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thisdaynews · 5 years ago

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Davis Cup: What worked, what didn't & what needs to change

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Davis Cup: What worked, what didn't & what needs to change

Spain beat Canada in Sunday’s final to win their sixth Davis Cup title – but the first in the new format

With Rafael Nadal falling flat on his back on the baseline, his triumphant team-mates running on court to pile on top of him and a partisan home stadium rocking with pride, it was a familiar scene as Spain lifted the Davis Cup.

Yet, while the celebrations were similar to many we have seen in previous years, the host nation’s first success since 2011 came at the end of a very different week in Madrid.

Unlike in the past, Spain’s victory over Canada was not the only Davis Cup tie to take place in November as the tournament culminated. Instead it was the end of an 18-nation finals self-styled as the ‘World Cup of Tennis’.

The football-style knockout tournament, a bold concept conceived and financially backed by Barcelona defender Gerard Pique and his Kosmos investment group, faced a barrage of criticism before it had even started.

And, as with any new event, especially one of such size and stature, there were teething problems in the Spanish capital.

But there were also many memorable moments in what proved to be a high-quality tournament on the court.

Here, BBC Sport analyses what worked in the new-look finals, what perhaps didn’t and the lessons that must be learned before next year’s event.

Spain beat Canada to win Davis Cup

Jamie Murray column on Davis Cup improvements

The star names sprinkle stardust on the new finals

For years, the common consensus had been the 119-year competition needed to change.

Top players, worried about burn out on the punishing ATP Tour, were regularly not turning out to play in a 16-team world group that saw home and away ties spread over four weekends throughout the year.

Pique, a tennis fan said to have been a promising junior player, was the catalyst for change.

But his intervention, and the changing of a tradition which had existed in the previous format since 1981, was not welcomed by tennis die-hards, including the most recognisable player on the planet.

Swiss great Roger Federer resisted the change and urged that the competition should not become the “Pique Cup”.

While the 20-time Grand Slam champion was not present in Madrid after Switzerland failed to qualify three of the other ‘Big Four’ did play.

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were the star names present as 11 of the world’s top 20 singles players also appeared at the event. Russian world number four Daniil Medvedev and German world number seven Alexander Zverev were the only members of the world’s top 10 who pulled out in spite of their nations qualifying.

The presence of so many key players was seen as an encouraging sign by Pique and ITF chief David Haggerty.

“When we started a few years ago with the project of the new format, what we wanted basically was that the top players participate in the competition. I think that was a fact,” Pique said.

“You saw here the top players playing and representing their countries.”

Whether that will continue to be the case largely depends if a merger with January’s 24-nation ATP Cup – created by the men’s tour and attracting all the top-ranked players except Federer – can ever be agreed to avoid a situation where two men’s team events take place within close proximity of each other.

Star names were not only evident on the tennis court either as Pique’s long-term partner Shakira, the Colombian pop singer, provided the pre-final entertainment – presumably not for the large appearance fee she would usually command

Different format, same emotions stirred

Try telling those competing in Madrid – and their compatriots who had spent time and money travelling there – that the new format had devalued the competition as some suggested.

World number one Nadal tore around the Caja Magica as he won all eight of his singles and double rubbers to inspire the Spanish.

Novak Djokovic along with the entire Serbia team were left close to tears following a dramatic quarter-final loss to Russia. In an emotional news conference post match, Djokovic’s doubles partner Viktor Troicki – who played a woeful third-set tie-break – said he felt “the worst ever” after been given the chance to “be the hero, only for God to take it away”.

Former world number one Andy Murray was contorted with nervous emotion as he watched his older brother Jamie and Neal Skupski try to put their nation into the final by beating Nadal and Feliciano Lopez in a decisive doubles rubber.

And try telling Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, who was left in tears after winning his singles rubber against Canada three days after the death of his father, that representing his country was still not of significant pride and honour.

Fears the emotion could be sucked out of the competition proved wide of the mark, although it remains to be seen what a finals weekend without the host nation competing would look like.

Great Britain, cheered on here by team-mates Andy Murray and Kyle Edmund, reached the semi-finals in Madrid

Empty seats for most matches – give them to the kids?

Patriotism was not in short supply in the stands either.

Clearly that peaked during the Spanish ties where the Caja Magica stands were a sea of red-and-yellow flags as the partisan home crowd, encouraged to make noise by a jaunty brass band and a man barking out instructions through a football terrace-style megaphone, willed their team towards a first Davis Cup triumph since 2011.

That understandably gave those matches a flavour of the ‘old’ Davis Cup – and an advantage to Spain.

While some other teams were well backed – notably Great Britain, Canada and Kazakhstan, thanks to the help of their national federation – other matches were played out in half-full arenas.

Even Saturday’s first semi-final between Canada and Russia saw huge swathes of empty red seats.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) offered 875 free tickets to British fans for the semi-final against Spain – at a cost of about £60,000 – and British captain Leon Smith thinks there should be an arrangement between organisers and the governing bodies of all 18 finalists to subside support in the future.

“The most important thing about Davis Cup is obviously trying to maintain the atmosphere,” he said.

“Why doesn’t that become the norm that there’s X amount of investment given to each federation to get a core group of fans?”

Spain’s two group games and Sunday’s final were the only ties to officially sell out the 12,500 capacity Manolo Santana court, according to the tournament’s online ticket portal.

“I do think the organisers missed an opportunity there by not giving the unsold tickets to schoolchildren and getting them in to watch the matches,” British player Jamie Murray said in his BBC Sport column.

“That would have been a good idea and would have exposed young kids – the future of the sport as potential players and fans – to tennis.”

A second venue in Madrid would prevent 4am finishes

While Spanish custom dictates the nation generally stays awake until the early hours, a major problem which arose was ridiculously late finishes in some matches with ties outlasting all but the most nocturnal of fans.

The group tie between the United States and Italy was the most startling, eye-rubbing example, finally ending at 04:04 local time to become the second latest finish in top-level tennis history behind Lleyton Hewitt’s win over Marcos Baghdatis at the 2008 Australian Open which ended at 4:33am.

“We expect that some games will be finished late, but obviously 4am was too late,” Pique said.

“That day all the games, they were very long.

“But we will have to be more creative in the future. I think this is not a big issue. It’s something we have to think how we do it.”

Britain’s Jamie Murray has suggested the finals should be split across two venues in Madrid next year, enabling one court to host one tie every day rather than two sessions.

When asked if the Spanish capital’s WiZink Center could be used next year, or where a fourth court could be built at the Caja Mágica, Pique said both options “are right now are on the table”.

Too focused on TV fans and not those there?

Between 800 and 1,000 British fans roared their team on in each of their four matches, with some staying for the whole week in the hope of seeing the 2015 champions end victorious again.

The majority of supporters appeared to savour the sense of occasion that mixing with fans from all over the world brought, although a large portion still bemoaned the loss of the previous home-and-away format.

“It is a fantastic atmosphere, we’ve talked to people from loads of different countries,” said Pam Flatman, who flew over from Norfolk with husband Wayne and their friend Mac Boreham. “It brings people together and from that perspective it’s a good thing.”

One common gripe among fans of all nationalities was they felt the tournament was more geared towards the needs of armchair fans than those actually in Madrid.

“There are no screens dotted around, so there is no information from the other matches,” said Mac. “At Wimbledon you know what’s happening but here you know nothing.”

Pam added: “Scoreboards and TVs outside in the concourses are necessary – and more outside heaters because the Madrid winter can be very chilly. It’s been freezing standing out here.”

The tournament also ended with a tinge of disappointment for fans at the venue. Spain lifted the trophy with many supporters having already left the arena, unwilling to sit through an unnecessarily elaborate and time-consuming setting up of the presentation stage.

Those trying keeping up-to-date with the action from afar reported a series of issues.

Technological glitches surfaced on the official Davis Cup finals information channels – including website, mobile app and stadium televisions – which ranged from comical errors to more serious issues of fan engagement.

While British number one Dan Evans’ profile featuring a faceless image instead of a photograph like everyone else was not the end of the world, nor was Germany’s team page describing Zverev – absent and a harsh vocal critic – as the ‘star of the their team’, the fundamental ability to update scores and competing players correctly was a failure.

