Winter Olympics, day 8: Gao Tingyu wins Gold for China in men’s 500m speedskating, US beat Canada in men’s ice hockey for first time in 12 years
- Gao Tingyu claims Gold and sets new Olympic record in men’s 500m speedskating event, with Korea and Japan also on the podium
- Baumgartner becomes the oldest snowboard Olympic medallist and champion in the mixed team cross
After the seemingly non-stop action of the past week we have a more sedate day in Beijing, which is certainly a welcome change.
As a result, our usual blog has been replaced by this rolling story, with longer updates but on a less frequent basis.
Chinese athletes do not appear on Saturday until 2.05pm, when the men’s curlers take to the ice for their round robin match against Italy. The women’s team, meanwhile, take to the ice this evening to face Sweden.
The first gold of the day has gone to the US in mixed team snowboard cross, and it means Nick Baumgartner becomes the oldest snowboard Olympic medallist and champion.
It is Baumgartner’s first medal in four Games, while teammate Lindsey Jacobellis has claimed her second gold. Canada’s Eliot Grondin and Meryeta Odine also win their second medals, taking bronze. Italy bagged the silver medal. Later, there are medal events in Biathlon, cross-country skiing, skeleton, ski jumping, and speed skating.