Olympia 2022: That was the fifth Olympic night in China

At the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, Germany missed out on a gold chance in women’s slalom: Lena Dürr surprisingly led after the first round, but ended up only fourth. US alpine star Mikaela Schiffrin experienced another debacle in the competition. The German snowboarder Leilani Ettel reached the halfpipe final, while combiner Terence Weber still has to stay in the corona quarantine.

slalom

The German ski racer Lena Dürr missed a gold medal in the slalom. After her first run, the 30-year-old was 0.03 seconds ahead of Michelle Gisin from Switzerland and 0.12 seconds over Sara Hector of Sweden, who became Olympic champion in giant slalom on Monday. In the second round, however, Dürr ran too slowly and ended up only fourth, only 0.07 seconds behind the bronze winner Wendy Holdener from Switzerland. Gold went to Petra Vlhova from Slovakia. Katharina Liensberger from Austria won silver.

US superstar Mikaela Shiffrin, on the other hand, experienced the next debacle. After her early exit in the giant slalom, she made a mistake in the first run of the slalom and was already out after a few goals. It’s not the end of the world,” said the 26-year-old in tears. “But I think I have to question a lot now.”

snowboarding

The German snowboarder Leilani Ettel has reached the Olympic final in the halfpipe discipline. The 20-year-old from Pullach in the Isar Valley finished eleventh in Wednesday’s qualifying for Thursday’s finals. “A dream has come true. I can’t even put it into words,” said the freestyler about “the greatest success” of her career. So far Ettel has never jumped into the top ten in this World Cup season. She just wanted to enjoy the finale of the top twelve – “and offer a great show,” as she said.

quarantine

The German Nordic combined athlete Terence Weber is not yet allowed to leave the corona-related quarantine. This is what team doctor Stefan Pecher said on Wednesday in Zhangjiakou. Weber’s values ​​would have deteriorated a little again. “We hope that he will reach a level today so that he can join the team again tomorrow,” said Pecher. Weber, like Olympic champion Eric Frenzel, had tested positive for the virus when entering China. According to Pecher, Eric Frenzel’s values ​​have improved significantly, so that one hopes to be able to get the 33-year-old to start next week. Both athletes were not an option for the individual this Wednesday.

infected

Five other participants in the Winter Games in Beijing and thus fewer than ever since the start of recording on January 23 have been infected with the corona virus. As the organizers announced on Wednesday, three of the positive cases were discovered the day before in people arriving at Beijing Airport. In the closed Olympic bubble, two infected people were added. The German Olympic Sports Confederation also reported a positive test among the team members who had just arrived in Beijing on Tuesday. In total, more than 70,000 tests were carried out on Tuesday. The total number of infected has risen to 398 since January 23. The trend in newly infected people has been pointing downwards for days.

big air

The Norwegian Birk Ruud is the first Olympic champion in the ski freestyle discipline Big Air. Even before his last of three attempts, the 21-year-old frequent starter was the winner, completed his third jump with the national flag in his hand and then hung it in the outrun around the shoulders. Second was the American Colby Stevenson, the Swede Henrik Harlaut won the bronze medal. At 30, he was the oldest participant in the field.

doping penalty

Russia’s former figure skating star Yevgeny Plushenko says his country’s limited participation in the Winter Games without an anthem and flag should be lifted immediately. The Olympic champion from 2006 and 2014 told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. The athletes would carry the flag in their hearts anyway, the anthem was present in their thoughts. These restrictions could therefore be lifted immediately, “but then you can see how far politics has an influence on sport,” said the 39-year-old Plushenko. Russia was initially banned from the Olympics for four years by the World Anti-Doping Agency for repeatedly covering up doping. The Court of Arbitration for Sport had reduced the ban to two years. The sentence ends at the end of the year.