Often, the scores of matches were wrong and slow to update, while Britain were apparently represented by Argentine Guido Pella in their quarter-final against Germany.

Selling television rights proved to be a problem in some major markets, with the tournament not shown on a major American broadcaster and only being available to British television audience at a late stage when Eurosport stepped in to secure the rights.

Another peculiarity was the decision to set up new Twitter and Instagram accounts under the ‘Davis Cup finals’ banner rather than use the existing Davis Cup accounts which have a combined 500,000 followers.

Although the behind-the-scenes content was excellent – fun, interactive and engaging – and retweeted by the main Davis Cup accounts in a bid to build the brand, the new accounts only had a combined 60,000 followers which leads a suspicion that reach was not as wide as it could have been.

“Our vision is to make sure this is seen in as many places by as many people and followed around the world. That’s something that, again, is something we can improve,” Pique added.

#change #needs

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croquettish · 8 years ago

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woah i didn't know you were from germany! why did you leave europe? i live in texas and wish i could live in germany, especially now 😔 are you in the process of moving back? i once had a friend from essen who showed me the prettiest pictures of her town. germany seems so dreamy!

so this got long! (and no one is surprised....)

It wasn’t my choice, unfortunately! This happened back in September of 2000 when I was twelve (no one do the math on that) on account of my dad having gotten a job back in Germany that was planning on expanding overseas (they already had a branch in the UK). Now, mind you, my parents were crazy about the US at the time. That... changed pretty swiftly after that. (no surprise there)

I’ve been trying to get out of here for several years now, but I think this summer it might actually finally happen. If I got a job overseas it would be a given, because I know my father-in-law would help with relocation in that instance. I had been applying to jobs fairly rampantly back during last summer (I applied to over one-hundred positions between the end of May / the beginning of June, but trying to get anything has been pretty brutal. But at one point we do know that we need to just bite the bullet and leave before I lose my goddamn mind.

I’m particularly anxious to leave before the fall semester not just because the lease on this apartment is up at the end of May, but also because in the fall semester, my university will no longer be able to avoid the state’s semi-recent ruling about allowing campus open carry. So as a teacher? My chances of getting shot just increased by about one million.

I’m also horribly homesick and have been for a long time. I miss home. I miss my grandmother, I miss my culture, I miss feeling like I belong... I’ve wanted to leave for so long now that it feels like I can’t really start my life in any meaningful way until I get out of here, if that makes any sense.

But yeah, I mean, in a lot of ways, it’s just the most beautiful place in the world to me. I love France, too, and Austria, and Switzerland, but honestly, at this point, I’d go anywhere in Europe because I’m far more terrified of staying here, not only as a member of the LGBTQIA* spectrum and a socialist, but also just because I’m a woman. I know Alex and I talked about how, if Bernie had gotten elected, we might have wanted to stick around and see what would have happened, and at least if it had been Hilary we wouldn’t be in the shithole situation we’re in now with an all-Republican regime headed by the New World’s Führer. Like... we need to get out of here.

As for you, though, I know that Ireland and Canada both have offered refuge to Americans hoping to leave Trump’s US, and they’re not the only ones. And if you’re Jewish, I also know that in certain instances, Germany offers citizenship. So there’s always that!

Take care of yourself, seriously

#and if anyone needs to talk #I'm always here #<3 #tam talks #Anonymous

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mystlnewsonline · 7 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/latest-koreas-make-history-1st-olympic-game/84058/

The Latest: Koreas make history in their 1st Olympic game

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea /February 10, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) —The Latest on the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local):

9:45 p.m.

The Koreans have made Olympic history with the puck dropping in their first Olympic game with their women’s hockey lineup featuring three North Koreans under an unprecedented agreement.

And a North Korean forward nearly gave the historic combined team a lead.

Jong Su Hyon shot the puck from the left circle on a power play in the first period only to catch the crossbar, glancing off harmlessly.

Then Switzerland responded by jumping out to a 2-0 lead, scoring 61 seconds apart midway through the period

Trailing didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of home fans, who kept chanting in support with the North Korean cheerleaders rinkside leading the cheers. During a timeout, the cheerleaders tried to start fans doing the wave only to see that trickle out as play resumed.

___

9:40 p.m.

The Dutch resumed where they left off four years ago, dominating the Olympic speedskating Oval and getting a clean sweep of medals in the women’s 3,000 meters, with outsider Carlijn Achtereekte leading the way.

Achtereekte raced in the first half of the program with the also-rans, but her time of 3 minutes, 59.21 seconds was good as gold as double 3,000-meter Olympic champion Ireen Wust finished .08 seconds behind.

Bronze went to Antoinette de Jong for the amazing Dutch sweep.

In Sochi four years ago, the Netherlands won 23 of 36 medals. They’ve started 3 for 3 at the Pyeongchang Games.

___

9:25 p.m.

Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier wasn’t just good. She was perfect.

The 24-year-old budding biathlon star hit all 10 targets to win her first gold medal in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint on Saturday night at the Pyeongchang Games.

Dahlmeier had won five of six possible medals at last year’s World Championships. Coincidentally, the one event she didn’t win was this one.

She appeared exhausted as she finished, falling to the ground, her face inches from the snow and her skis spread apart in a frog-like position.

Only three women out of 86 competitors hit all 10 targets on a cold and blustery night. However, the other two failed to crack the top 15 because they took too long to shoot those targets.

Norway’s Marte Olsbu captured the silver medal and Veronika Vitkova from the Czech Republic took home the bronze.

___

9:20 p.m.

South Korea recovered from a crash to earn a place in the women’s 3,000-meter relay final at short-track speedskating.

The South Koreans won their semifinal heat on Saturday night, drawing wild cheers from the home crowd at the packed Gangneung Ice Arena.

Canada also advanced to Tuesday’s final, along with China and Italy.

The U.S. women didn’t qualify for the event.

___

9:15 p.m.

The field is set for the men’s 1,500-meter short-track speed skating final.

After the crash-filled semifinals, nine skaters advanced to the final later Saturday night.

Among them is defending Olympic champion Charles Hamelin of Canada.

American J.R. Celski finished sixth and last in his semifinal heat and didn’t advance after being penalized. Joining Celski on the sidelines was his teammate John-Henry Krueger, who also got penalized.

World record holder Sjinkie Knegt will try to become the first Dutch short-track speed skater to win an Olympic title in the chaotic sport.

Among others in the 1,500 final are Liu Shaolin Sandor of Hungary, Lim Hyo-jun and Hwang Dae-heon, both of South Korea, and Semen Elistratov, a Russian skater who is competing under the Olympic flag at the games.

___

9:05 p.m.

Coach Sarah Murray is playing three North Korean forwards as required in the deal creating the first combined Korean team in Olympic history.

The women’s hockey coach faced some tough decisions after negotiations led to 12 North Korean players being added to her roster on Jan. 25. She had to scratch three of her South Korean players for Saturday’s game against Switzerland at the Kwandong Hockey Center.

The North Korean forwards are Kim Un Hyang, Jong Su Hyon and Hwang Chung Gum.

Neither country has played women’s ice hockey in the Olympics before. South Korea only received a berth as a host country.

Fans cheered as the Koreans took the ice for pregame warmups.

But the cheers might have been louder if not for a backup outside the arena getting fans through the gates.

___

8:50 p.m.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier says there’s hope the “tender dialogue” between the Koreas at Pyeongchang will foster an improvement in diplomatic relations beyond the Olympics.

Steinmeier visited the German House in Pyeongchang as medal competition was getting was underway.

He says only months ago there were doubts over North Korea’s participation in the Olympics. He says, “Certainly three weeks ago no one would have thought that there would be a united team which entered the stadium together.”

The rare invitation to Pyongyang for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, delivered by Kim Jong Un’s sister, has accelerated the diplomatic warming.

By those measures, Steinmeier say, “What we’re seeing right now is at least a sign.” He says he’s not sure it can hold long term but notes, “At least you can have hope.”

___

8:40 p.m.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are chatting while watching Olympic speedskaters compete just hours after Moon received a historic invitation to visit North Korea.

