Winter Olympics: 5 things to watch on Day 3 at Beijing 2022, including Eileen Gu’s debut and Su Yiming’s return to action

The second day of competition at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was action packed, to say the least, and another fruitful one for the hosts. Chinese snowboarder Su Yiming blew past his rivals on his qualification run, with China’s women’s ice hockey team defeating Japan after a penalty shoot-out. Germany’s Johannes Ludwig won gold in the men’s luge, meanwhile, and Australia’s Jakara Anthony took home gold in the women’s moguls. On the ice, Chinese figure skater Zhu Yi suffered a disappointing start as she fell during her routine, which drew criticism from Chinese netizens. Day 3 of the Olympics promises more fireworks, with China’s Eileen Gu set to make her first appearance on the snow, while snowboarder Su goes for gold on the slopes. China’s ‘Snow Princess’ makes her first appearance All eyes are on China’s “Snow Princess” Eileen Gu, who will be competing in the women’s freeski big air qualification. This is the first event of these Games that gold-medal favourite Gu will be taking part in. She is considered a Beijing Winter Olympics triple threat in the half-pipe, slopestyle and big air events. Is Eileen Gu American or Chinese? Opinions divided over her nationality Gu will face stiff competition from France’s Tess Ledeux, who was a gold medallist in the big air and slopestyle ski events at the 2022 X Games Aspen in late January. Russia’s Anastasia Tatalina will also be another athlete to watch. She recently ranked first in big air at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships. The women’s freeski big air qualifiers will start at 9.30am local time. ‘Snowboarding genius’ in medal fight China’s “snowboarding genius” Su Yiming will be hoping to recreate his spectacular opening run in the men’s slopestyle final. The former child actor ranked first during Sunday’s qualifiers with a stunning 86.80 points, putting him in pole position to take home the gold. Snowboarder Su Yiming could lead China gold rush at Winter Olympics The 17-year-old will face-off against Canadian Mark McMorris once again, having narrowly edged out the two-time Olympic bronze medallist on Sunday. McMorris – who was Su’s childhood hero – came second with 83.30 points on his second run. Pyeongchang Winter Games gold medallist Redmond Gerard will also compete in the final, guaranteeing a fierce fight for gold. The men’s snowboard slopestyle final will start at 12pm. Semi-finals in sight for mixed doubles curling After five days of whirlwind round robin sessions, mixed doubles curling is finally heading for the semi-finals. Team Italy has already qualified, having smashed the competition with their eight consecutive wins. Great Britain and Norway have also qualified. The last of the four semi-final spots will go to either Sweden or Canada, and will be decided when the Canadians play the Italians at 9.05am. China in for speed skating fight Short-track speedskating is set for another exciting day of competition, with medals up for grabs in the women’s 500 metres and the men’s 1,000m events. Members of China’s gold-medal winning mixed relay squad will be making another appearance. Wu Dajing and Ren Ziwei are up in the men’s 1,000m quarter finals, while Qu Chunyu and Fan Kexin will be competing in the women’s 500m quarter finals. It certainly won’t be easy going for China, with several current world- and Olympic-record holders in the mix. The women’s quarter-finals will begin at 7.30pm, while the men’s quarter-finals will start at 7.44pm. All eyes on China’s Zhu Yi Team events for figure skating will continue with pairs skating, ice dance and women’s singles. All eyes will be on the women’s singles free skating event, where Zhu Yi will make a second appearance after her disastrous start in Sunday’s short programme. The 19-year-old fell during her routine, leaving her with a score of only 47.03. Gold-medal favourite Kamila Valieva will also be making a return. She scored 90.18 points during Sunday’s short programme. The team event for women’s singles skating will start at 11:35am.

Winter Olympics: 5 things to watch on Day 3 at Beijing 2022, including Eileen Gu’s debut and Su Yiming’s return to action

China’s ‘Snow Princess’ makes her first appearance at these Games, while Su will go for gold in snowboard slopestyle final Hosts will look for more medals in short-track speedskating, with figure skater Zhu Yi also returning to action after Sunday’s fall

China’s ‘Snow Princess’ makes her first appearance

China’s ‘Snow Princess’ makes her first appearance at these Games, while Su will go for gold in snowboard slopestyle final

Hosts will look for more medals in short-track speedskating, with figure skater Zhu Yi also returning to action after Sunday’s fall