I think I have perforated eardrums from some of the exaltations – it’s a very vocal sport, and they certainly mic them up. Italy just blew the Aussies away with a three-point end, and now lead 7-3. Meanwhile, Great Britain have romped away to an 8-3 win over the Czechs – a cakewalk.
We’re just 15 away from the start of the women’s cross country. The Swedes Frida Karlsson Charlotte Kalla are the hot pops, along with Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva and Norway’s Therese Johaug. These are some of the best endurance athletes in the world, and the sheer state of the competitors at the finish gives some indication as to what a lung buster it is.
A right royal shoeing in the women’s ice hockey match between Canada and Finland, with Canada walloping them 11-1. Sarah Nurse and Brianne Jenner both scored hat-tricks for the winners.
The Aussies are down 1-3 against the unbeaten Italians and nearly square things up but over-curled, jammed things up, and split the points – leaving things delicately poised at 2-3. I think I vaguely got the lingo right there.
The Victorian unleashes a scintillating run to go top in qualifying for the Women’s Moguls. She even pipped the peerless Frenchwoman Perrine Laffont, a former gold medallist. Commentary, rather curiously, is being provided by former cricketer Dirk Nannes.
I already feel like I’ve ruptured about 6 ACLs watching this. It’s a brutal caper and the conditions look nasty. America’s Olivia Giaccio shot on to the early lead but 17-year-old Kumi Yamamiku just rocketed into first place with a blazing run. “Great absorption,” said the commentator, and The Guardian concurs wholeheartedly. Aussie Britteny Cox is currently fifth.
Things haven’t gone the way of Australia’s curlers thus far. It not exactly a sport the occupies centre stage in the public consciousness, but it’s attracting its usual cohort of the curious and the bewildered. The Aussies were well beaten by the husband and wife pair of Norwegians, but they’ve gone down by a solitary point in four other games, so they’re not far off the mark. They take on the Italian pair shortly.
Young New Zealander Zoi Sadaowski-Synnott was the standout in the women’s Slowslope Snowboard qualifiers, with a top score of 86.75. The course is designed with Great Wall motifs, but proved the blustery conditions wrought havoc. Reigning double gold medallist Jamie Anderson struggled by her lofty standards, qualifying fifth. “I felt really pissed after my last run,” she said.
a shoutout from Richard Woods, an expat living in China…
“Thanks for the coverage. I’m strapped in. I was really hoping to get to a day or two of the games, as I live only a short train journey away from Beijing, but work and the Covid-inspired rules about inter-provincial travel have put paid to that. Lackaday. Ah well – bring on the tea-trays, yard brushes and Jamaican bobsleighers!”
For our Australian readers, there’s several other locals in action on my watch, including Seve De Campo in the Cross Country skiathon and Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill in the Mixed Doubles Curling. Several hours ago, they met their match against the Norwegians, who were bronze medallists four years ago, but back up again against Italy shortly.
The Opening Ceremony is done. It’s cold. The Bird’s Nest has been lit up. Political tensions are high. An Uyghur cross country skier lit the cauldron. With over 100,000 of his troops marshalling on the Ukraine border, Vladimir Putin, not a man to be trifled with, is in town. Beijing has become the first city to host both a summer and winter Olympics. The slogan of the 2022 Games is “together for a shared future”. Incidentally, that’s also the slogan of this Guardian live blog. It’s being presented, at least for this first shift, from Melbourne, Australia, not a city renowned for its snow sports, but an Olympic city nonetheless. Today we have curling, snowboarding, speed skating, cross country skiing and biathlon, among others. Strap yourselves in for the next five hours, as I endeavour to demonstrate a modicum of knowledge about the various sports on offer.