Aides did not immediately say whether the invitation was discussed as the two sat next to each other viewing several heats Saturday.

They were seated not far from a section of North Korean cheerleaders who attended the Olympics in a sign of warming ties between the two Koreas that Pence and other U.S. officials have warned against.

Moon and North Korea’s 90-year-old ceremonial head of state will jointly attend the unified Korean women’s ice hockey team’s first match later Saturday evening with Pence.

___

8:30 p.m.

American teenager Maame Biney is safely through to the quarterfinals of the 500 meters in her short-track Olympic debut.

The 18-year-old speedskater finished second in her heat behind China’s Fan Kexin on Saturday night. Biney was born in Ghana and moved to the U.S. as a 5-year-old.

The other American, Lana Gehring, was eliminated after finishing third in her heat. Only the top two skaters in each heat advance.

Among the big names moving on to Tuesday’s quarterfinals are Canadian teammates Kim Boutin and Marianne St-Gelais, Italy’s Arianna Fontana, Britain’s Elise Christie and South Korea’s Choi Min-jeong.

Shim Suk-hee of South Korea was a three-time medalist at the Sochi Games but was eliminated Saturday after finishing third in her heat.

___

8:10 p.m.

Korean fans are very, very excited about making history with their combined women’s hockey team at the Pyeongchang Games.

Hundreds of fans waved flags with many featuring the Korean Peninsula, and they chanted while waiting outside in gusting winds for officials to open the doors at the Kwandong Hockey Center 90 minutes before Korea plays Switzerland.

A capacity crowd of 6,000 is expected for the game, with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea’s 90-year-old nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam, among them.

The men boarded a train for Gangneung after lunch in Seoul with Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un.

It’s unclear if she will be joining the leaders to watch a roster featuring 12 North Koreans.

___

7:55 p.m.

The first night of short-track speedskating is underway at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

All three Americans have advanced to the semifinals of the men’s 1,500 meters. Three-time Olympian J.R. Celski and John-Henry Krueger nearly fell in their heats, while a crash involving two skaters allowed Aaron Tran to move on in the 13 ½-lap race.

South Korea’s three skaters — Hwang Dae-heon, Lim Hyo-jun and Seo Yira — also qualified for the semis to the delight of the home crowd, which roared any time one of their skaters was in the lead. Short track is hugely popular in the host country.

World record holder Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands safely moved on, as did defending Olympic champion Charles Hamelin of Canada.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen are in the crowd.

___

7:35 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence is cheering on U.S. speed skaters at the Winter Olympics before departing South Korea for Washington.

Pence and his wife are viewing the short-track competition Saturday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife. Eight Americans are participating in the event.

It’s the final stop on a six-day trip that Pence hoped would increase pressure on North Korea as it seeks to use the games to pursue an opening with the South.

Pence’s efforts to keep the spotlight on North Korea’s nuclear program and human rights abuses have taken a back seat to the widely viewed images of the two Koreas marching under one flag during Friday night’s opening ceremony — and to the invitation by dictator Kim Jong Un for South Korean President Moon Jae-in to visit the North.

___

7:25 p.m.

Norwegian cross-country skiing star Marit Bjoergen says this will be her final Olympics.

Bjoergen has won her 11th Olympic medal, taking silver in the 15-kilometer skiathlon, making her the most decorated female Winter Olympian ever.

The 37-year-old is still hoping to pass biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, who has 13 podium finishes, before the end of these Olympic Games. She won’t say how many races she plans to participate in in Pyeongchang, only that she will participate in the women’s sprint on Tuesday.

“I haven’t thought about that. For sure it’s my last Olympics, but for me, I have to focus on doing good races,” Bjoergen said. “I think when I’m finished with the Olympics I can look behind me and see how many medals I have. For me it’s important to do the race and have the focus there.”

___

7:10 p.m.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven is hailing Charlotte Kalla, who won the first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Lofven wrote on Instagram “Sweden’s first gold hero at the Olympic Games! Congratulations Kalla.”

Kalla won gold ahead of Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen in the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon.

___

7:05 p.m.

Sara Hjalmarsson scored 1:53 into the third period and Sweden held off Japan 2-1 in a thrilling game to open the preliminary round for women’s ice hockey at the Pyeongchang Games.

This was only Japan’s third appearance in the Olympics for women’s ice hockey, and they had to start off pool play against a country that took home silver in 2006 and bronze in 2002.

Sweden took a 1-0 lead 2:21 into the game when Fanny Rask scored from a tough angle, squeezing the puck between Nana Fujimoto’s head and the post.

The Japanese tied it up with 3:08 left in the second period.

The Swedes took the lead back thanks to a great takeaway by Erika Grahm who then passed the puck backward to Hjalmarsson in the slot for the go-ahead goal.

___

6:55 p.m.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is not directly addressing news that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a visit, as the two Koreas use the Olympics as an opportunity for renewing ties amid concerns over North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.

Pence spokeswoman Alyssa Farah says, “The vice president is grateful that President Moon reaffirmed his strong commitment to the global maximum pressure campaign and for his support for continued sanctions.”

Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, delivered the invitation to Moon on Saturday.

Pence has meant to use his trip to the Olympics to caution the South against “falling for” the North’s overtures, which in the past have been used as stall tactics to allow for continued development of its nuclear program.

___

6:45 p.m.

An army of high-flying drones expected to light up the sky at the opening ceremony of the Olympics was grounded.

Viewers of NBC’s tape-delayed broadcast in the United States still saw it, but it was a pre-recorded version from a rehearsal.

Intel Corp. was expected to launch 300 drones as part of an extravagant light show, but those plans were scrapped. International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams says the drones weren’t deployed because of an “impromptu logistical change.”

NBC aired a light show, but it was from Intel’s launching of 1,280 drones in December in Pyeongchang.

The incident was reminiscent of the Sochi Games in 2014, when one of the five Olympic rings failed to light — but Russian state television aired rehearsal footage of it happening.

___

6:15 p.m.

Speedskater Shani Davis has declined to talk to reporters for a second day in a row about the controversy over how the U.S. Olympic Team chose its flag-bearer for the opening ceremony.

Davis, who skipped the ceremony, trained Saturday but walked by journalists afterward without stopping to answer questions.

After luger Erin Hamlin was picked to carry the flag, a tweet from Davis’s account said Team USA “dishonorably” used a coin toss to make the decision and added the #BlackHistoryMonth2018 hashtag. Davis is black and Hamlin is white. The coin toss happened after they tied 4-4 in a vote by fellow athletes.

Team spokesman Matt Whewell says Davis is intent on staying focused on his Olympic races for now. His first race is Tuesday’s 1,500 meters.

A tweet from his account a few hours after the opening ceremony read, “It has been such an honor to have represented the greatest, most diverse country in the world at the last five Winter Games during the same month as #blackhistorymonth #goTeamUSA Watch ‘Origins of Black History Month.'”

___

6 p.m.

American cross-country skier Jessie Diggins says nerves may have gotten the best of her before the women’s 15-kilometer (9.3-mile) skiathlon, causing her to throw up shortly before the race.

Diggins was third in the World Cup rankings coming in but finished fifth on Saturday at the Pyeongchang Games.

The 26-year-old says, “I need to work on a few things to manage stress.”

She says she also struggled with cramping in her triceps during the race and will reconsider her hydration plan moving forward. Overall, though, she says she did the best she could and got the most out of her body.

Diggins says it wasn’t her best race, but she still feels like she’s in a “good place” to become the first American cross-country skier to win a medal since Bill Koch in 1976.

___

5:05 p.m.

Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla won the first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Games and Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen took silver in the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon to become the most decorated female Winter Olympian ever.

Bjoergen captured her 11th career medal Saturday, breaking a three-way tie with Russian Raisa Smetanina and Italian Stefania Belmondo.

Kalla won the race by more than seven seconds, breaking away from the pack in the final 2 kilometers to avenge her loss to Bjoergen in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Jessica Diggins finished fifth, failing to become the first American woman to earn a medal in cross-country skiing.

Krista Parmakoski of Finland finished third.

___

4:30 p.m.

