teams left to play are at the bottom of the table, with China (2-5) up on Wednesday (01:05 GMT) before their showdown with ROC on Thursday.

Bruce Mouat’s team (6-1) are already through to the semi-finals, but they can boost their seeding when they face ROC at 6:05 GMT.

And there’s a final chance in the short track speed skating as Kathryn Thomson bids to salvage a disappointing Games. She goes against Schulting in the women’s 1500m quarter-finals from 11:30 GMT. Can she reach the final? And maybe medal?

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