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Beijing Olympics Quick Hits 02.17.22

2/17/2022

 

A Little Roundup

Jaclyn Narracott's road to a medal in Beijing 2022's skeleton included surpassing a concussion, 'maxed-out credit cards', and isolation.
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Jaclyn Narracott (Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock)
"There's no such thing as fear." Alpine skier Sofia Goggia wins a downhill silver medal on a 'torn ACL and broken leg'.

Team USA bobsledder Sylvia Hoffman 'defines stick-to-itiveness' as she maintains positivity in her Olympic journey.

'Mrs. Consistency' and bronze medalist Christine de Bruin is hopeful the monobob continues to spur gender and competitive parity.

A monobob medalist, Elana Meyers Taylor now focuses on what is likely her last-ever career bobsled race.

Bobsledder Montell Douglas is "honored" to be the first British woman to compete at both a Summer and Winter Olympics after switching from sprinting.

Courtney Sarault relfects on the highs and lows of her disappointing short track Olympic debut.

CNN.com: Snowboarder Maddie Mastro has been one of the 'Gen Z' athletes to leverage social media to drive hype and promotion at Beijing 2022.

Is the IOC somehow to blame for snowboarder Julia Marino's crash in the slopestyle event?

More CNN.com: Former child actor Su Yiming of China 'grabs Beijing 2022 limelight'.

Might figure skating great Yuzuru Hanyu attempt a fourth Winter Olympics at Milano Cortina 2026?

Who is Beverly Yi Zhu? Just a "normal girl trying to live out her Olympic experience and enjoy this time as a figure skater."

USA TODAY investigates: How do figure skaters select music for their programs?

Tabitha Peterson picked up a common injury amongst curlers...losing her voice.

Cross-country skier Katri Lylynpera and a leaky ceiling run afoul of China's strict public relations protocol.

Meet Samuel Ikpefan, Nigeria's cross-country skier with aims to continue to Milano Cortina 2026.

China was Olympic freeski aerials' most successful nation with nine medals...but Xu Mengtao added the first gold for # 10.

Meanwhile, was Team USA's aerialist Aaron Blunck muzzled for complimenting Beijing's hospitality?

How did a broken leg help freeskier David Wise prepare for his third Olympics over the last few years?

'Maverick' speed skater Nils van der Poel and snowboarder Ayumu Hirano found Olympic gold after taking a different approach to training.

How can USA Speed Skating build upon the excitement of Erin Jackson's gold medal performance?
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Erin Jackson (Ashley Landis/AP Photo)

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Beijing Olympics Quick Hits 02.16.22

2/16/2022

 

A Little Roundup

CNN.com: Why is Norway so good at the Winter Olympics?
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Team Norway enters the Opening Ceremony (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Figure skater Wakaba Higuchi reflects on her historic triple axel in the women's short program.

And 16-year-old skater Alysa Liu is focused on having 'the time of her young life' at these Games.

Eileen Gu's mother is getting some Olympics-fueled attention now, too. Why not? She helps her daughter win.

Retiring snowboarder Shaun White: Whatever happened to the 'Flying Tomato'?

Even more Zoi Sadowski-Synnott: Is she the next 'queen of global snowboarding'?

French snowboarder Lucile Lefevre closes her Olympic competition on a free-spirited note.

Mons Roisland won silver in snowboard big air...four years after a 'horrific' crash at the 2018 Olympics.

Carly Margulies has endured seven knee surgeries in her snowboarding career, and is on the cusp of her Olympic debut.

Freestyle aerialist Megan Nick hopes to inspire: "I just hope (Team USA's success) inspires kids around the nation to consider starting aerials".

Meanwhile, Australia's two aerials medal hopes Laura Peel and Danielle Scott have a reckoning with their disappointing runs.

Luger Mateusz Sochowicz pens an emotional social post as he leaves Beijing.

Cross-country skier Gus Schumaker 'shows how to struggle with grace' in a tough Beijing 2022 debut.

