Saturday as it happened: Alpine glory for Goggia and Kilde as Asia has say in Steamboat snowboarding
Defending Olympic champion Soffia Goggia and Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde both won alpine ski gold (a second for each in the space of two days) while Asian riders dominated the big air snowboard contest in Steamboat Springs. Join Olympics.com for a recap of all the winter sports action from Saturday.
The winter season continued with a full day of Nordic combined, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, bobsleigh, freestyle skiing, and snowboard action on Saturday (4th December).
Read on for a recap of all the action.
Alpine Skiing: Double Joy for Goggia and Kilde
Sofia Goggia, defending women’s downhill Olympic gold medallist, won her sixth straight World Cup event in Lake Louise, Canada on Saturday.
With a time of 1:48.42, the Italian speedster earned her second gold medal in the space of 24 hours to edge out USA’s Breezy Johnson (who picked up her second silver medal in the space of two days) and third-place finisher Corinne Suter of Switzerland.
Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde won his second straight gold on the men’s FIS Alpine World Cup Tour following up yesterday’s win in the super-G with a podium-topping finish in the downhill at Beaver Creek, Colorado in the United States.
The two-time Olympian and 2013 giant slalom junior world champion, Kilde is finding his form and rhythm with just under 60 days to go before the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. The win on Saturday was the eighth World Cup gold of his career.
Beside him on Saturday’s podium in Beaver Creek was Matthias Mayer of Austria (second) and veteran Swiss rider Beat Feuz (third)
Snowboard: Chinese flyer Su Yiming, Japan's Iwabuchi soar in Steamboat
Reira Iwabuchi of Japan won the women’s side of the second and final FIS Snowboard World Cup Big Air competition in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on Saturday.
The Japanese rider, who scored an outrageous 91.00 score on her third run, was in dominant form to seal victory with a three-run overall score of 178.25. The 19-year-old finished way ahead of 2018 Big Air Olympic gold medal winner Anna Gasser of Austria (second place - 148.00) and Annika Morgan of Germany (third place - 132.25).
On the men’s side of the Steamboat Big Air World Cup tour stop, snowboarder Su Yiming of the People’s Republic of China made history with his first major World Cup win, racking up a massive score of 155.25 to beat Clemens Millauer of Austria (139.50) and Norwegian rider Mons Roisland (134.00).
Max Parrot, the Canadian high-flyer who fought his way back from a battle with cancer, finished just off the podium with a creditable fourth-place finish.
Freestyle Skiing: Gu, Svancer rule big air over Steamboat
Matej Svancer of Austria finished first in the men’s big air event of the 2021-22 FIS Snowboard World Cup in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. USA’s Alex Hall, pulling off an outrageous 1980 with his final trick, followed up in second place while Antoine Adelisse of France completed the podium in third.
On the women’s side, Ailing Gu of the People’s Republic of China, pulled off the big win with Tess Ledeux of France in second and Johanne Killi of Norway rounding out the podium.
Speed Skating: USA’s Bowe, Jackson slip up on home ice
World record holder and world champion Brittany Bowe, the former college basketball standout and inline skater, could only manage a third-place finish in Salt Lake City in her favourite 1000m event -- on the very track where she owns the fastest-ever time.
Miho Takagi of Japan took the 1000m honours while young Dutchwoman Jutta Leerdam took the silver.
In the earlier women’s 500m races, Team USA’s Erin Jackson missed out on what would have been her fifth 500m World Cup gold of the current season. She followed up on yesterday’s win, also in the 500m at Salt Lake City’s Utah Olympic Oval, with a disappointing sixth-place finish on Saturday.
The big winner on the day in the women’s 500m was Andzelika Wójcik of Poland, followed onto the podium by the Russian pair of Angelina Golikova (silver) and Olga Fatkulina (bronze).
USA’s Joey Mantia won the men’s 1500m and was joined by Chinese skater Zhongyan Ning (silver) and third-place finisher Thomas Krol of the Netherlands.
Rounding out the day’s finals, the men’s mass start was won by Belgium’s Bart Swings, who finished ahead of Viktor Hald Thorup of Norway (silver) and Russian Ruslan Zakharov.
