Norway wins gold and bronze in men's 10km biathlon. France takes silver

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The Boe Brothers of Norway almost went 1-2 but took two-thirds of the podium at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Saturday night. Johannes Thingnes Boe and Tarjei Boe took gold and bronze respectively in the men’s 10km sprint at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre. France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet split the brothers to win the silver for his second in the sport this year. 

94 competitors took off at 30-second intervals on the 3.3km route for three laps and two visits into the range. Simon Desthieux of France set a time of 8:37 after going clean on the first shoot. J.T. Boe was in the action and came to the range shooting clean with a time of 8:05.9. Fillon Maillet, who won the individual, missed one that put him behind Boe and his teammate Desthieux. He returned for the second shoot and missed two, taking him back significantly. His time of 17:55 at the 6.6km mark stood until Maxim Tsvetkov of the ROC finished clean posting a time of 17:01. 

Tarjei Boe went clean like his brother in the first shoot but was 26.7 behind. When his brother returned for the second shoot, he had a 90-second gap to work with but missed once. When he completed the penalty loop, he had a 30-second lead finishing two laps in 15:11.5. Fillon Maillet ran slightly behind J.T. Boe and finished clean during his second visit. He was 50 seconds back and not likely to cover the gap. Tarjei Boe was 47.7 from his brother, setting him up for a chance to come to close to his finishing time.

Tsvetkov came to the finish line, with the best time of 24:41, but despite his best efforts, didn’t stay at the top for long.  J.T. Boe came across the line 40.6 seconds ahead of Tsvetkov, with a time of 24:00.4. Fillon Maillet came in 25.5 behind J.T. Boe in second, but it was still too early to determine his final placement. Tarjei Boe came in just short of the silver medal by 14 seconds but sat in bronze medal position with a time of 24:39.3. 

The top 60 finishers of the sprint qualified for the pursuit that would take place Sunday. 

Annett Kontaveit enters St. Petersburg semifinal beating Bencic in straight sets

Annett Kontaveit hits the forehand during her quarterfinal match with Belinda Bencic at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy

Annett Kontaveit dug in once again to continue her run at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy Friday night. For the third time, the Estonian grabbed another victory against Belinda Bencic in a 7-6(7), 6-2 score to enter the semifinal at Sibur Arena. 

The two met twice in back-to-back years with Kontaveit winning each one. After her destruction of the Swiss at the Australian Open in 2020, the Estonian added the second in Ostrava last year scoring her second straight-set defeat of Bencic. The fifth seed fought hard through each of her matches to this point, along with the second. Though she had a positive history against Bencic, Kontaveit would need her dominance to come to full form or see another battle on her hands. 

She opened the match with a serve to love and broke Bencic for the early lead. The Estonian adjusted her return strategy and captured the third win, putting the Swiss in a hole. Bencic managed to hold serve in the fourth and notched another for the break. Sitting a game down, the fifth seed attempted to even up the score and fired a winner to achieve her goal. 

She went after Kontaveit’s offense in the seventh, scoring a break that put her in front with the hope of building upon it. It was a tough service for Bencic, who was forced to deuce but held after playing three breaks to sit at 5-3.  The second seed was feeling the troubles in her offense, committing a third double fault of the set. She overcame the problems and got within one to hope and push the set deeper. 

Kontaveit pulled it all together to come through for the break back and go into the 11^th with some heavy aggression. Her footwork on the first point set up a clean winner down the line, before drawing an error out of Bencic. Another error gave the Estonian three game points, watching Bencic smash one to the right. Kontaveit answered with a crosscourt ace to secure the hold and put pressure on Bencic to falter. She had two errors in the 12^th but overcame them with errors coming from Kontaveit. She forced another one out of her to force a tiebreak where it was a one-point margin after five. 

