Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson hits Canadian nemesis Marc Kennedy with his most brutal barb yet as Lindsey Vonn goes “bionic”.
Here are the quick hits from day 14 at the Winter Olympics.
1. More curling barbs thrown
Canadian Marc Kennedy has been on the receiving end of another verbal barrage from his Swedish nemesis.
(Reuters: Eric Bolte/Imagn Images)
The curling drama continues.
With Canadian-Swedish sporting relations already at an all-time low, Oskar Eriksson has added just a little bit more fuel to the fire.
For those in need of a refresher, Eriksson was the Swedish curler who set in motion the most controversial saga of these Games, accusing Canada’s Marc Kennedy of double-touching during a preliminary round fixture and prompting Kennedy into a rather fiery denial.
With Kennedy and Canada preparing for Sunday morning’s gold medal match, Eriksson has not minced his words while speaking to Swedish outlet Värmlands Folkblad.
“You don’t react like that if you know you’re not guilty. I don’t think he slept as well that night as I did. If he now chooses to think he did the right thing, he will have to take responsibility for it,” Eriksson said.
Eriksson went on to reveal he hadn’t heard anything from Kennedy.
“‘He hasn’t dared to look in my direction. He’s probably ashamed. Mature for a 44-year-old father of two.“
2. Vonn goes ‘bionic’
Lindsey Vonn had another surgery on her badly broken left leg on Friday, local time, and remained hospitalised nearly two weeks after her terrifying crash in the Olympic downhill.
Vonn flew home to the United States last weekend after a week of treatment for a complex tibia fracture and at least four surgeries at a hospital in Italy.
“Made it through surgery,” Vonn said in her latest post on Instagram.
“It took a bit more than 6 hours to complete. As you can see, it required a lot of plates and screws to put back together.
“With the extent of the trauma, I’ve been struggling a bit post op and have not yet been able to be discharged from the hospital just yet,” Vonn added. “Almost there. Baby steps.”
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Vonn added on X next to an X-ray showing metal screws and other hardware inside her leg, “I’m bionic for real now.”
Vonn was attempting to win a medal at the Milan Cortina Games at age 41 with a torn ACL in her left knee and a partial titanium replacement in her right knee. But she got hooked on a gate 13 seconds into her run — resulting in a spinning, air-born crash that sent her careening down the mountain in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
3. The music stops at Livigno as NZ halfpiper Melville Ives crashes
New Zealand’s Finley Melville Ives crashes out of the men’s freeski halfpipe qualification after a heavy fall in qualifying. (Getty Images/PA Images: David Davies)
Any halfpipe event is by definition dangerous, when you’re trying to launch yourself up to 7 metres in the air, twist multiple times and land safely.
The men’s freeski halfpipe event had one of those moments no one wants on day 14, when world champion Finley Melville Ives crashed out.
The 19-year-old landed badly coming off his third move, hit the snow hard and lay still with his arms up, still holding his ski poles.
The huge crowd at Livigno went quiet, as the DJs turned the loud, booming music off and everyone waited and watched.
Finley Melville Ives is stretchered off at Livigno, but his team later said he was conscious and talking with his mother. (Getty Images: PA Images/David Davies)
He was stretchered away and taken to hospital. Team New Zealand later said Melville Ives took a “heavy knock” but was conscious and would be assessed and X-rayed.
“Everything stable and positive. Talking to his mum who is with him,” the team stated.
His teammate Ben Harrington, who made the final, said: “Finskip (Melville Ives), if you’re listening, that one was for you brother, putting you and New Zealand on my back.”
4. Norwegian gold rush breaks Olympic record
Johannes Dale-Skjevdal’s biathlon gold on day 14 took Norway to a record haul of 17 gold medals for a single Winter Games. (Getty Images: Harry How)
When Norway won the biathlon men’s 15km mass start at Anterselva, it was not only their 17th gold medal of the Games, it was Winter Olympic history.
Johannes Dale-Skjevdal won the ski-and-shoot event by 10.5 seconds from teammate Sturla Holm Laegreid — in the process shooting a perfect 20-from-20 for the first time in his career.
But while both men were overjoyed with their medals, there was even more to celebrate for the Norwegians.
Norway has topped the gold medal tally at the last three Games, and will do so again in Milano Cortina, but the 17 golds in a single Games is unprecedented in Winter Olympic history.
The previous record belonged … to Norway. Their 16 gold medals in Beijing four years ago was the mark to beat.
They equalled it with victory in the Nordic Combined Team Sprint event on day 13 and broke it on day 14. With two days of competition left, who knows where they can take the record?
5. Briton competes after receiving death threats
Great Britain’s Gus Kenworthy was forced to deal with more than the usual challenges an athlete faces when preparing for an Olympics.
Kenworthy — who competed in the men’s freeski halfpipe on day 14 — received death threats recently.
Gus Kenworthy says he was shaken to receive death threats. (AP: Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
It came after he posted an Instagram message about the United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement organisation, commonly referred to as ICE.
“It was tough. No-one wants to read bad things about themselves, things that are threats and violent and scary and homophobic,” Kenworthy told BBC Sport.
“I also took it with a grain of salt. I couldn’t imagine writing something like that about someone, especially on a public forum. Anyone who does that has something wrong with them.
“I think I’m on the right side of it.”
ABC/wires
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