Race organizers say they expect “challenging” conditions to stage the Olympic men’s downhill on Sunday.

Team leaders have been told the weather forecast is “partly cloudy but the wind will be strong.” Race-time temperatures will be below freezing on the Jeongseon hill.

Gusts and tailwinds affected a shortened practice run on Friday but eased for the final training session Saturday.

Race director says Markus Waldner “it was good enough to have a race today. Tomorrow we will see.”

Waldner says a decision whether to delay the 11 a.m. start, or postpone the race, is expected at 10 a.m.

____

By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

___

#11th Olympic medal #1st Olympic game #Koreas make history

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mystlnewsonline · 7 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/latest-germanys-dahlmeier-wins-gold-7-5-km-sprint/84049/

The Latest: Germany's Dahlmeier wins gold in 7.5-km sprint

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea /February 10, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) — The Latest on the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local):

9:25 p.m.

Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier wasn’t just good. She was perfect.

The 24-year-old budding biathlon star hit all 10 targets to win her first gold medal in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint on Saturday night at the Pyeongchang Games.

Dahlmeier had won five of six possible medals at last year’s World Championships. Coincidentally, the one event she didn’t win was this one.

She appeared exhausted as she finished, falling to the ground, her face inches from the snow and her skis spread apart in a frog-like position.

Only three women out of 86 competitors hit all 10 targets on a cold and blustery night. However, the other two failed to crack the top 15 because they took too long to shoot those targets.

Norway’s Marte Olsbu captured the silver medal and Veronika Vitkova from the Czech Republic took home the bronze.

___

9:20 p.m.

South Korea recovered from a crash to earn a place in the women’s 3,000-meter relay final at short-track speedskating.

The South Koreans won their semifinal heat on Saturday night, drawing wild cheers from the home crowd at the packed Gangneung Ice Arena.

Canada also advanced to Tuesday’s final, along with China and Italy.

The U.S. women didn’t qualify for the event.

___

9:15 p.m.

The field is set for the men’s 1,500-meter short-track speedskating final.

After the crash-filled semifinals, nine skaters advanced to the final later Saturday night.

Among them is defending Olympic champion Charles Hamelin of Canada.

World record holder Sjinkie Knegt will try to become the first Dutch short-track speedskater to win an Olympic title in the chaotic sport.

___

9:05 p.m.

Coach Sarah Murray is playing three North Korean forwards as required in the deal creating the first combined Korean team in Olympic history.

The North Korean forwards are Kim Un Hyang, Jong Su Hyon and Hwang Chung Gum.

Neither country has played women’s ice hockey in the Olympics before. South Korea only received a berth as a host country.

Fans cheered as the Koreans took the ice for pregame warmups.

But the cheers might have been louder if not for a backup outside the arena getting fans through the gates.

___

8:50 p.m.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier says there’s hope the “tender dialogue” between the Koreas at Pyeongchang will foster an improvement in diplomatic relations beyond the Olympics.

Steinmeier visited the German House in Pyeongchang as medal competition was getting was underway.

The rare invitation to Pyongyang for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, delivered by Kim Jong Un’s sister, has accelerated the diplomatic warming.

By those measures, Steinmeier say, “What we’re seeing right now is at least a sign.” He says he’s not sure it can hold long term but notes, “At least you can have hope.”

___

8:40 p.m.

Aides did not immediately say whether the invitation was discussed as the two sat next to each other viewing several heats Saturday.

Moon and North Korea’s 90-year-old ceremonial head of state will jointly attend the unified Korean women’s ice hockey team’s first match later Saturday evening with Pence.

___

8:30 p.m.

American teenager Maame Biney is safely through to the quarterfinals of the 500 meters in her short-track Olympic debut.

The 18-year-old speedskater finished second in her heat behind China’s Fan Kexin on Saturday night. Biney was born in Ghana and moved to the U.S. as a 5-year-old.

The other American, Lana Gehring, was eliminated after finishing third in her heat. Only the top two skaters in each heat advance.

Shim Suk-hee of South Korea was a three-time medalist at the Sochi Games but was eliminated Saturday after finishing third in her heat.

___

8:10 p.m.

Korean fans are very, very excited about making history with their combined women’s hockey team at the Pyeongchang Games.

A capacity crowd of 6,000 is expected for the game, with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea’s 90-year-old nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam, among them.

The men boarded a train for Gangneung after lunch in Seoul with Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un.

It’s unclear if she will be joining the leaders to watch a roster featuring 12 North Koreans.

___

7:55 p.m.

The first night of short-track speedskating is underway at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

World record holder Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands safely moved on, as did defending Olympic champion Charles Hamelin of Canada.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen are in the crowd.

___

7:35 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence is cheering on U.S. speedskaters at the Winter Olympics before departing South Korea for Washington.

Pence and his wife are viewing the short-track competition Saturday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife. Eight Americans are participating in the event.

It’s the final stop on a six-day trip that Pence hoped would increase pressure on North Korea as it seeks to use the games to pursue an opening with the South.

___

7:25 p.m.

Norwegian cross-country skiing star Marit Bjoergen says this will be her final Olympics.

Bjoergen has won her 11th Olympic medal, taking silver in the 15-kilometer skiathlon, making her the most decorated female Winter Olympian ever.

___

7:10 p.m.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven is hailing Charlotte Kalla, who won the first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Lofven wrote on Instagram “Sweden’s first gold hero at the Olympic Games! Congratulations Kalla.”

Kalla won gold ahead of Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen in the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon.

___

7:05 p.m.

Sara Hjalmarsson scored 1:53 into the third period and Sweden held off Japan 2-1 in a thrilling game to open the preliminary round for women’s ice hockey at the Pyeongchang Games.

This was only Japan’s third appearance in the Olympics for women’s ice hockey, and they had to start off pool play against a country that took home silver in 2006 and bronze in 2002.

Sweden took a 1-0 lead 2:21 into the game when Fanny Rask scored from a tough angle, squeezing the puck between Nana Fujimoto’s head and the post.

The Japanese tied it up with 3:08 left in the second period.

The Swedes took the lead back thanks to a great takeaway by Erika Grahm who then passed the puck backward to Hjalmarsson in the slot for the go-ahead goal.

___

6:55 p.m.

Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, delivered the invitation to Moon on Saturday.

___

6:45 p.m.

An army of high-flying drones expected to light up the sky at the opening ceremony of the Olympics was grounded.

Viewers of NBC’s tape-delayed broadcast in the United States still saw it, but it was a pre-recorded version from a rehearsal.

NBC aired a light show, but it was from Intel’s launching of 1,280 drones in December in Pyeongchang.

The incident was reminiscent of the Sochi Games in 2014, when one of the five Olympic rings failed to light — but Russian state television aired rehearsal footage of it happening.

___

6:15 p.m.

Speedskater Shani Davis has declined to talk to reporters for a second day in a row about the controversy over how the U.S. Olympic Team chose its flag-bearer for the opening ceremony.

Davis, who skipped the ceremony, trained Saturday but walked by journalists afterward without stopping to answer questions.

Team spokesman Matt Whewell says Davis is intent on staying focused on his Olympic races for now. His first race is Tuesday’s 1,500 meters.

___

6 p.m.

American cross-country skier Jessie Diggins says nerves may have gotten the best of her before the women’s 15-kilometer (9.3-mile) skiathlon, causing her to throw up shortly before the race.

Diggins was third in the World Cup rankings coming in but finished fifth on Saturday at the Pyeongchang Games.

The 26-year-old says, “I need to work on a few things to manage stress.”

Diggins says it wasn’t her best race, but she still feels like she’s in a “good place” to become the first American cross-country skier to win a medal since Bill Koch in 1976.

___

5:05 p.m.

Bjoergen captured her 11th career medal Saturday, breaking a three-way tie with Russian Raisa Smetanina and Italian Stefania Belmondo.

Kalla won the race by more than seven seconds, breaking away from the pack in the final 2 kilometers to avenge her loss to Bjoergen in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Jessica Diggins finished fifth, failing to become the first American woman to earn a medal in cross-country skiing.

Krista Parmakoski of Finland finished third.

___

4:30 p.m.

