The Latest on the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local):
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) – The Latest on the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local):
11:50 p.m.
The highlights of Day 5 of the Pyeongchang Olympics include a gold medal for American snowboarder Shaun White and a second consecutive gold medal in doubles luge for German duo Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt.
It was the third halfpipe gold medal for White and the 100th overall for the United States in the Winter Olympics.
In figure skating, the Chinese duo of Sui Wenjing and Han Cong are in first place after the pairs short program. Defending champion Eric Frenzel of Germany won the gold medal in the Nordic combined normal hill event.
Gusty winds also forced the cancellation of more events, and the Olympic Park in the coastal city of Gangneung was evacuated. The Pyeongchang Olympics debut of American skier Mikaela Shiffrin was pushed back for yet another day.
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11:40 p.m.
The Olympic men’s hockey tournament opened with a pair of surprises, with both the Americans and the favored Russians losing 3-2.
Jan Mursak scored the tying goal for Slovenia in the final minutes of regulation and the winning goal in overtime against the United States.
As Mursak’s final shot went past goaltender Ryan Zapolski, U. S. players hung their heads on the bench before Slovenia players celebrated with their fans Wednesday.
Zapolski allowed three goals on 25 shots, including the first goal by Jan Urbas. Slovenian goaltender Gasper Kroselj stopped 34 of the 36 shots he faced to pick up the victory, giving up goals to Brian O’Neill and Jordan Greenway.
In the second game, the Olympic Athletes from Russia lost to Slovakia by giving up a two-goal lead. The Russians were widely considered the pre-tournament favorite for the gold medal.
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11:10 p.m.
Shaun White has apologized after referring to a sexual misconduct lawsuit filed against him in 2016 as “gossip” during a news conference following his historic gold medal in the men’s halfpipe.
White issued the apology on NBC’s” Today” show on Wednesday. He says he used “a poor choice of words to describe such a sensitive subject” and he’s “truly sorry.”
White won an unprecedented third halfpipe gold medal Wednesday. While he did, many on social media resurfaced the details from the lawsuit filed by a former drummer in White’s rock band who said White sexually harassed her and refused to pay her wages after he fired her. The lawsuit was settled in May.
White was asked in the news conference if the allegations might tarnish his reputation and said, “I’m here to talk about the Olympics, not gossip and stuff.”
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10:50 p.m.
A Kim Jong Un impersonator calling himself only Howard from Australia has made an appearance at the Korea-Japan women’s ice hockey game at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
He briefly walked in front of a North Korean cheering section waving a unification flag and smiling Wednesday before being moved away to his seat nearby.
Security then came to take him out of the arena as a crowd began to form. Police later took over, surrounding him in a hall outside the seating area and preventing him from going back into the game.
The impersonator wore a long black overcoat and glasses and sported the North Korean dictator’s trademark haircut.
He said, “This is how I look,” as police led him into a staff room.
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10:20 p.m.
Germans Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt have won their second consecutive Olympic doubles luge gold medal, prevailing in a bit of a surprise at the Pyeongchang Games.
Wendl and Arlt finished their two runs in 1 minute, 31.697 seconds. They’re the first German team to win two straight doubles golds since Hans Rinn and Norbert Hahn in 1976 and 1980.
The Austrian team of Peter Penz and Georg Fischler was second, less than one-tenth of a second off the winning time. Germany’s Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken took third.
Eggert and Benecken dominated the World Cup circuit this season. Wednesday’s race was only the eighth time in 30 international races over the last two years that Eggert and Benecken didn’t emerge victorious, and only the fourth time they weren’t first or second.
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9:55 p.m.
Defending champion Kamil Stoch of Poland has tuned up for the ski jumping large hill final with two strong jumps at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
Stoch had jumps of 131 meters and 134 meters Wednesday at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Center. The large hill final is on Saturday.
Stoch won both the normal and large hill events at Sochi.
He won his second straight Four Hills tournament in Bischofshofen, Austria, on Jan. 6 to become only the second ski jumper in the history of the sport to win all four stages of the prestigious event.