Being home to a quarter of the world's bobsled tracks is only just a part of why Germany is the dominant force in the sport.

Quentin Fillon Maillet is the first biathlete to win five medals in one Games. But keep an eye out for his one more event...and for Marte Osblu Roeiseland right on his heels...

Jarl Magnus Riiber tries to remain positive despite a very costly navigational error in his only individual Nordic Combined race in these Games.

Curler Matt Hamilton isn't just known for cool sneakers...he also has very long hair. There's a good reason.

Get to know Team Canada's Jennifer Jones: champion curler, legal advisor, and mother of two.

Ice hockey's Marie-Philip Poulin has lead Team Canada with "quiet confidence" to the gold medal match.

Meanwhile, USA TODAY asks, "What makes (Team USA's) Hilary Knight great?"

Magnus Hellberg is part of a handful of men's ice hockey players with pre-Olympic playing time in China.
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Magnus Hellberg (Andrea Cardin/HHOF-IIHF Images)

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Beijing Olympics Quick Hits 02.15.22

2/15/2022

 

A Little Roundup

Team Netherlands' victory in the short track women's relay inspired a tribute to a fallen teammate.
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Team Netherlands (stadiumastro.com)
Quentin Fillot Maillet's race to win biathlon pursuit gold included fighting the elements - in his rifle, too.

Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold heads home after a fitness scare in the women's biathlon pursuit.

Tom Daley who? Minnamari Tuominen knits away time when not on the ice for Team Finland ice hockey.

From the Associated Press: Asian-American female athletes at the Winter Games face unique challenges.

"Fricking hell, that was hard." Jamaica's Alpine skier Benjamin Alexander fulfills a dream, and finishes an Olympic race.

In that race, Slovenia's Zan Kranjec's bronze medal may be culmination to years of podium near misses.

Breezy Johnson: An injured skier watches the Olympics from afar.

Will Dave Ryding "risk it for the biscuit" and secure a medal for Team Great Britain in Alpine slalom?

How did Richardson Viano make it to the Olympics as an Alpine skier from Haiti?

Meet Strauss Mann - the Team USA ice hockey goalie with the paleo diet and 'weird' glasses.

Ashley Caldwell puta positive spin on the freeski aerials single competition despite a fourth-place finish.

RockerSkating.com goes deep into Nathan Chen's men's singles win in figure skating.

Will Shaun White stay involved in snowboarding in retirement? (paywall)

Snowboarder Chris Corning has big air podium goals, as well as plans to grow the sport.

Hear from Team Switzerland's two five-time ice hockey Olympians, Andres Ambuhl and Nicole Bullo.

Cornelius Kersten and Ellia Smelding aren't just Olympic speed skaters, they're coffee magnates, too.

Nils van der Poel: Does (perhaps) 'the best speed skater in the world' even like speed skating?
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Nils van der Poel (Douwe Bijlsma/BSR Agency/Getty Image)

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Beijing Olympics Quick Hits 02.14.22

2/14/2022

 

A Little Roundup

Who are some of the couples celebrating Valentine's Day at Beijing 2022?

"My key word for the day was to have fun." Eliot Grondin reflects on his silver medal performance in snowboard cross against mentor Alessandro Hammerle.
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Eliot Grondin (Leah Hennel/COC)
The Guardian: 'Old dogs' new tricks' was the key to victory in the debut of mixed team snowboard cross.

What was Ayumu Hirano's 'secret weapon' for winning his snowboard halfpipe gold?

With Olympic gold from Pyeongchang 2018, bobsled brakeman Justin Kripp is feeling less pressure to win at Beijing 2022 - but it's not stopping his drive.

Kaillie Humphries's monobob victory sees her "give back to a country that has adopted me, that has given me a longer career, and has given (her) a safe place to complete".

