Back to the day’s events.
In Peking, the French have, for the moment, happy money. The tricolor delegation gleaned two new medals on Monday February 7, first thanks to the exploit of John Clarey, came second in the descent, only ten hundredths from the Swiss Beat Feuz. By winning his first Olympic medal at the age of 41, the Frenchman became, at the same time, the oldest Olympic medalist in the history of alpine skiing.
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A little later in the day, it’s Anais Chevalier-Bouchet who took the second step of the podium. Already silver medalist with the mixed relay on Saturday February 5, the biathlete became Monday Olympic vice-champion of the individual (15 km), preceded by ten seconds by the German Denise Herrmann.
On the other hand, the Games still fail to Tessa Worley. Seventh at the end of the first run, the giant’s double world champion made a impressive fall in the second, finally without gravity, the French getting away with “a bruise”… It was the Swedish Sara Hector who won the giant slalom, marked by the exit from the track of the defending champion and favorite, the American Mikaela Shiffrin, in the first round.
No Olympic podium either for Quentin Fercoq, who finished third in their quarter-final 1,000 meters of the short-track and was not picked up.
Great chance of a French medal, Tess Ledeux will, for its part, be present in the final of the big air, after his second place in qualifying (despite a fall).
The Games follow each other and look alike to Arianna Fontana. The Italian won the tenth Olympic medal of her career by winning the 500 meters short-track, consolidating her status as the most decorated short-tracker in Olympic history.
Slovenians became the first Olympic champions in mixed team ski jumping, in front of the Russian Olympic Committee and Canada.
Discover tomorrow’s menu.
The day of the French will start early Tuesday, with the men’s short program of figure skating (2:15 a.m., Paris time), and the entry into the running of Kevin Aymoz and Adam Siao Him Fa.
At 3 o’clock, place for the final of the Big Air women with Tess Ledeux, who will aim for a first Olympic podium. For this, the 20-year-old should try her “double cork 1,620”, an unprecedented jump at four and a half turns. which allowed him to win the gold medal at the X Games – the flagship extreme sports competition – in Aspen (Colorado) on January 21.
In alpine skiing, four French people will take part in the men’s Super-G, from 4 a.m. Among them, Alexis Pinturault, who has already won three Olympic medals but has never climbed the top step.
After their silver medal in the mixed relay, Quentin Fillon Maillet and Emilien Jacquelin will be back on the slopes for the individual biathlon event (9:30 a.m., Paris time). Simon Desthieux and Fabien-Claude will also be on the starting line.
Finally, cross-country skiing will close the program with the women’s free sprint (from 9 a.m.) and men (from 9:50 a.m.). Several French will be at the start of the qualifications and will try to reach the quarter-finals then the semi-finals and the final, which will take place later in the day.
The Games in a snapshot.
No, this is not a glide or an imminent crash after an unfortunate imbalance. The young Russian Kamila Valieva became the first skater to land a quadruple jump – and even two, before missing the third – at the Olympic Games, during the women’s free program of the team competition. Thanks (largely) to this performance, the Russian Olympic Committee won the Olympic title with 74 points, ahead of the United States (65 points) and Japan (63 points).
The Olympians on the microphone.
« Just three years ago I was lying in a hospital bed with no energy, no muscle, no cardio. »
Max Parrot took revenge on life on Monday by becoming Olympic snowboard slopestyle champion. The Canadian has come a long way since he suffered from cancer of the lymphatic system, diagnosed after his silver medal in Pyeongchang in 2018 and which earned him six months of heavy treatment, “the most difficult moment of [s]for life “. “To find myself here three years later at the Olympics again, living my passion, having the best race I’ve ever done and winning gold, it’s crazy,” he said after his victory. It will also line up for the Big Air event, scheduled for Tuesday 15 February.
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And another record for Ireen Wüst. Already the most medal-winning skater in the history of the Olympic Games, men and women combined, with now twelve medals, the Dutchwoman won her sixth gold medal – including five individually – by winning the 1,500m skating of speed. She thus became the first athlete to win a gold medal at five different Games.
Snapshot of our special envoys.
For the members of the “Olympic bubble”, the day starts with a now well-established ritual and waking up before 9 a.m., a Covid-19 screening test requires. After leaving their respective rooms and crossing the hotel corridor – sometimes strewn with the garbage bags of people in contact, forced to remain in isolation – head for the ground floor. Every morning, the same gesture, almost mechanical: the representative of the organizers in full protective gear scans the barcode of a test tube, then the one located on the accreditations. « Room number ? » (” room number “). Once the information has been filled in, his colleague sticks the swab deep in his throat.
An essential routine to stay in the “bubble”, but also to access the breakfast area a little further: there, you will have to scan the said barcode again on a special machine, under the watchful eye of a another guard. Once the green light is on and the “Xiè xiè” (“thank you” in Mandarin) understood: we are ready for the day! Tomorrow it starts again.