An urgent doping hearing will decide the fate of Russian skater Kamila Valieva who has been provisionally banned by the Russian agency for failing a doping test.
Kamila Valieva, the Russian figure skater competing under the banner of ROC, has been charged for doping by the Russian agency because she failed a doping test in December. Valieva’s right to compete in the women’s event at the Beijing Olympics will now be decided at an urgent hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Valieva set world record scores this season and landed the first quad jump by a woman at an Olympics as the Russian Olympic Committee won the team event. The ROC said it will fight to keep that gold medal.
Apart from the uncertainty over Kamila Valieva’s participation, the Day 7 of Beijing Winter Games went on smoothly. Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami finished with the gold in the Women’s Super-G event in Alpine Skiing. Her gold is the first super-G Olympic gold medal for any Swiss athlete, female or male. Gut-Behrami earlier won bronze in Giant Slalom and is also the bronze medal winner in Downhill at Sochi 2014.
Marte Olsbu Roiseland of Norway triumphed in the Women’s 7.5km Sprint to win her second gold medal of Beijing 2022. Earlier she won gold in 4x6km Mixed Relay. Sweden’s Elvira Oberg won silver and Italy’s Dorothea Wierer won bronze.
Finland’s Iivo Niskanen won gold in the Men’s 15km Classic Cross-country Skiing. His elder sister, Kerttu Niskanen, won silver medal for the Women’s 10km Classic event.
Suzanne Schulting defended her Women’s Short Track 1,000m title in a photo-finish by just 0.052 seconds to win in 1:28.391. The 24-year old Dutch was in a blistering form after breaking the world record in the quarterfinal with a time of 1:26.514.
Germany’s Christopher Grotheer and Axel Jungk won gold and silver respectively to seal Germany’s first ever medals in Men’s Skeleton at the Winter Olympics. Yan Wengang finished third to win China’s first ever medal in a sliding sport.
Japanese snowboarder Ayumu Hirano won the Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe gold. He competed alongside his younger brother Kaishu Hirano who finished ninth and pulled off a massive jump meters into the air.
Sweden’s Nils van der Poel smashed his own world record in the Men’s 10,000m Speedskating to secure his second gold medal of the Beijing Olympics. His time of 12:30.74, was over two seconds faster that his previous record. With the victory, the Swede became the first men’s speed skater to win the 5,000m and the 10,000m events at the same Winter Games since Dutch speed skater Jochem Uytdehaage in 2002.