Five Winter Olympians were inducted into the World Olympians Association's 'Olympians for Life' program - Simidele Adeagbo (skeleton), Alain Calmat (figure skating), Clara Hughes (speed skating [and a track/road cyclist), Shiva Keshavan (luge), and Ban Sandford (skeleton) - recognizing their efforts to "help make the world a better place" beyond competition.

Figure skater Kamila Vasilieva (and Team [Russia]) gets a reprieve. No words...

What's next for figure skater Jason Brown after a star turn in Beijing? "I have no idea."

And what's next for skater Donovan Carillo? It's been 'a whirlwind'.

Freestyle skiing big air gold medalist Birk Ruud received congratulations from Karsten Warholm and Eileen Gu, but holds out hope for a message from DJ Khaled.

Alpine skier Maggie Lee took a determined approach to finishing her slalom run, and now is hailed as a prime example of the 'Olympic spirit'.

Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold given the medical all-clear after a dramatic collapse in the biathlon pursuit.

Andrew Heo made his Olympic short track speed skating debut in Beijing...what will he bring home?

Briana Decker may not be playing, but she's still impacting Team USA's women's ice hockey team.

A look at the "odd journey of China's Olympic men's hockey team".

Obscure 'first': Team USA's Nathan Smith is the first native Floridian to score an Olympic goal. (!)

Team USA can thank its underdog 'swagger' for its bye into the mens' ice hockey quarterfinals.

Gao Tingyu's gold-winning 500 meter run in speed skating wasn't just an Olympic record, it also led the first-ever podium in the event featuring three separate Asian nations.

Jaclyn Narracott's silver-medal performance in skeleton has 'taken Australia to new heights'.

Skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych: "Nobody wants war." Team Ukraine agrees.
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Vladyslav Heraskevych (NBC, via Associated Press)

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Beijing Olympics Quick Hits 02.13.22

2/13/2022

 

A Little Roundup

CNN.com: Why freestyle skier Eileen Gu is luxury fashion's dream model.
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Eileen Gu (Louis Vuitton)
Freestyle skier Maggie Voisin keeps the memory of her brother as she powers through competition.

Moguls skier Jaelin Kauf'delivered the love' as directed in her medal-winning run.

Freestyle aerials skiing contender Laura Peel will have an anxious observer in mentor Jacqui Cooper, a past Olympic favorite herself.

The New York Times reflects on the legacy of Vonetta Flowers, the first Black Winter Olympics gold medalist from Salt Lake 2002.

Kamila Valieva: Retired Team USA figure skater Adam Rippon weighs in.

The key to success for ice dancers Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson? Authenticity...

Biathlonworld.com: Can Marte Orte Roeiseland and/or Johannes Thingnes Boe win pursuit event golds?

Meanwhile, Erik Lesser gets a golden pin as the winner of the would-be biathlon mass start participants.

Matt Weston on Team Great Britain going medal-less in skeleton. "Questions need to be raised."

New Zealand rising Alpine skiing star Alice Robinson on her ill-fated super-G run: "It was the podium or the fence."

Alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin reflects on her Olympic races so far at Beijing 2022.

More fashion: New Team Canada outfitter lululemon draws the ire of fans of those iconic mittens.

"A pillar of Danish hockey", Frans Nielsen is in awe of Team Denmark's debut Olympic appearance.

"Truly Olympic level cheat": Was Fan Kexin deliberate in causing Alyson Charles' fall in short track speed skating?

Pyeongchang 2018's 'Garlic Girls' are ready to have fun in Beijing 2022's curling tournament.

The New York Times: Revisit Ayumu Hirano's remarkable gold medal performance in the half-pipe.

Beijing 2022's city big air venue draws awe from New Zealand star snowboarder Cool Wakushima.

Can Nick Goeper concentrate on slopestyle when his Cincinnati Bengals are playing in the Super Bowl?

If she wasn't already, Chloe Kim's repeat Olympic halfpipe gold has her as the face of snowboarding.
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Chloe Kim (Danielle Parhizkaran, USA TODAY Sports)

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