He is first in the overall World Cup standings with four titles this season.
Germany’s Andreas Wellinger won the normal hill gold on Saturday and was 11th and fourth in two training runs.
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9:50 p.m.
The U. S. men’s hockey team is leading Slovenia 1-0 on a goal by Brian O’Neill after one period of its Olympic opener
Slovenia goaltender Gasper Kroselj made several big saves before Garrett Roe flew down the left wing and fed O’Neill in front for the goal.
The U. S. is outshooting Slovenia 11-3.
Across town, the Russian team was tied 2-2 after the first period in its Olympic opener against Slovakia.
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8:30 p.m.
Jorien ter Mors has set an Olympic record to win the 1,000 meters at the speedskating Oval, earning a fifth gold medal for the Netherlands in as many events.
Favorite Nao Kodaira slumped over the last half-lap and had to settle for silver ahead of her Japanese teammate, Miho Takagi.
Brittany Bowe of the United States finished just outside the medals.
No one has ever completed the race faster at sea level. Ter Mors crossed in 1 minute 13.56 seconds, beating Kodaira by 0.26 seconds and Takagi by 0.42 seconds.
She beat the 2002 Olympic mark of U. S. skater Chris Witty, which was set at high altitude.
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8:20 p.m.
Athletes, coaches and officials all are dealing with delays in Alpine skiing at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
Only one of four scheduled races has been run so far because of strong winds at both hills being used for these Winter Games.
The skiers themselves keep busy with race preparation. The coaches try to keep their athletes focused. And the officials are trying to make sure all 11 races get completed.
Many of the women whose slalom race was scrapped because of strong winds at the Yongpyong Alpine Center on Wednesday, including American star and defending gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin, took a couple of practice runs for the giant slalom that will be Thursday.
Men took informal downhill training on a shortened course at the Jeongseon Alpine Center about 30 miles (50 kilometers) away.
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8 p.m.
Snow volleyball is not an Olympic sport. Probably never will be.
But it had its finest moment when Prince Albert of Monaco – an International Olympic Committee member – showed up at a chilly outdoor exhibition of snow volleyball at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
With hundreds cheering “Albert, Albert, Albert,” the Monaco royal made a 30-second cameo appearance on an icy court set up amid plastic palm trees outside the Austria House – the country’s promotional venue at the Olympics.
The prince put down his mulled wine, walked on to the court, twirled his right arm to get warm, and put the ball into play.
It was a perfect serve – and a great pitch for the fledgling sport.
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7:30 p.m.
Ireen Wust of the Netherlands has posted the fastest time so far in the women’s 1,000-meter speedskating final.
She skated the distance in 1 minute, 15.32 seconds on Wednesday night. She is seeking a second gold medal of the games, having won the 1,500.
The Dutch are 4-for-4 at the big oval in Gangneung.
Wust has a long wait to see if she comes out on top again. Still to skate are medal contenders Jorien ter Mors and Marrit Leenstra of the Netherlands, Americans Brittany Bowe and Heather Bergsma and Miho Takagi of Japan.
Takagi earned silver in the 1,500, while Leenstra claimed bronze.
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7 p.m.
Japan has held off Korea 4-1 for its first Olympic victory in women’s hockey, with Hanae Kubo and Shoko Ono each scoring in the first period.
Japan came into its third Olympics winless, but it has the ninth-ranked team in the world and is tops in Asia.
South Korea got a berth as host of the Pyeongchang Games and brought in six North Americans for their debut. The Koreans also had 12 North Koreans added to their expanded roster last month under an agreement between countries divided for seven decades.
Kubo scored 67 seconds in, and Ono added a power-play goal at 3:58.
The Koreans made more Olympic history of their own with their first goal at 9:31 of the second on their 33rd shot over three games.
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6:50 p.m.
Reigning Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan will be the first skater in the final group when the men take the ice for their short program at the Pyeongchang Games.
The starting draw was held after the pairs completed their short program Wednesday afternoon.
Hanyu will be followed Friday by American star Nathan Chen, Russian skater Mikhail Kolyada and countryman Shoma Uno.