Race organizers say they expect “challenging” conditions to stage the Olympic men’s downhill on Sunday.

Team leaders have been told the weather forecast is “partly cloudy but the wind will be strong.” Race-time temperatures will be below freezing on the Jeongseon hill.

Gusts and tailwinds affected a shortened practice run on Friday but eased for the final training session Saturday.

Race director says Markus Waldner “it was good enough to have a race today. Tomorrow we will see.”

Waldner says a decision whether to delay the 11 a.m. start, or postpone the race, is expected at 10 a.m.

___

4:20 p.m.

Russian International Olympic Committee member Yelena Isinbayeva says Russian athletes at the Pyeongchang Games will be more successful because of anger that others were excluded.

Isinbayeva, the pole vault world record holder, says on Instagram that “everything will definitely work out for us.”

She says, “After all, when they’re angry and enraged, Russians are unbeatable.”

Isinbayeva adds she finds it “terrible” that many Russian athletes failed to pass an IOC vetting process examining whether they were linked to doping schemes.

She says she is “very disappointed for all the clean athletes who weren’t let in, who didn’t even get an explanation of why they were excluded.”

Isinbayeva didn’t attend this week’s IOC session in Pyeongchang because she is heavily pregnant.

___

3:35 p.m.

U.S. hockey coach Robb Stauber knows whom he plans to start in net when the American women kick off their quest for Olympic gold, but he just hasn’t told his trio of goaltenders yet.

Not that waiting to hear who gets the honor of playing Sunday against Finland is bothering Maddie Rooney, Alex Rigsby or Nicole Hensley. They’re all preparing as if Stauber will be tapping them first as the Americans start their quest to end the country’s 20-year drought without Olympic gold.

The Pyeongchang Games are the first Olympics for all three goalies, so prior experience at the world’s biggest tournament for women’s hockey won’t be a deciding factor.

Stauber says he’s also leaving himself some room to change his mind as well in a short tournament.

___

By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

___

#7.5-km sprint #American women kick off #first gold medal in the women #Germany's Dahlmeier wins gold

0 notes

mystlnewsonline · 7 years ago

Photo

New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/latest-field-set-1500-meter-short-track-final/84036/

The Latest: Field set for 1,500-meter short-track final

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea /February 10, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) — The Latest on the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local):

9:15 p.m.

The field is set for the men’s 1,500-meter short-track speedskating final.

After the crash-filled semifinals, nine skaters advanced to the final later Saturday night.

Among them is defending Olympic champion Charles Hamelin of Canada.

World record holder Sjinkie Knegt will try to become the first Dutch short-track speedskater to win an Olympic title in the chaotic sport.

___

9:05 p.m.

Coach Sarah Murray is playing three North Korean forwards as required in the deal creating the first combined Korean team in Olympic history.

The North Korean forwards are Kim Un Hyang, Jong Su Hyon and Hwang Chung Gum.

Neither country has played women’s ice hockey in the Olympics before. South Korea only received a berth as a host country.

Fans cheered as the Koreans took the ice for pregame warmups.

But the cheers might have been louder if not for a backup outside the arena getting fans through the gates.

___

8:50 p.m.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier says there’s hope the “tender dialogue” between the Koreas at Pyeongchang will foster an improvement in diplomatic relations beyond the Olympics.

Steinmeier visited the German House in Pyeongchang as medal competition was getting was underway.

The rare invitation to Pyongyang for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, delivered by Kim Jong Un’s sister, has accelerated the diplomatic warming.

By those measures, Steinmeier say, “What we’re seeing right now is at least a sign.” He says he’s not sure it can hold long term but notes, “At least you can have hope.”

___

8:40 p.m.

Aides did not immediately say whether the invitation was discussed as the two sat next to each other viewing several heats Saturday.

Moon and North Korea’s 90-year-old ceremonial head of state will jointly attend the unified Korean women’s ice hockey team’s first match later Saturday evening with Pence.

___

8:30 p.m.

American teenager Maame Biney is safely through to the quarterfinals of the 500 meters in her short-track Olympic debut.

The 18-year-old speedskater finished second in her heat behind China’s Fan Kexin on Saturday night. Biney was born in Ghana and moved to the U.S. as a 5-year-old.

The other American, Lana Gehring, was eliminated after finishing third in her heat. Only the top two skaters in each heat advance.

Shim Suk-hee of South Korea was a three-time medalist at the Sochi Games but was eliminated Saturday after finishing third in her heat.

___

8:10 p.m.

Korean fans are very, very excited about making history with their combined women’s hockey team at the Pyeongchang Games.

A capacity crowd of 6,000 is expected for the game, with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea’s 90-year-old nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam, among them.

The men boarded a train for Gangneung after lunch in Seoul with Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un.

It’s unclear if she will be joining the leaders to watch a roster featuring 12 North Koreans.

___

7:55 p.m.

The first night of short-track speedskating is underway at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

World record holder Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands safely moved on, as did defending Olympic champion Charles Hamelin of Canada.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen are in the crowd.

___

7:35 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence is cheering on U.S. speedskaters at the Winter Olympics before departing South Korea for Washington.

Pence and his wife are viewing the short-track competition Saturday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife. Eight Americans are participating in the event.

It’s the final stop on a six-day trip that Pence hoped would increase pressure on North Korea as it seeks to use the games to pursue an opening with the South.

___

7:25 p.m.

Norwegian cross-country skiing star Marit Bjoergen says this will be her final Olympics.

Bjoergen has won her 11th Olympic medal, taking silver in the 15-kilometer skiathlon, making her the most decorated female Winter Olympian ever.

___

7:10 p.m.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven is hailing Charlotte Kalla, who won the first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Lofven wrote on Instagram “Sweden’s first gold hero at the Olympic Games! Congratulations Kalla.”

Kalla won gold ahead of Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen in the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon.

___

7:05 p.m.

Sara Hjalmarsson scored 1:53 into the third period and Sweden held off Japan 2-1 in a thrilling game to open the preliminary round for women’s ice hockey at the Pyeongchang Games.

This was only Japan’s third appearance in the Olympics for women’s ice hockey, and they had to start off pool play against a country that took home silver in 2006 and bronze in 2002.

Sweden took a 1-0 lead 2:21 into the game when Fanny Rask scored from a tough angle, squeezing the puck between Nana Fujimoto’s head and the post.

The Japanese tied it up with 3:08 left in the second period.

The Swedes took the lead back thanks to a great takeaway by Erika Grahm who then passed the puck backward to Hjalmarsson in the slot for the go-ahead goal.

___

6:55 p.m.

Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, delivered the invitation to Moon on Saturday.

___

6:45 p.m.

An army of high-flying drones expected to light up the sky at the opening ceremony of the Olympics was grounded.

Viewers of NBC’s tape-delayed broadcast in the United States still saw it, but it was a pre-recorded version from a rehearsal.

NBC aired a light show, but it was from Intel’s launching of 1,280 drones in December in Pyeongchang.

The incident was reminiscent of the Sochi Games in 2014, when one of the five Olympic rings failed to light — but Russian state television aired rehearsal footage of it happening.

___

6:15 p.m.

Speedskater Shani Davis has declined to talk to reporters for a second day in a row about the controversy over how the U.S. Olympic Team chose its flag-bearer for the opening ceremony.

Davis, who skipped the ceremony, trained Saturday but walked by journalists afterward without stopping to answer questions.

Team spokesman Matt Whewell says Davis is intent on staying focused on his Olympic races for now. His first race is Tuesday’s 1,500 meters.

___

6 p.m.

American cross-country skier Jessie Diggins says nerves may have gotten the best of her before the women’s 15-kilometer (9.3-mile) skiathlon, causing her to throw up shortly before the race.

Diggins was third in the World Cup rankings coming in but finished fifth on Saturday at the Pyeongchang Games.

The 26-year-old says, “I need to work on a few things to manage stress.”

Diggins says it wasn’t her best race, but she still feels like she’s in a “good place” to become the first American cross-country skier to win a medal since Bill Koch in 1976.

___

5:05 p.m.

