Olympics 2022
Nordic combined fear for participation, German snowboarders without a medal – that was the Olympic night
Nick Baumgartner and Lindsey Jacobellis took gold in boardercross mixed.
© Christophe Pallot / Agence Zoom / Getty Images
The German snowboarders remain without a medal at the Winter Games in China, even in the mixed team it is not enough for the podium. Two German combined teams are in danger of being completely out of the Olympics because of their quarantine.
There was good sporting news for the German Olympic team on Saturday, initially only in a few training sessions, but the snowboarders are threatened with a medalless Winter Games after the next missed opportunity. The Nordic combined athletes Eric Frenzel and Terence Weber have to remain in quarantine and may not even be used in China.
snowboarding
Missed: Martin Nörl and Jana Fischer missed the long-awaited first medal for the German snowboard team at the Olympic Winter Games in China. The two snowboard crossers finished fifth in the Zhangjiakou snowstorm at the Olympic premiere of the mixed team event on Saturday. Third in their semifinals, they hadn’t made it into the top four teams’ final. In the small final, however, they set the best time. Gold went to the USA with Lindsey Jacobellis and Nick Baumgartner. The 36-year-old Jacobellis had already become an Olympic champion in singles. Italy won silver with Michela Moioli and Omar Visintin, bronze went to Canada’s Meryeta Odine and Eliot Grondin.
Nordic combination
Next quarantine: After their positive corona tests, the two Nordic combined athletes Eric Frenzel and Terence Weber have to remain in quarantine and fear for their participation in the Winter Olympics. “Unfortunately, it is still the case that the values remain very stable within a range that does not yet allow for sporting approval here in China,” said team doctor Stefan Pecher on Saturday in Zhangjiakou. Frenzel and Weber had tested positive for the corona virus when they entered Beijing. The two top performers had missed the individual on the normal hill, in which teammate Vinzenz Geiger won the gold medal.
bob
Best time: Laura Nolte from Winterberg set two best times in the final training session in the monobob on Saturday. The youth Olympic champion from 2016 in the new discipline, which celebrates its Olympic premiere on Sunday with the first two of four races, was the fastest in the fifth and sixth training run. Two-man bobsleigh Olympic champion Mariama Jamanka from Oberhof, who recently won the European Championships in St. Moritz, came in second and sixth. Co-favourite Kaillie Humphries from the USA was convincing in the previous training runs and skipped the session on Saturday at the Sliding Center Yanqing.
The other heroes – athletes living the Olympic dream
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ski race
Convincing: Ski racer Kira Weidle took a convincing second place in the first downhill training session at the Olympic Winter Games in China. Only the Swiss Priska Nufer was faster than Weidle. The women’s downhill will take place next Tuesday. After her silver medal at the World Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo and her second place in Zauchensee, the speed driver is one of the medal candidates. Speed dominator Sofia Goggia was one of the big favorites until her fall a few weeks ago. The Italian suffered a knee injury at the World Cup in Cortina. During training on Saturday, she reported back with a twelfth place. Mikaela Shiffrin from the USA was ninth.
corona
Few cases: The number of corona cases at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing has remained largely stable at a low level. During the daily tests of all Olympic participants in the closed bladder, eight new infections were discovered on Friday, the organizers announced in Beijing on Saturday. The day before it was eleven – after a low on Tuesday with five cases. On Friday alone, 71,000 tests were carried out again. Four newly infected were athletes or team members, while four other cases were discovered among other participants.