Led by Kamila Valieva, the Russian Olympic Committee is favored to win. Mikaela Shiffrin’s quest for gold in Beijing begins in the women’s giant slalom.
Current time in Beijing: Feb.7,8:20 a.m. Led by Kamila Valieva, the Russian Olympic Committee is favored to win. Mikaela Shiffrin’s quest for gold in Beijing begins in the women’s giant slalom. Mikaela Shiffrin faces stiff competition from rivals in women’s giant slalom. U.S. prime-time broadcast coverage on Sunday includes luge, figure skating and skiing. Australia’s first Olympic curling team claims another win — against their coach. See some of the best photos from the competition in Beijing. When the figure skating team event resumes on Monday for its third and final day, the Russian Olympic Committee should be prepared to celebrate. It is in first place and favored to win, thanks in part to Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old star who nearly set a world record for points in the women’s short program on Sunday. She won by more than 15 points, skating’s equivalent of a mile. The Russian athletes passed the Americans in the standings to take over the top spot. The United States, now in second, is guaranteed a medal, with the pairs free skate, free dance and women’s free skate remaining. Japan is in third place. Teams receive 10 points for a first-place finish, nine points for second place and so on. The U.S. team will try to redeem itself after two disappointing showings on Sunday, including one from Karen Chen, who finished a surprise fifth in the short program after falling on a triple jump. Vincent Zhou also had a bad day, finishing third in the free skate after popping a planned quadruple jump and rotating only once instead of four times. Chen and Zhou, both two-time Olympians, said nerves played a part in their subpar performances. The United States has won the bronze medal at the past two Olympics. The skaters for Monday are Chen in the women’s free skate, Madison Chock and Evan Bates in the dance, and Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier in pairs. — Juliet Macur Mikaela Shiffrin ’s quest to set several Olympic records at the Beijing Games begins with the women’s giant slalom on Monday (Sunday night in the United States). Shiffrin, the defending champion in the event, is one of a handful of gold medal contenders in the race but by no means the runaway favorite. An overarching story line of the women’s World Cup circuit this season has been a hotly contested duel between Shiffrin and her chief rival, Petra Vlhova of Slovakia. Vlhova has for several years been chasing Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic champion and the winner of 73 World Cup races, and she ascended last year to her first World Cup overall title.