It remained that way through the next four until a slice from the second seed handed Bencic set point at 6-4. She blew it with a double fault, bringing Kontaveit within reach and leveled on a long return from the fifth seed. The Estonian earned her chance for set point only to see Bencic answer it at the net. A second try came up for the 26-year-old, who watched a long ball from the Swiss star clinch the set with a 9-7 win in one hour. The unforced errors were the biggest difference between the two, who had even games until the damage stood out. Bencic had 29 errors to Kontaveit’s 18. 

With a lot of be proud of in how she ended the first set, the 26-year old went on a rampage against Bencic, breaking her after two breaks of deuce. She backed it up with comfortable service and added a third with a stronger double break. She then took a commanding 4-0 run on the fifth seed, who screamed in frustration that her game wasn’t up to snuff. The Swiss star struggled to recover but somehow forced deuce in the fifth. Despite all the efforts needed, she got on the scoreboard after two breaks, snapping Kontaveit’s five-game winning streak. 

Bencic slowly found a way to dig in with her offense on the return end, and battle through every point. It earned her another game on the break that cut the Estonian’s lead in half. Two double faults rattled the fifth seed, who wanted to log more victories but instead allowed Kontaveit to serve for the match at 5-2. She drew errors from Bencic, who was all but out and kept up her winning ways. On match point, the 26-year-old smashed one in at the net to end a long battle that took 1 hour and 42 minutes. 

She’ll face Jelena Ostapenko on Saturday for a spot in the final in hopes that the Latvian doesn’t reel in her aggressive style of tennis 

Jelena Ostapenk eeks into the St. Petersburg semifinal defeat Aliaksandra Sasnovich

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Jelena Ostapenko saw her game come and go but somehow got into the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy Friday night. The Latvian battled herself and Aliaksandra Sasnovich through three sets, where she dug in late to win 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 at Sibur Arena. 

The two met for the fourth time and the second on this same court back in their ITF days. The Latvian held every win against the Belorussian, including their two battles at Wimbledon. Sasnovich had a hard fight to open her tournament run, but improved in her second-round match against an unknown opponent. Coming in against the fierce fifth seed, who decimated Andrea Petkovic on Thursday had to expect another tough outing. 

Ostapenko had a good opening to the match and went for a break quickly in the second. Sasnovich forced deuce from 40-30, drawing an error from Ostapenko to sit with an AD point. The Belorussian sealed her service game with an ace down the T, making sure she kept the situation level. The two remained on serve through four games, until a hold from Ostapenko showed an increase in her aggression. 

Holding Sasnovich to a point, she went hot against the Belorussian’s service, reaching breakpoint at 40-30 to lead. The 27-year-old broke back in the seventh backing it up in the eighth, putting them back to even strength. Ostapenko wanted nothing to do with being even with her opponent, and in the ninth, fought hard to hold serve. With the lead in hand, the Latvian attempted to rattle Sasnovich, who served to keep the set going. 

The Belorussian fired an ace down the line and kept ahead of the seventh seed before reaching game point. The right-hander drew an error from Ostapenko that put them at five-all, making little moments count to keep her close. The Latvian wasn’t having an easy time at closing out her service games, but keeping Sasnovich back on another fight for the AD point saw her scream out the frustrations. 

It was a final moment for the Belorussian to hold and force a tiebreak or get cut short. They went to deuce on a push from Ostapenko, but a double fault handed the seventh seed a critical point. Sasnovich fought it off to bring up another chance that brought up a first-set tiebreak. She started things off with a mini-break of the seventh seed but watched the next four points go the way of the 24-year-old. 

They traded the next four points, with Sasnovich trying to close the gap. Ostapenko remained in charge, and with a 6-3 stand she tried to get the set point but saw the 27-year-old fire an unreturnable winner. Sasnovich was within a point, but on Ostapenko’s fourth attempt, she painted the tramline to end 58 minutes of action in the first. It was a very close fight between the two as they had similar numbers on unforced errors and winners. Only two points separated them in the set, giving Ostapenko the indication that the next would not get easier. 

