Back to the day’s events.
The day of glory has arrived for Quentin Fillon Maillet and the French delegation, Tuesday 8 February. The Frenchman was crowned Olympic champion for the first time in his career during the individual in biathlon (20 km) and gave France its first gold medal in the Beijing Winter Games. In this event which is not his specialty, the leader of the World Cup disgusted his competitors despite his two penalty minutes for his 18 out of 20 shooting. Proof of his superiority on the track, the Jura was ahead of the Belarusian Anton Smolski, yet author of a faultless shooting, by 14.8 seconds. Johannes Boe, also author of an 18/20 in shooting, completes the podium 31.1 seconds behind the Frenchman.
“That no one will steal it from you.” Martin Fourcade’s little word to Quentin Fillon Maillet. From an Olympic champion… https://t.co/dfXguhjjeo
Earlier in the day, Tess Ledeux rose to… 0.75 points from becoming the first Olympic champion in freestyle skiing big air. In the lead until the last lap thanks to a “double cork 1,620” and a “switch left 1,440”, the 20-year-old Frenchwoman saw Chinese star Eileen Gu achieve the “double cork 1,620” for the first time. that she was until then the only one to have passed in competition ; and narrowly beat it. It’s only a postponement for the young Savoyard who will have another opportunity to go for gold in Beijing during the slopestyle event (final on February 14).
Alexis Pinturault did not taste the joys of the podium of the super-G won by “Mister Olympic Games”, the Austrian Matthias Mayer who won his third gold medal after his title in the downhill in 2014 and in the super-G in 2018. The Habs finished 11and while Blaise Giezendannerfirst Frenchman, ranked 9and.
No medal either in cross-country skiing. Lucas Chanavat and Richard Jouve stopped in the semi-final of the free sprint. Undisputed master of the discipline, the Norwegian Johannes Klaebo was crowned in the men’s category while Jonna Sundling won in the women’s category.
In figure skating, Kevin Aymoz and Adam Siao Him Fa respectively ranked 10and (with 93 points) and 14and (86.74 points) of the short program, qualifying for the free program which will take place on Thursday February 10.
Doubled for the Dutch in speed skating. Already crowned in 2018, Kjeld Nuis became the fourth skater in history to win the 1500m title twice in a row, beating compatriot Thomas Krol and Korea’s Minseok Kim.
The new test of curling mixed doubles saw the coronation of the Italians Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner. The duo won (8-5) against Norway’s Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten.
Discover tomorrow’s menu.
The hunt for medals continues on Wednesday with another busy day for the French.
From 3:15 a.m. (Paris time), Nastasia Noenswho is playing her last Winter Games at the age of 33, will be the only Frenchwoman to take part in the slalom women.
The tricolor contingent will be more represented in snowboardcross (from 4 a.m.), with four French women engaged. Among them, Julia Pereira de Sousathe youngest French medalist in the history of the Winter Olympics by winning silver in 2018, and Chloe Trespeuchin bronze in Sochi in 2014, will try to climb again on an Olympic podium.
For late risers, there will be Nordic combined from 10 a.m. with the normal hill test and five French at the start. A test for which star Jarl Magnus Riiber, still positive for Covid-19 and isolation, withdrew.
Finally, in short track (short track speed skating), Quentin Fercoq and Sebastien Lepape will be back on the track at 12 p.m. for the 1,500m quarter-finals, before any semi-finals and finals during the day.
Always in short-track, Gwendoline Daudet and Tifany Huot Marchand will compete in the women’s 1,000m heats (at 12:44 p.m.). Also to follow, Liam Tourki snowboard halfpipe qualifications (5:30 a.m.).
The Games in a snapshot.
Some go down the track on their two legs, others do “everything schuss”… on their stomachs. While the events are in full swing in Beijing, it’s still training time for the skeleton athletes at the National Sliding Center in Yanqing. This sliding sport, reintroduced at the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City (Utah, United States) in 2002, consists of descending an icy track on a sled, lying on your stomach… and your head only a few centimeters from the ice. The events will begin Thursday February 10 for men and Friday February 11 for women.
The Olympians on the microphone.
“It’s not easy for me, because part of my head was riding this course [de snowboard] while the other side of my head is already focused on the finish line of the ski course. »
how far will go Ester Ledecka ? Already titled in 2018, the 26-year-old athlete once again won the parallel giant slalom in alpine snowboarding on Tuesday, thus approaching an unprecedented… quadruple. Not only does the Czech win gold medals, but she does so in different sports. Four years ago, she made Olympic history by winning gold in alpine snowboarding and alpine skiing (super-G). The rider will try to achieve this double again on February 11 during the super-G. And to write a little more history.
113.97
This is the number of points totaled by the American Nathan Chen in figure skating after the short program on Tuesday. New world record at stake, won on “La Bohème” by Charles Aznavour. Before the free program on Thursday, the triple world champion has a good lead over the Japanese Yuma Kagiyama (108.12 points) and Shoma Uno (105.9 points). And especially on the reigning double Olympic champion, the Japanese Yuzuru Hanyu: the latter, suffering from an ankle before the Games, is only ranked 8and place (95.15 points), his first quadruple jump having turned into a simple rotation.
Snapshot of our special envoys.
Flights specially chartered for the occasion, the followers of the Games had the right to have four suitcases in the hold, which could weigh up to 23 kg each. We knew that in Beijing – and especially at the two other competition sites in Yanqing and Zhangjiakou – it would be cold, very cold even. Might as well go covered! However, who says fortnight of on-site follow-up, says a passage (or even several) by the laundry box. There, we discovered that if the organizers had planned everything on the prevention side of Covid-19, they had perhaps neglected certain technical aspects of the reception of travelers. Fortunately, there is always the “D system”. As proof, these three rooms in the hotel building occupied by The world, improvised in a laundromat… with connection to the toilet flush. The “D system”, we tell you.