Bjoergen captured her 11th career medal Saturday, breaking a three-way tie with Russian Raisa Smetanina and Italian Stefania Belmondo.

Kalla won the race by more than seven seconds, breaking away from the pack in the final 2 kilometers to avenge her loss to Bjoergen in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Jessica Diggins finished fifth, failing to become the first American woman to earn a medal in cross-country skiing.

Krista Parmakoski of Finland finished third.

___

4:30 p.m.

Race organizers say they expect “challenging” conditions to stage the Olympic men’s downhill on Sunday.

Team leaders have been told the weather forecast is “partly cloudy but the wind will be strong.” Race-time temperatures will be below freezing on the Jeongseon hill.

Gusts and tailwinds affected a shortened practice run on Friday but eased for the final training session Saturday.

Race director says Markus Waldner “it was good enough to have a race today. Tomorrow we will see.”

Waldner says a decision whether to delay the 11 a.m. start, or postpone the race, is expected at 10 a.m.

___

4:20 p.m.

Russian International Olympic Committee member Yelena Isinbayeva says Russian athletes at the Pyeongchang Games will be more successful because of anger that others were excluded.

Isinbayeva, the pole vault world record holder, says on Instagram that “everything will definitely work out for us.”

She says, “After all, when they’re angry and enraged, Russians are unbeatable.”

Isinbayeva adds she finds it “terrible” that many Russian athletes failed to pass an IOC vetting process examining whether they were linked to doping schemes.

She says she is “very disappointed for all the clean athletes who weren’t let in, who didn’t even get an explanation of why they were excluded.”

Isinbayeva didn’t attend this week’s IOC session in Pyeongchang because she is heavily pregnant.

___

3:35 p.m.

U.S. hockey coach Robb Stauber knows whom he plans to start in net when the American women kick off their quest for Olympic gold, but he just hasn’t told his trio of goaltenders yet.

The Pyeongchang Games are the first Olympics for all three goalies, so prior experience at the world’s biggest tournament for women’s hockey won’t be a deciding factor.

Stauber says he’s also leaving himself some room to change his mind as well in a short tournament.

___

By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

___

#Field set for 1500-meter #Olympic champion #short-track final

0 notes

mystlnewsonline · 7 years ago

Photo

New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/latest-womens-hockey-team-play-3-nkorean-forwards/84029/

The Latest: Women's hockey team to play 3 NKorean forwards

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea /February 10, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) — The Latest on the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local):

9:05 p.m.

Coach Sarah Murray is playing three North Korean forwards as required in the deal creating the first combined Korean team in Olympic history.

The North Korean forwards are Kim Un Hyang, Jong Su Hyon and Hwang Chung Gum.

Neither country has played women’s ice hockey in the Olympics before. South Korea only received a berth as a host country.

Fans cheered as the Koreans took the ice for pregame warmups.

But the cheers might have been louder if not for a backup outside the arena getting fans through the gates.

___

8:50 p.m.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier says there’s hope the “tender dialogue” between the Koreas at Pyeongchang will foster an improvement in diplomatic relations beyond the Olympics.

Steinmeier visited the German House in Pyeongchang as medal competition was getting was underway.

The rare invitation to Pyongyang for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, delivered by Kim Jong Un’s sister, has accelerated the diplomatic warming.

By those measures, Steinmeier say, “What we’re seeing right now is at least a sign.” He says he’s not sure it can hold long term but notes, “At least you can have hope.”

___

8:40 p.m.

Aides did not immediately say whether the invitation was discussed as the two sat next to each other viewing several heats Saturday.

Moon and North Korea’s 90-year-old ceremonial head of state will jointly attend the unified Korean women’s ice hockey team’s first match later Saturday evening with Pence.

___

8:30 p.m.

American teenager Maame Biney is safely through to the quarterfinals of the 500 meters in her short-track Olympic debut.

The 18-year-old speedskater finished second in her heat behind China’s Fan Kexin on Saturday night. Biney was born in Ghana and moved to the U.S. as a 5-year-old.

The other American, Lana Gehring, was eliminated after finishing third in her heat. Only the top two skaters in each heat advance.

Shim Suk-hee of South Korea was a three-time medalist at the Sochi Games but was eliminated Saturday after finishing third in her heat.

___

8:10 p.m.

Korean fans are very, very excited about making history with their combined women’s hockey team at the Pyeongchang Games.

A capacity crowd of 6,000 is expected for the game, with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea’s 90-year-old nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam, among them.

The men boarded a train for Gangneung after lunch in Seoul with Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un.

It’s unclear if she will be joining the leaders to watch a roster featuring 12 North Koreans.

___

7:55 p.m.

The first night of short-track speedskating is underway at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

World record holder Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands safely moved on, as did defending Olympic champion Charles Hamelin of Canada.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen are in the crowd.

___

7:35 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence is cheering on U.S. speedskaters at the Winter Olympics before departing South Korea for Washington.

Pence and his wife are viewing the short-track competition Saturday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife. Eight Americans are participating in the event.

It’s the final stop on a six-day trip that Pence hoped would increase pressure on North Korea as it seeks to use the games to pursue an opening with the South.

___

7:25 p.m.

Norwegian cross-country skiing star Marit Bjoergen says this will be her final Olympics.

Bjoergen has won her 11th Olympic medal, taking silver in the 15-kilometer skiathlon, making her the most decorated female Winter Olympian ever.

___

7:10 p.m.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven is hailing Charlotte Kalla, who won the first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Lofven wrote on Instagram “Sweden’s first gold hero at the Olympic Games! Congratulations Kalla.”

Kalla won gold ahead of Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen in the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon.

___

7:05 p.m.

Sara Hjalmarsson scored 1:53 into the third period and Sweden held off Japan 2-1 in a thrilling game to open the preliminary round for women’s ice hockey at the Pyeongchang Games.

This was only Japan’s third appearance in the Olympics for women’s ice hockey, and they had to start off pool play against a country that took home silver in 2006 and bronze in 2002.

Sweden took a 1-0 lead 2:21 into the game when Fanny Rask scored from a tough angle, squeezing the puck between Nana Fujimoto’s head and the post.

The Japanese tied it up with 3:08 left in the second period.

The Swedes took the lead back thanks to a great takeaway by Erika Grahm who then passed the puck backward to Hjalmarsson in the slot for the go-ahead goal.

___

6:55 p.m.

Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, delivered the invitation to Moon on Saturday.

___

6:45 p.m.

An army of high-flying drones expected to light up the sky at the opening ceremony of the Olympics was grounded.

Viewers of NBC’s tape-delayed broadcast in the United States still saw it, but it was a pre-recorded version from a rehearsal.

NBC aired a light show, but it was from Intel’s launching of 1,280 drones in December in Pyeongchang.

The incident was reminiscent of the Sochi Games in 2014, when one of the five Olympic rings failed to light — but Russian state television aired rehearsal footage of it happening.

___

6:15 p.m.

Speedskater Shani Davis has declined to talk to reporters for a second day in a row about the controversy over how the U.S. Olympic Team chose its flag-bearer for the opening ceremony.

Davis, who skipped the ceremony, trained Saturday but walked by journalists afterward without stopping to answer questions.

Team spokesman Matt Whewell says Davis is intent on staying focused on his Olympic races for now. His first race is Tuesday’s 1,500 meters.

___

6 p.m.

American cross-country skier Jessie Diggins says nerves may have gotten the best of her before the women’s 15-kilometer (9.3-mile) skiathlon, causing her to throw up shortly before the race.

Diggins was third in the World Cup rankings coming in but finished fifth on Saturday at the Pyeongchang Games.

The 26-year-old says, “I need to work on a few things to manage stress.”

Diggins says it wasn’t her best race, but she still feels like she’s in a “good place” to become the first American cross-country skier to win a medal since Bill Koch in 1976.

___

5:05 p.m.

Bjoergen captured her 11th career medal Saturday, breaking a three-way tie with Russian Raisa Smetanina and Italian Stefania Belmondo.

Kalla won the race by more than seven seconds, breaking away from the pack in the final 2 kilometers to avenge her loss to Bjoergen in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Jessica Diggins finished fifth, failing to become the first American woman to earn a medal in cross-country skiing.

