Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, results, Aussies, scores, moguls qualifying, how to watch
Australia’s flag bearers have been named and a real gold medal threat has emerged after a brilliant qualifying run.
Elsewhere, our historic curlers suffered a massive setback.
Here is the latest news from the Beijing Winter Olympics.
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HOPEFUL’S STUNNER BUMPS MEDAL
Australia have a long history in moguls, and it’s a good chance to add to the tally of three medals – including gold in 2006 – this time around.
Jakara Anthony and Britteny Cox qualified for the women’s moguls final after strong performances in Thursday’s qualifying.
Cox, who finished fifth in 2014 and 2018 is back for a FOURTH shot at glory.
Her run to kick off her campaign was a 72.26, which saw her sneak into the top 10 – which automatically qualifies – in ninth.
Anthony’s run was stunning, giving her an 83.75 that rocketed her straight to the top of the leaderboard and sealed automatic qualification.
“Nailed,” said Dirk Nannes in a comment after his race.
Anthony clinched fourth place in PyeongChang aged just 19. She is currently ranked third in the Women’s World Cup standings and hopes to convert that into Olympic success.
Meanwhile Taylah O’Neill, who arrived at the Olympics after having her ACL done just four weeks ago, was unable to complete her run.
Sophie Ash missed the top 10 with her 69.36, which was good enough for 13th place.
Among the Australian contenders are 16-year-old freestyle starlet Anastassiya Gorodko from Khazakhstan and TWO sets of sisters – the Canadian sister of Chloe and Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Team GB’s Makayla and Leonie Gerken Schofield.
On the men’s side, Brodie Summer had the best finish in 11th, just missing out on the top 10 while Cooper Woods and James Matheson finished 14th and 20th respectively.
Defending champion Mikael Kingsbury posted the top score with 81.15 points, completing the course in just over 24 seconds to send a statement to the rest of the competition.
The Canadian finished well ahead of Sweden’s Walter Wallberg and France’s Benjamin Cavet, although Walberg promised more spin in the final.
READ OUR FULL RECAP ON THE AUSSIE TEAM AND MEDAL ODDS
Boycotts, Fake Snow and the Australian Gold Rush: A Complete Guide to the 2022 Winter Olympics
NAMED FLAGBEARERS
Aerials star Laura Peel and figure skater Brendan Kerry have been announced as Australia’s flag bearers for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
The ceremony marks the first time Australia has had two flag bearers at the Winter Olympics.
Australia also had two flag bearers at the Tokyo Summer Games last year with Patty Mills and Cate Campbell sharing the honour.
AUSSIE CURLERS SUFFER WORST DEFEAT
Meanwhile, Australia suffered their worst Olympics loss in mixed curling after an 8-2 loss to the Czech Republic.
Zuzana Paulova and Tomas Paul took a 5-0 lead after three ends and never looked back, leaving Australians Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt 0-3.
Gill and Hewitt fell to defeat the last rock in heartbreaking 6-5 losses to the United States and China on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
Aussie star’s jaw-dropping move isn’t enough in heartbreaking second near miss
THE LEGEND OF LUGE RELAUNCHES THE DOWNHILL
Australian Alexander Ferlazzo returns to the Yanqing National Sliding Center sliding track for his third and fourth training runs.
There are 35 competitors in total in the men’s individual luge competition. The veteran is competing in his third consecutive Winter Olympics. He finished 28th in 2018, which is Australia’s best ever luge finish, and should improve on that result this time around.
Ferlazzo dropped a superb second attempt in practice on Wednesday evening, passing at 128.9 km/h and tearing up the track in 58.990 seconds. It was enough for 11th place in his group, 1.180s off the lead.
The track record is 57.298s, for comparison.
Ferlazzo completed his third and fourth practices on Thursday, posting a slightly slower time of 58.981. He still has two training sessions on Friday. The actual competition begins on Saturday evening.