Bobsleigh: Monobob win for Kaillie Humphries
Kaillie Humphries took women's monobob victory for USA at the world cup event in Germany.
The 36-year-old raced back to Europe to compete in the event after being granted U.S. citizenship on Thursday. It's the three-time Olympic champion's first World Cup win of the season in monobob, which is making its first Olympic appearance at Beijing 2022 in February. Canada's Cynthia Appiah came second with Laura Nolte of Germany completing the podium in third place.
There was an incredible moment in the second heat when Ashleigh Werner of Australia appeared to crash out. But she somehow managed to stay in control of her vehicle as she slid for what seemed like an eternity on the wall.
Elana Meyers Taylor of the USA defended her overall lead with a sixth placed finish. She has been writing a blog for Olympics.com about coming back to elite sport after becoming a mother.
Germany’s Francesco Friedrich continued his domination of the two-man event along with Alex Schueller. Friedrich is a double Olympic champion and is widely tipped to be the favourite for the gold medal at Beijing 2022.
Ski Jumping: Kamil Stoch leads Poland team
Kamil Stoch of Poland was in action in Wisla as a men’s team world cup event took place in front of a noisy crowd in Poland. But the home supporters were left disappointed with a fourth placed finish. The Austria team coped with windy conditions best to come out as the winners.
Germany’s David Siegel and Russian Federation's Mariia Iakovleva won the respective male and female categories at the Continental Cup Olympic test event ahead of Beijing 2022. The two competitions on Saturday and Sunday are held on the brand-new Olympic hill in Zhangjiakou. The second event in China starts at 0730 CET on Sunday.
In women's world cup competition on Saturday, Katharina Althaus of Germany finished first in the event in Lillehammer, Norway ahead of Austria's Marita Kramer (second) and Slovenian Ursa Bogataj (third)
Luge: A first world cup win for Latvia
Kristers Aparjods became the first Latvian man to win a world cup luge race on the 2014 Olympic track in Sochi, Russia. Johannes Ludwig of Germany was second and tops the standings ahead of Sunday’s sprint event.
Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller battled against some serious equipment issues as he raced with a borrowed sled and helmet. But he rallied to somehow finish in third position on the day. According to the AP, ‘more than 30 crates of equipment never made it to Russia because of shipping delays out of China’.
Andrei Bogdanov and Iurii Prokhorov of the Russia Federation finished in first position in the doubles. The women's category is on Sunday along with the men's and doubles sprint events. You can watch all of the weekend's action for free on Olympic Channel live or on replay.
Cross Country Skiing: Simen Hegstad Krueger dominates
In the men’s free 15km interval start, double Olympic champion Simen Hegstad Krueger of Norway won with a time of 32 minutes 26.2s. World champion Frida Karlsson of Sweden took the victory in the women’s free 10km. Reigning overall world cup winner and Olympic champion, Jessie Diggins of the USA, finished in 18th place.
Biathlon: A double victory for Norway
It was a memorable day for Norway at the world cup event in Ostersund, Sweden. Double Olympic silver medallist Marte Olsbu Roeiseland powered her way to first place on the final lap of the women’s 10 km pursuit as the men’s team won the 4x7.5km relay.
Nordic combined: Jakob Lange wins at Beijing 2022 test event
Jakob Lange continued his recent good form by topping the podium at the Nordic combined Olympic test event in Zhangjiakou ahead of Beijing 2022. The German won the first event of the season in Nizhny Tagil, Russia, on 27 November.
Meanwhile, in Norway, Mari Leinan Lund won the ski jumping event in Lillehammer. But she was beaten by fellow Norwegian Gyda Westvold Hansen in the cross country skiing for the overall victory. It was Germany who took the lead during the ski jumping but Norway recovered to top the podium at the first men’s team competition of the season.
Freestyle skiing: Olivia Giaccio and Mikael Kingsbury on top in moguls
Olivia Giaccio of the USA was first in the moguls freestyle world cup event in Ruka, Finland. In Italian, Giaccio’s surname literally means ice.
In the men’s, Mikael Kingsbury of Canada remains the man to beat and picked up another world cup victory in Finland. The reigning Olympic champion is widely regarded to be the most accomplished mogul skier of all-time.
