This is how the last day of the Olympics goes
The last German gold can hardly be prevented
02/19/2022, 7:21 p.m
At the end of the Olympic Winter Games, everything looks as if Germany can once again celebrate a gold medal. Even a triple win is within the realm of possibility. Meanwhile, on skis on the cross-country ski run and on the mountain, the main challenge is the adverse weather conditions.
Bob: Francesco Friedrich is on course for his fourth Olympic bobsleigh gold. With the fastest time in the second run, the double Olympic champion from Pyeongchang took the lead in the four-man bobsleigh rankings in Yanqing. Before races three (2.30 a.m. CET) and four (4.20 a.m.), the 31-year-old is three hundredths of a second ahead of Johannes Lochner. In the first round, the man from Berchtesgaden had improved the track record previously set by two-man bobsleigh Olympic champion Friedrich and screwed the record to 58.13 seconds. In the second run, Friedrich was 19 hundredths of a second faster than his German competitor. Christoph Hafer, who only started the race with start number twelve, is fourth and within reach of the medals. He is 17 hundredths of a second behind Canadian Justin Kripps’ bronze medal.
For Friedrich’s brakeman Thorsten Margis, regardless of the outcome, there is still an outstanding moment. He leads the remaining German Olympic team at the closing ceremony in Beijing as the flag bearer. This was announced by the German Olympic Sports Confederation. The 32-year-old from Halle/Saale is part of the two- and four-man bobsleigh. “It’s an unbelievable honor. I’m the first brakeman ever in Germany who’s allowed to touch a flag, whether it’s at the opening or closing ceremony,” said the 32-year-old former decathlete.
Alpine skiing: The mixed team event for alpine ski racers is in danger of being cancelled. Due to strong winds, the competition was initially postponed several times and finally removed from the agenda altogether. It should now be caught up at 2 a.m. CET, but the weather forecast once again suggests difficult conditions. The team event would be the last chance for the German alpine squad to win a medal after all and avoid the second zero in a row at the winter games. The best results at the games in China so far have been fourth places for Lena Dürr in the slalom and Kira Weidle in the downhill. In 2018 in Pyeongchang they had already received nothing. The final is scheduled for 3:37 p.m.
cross-country skiing: The women run the longest distance of this Olympic Games. While the men’s 50km was shortened to 28.4km due to the cold and strong winds, the final women’s race will remain at 30km. However, a little earlier and now at 4 a.m. CET, it was actually supposed to start three and a half hours later. A good result is at stake for Pia Fink and Antonia Fräbel, Victoria Carl probably couldn’t spoil her mood even if she finished last.
After silver in the relay (with Katherine Sauerbrey, Katharina Hennig and Sofie Krehl) and the sensational gold in the team sprint (with Hennig), the results of the cross-country skiers are far above expectations even before the start. The DSV trio is not one of the favorites, so the eyes are more on Norway’s Therese Johaug – who is aiming for her third gold in China after the skiathlon and 10 kilometers classic in her last Olympic race.
curling: Where there was still a lot of water at the Summer Games in 2008, 14 years later there was mainly ice at the Winter Games. The curling competitions will be played at the National Aquatics Center and the women’s final will feature Great Britain and Japan at 2.05am. For the British it is about their second Olympic victory after 2002, for the Japanese it is already the best result in the history of the competition, which has been held since 1988. Four years ago Japan won bronze, this time it should be gold. The British men were defeated by Sweden in their final and the women’s team is now determined to avert that fate.
Ice Hockey: The teams from Russia and Finland will play out the new champion from 5.10 a.m. CET. The Russian team defeated Sweden 2-1 (0-0, 1-0, 0-1) after a penalty shoot-out in the semifinals and is thus playing for gold again four years after beating Germany 4-3 in the 2018 final. World Cup runners-up Finland beat Slovakia 2-0 (1-0, 0-0, 1-0) in the semi-finals, who defeated the German team in Beijing 4-0 in the quarter-final qualifiers had thrown.