Krista Parmakoski of Finland finished third.

___

4:30 p.m.

Race organizers say they expect “challenging” conditions to stage the Olympic men’s downhill on Sunday.

Team leaders have been told the weather forecast is “partly cloudy but the wind will be strong.” Race-time temperatures will be below freezing on the Jeongseon hill.

Gusts and tailwinds affected a shortened practice run on Friday but eased for the final training session Saturday.

Race director says Markus Waldner “it was good enough to have a race today. Tomorrow we will see.”

Waldner says a decision whether to delay the 11 a.m. start, or postpone the race, is expected at 10 a.m.

___

4:20 p.m.

Russian International Olympic Committee member Yelena Isinbayeva says Russian athletes at the Pyeongchang Games will be more successful because of anger that others were excluded.

Isinbayeva, the pole vault world record holder, says on Instagram that “everything will definitely work out for us.”

She says, “After all, when they’re angry and enraged, Russians are unbeatable.”

Isinbayeva adds she finds it “terrible” that many Russian athletes failed to pass an IOC vetting process examining whether they were linked to doping schemes.

She says she is “very disappointed for all the clean athletes who weren’t let in, who didn’t even get an explanation of why they were excluded.”

Isinbayeva didn’t attend this week’s IOC session in Pyeongchang because she is heavily pregnant.

___

3:35 p.m.

U.S. hockey coach Robb Stauber knows whom he plans to start in net when the American women kick off their quest for Olympic gold, but he just hasn’t told his trio of goaltenders yet.

The Pyeongchang Games are the first Olympics for all three goalies, so prior experience at the world’s biggest tournament for women’s hockey won’t be a deciding factor.

Stauber says he’s also leaving himself some room to change his mind as well in a short tournament.

___

2:55 p.m.

Yuna Kim’s an Olympic gold medalist and a two-time world champion figure skater, but she still gets nervous, including at Friday’s opening ceremony.

The South Korean performed on a tiny ice rink propped high in the air with 35,000 fans looking on at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Kim skated for about 30 seconds and then took the torch from two North and South Korean ice hockey players who climbed 120 steps to deliver it.

Kim says, “When I was on the ice rink, I couldn’t really see the spectators in the stadium. I was only thinking I could fall, so I shouldn’t make any mistakes.”

She didn’t.

The two hockey players had no chance to practice. She was concerned, but it went according to script, with Kim delivering the flame to the cauldron.

___

By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

___

#3 NKorean forwards #Olympic history #women's hockey coach faced #Women's hockey team to play

0 notes

mystlnewsonline · 7 years ago

Photo

New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/latest-german-leader-hopes-korea-relations-are-improved/84025/

The Latest: German leader hopes Korea relations are improved

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea/February 10, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) — The Latest on the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local):

8:50 p.m.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier says there’s hope the “tender dialogue” between the Koreas at Pyeongchang will foster an improvement in diplomatic relations beyond the Olympics.

Steinmeier visited the German House in Pyeongchang as medal competition was getting was underway.

The rare invitation to Pyongyang for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, delivered by Kim Jong Un’s sister, has accelerated the diplomatic warming.

By those measures, Steinmeier say, “What we’re seeing right now is at least a sign.” He says he’s not sure it can hold long term but notes, “At least you can have hope.”

___

8:40 p.m.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are chatting while watching Olympic speed skaters compete just hours after Moon received a historic invitation to visit North Korea.

Aides did not immediately say whether the invitation was discussed as the two sat next to each other viewing several heats Saturday.

Moon and North Korea’s 90-year-old ceremonial head of state will jointly attend the unified Korean women’s ice hockey team’s first match later Saturday evening with Pence.

___

8:30 p.m.

American teenager Maame Biney is safely through to the quarterfinals of the 500 meters in her short-track Olympic debut.

The 18-year-old speedskater finished second in her heat behind China’s Fan Kexin on Saturday night. Biney was born in Ghana and moved to the U.S. as a 5-year-old.

The other American, Lana Gehring, was eliminated after finishing third in her heat. Only the top two skaters in each heat advance.

Shim Suk-hee of South Korea was a three-time medalist at the Sochi Games but was eliminated Saturday after finishing third in her heat.

___

8:10 p.m.

Korean fans are very, very excited about making history with their combined women’s hockey team at the Pyeongchang Games.

A capacity crowd of 6,000 is expected for the game, with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea’s 90-year-old nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam, among them.

The men boarded a train for Gangneung after lunch in Seoul with Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un.

It’s unclear if she will be joining the leaders to watch a roster featuring 12 North Koreans.

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7:55 p.m.

The first night of short-track speed skating is underway at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

World record holder Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands safely moved on, as did defending Olympic champion Charles Hamelin of Canada.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen are in the crowd.

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7:35 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence is cheering on U.S. speed skaters at the Winter Olympics before departing South Korea for Washington.

Pence and his wife are viewing the short-track competition Saturday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife. Eight Americans are participating in the event.

It’s the final stop on a six-day trip that Pence hoped would increase pressure on North Korea as it seeks to use the games to pursue an opening with the South.

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7:25 p.m.

Norwegian cross-country skiing star Marit Bjoergen says this will be her final Olympics.

Bjoergen has won her 11th Olympic medal, taking silver in the 15-kilometer skiathlon, making her the most decorated female Winter Olympian ever.

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7:10 p.m.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven is hailing Charlotte Kalla, who won the first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Lofven wrote on Instagram “Sweden’s first gold hero at the Olympic Games! Congratulations Kalla.”

Kalla won gold ahead of Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen in the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon.

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7:05 p.m.

Sara Hjalmarsson scored 1:53 into the third period and Sweden held off Japan 2-1 in a thrilling game to open the preliminary round for women’s ice hockey at the Pyeongchang Games.

This was only Japan’s third appearance in the Olympics for women’s ice hockey, and they had to start off pool play against a country that took home silver in 2006 and bronze in 2002.

Sweden took a 1-0 lead 2:21 into the game when Fanny Rask scored from a tough angle, squeezing the puck between Nana Fujimoto‘s head and the post.

The Japanese tied it up with 3:08 left in the second period.

The Swedes took the lead back thanks to a great takeaway by Erika Grahm who then passed the puck backward to Hjalmarsson in the slot for the go-ahead goal.

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6:55 p.m.

Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, delivered the invitation to Moon on Saturday.

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6:45 p.m.

An army of high-flying drones expected to light up the sky at the opening ceremony of the Olympics was grounded.

Viewers of NBC’s tape-delayed broadcast in the United States still saw it, but it was a pre-recorded version from a rehearsal.

NBC aired a light show, but it was from Intel’s launching of 1,280 drones in December in Pyeongchang.

The incident was reminiscent of the Sochi Games in 2014, when one of the five Olympic rings failed to light — but Russian state television aired rehearsal footage of it happening.

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6:15 p.m.

Speedskater Shani Davis has declined to talk to reporters for a second day in a row about the controversy over how the U.S. Olympic Team chose its flag-bearer for the opening ceremony.

Davis, who skipped the ceremony, trained Saturday but walked by journalists afterward without stopping to answer questions.

Team spokesman Matt Whewell says Davis is intent on staying focused on his Olympic races for now. His first race is Tuesday’s 1,500 meters.

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6 p.m.

American cross-country skier Jessie Diggins says nerves may have gotten the best of her before the women’s 15-kilometer (9.3-mile) skiathlon, causing her to throw up shortly before the race.

Diggins was third in the World Cup rankings coming in but finished fifth on Saturday at the Pyeongchang Games.

The 26-year-old says, “I need to work on a few things to manage stress.”

Diggins says it wasn’t her best race, but she still feels like she’s in a “good place” to become the first American cross-country skier to win a medal since Bill Koch in 1976.

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5:05 p.m.

Bjoergen captured her 11th career medal Saturday, breaking a three-way tie with Russian Raisa Smetanina and Italian Stefania Belmondo.

Kalla won the race by more than seven seconds, breaking away from the pack in the final 2 kilometers to avenge her loss to Bjoergen in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Jessica Diggins finished fifth, failing to become the first American woman to earn a medal in cross-country skiing.

