Beijing 2022: Top moments to remember so far
Historic new feats have been landed and world records broken. Nations have recorded Olympic firsts. Veterans have pulled off unimagined feats. At the halfway mark, there are loads of great moments from Beijing 2022 that are already set to live in the memory. Here are 10 you may have missed.
Clarey defies his years to take downhill silver
“One minute before the start, this is the only moment I felt good,” said Johan Clarey. And that was all it took for the 41-year-old Frenchman to claim silver and become the oldest ever alpine skiing medallist at an Olympic Winter Games. After standing on the podium in the sport's classic event, Clarey unsurprisingly said the record was not uppermost in his mind. “It's an Olympic medal and this is the best feeling.”
Italy's curling first
Italy had never won a curling medal before. Then along came Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner to claim 11 wins from 11 matches and a gold medal. “Our goal was to make the playoffs and that would have already been a dream," said Mosaner. "Then, once we made the playoffs, a medal became a dream and our goals changed again: first we wanted to win the semi-finals, and we did it. After that, we wanted to win gold and we did it too.” Now the pair aim to defend their mixed doubles title at their home Games, Milano-Cortina 2026.
Chen heading for the skies
It’s hard to tell whether Nathan Chen was happier about the world-record score he set in the men's single's figure skating short programme or being congratulated on his gold medal by Sir Elton John. Chen skated to music from John’s hit Rocket Man in the free programme. In the short programme, the American chose the nostalgic La Boheme by Charles Aznavour. But, at 22, Chen is definitely on an upward trajectory. He landed a quadruple flip and quad Lutz-triple toe in combination on his way to a score of 113.97, the highest short programme score ever. That wiped out memories of his disappointing short programs at PyeongChang 2018. "I'm just elated," Chen said.
Like father, like son
"When I think about it, all the pictures and the gold medal of my father, it's hard for me not to cry. It's just a dream coming true." So said Johannes Strolz, after winning gold in the men’s alpine combined, just as his father Hubert did at Calgary 1988. They are the first father-son combination to win gold in the same event. Strolz junior had been dropped from the Austrian national team last year after series of poor results. And in the slalom he was forced to borrow a pair of skis. "I think I'm a good example of never giving up,” he said.
Canadians make history with Slovenian support
Canada's first ever Olympic medal in ski jumping was all the sweeter as the team had to move to Slovenia to pursue it. The quartet of Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, Alexandria Loutitt, Matthew Soukup, and Abigail Strate claimed bronze in the ski jumping mixed team event, with an overall score of 844.6. “I think it’s as sweet as a medal can come,” said 20-year-old Strate. But for 30-year-old Boyd-Clowes, it was perhaps just slightly more special. “I’ve been doing this a long time. I never thought this was possible so it means everything.”
Sadowski-Synnott soars for New Zealand's first gold
This was the Olympic moment that almost didn’t happen. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott went huge on a 1080 double cork on her last jump in the snowboard slopestyle final. “When I when I took off on that jump, I was like, 'I have cooked this. This is the gold slipping away,’" she said. "But I've done that trick so many times that I was able to adjust." The Kiwi's split-second elasticity in the air brought New Zealand its first ever Olympic Winter Games gold medal. Sadowski disappeared under a pile of her competitor’s bodies. "I wouldn't say I'm humble," Sadowski said afterwards. "I've gotten a pretty big head after this.”
Van der Poel – the Swede for speed
Nils Van Der Poel provided two memorable moments for the price of one speed skater. The Swede won the 5,000m in an Olympic record time, somehow clawing back two seconds from the Netherlands' Patrick Roest in the last two laps. Then he broke his own world record to add gold in the 10,000m. The two years he spent away from speed skating after PyeongChang 2018 seem to have had a magical effect. “This was the main goal when I started three years ago," he said. "It turned out a lot better than I could have ever imagined."
Childhood dream arrives at last for Hermann
Germany’s Denise Herrmann won bronze at Sochi 2014. Now 33, she might have wondered if that would remain an Olympic highlight. Yet, thanks to her dead eye on the shooting range, she took gold in the biathlon 15km individual event. "It's a dream you have as a child,” she said, “and the dream came true today. It's unbelievable."
Hirano channels anger to pinch gold
The world was looking at Shaun White. But Hirano Ayumu somersaulted his way right past snowboard’s retiring master with a trick not in White’s repertoire. The 23-year-old from Japan wrested the gold from Scotty James in the very final run of the halfpipe competition. He laid down that triple cork again. And added a huge 1440. "I did what I wanted to do right at the end,” he said. He later told us that skateboarding at the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021 helped him with the Beijing 2022 win.
Gold begets gold for Irene Schouten
It’s amazing what winning one gold medal can do for you. According to speed skater Irene Schouten, her 3000m gold on Saturday 5 February was the key to her 5000m gold on Thursday 10 February. “On the 3000m there was a lot of pressure and on the 5000m I was more like, 'I have the Olympic gold, now I can just skate fast,'” she said. Fast it was – she broke the 20-year-old Olympic record by three seconds.