Milan (Italy) (AFP) – Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen joined the Olympic greats on Wednesday, while French pair Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry won a remarkable ice dancing title. On the slopes in Bormio, Von Allmen added a dashing super-G gold to the titles he has already won in the downhill and the team combined at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games. He entered the pantheon of Olympic men’s alpine skiing greats to have won three events at one Games, alongside Austrian Toni Sailer, at the 1956 Winter Games, and France’s Jean-Claude Killy in 1968. Croatia’s Janica Kostelic is the only woman to have achieved the feat, at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.
Von Allmen hit speeds of 120km/h (75mph) in the super-G, an event combining the pace of downhill with the precise turns of giant slalom. “I can’t fully fathom what’s going on!” the 24-year-old said. “I can only say that these are my first Olympic Games and the races were perfect for me. All the pieces fell into place, luck was on my side somehow.”
Related news
– Triumph in turmoil –
Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry only began skating together a year ago, but they beat reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the USA in a thrilling ice dance showdown on Wednesday. For Cizeron, 31, it was a second gold medal in a row in the event, but when he won it in Beijing four years ago, it was with a different partner, Gabriella Papadakis. Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry’s Olympic campaign was complicated by claims in a book Papadakis released weeks before the Games in which she accused him of having a “controlling” influence over her during their time skating together.
Further complicating matters, Fournier Beaudry’s ex-boyfriend and skating partner was implicated in a sexual abuse case in Canada. Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry, a Canadian who only obtained French nationality last November, had taken a slim 0.46-point lead over the Americans going into the free dance finale. The Americans presented a fiery flamenco to an orchestral version of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black”. But the French concluded their competition with a mesmerising routine set to the powerful soundtrack of the 2022 film “The Whale”. They finished 1.43 points ahead of the three-time world champions.
US superstar Chloe Kim began her quest for her own piece of history as she tries to become the first snowboarder — man or woman — to win three gold medals at consecutive Olympics. Two athletes have missed the chance to do so earlier in the Games in Italy, but in her first appearance at these Games, Kim produced a sparkling run to top qualifying for the halfpipe event. Kim, 25, who almost missed the Games after dislocating a shoulder last month, said “muscle memory” had kicked in. “I’ve been doing this for 22 years, OK? Muscle memory is a thing. I might be better at snowboarding than I am at walking,” she said.
– Ukrainian helmet standoff –
The International Olympic Committee said it will try to convince Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych to not wear a banned helmet that depicts victims of the war with Russia during Thursday’s heats, after he wore it during training. Heraskevych has already said he has no intention of backing down even though he risks being disqualified, as gestures of a political nature during competition are forbidden under the Olympic charter. “We want him to compete. We really, really want him to have his moment. That’s very, very important,” said IOC spokesperson Mark Adams.
Meanwhile, in a story that has tongues wagging, the ex-girlfriend of a Norwegian biathlete who won a bronze medal and then confessed on live television to an affair, says it is “hard to forgive”. Asked to share his feelings after his bronze in the 20km individual event, a teary Sturla Holm Laegreid broke down and admitted he had cheated on his girlfriend. On Wednesday, the woman in question, whose name has not been disclosed, said in a message to the Verdens Gang (VG) newspaper: “It’s hard to forgive. Even after a declaration of love in front of the whole world.”
© 2024 AFP