The Belorussian opened the set gifting the Latvian points from errors, but battled to try and force deuce. Ostapenko denied her that chance, scoring the early break. She backed it up in the second with a hold of serve, but Sasnovich had the same idea. She went into her service and then backed it up with a break to sit even with the seventh seed. The Latvian was tired of being even with Sasnovich and made a push to get away from her in the fifth. Getting to deuce, she picked up the AD point to score the break and backed it up on serve to lead 4-2. Everything for her went south when she drew errors on the Belorussian’s service that cut the margin in half. She then gifted another game in the shape of three double faults, giving Sasnovich a boost of confidence. 

She did well on serve in the ninth, drawing errors from the seventh seed, who went down on a long return. A third set looked possible with Ostapenko’s game dropping out of the sky and no sign of her pulling out of it in time. She handed the Belorussian three set points, saved two, but the third went wide which caused her to scream out in anger as a third set was underway after 37 minutes. The numbers were lopsided with Sasnovich improving with 19 winners and a 58 percent first serve. 

She came into the third firing shots across to Ostapenko, who looked lost on the court. The 27-year-old locked down the game and went to work playing well on the rallies during Ostapenko’s service. The Latvian struggled to find consistency while fighting off the threat of a break. After eight breaks while saving three chances from Sasnovich, the Latvian found a way to get out of her service and sit even.

The Belorussian was upset at her efforts going south, leading her to serve to love in the third. Ostapenko got another hold of serve in the fourth, despite going to deuce. She somehow found her offense coming back and used it to break Sasnovich and take the lead. It didn’t last long as the 27-year-old broke back to bring the score to three-all. The Latvian was laser-focused during a second return game that resulted in scoring a double break to get back in front. 

On serve in the eighth, Ostapenko was again challenged on serve but fought to force deuce. Her aggression was in check and helped her play four breaks to hold against Sasnovich. The Belorussian was in trouble during a critical service that she needed to hold. The seventh seed pushed her way forward, reaching match point to win it on a double fault from the 27-year-old ending a dramatic 2 hour and 27-minute fight. 

“Sasha played one of her best matches of all I have seen of late and I was just rushing things up, so I had to wait for my chances and seize them and convert the opportunities,” said Ostapenko, who would move into Saturday’s semifinal await the winner between Annett Kontaveit and Belinda Bencic.   

Ayumu Hirano shines with gold medal in men's halfpipe. Shaun White takes final bow

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Japan has a new king of the halfpipe, while the greatest of all time left with his head held high at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Friday. Ayumu Hirano, who was given a low score on his perfect run, was redeemed with a near-perfect score taking the gold medal in the men’s halfpipe at the Genting Snow Park. Australia’s Scotty James took the silver, and Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer held on for bronze. American Shaun White ended his Olympic career in fourth that concluded his illustrious chapter of being the greatest of all time. 

White nearly saw his final appearance at the Olympics come to a close in qualifications as his second run managed to get him into the final. The five-time Olympian scratched out a score of 86.25 on two occasions landing in fourth. The Hirano (Ayumu, Ruka) brothers topped the 35-year-old with 93.25 and 87.00 respectively. With their actions on the halfpipe, it left the American with trying to make his final Olympics a golden one for the fourth time or potentially miss out like he did in Sochi eight years ago. 

The biggest surprise came from Kaishu Hirano, who got to the top with a 75.50 hitting two double cork 1080s and a frontside 1260. With such massive air on his tricks, the possibility of Japan running the podium was a real opportunity. American Taylor Gold topped the charts with an 81.75 that held for a time. White came down the pipe ninth and threw down a solid run with a 72 after a frontside double cork 1440 and a double mc twist 1260. Though it wasn’t clean, the 35-year-old had two more chances to perfect the run and get into medal contention. 

Ayumu came out hot with two giant hits with one being the first triple cork landed at the Olympics. He had three hits in place before he fell on the fourth, but made a statement that he was aiming higher than ever. On the second run, Kaishu Hirano tried to get it down when he came out with a 24-foot tail grab but failed to complete his run entirely, bringing his chances down to one.