Krista Parmakoski of Finland finished third.

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4:30 p.m.

Race organizers say they expect “challenging” conditions to stage the Olympic men’s downhill on Sunday.

Team leaders have been told the weather forecast is “partly cloudy but the wind will be strong.” Race-time temperatures will be below freezing on the Jeongseon hill.

Gusts and tailwinds affected a shortened practice run on Friday but eased for the final training session Saturday.

Race director says Markus Waldner “it was good enough to have a race today. Tomorrow we will see.”

Waldner says a decision whether to delay the 11 a.m. start, or postpone the race, is expected at 10 a.m.

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4:20 p.m.

Russian International Olympic Committee member Yelena Isinbayeva says Russian athletes at the Pyeongchang Games will be more successful because of anger that others were excluded.

Isinbayeva, the pole vault world record holder, says on Instagram that “everything will definitely work out for us.”

She says, “After all, when they’re angry and enraged, Russians are unbeatable.”

Isinbayeva adds she finds it “terrible” that many Russian athletes failed to pass an IOC vetting process examining whether they were linked to doping schemes.

She says she is “very disappointed for all the clean athletes who weren’t let in, who didn’t even get an explanation of why they were excluded.”

Isinbayeva didn’t attend this week’s IOC session in Pyeongchang because she is heavily pregnant.

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3:35 p.m.

U.S. hockey coach Robb Stauber knows whom he plans to start in net when the American women kick off their quest for Olympic gold, but he just hasn’t told his trio of goaltenders yet.

The Pyeongchang Games are the first Olympics for all three goalies, so prior experience at the world’s biggest tournament for women’s hockey won’t be a deciding factor.

Stauber says he’s also leaving himself some room to change his mind as well in a short tournament.

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2:55 p.m.

Yuna Kim’s an Olympic gold medalist and a two-time world champion figure skater, but she still gets nervous, including at Friday’s opening ceremony.

The South Korean performed on a tiny ice rink propped high in the air with 35,000 fans looking on at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Kim skated for about 30 seconds and then took the torch from two North and South Korean ice hockey players who climbed 120 steps to deliver it.

Kim says, “When I was on the ice rink, I couldn’t really see the spectators in the stadium. I was only thinking I could fall, so I shouldn’t make any mistakes.”

She didn’t.

The two hockey players had no chance to practice. She was concerned, but it went according to script, with Kim delivering the flame to the cauldron.

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2:15 p.m.

Early start times for figure skating at the Pyeongchang Olympics are good for U.S. audiences who get to watch in primetime, but not always so great for the athletes.

Competition begins at 10 a.m. each day, and that means 5 a.m. wake-up calls. That’s because of the 14-hour time difference with the U.S. East Coast.

The early starts may have contributed to some tumbles by big names in the opening day of the team competition. Patrick Chan of Canada and Nathan Chen of the U.S. both fell during their short programs. Russian skater Mikhail Kolyada was next, falling twice during his short program as part of the team competition.

Waking up at 5 gives the skaters just an hour to get dressed and board the bus to the arena for 7 a.m. practice.

Then, they have to sit around a couple of hours until their moment in the spotlight. There isn’t enough time to head back to their rooms, so most pass the time trying to rest and relax, often listening to music and going through their programs in their minds.

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1:35 p.m.

Racing with a torn ACL, former Olympic champion Carlo Janka has lost his bid to be selected by Switzerland in the men’s downhill.

Janka’s coaches set a top five target in the final practice run to make the four-man Swiss team for Sunday’s race. He placed 18th, 1.19 seconds off the pace.

“I had to be on the very top today. I missed that,” Janka tells The Associated Press.

The 2010 Olympic gold medalist in giant slalom has not started a race all season after damaging his right knee in October.

Janka opted for physical therapy over surgery in hope of competing at Jeongseon, where he got the last of his 11 career World Cup wins — a super-G that tested the Olympic course in February 2016.

Still, he will start in Alpine combined scheduled Tuesday, and maybe super-G on Thursday.

Janka says his knee is “good enough to go on 100 percent” in the dry snow and good visibility at Jeongseon.

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1:25 p.m.

Norway’s powerful duo Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud pushed hard while world champion Beat Feuz took things easy in a final training run for Sunday’s Olympic downhill.

Still, it was Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr who raced fastest down the sun-splashed 2.9-kilometer (1 5/6-mile) course on Saturday.

Kriechmayr was 0.12 seconds faster than Jansrud, who is shaping up as the prerace favorite on the Jeongseon course, where he won the test race in 2016.

Svindal was third-fastest, 0.35 seconds behind the lead, as Feuz of Switzerland eased off in the lower sections to coast into the finish.

Feuz is the in-form racer after two wins and a second place in three World Cup downhills in January.

Saturday’s practice was run over the full course with little sign of strong winds forecast through the weekend.

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1:10 p.m.

Pyeongchang Olympic organizers are investigating a possible attack on their internet and Wi-Fi systems about 45 minutes before the opening ceremony.

Organizing committee spokeswoman Nancy Park says the defense ministry and a cybersecurity team are investigating the outage. She says the outage didn’t affect Friday’s opening ceremony or any competitions.

She says systems were almost back to normal about 15 hours after the problems were discovered.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports servers were shut down to prevent damage to technical systems, causing problems with the Pyeongchang Olympic website.

Park declined to call it a cyberattack and says they don’t want to speculate since they’re still trying to identify where it came from.

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11:55 a.m.

Mikaela Shiffrin can’t help but laugh when a reporter asks what her reaction is to being compared to Michael Phelps, the U.S. swimmer who is the most decorated Olympian in history.

“You’re crazy,” the American ski racer replied. “OK, he has, what, 23 medals?”

Actually, Phelps’ haul is 23 golds — and 28 medals in all.

Shiffrin’s only medal so far is a gold in slalom at age 18 in 2014 at Sochi. She comes to the Pyeongchang Games with a chance to become the first skier to win that race twice in a row at the Olympics.

She will also be among the favorites in Monday’s giant slalom, could contend for a medal in the combined on Feb. 23, and might also enter the downhill and super-G.

For now, though, she’ll only commit to entering the slalom and giant slalom.

“I would like to compete in everything,” she said. “I’m not sure if I’m actually going to have the energy to do that.”

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11:10 a.m.

The U.S. will send out siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani in the ice dance and Bradie Tennell in the women’s short program when the team competition resumes Sunday at Gangneung Ice Arena.

The Americans, who are second behind Canada after the pairs and men’s short programs, waited until the last possible moment to announce their lineup in a bit of gamesmanship with its rival nations.

The Shibutanis were chosen over U.S. champs Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue and the team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates. Tennell got the nod over Mirai Nagasu and Karen Chen.

The top five nations after their short programs advance to the free skate later Sunday.

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11 a.m.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is hosting lunch for senior North Korean officials including leader Kim Jong Un’s sister in the most significant diplomatic encounter between the rivals in years.

The meeting at the Blue House in Seoul on Saturday comes after Kim Yo Jong and other North Korean delegates attended the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics where they took their place among dignitaries from around the world, including U.S. Vice President Mike Pence.

It’s unclear whether the occasion could be used to set up bigger meetings between the Koreas to ease tensions. The Koreas could potentially talk about a South Korean special envoy meeting Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang or even a summit between Moon and Kim.

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10:20 a.m.

The organizing committee for the Pyeongchang Olympics says another 11 people have been diagnosed with norovirus.

That brings the total to 139 since Feb. 1. Seven of the new cases are at a youth training center where security personnel for the games have been staying.

Most of the norovirus cases were in people staying at the center, and about 1,200 were sequestered there, forcing the military to step in to help with security. Those who have tested negative for norovirus have been released from quarantine and returned to work.

Norovirus is a common, infectious bug that causes unpleasant symptoms including diarrhea and vomiting but doesn’t require medical treatment.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and Korea Center for Disease Control have distributed 15,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and taken other measures including stepped up inspection of restaurants and monitoring of water quality. There are signs all over the Olympics reminding people to clean their hands.

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By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

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#German leader #Korea plays Switzerland #Korea relations are improved #North Korean cheerleaders

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