Winter Olympics: Where are Yuzuru Hanyu's fans now? Can Ester Ledecka do the double-double? – Best of Beijing

Yuzuru Hanyu has it all to do in the men’s figure skating singles after a disastrous error/unfortunate hole (take your pick) ruined his short programme as Nathan Chen took control. Meanwhile, Ester Ledecka added to her Olympic legacy with another parallel slalom title as she eyes a mad double-double on her snowboard and skis. Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+

BEST MOMENTS OF DAY 4

Hanyu lets down Team Fanyu

Anyone heard from the Fanyus? The passionate and ultra-defensive supporters of Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu were stunned into silence after their man dropped a howler in the short programme to derail his hopes of a third Olympic title on the spin. Instead of dropping a quadruple salchow with his opening jump, the two-time singles champion barely propelled himself off the ice – rotating just once in the air rather than the expected four.

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In his defence, Hanyu insisted that his skate was caught in a small hole in the ice, denying him a perfect take-off. "When I took off, I (stepped) in some hole - maybe, some other skater was doing a toe loop, or a flip, I don't know. But I was on a hole, so I couldn't take off for the first jump," Hanyu said.

As he wilted, Nathan Chen – the three-time world champion and likely successor to Hanyu’s Olympic crown – produced a world record display to sit on 113.97 points heading into Thursday’s free skate. Hanyu is down in eighth, a whopping 18.82 points off his rival and over 10 points adrift of the podium.

But before the Fanyus get too upset, there is still hope as this article explains…

Watch Chen's spellbinding world record figure skating routine at Beijing 2022

The double-double flame is lit

Imagine being so good at a sport that you can just rock up at the Olympic Games after spending your preparation perfecting another discipline instead. That’s basically what Ester Ledecka has done this year, regularly ditching her favoured snowboard in pursuit of a sequel to one of the greatest stories in Olympic history.

It's working so far. The Czech star, who had only competed in TWO elite snowboard events since March prior to touching down in China, blew away the competition to win the parallel snowboard title. To underline her dominance, she finished 2.57s ahead of second place in the elimination run which determined the knockout seedings. The gap between second and 16th? 2.64s.

Now Ledecka moves onto skis. She became the first athlete ever to strike gold on two pieces of equipment at the same Olympics in 2018 and with part one of her repeat mission completed on Monday, she now has two cracks at replicating her heroics from South Korea. Ledecka next competes in the super-G (Feb 11) and then in the downhill (Feb 15).

Anyone writing off her super-G success four years ago, which came on skis borrowed from Mikaela Shiffrin, would do well to remember that she claimed her first Alpine World Cup podium in January and arrives on the back of a series of top 10 finishes. It could feasibly happen again, although we don’t suppose Shiffrin will be quite as accommodating with the free skis this time around.

'What an athlete, remarkable!' - Dominant Ledecka wins third Olympic gold

Elsewhere…

Italy completed their perfect mixed doubles curling campaign by winning a deserved gold, Eileen Gu delivered a sensational gold for China in the freeski big air with a trick she claims she had never attempted before, and Natalie Geisenberger won her third straight individual luge title and her fifth Olympic gold.

‘I am not crying, you are!’ - Gu claims gold medal on home snow

IN OTHER NEWS

The great thing about being a criminal is you don’t actually have to be innocent – you just have to convince a jury you are.

It turns out it’s the same with sport. Despite China’s Song Qiwu producing an underwhelming jump in the mixed team ski jumping, she was bizarrely given a set of perfect 20.0s from the judges, who appeared to be wooed by something none of us could see.

Bizarre moment Chinese ski jumper gets perfect score despite poor jump

Sadly for Song, it was later confirmed to be a technical error.

THREE TO WATCH ON WEDNESDAY

• Alpine skiing - women’s slalom (first run from 02:15 GMT, second from 05:45 GMT)

Is this the day we finally get the proper showdown between Mikaela Shiffrin and Petra Vlhova?! We’ve been waiting for it for months but the giant slalom disappointed when Shiffrin crashed out and Vlhova underperformed.

Now they go head-to-head in the slalom. Vlhova edges Shiffrin over the World Cup season, with the Slovakian recording five wins in the discipline so far and the American taking two victories. Just give us the final we’re all craving…!

• Snowboard halfpipe qualifying (women’s from 01:30 GMT, men’s from 04:30 GMT)

No medals on offer, but instead we get the entry of two huge stars in halfpipe qualifying.

Shaun White has three Olympic gold medals, more than any other snowboarder, and the legend has already confirmed this will be his last Games. Now 35, the American only just sneaked into the team after missing several attempts to qualify - but his experience will still be huge in the competition.

Chloe Kim could easily overtake White as the greatest Olympic snowboarder ever and after winning halfpipe gold at PyeongChang 2018, she begins her bid to retain the title. Kim has spoken openly about how fame came as a bit of a shock, but since winning in South Korea she has won back-to-back world titles.

• Ice hockey - men’s preliminary round

The world-leading NHL pulled its players out of the competition because of concerns over Covid…wait, come back! Yes, teams have had to be creative with their rosters - but there is still plenty to look forward to.

Canada have gone for the age-old classic of mixing experience with youth, calling up six-time NHL All-Star Eric Staal, now 37 but already an Olympic gold medallist from Vancouver 2010. He joins hot prospect Owen Power, the number one pick in the entry draft in 2021, but earning his trade for now outside of the top league.

The USA have mostly called on college players, but don’t think of the Mighty Ducks. They include two top five-picks in the last two NHL drafts in forwards Matty Beniers and Jake Sanderson.

The Russians are the reigning champions and they can call upon Vadim Shipachyov - the top scorer in the KHL, Europe’s top league and the second strongest in the world. Finland should also be watched, especially as they are able to call upon NHL veterans like Markus Granlund.

The highlight on day one features the Russian Olympic Committee beginning their title defence against Switzerland (0840 GMT).

BRIT WATCH

This is the big one - it’s Charlotte Bankes day. Not to put too much pressure on the snowboarder, but the boardercross world champion is easily Britain’s best chance for gold in Beijing, albeit in one of the most unpredictable sports.

Since switching from France, who she has represented at the last two Games, Bankes has been in the form of her life. She goes into the Olympics on the back of three World Cup wins from six attempts, but will have to negotiate a seeding run and three knockout rounds to get to the final (approx 0750 GMT).

The only problem - if one snowboarder goes down, all of them can go with them..

Away from Bankes, it’s a quiet day for Team GB with the curlers taking a day off - but short-track speed skater Kathryn Thomson goes in qualifying for the 1000m and Farrell Treacy lines up in the quarter-finals of the 1500m.

World champion Bankes claims second snowboard cross World Cup victory of weekend

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Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+

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