Swiss snowboarder Jan Scherrer topped Gold with an 87.25, using the same routine as his first and landing them well to jump to the top from fifth. White’s second run was the same but very much improved to score him an 85 to move into second. James went in focused on his second run and killed it with his combinations of a backside 1260 and a cab double cork 1440. The remainder of his hits were solid to get him into first with a 92.50. 

Ayumu had a thrilling run that was ultimately successful throwing a triple cork and four doubles. What many thought would be the most unbeatable score, turned out to be a 91.75 which upset many spectators at the park. Though he had second place, there was only one chance for everyone to go and top James. 

Kaishu Hirano went into his third run and set a world record with a 24-foot 4-inch tail grab despite failing to complete his Olympics in China. Scherrer also didn’t complete his run leaving him vulnerable to be surpassed. A Japanese sweep was no longer possible as Yuto Totsuka touched the wall after his third hit to give in for doing the rest. White went into the final run of his career and put down two double cork 1440s before his unfortunate fall. Embed from Getty Images 

The American got up and gave a final bow to the crowd and sat in fourth where he was eight years ago. The Hirano brothers and James were last to fight for the gold medal with Ruka going first. He fell once more to take him out leaving Ayumu to go for it. The Aussie came down for his last and didn’t have a clean run, leaving it all in the hands of the 23-year-old. Ayumu put down his best ever, but it came down to the judges to get it right on a gold medal performance. He nailed a 96 to move James down to win the gold medal. 

 

Jelena Ostapenko blows Andrea Petkovic off her feet in straight sets

Jelena Ostapenko clenches her first during a second-round match at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.

Jelena Ostapenko rushed to victory against a tough opponent that was quickly tamed at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy Thursday night. The Latvian was on fire from start to finish against Andrea Petkovic, who couldn’t get a grip and fell 6-1, 6-2 at Sibur Arena. The seventh seed had 40 winners that devastated the hard-hitting German to enter the quarterfinals.  

The two split the last four meetings with the German winning the most recent pair. Her last win over the Latvian came on an indoor court back in Moscow, leaving the door open to get another win on the same surface. Ostapenko had a better first-round win than Petkovic, who battled hard in the opening set against Rebecca Peterson. The seventh seed tried to use her good moments against Xinyu Wang and put pressure on the 34-year-old for a spot in the semifinal.

Ostapenko led the way with a serve to love, followed by Petkovic, who allowed a point during her service. The seventh seed kept her game well rounded and in the fourth game, broke Petkovic with her aggressive style. She made it 4-1, with hard forehand winners that beat Petkovic to the return each time. The German struggled with another service game, committing errors that handed Ostapenko the break and a 5-1 stance to go for the set. The 24-year-old rushed her way through the service that ultimately took down Petkovic in 23 minutes. 

Both had just nine unforced errors, one ace, and double fault but the 16 winners Ostapenko fired in the set gave her a heavy momentum going forward. The 34-year-old tried to get a good service in to start the second set, only to see the Latvian answer with aggressive shots that pinpointed their mark. A forehand return winner landed dead on the inside tramline, making a statement that she was not going to drop her level. 

She took a 2-0 lead, scoring an ace to win a game that had Petkovic running for the ball each time. Petkovic knew that she had to get a hold on the Latvian or fall into a big hole. In the third, she kept the Latvian to 15 before taking the win, Ostapenko remained firm on offense and took the next two games to stand at 4-1. The German pushed hard in the sixth when she gained a 40-0 run on the seventh seed. 

Ostapenko fought back to force deuce and gain an AD point. Petkovic denied her and gained two chances herself but couldn’t put it away. She lost the defensive energy to stop the Latvian from winning it on the second try that secured the hold and put her closer to the match. Petkovic played to stay in the competition, but the seventh seed was all over her in an attempt to break. As they went to deuce, the 34-year-old refused to let her service get further out of hand and scored the AD point to make it 5-2. 

