World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov set a new world record score for the short programme to get their bid for a second Olympic figure skating gold off the mark on Tuesday at Sochi’s Iceberg Skating Palace. Trankov, resplendent in a military-themed outfit, and Volosozhar, in a ballroom-style dress, performed flawlessly to «Masquerade Waltz» […]readmore
Sweden made sure of a place in the women’s ice hockey quarter-finals with a comfortable Group B win over Germany. A relatively straightforward 4-0 victory was the Swedes’ second in a row, and they will now battle it out with Russia for top spot in the group on Thursday. Emma Nordin’s first-minute goal set Sweden […]readmore
Darya Domracheva of Belarus clinched gold in the women’s 10km biathlon pursuit on Tuesday afternoon, winning her first Olympic title. The Belarusian’s time of 29:30.7 saw her cross the line 37.6 seconds ahead of Norway’s Tora Berger, with Slovenian Teja Gregorin finishing third in 30:12.7. Domracheva hit all targets in the two prone shoots and the […]readmore
Favourite Lee Sang-Hwa of the Republic of Korea smashed the Olympic record en route to a superb defence of her 500m speed skating title on Tuesday afternoon, maintaining the form she has shown in a dominant year. The Korean took gold at the Adler Arena with a combined time of 74.70 seconds from her two races, putting […]readmore
Falla wins freestyle sprint to deliver another cross-country success for
Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway triumphed in the women’s freestyle sprint at the Laura Cross-Country Ski & Biathlon Centre on Tuesday afternoon. With Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg taking the silver behind Falla, and Ola Vigen Hattestad then securing gold in the men’s sprint just minutes later, Norway’s tally of cross-country medals is 102. “It’s just unbelievable. I can’t […]readmore
Final flourish from Fourcade in biathlon pursuit secures first gold
Fourcade’s compatriot Jean Guillaume Beatrix provided France with a double presence on the podium, as he climbed from 14th place to finish on 34:12.8 and take bronze. Fourcade, who doubled his total Olympic medal tally, following the silver he won in the mass start at Vancouver 2010, dominated the race from the mid-stage and even […]readmore
Mulder, 27, won with a combined time from his two races of 69.31 seconds, beating compatriot Jan Smeekens by just 0.01 second in a thrilling climax to the competition. Meanwhile, Ronald Mulder, the twin brother of Michel, took bronze in a time of 69.46 seconds. Smeekens led the eventual winner by 0.04 sec after the […]readmore
Many Olympic “firsts” in Sochi The first new events – snowboard slopestyle and the figure skating team competition – were already a huge success in Sochi. Biathlon mixed relay, luge team relay, ski halfpipe, ski slopestyle, snowboard parallel slalom and women’s ski jumping will get their turn in the spotlight in the coming days. The […]readmore
The first medals of the Games were awarded in snowboard slopestyle – one of the new events on the programme – and inaugural gold medallist Sage Kostenburg, of the USA, is pleased with how the event was welcomed into the Games. «All the riders were stoked with how things were organised,” said the 20-year-old. “On […]readmore
“That went just how I had imagined,” enthused Franziska, who finished 41st. “I am glad I could stick to my game plan and deliver. I just don’t know how I am still standing to talk to you, it was very tiring!” Winning three gold medals at the Youth Olympic Games in 2012 in Innsbruck, the […]readmore