Despite being down 0-30, Ostapenko dug in for the comeback on serve and won the next four games with the last going into the set to end 58 minutes. She kept the unforced errors low with 24 and served at 68 percent with four aces. “I think I played especially well on the first serve, was playing really aggressive, and could have won the match early but at 4-1 I had some problems,” Ostapenko said. “You can’t play evenly throughout the match because my tennis is very aggressive.” She’d try to keep it together when she faces Aliaksandra Sasnovich for the ffourth in her career for a spot at the semis.  

Therese Johaug wins gold in inaugural 10km classic

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Norway’s Therese Johaug secured the gold medal at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The 33-year-old crossed the line and watched her biggest opponents come across behind her time to win the women’s 10km classic at the Zhangjiakou National Cross Country Skiing Centre. Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen and teammate Krista Parmakoski took silver and bronze, holding their times against all others. 

This marked the first-ever race of this distance in the classical form. Charlotte Kalla and Krista Parmakoski were experienced in the 10km freestyle, giving them a shot to win in the new event. American Jessie Diggins hoped to add another medal to the bronze she earned in the sprint on Tuesday. With 98 racers starting at 30-second intervals, the pace would be up to each individual on the 5km course. The unseeded athletes began first with the best coming later to the starting line. 

Therese Johaug was the first to set a solid time of 28:06.3 with her biggest opponents arriving at any moment. Niskanen tried to cross the line sooner than Johaug but came through four tenths back. Parmakoski put in a time of 28:37.8 that put her in third with Diggins falling out of any chance for a medal. With 31 seconds separating silver and bronze, the door was clearly open for the remaining cross country skiers to take that away. 

One of them was ROC athlete Natalia Nepryaeva, who came to the finish line with a decent window to threaten Parmakoski. The seconds ticked away as the Russian made her way to the finish line and when she crossed, she finished one-tenth ahead for fourth place. 

Chloe Kim repeats with the gold in women's snowboard halfpipe

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Chloe Kim was once again on top of the snowboarding world at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Thursday morning. The Torrance, California native put on a big showing in her first run that kept her grips on the gold medal at the Genting Snow Park. Spain’s Queralt Castallett who was four points from Kim and took the silver. Sena Tomita of Japan held on for the bronze with a run that got her through the tough competition. 

Kim led the way with a great qualifying performance during the first run of qualifications with an 87.75. Ono scored four points below the American, who was the only one from Team USA to make it as the top 12. China locked in two with Cai being a favorite to score a medal with a score of 83.25. With three runs allowed to fight for the medal, Kim would make sure that she did it right on the halfpipe and defend her Olympic gold medal from four years back. 

On the first run, the top three were Sena Tomita, who threw down a frontside 900 and 1080 which helped give her an 86. Cai Xuetong had a front-side 900 and ended it with a cab 900 gaining an 81.25. Kim was last to go and put up an amazing run. After a big air, she nailed a front-side 900 and then a back-side 540. Her biggest trick came at the end when she perfected the Cab 900 which ultimately thrilled everyone. The judges awarded her a 94 that immediately put her into first place by eight points. 

With two more runs to go, everyone else had their hands forced behind their backs and were on a chase to get into the top three. Sena jumped her score to 88.25 using the same hits from her first run. Xuetong got a 64.50 messing up on the switch 900 where she touched the wall. Moving well into second was Castallett, who surpassed her 69.25 and notched a 90.25 changing up her second and third tricks before ending it with a front-side 900. 

Kim tried to throw down the cab 1260 on her second round, but couldn’t keep her hips from falling too low. With her 94 leading after two runs, the last one was critical for those that managed to move closer to the American. Sena had a big fall and would be forced to sit in third with one person near her to surpass. Castallett didn’t improve her second run, leaving the door open for Xuetong. 

The Chinese snowboarder came in with a front-side 900 followed by a critical 1080. While they were big hits, the other three didn’t help her get onto the podium as well as a touch on the landings. Kim assured herself of no worse than a silver medal with Mitsuki Ono from Japan last to go. The 17-year-old had a fall after her third trick that secured back-to-back gold medals for the 21-year-old American.