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Winter Olympics 2018 Day 4 live coverage: Scotty James, Shaun White stage epic half-pipe duel, Adam Rippon won’t back down on Mike Pence stance, Matt Graham receives silver medal

Adam Rippon doesn’t want his Olympics to be about Mike Pence but it now may always be. Either way Rippon won’t back down.

25 min read
11:29PMFebruary 13, 2018
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Emily Arthur of Australia will be aiming for a medal in the women’s half-pipe today. Photo: AAP
Emily Arthur of Australia will be aiming for a medal in the women’s half-pipe today. Photo: AAP

Welcome to live coverage of Day 4 of the 2018 Winter Olympics from PyeongChang, where Australian team flag-bearer Scotty James has progressed to the final of the men’s snowboard half-pipe, while Emily Arthur has competed the women’s event.

11.22pm: Huge crash for Emily Sweeney in luge

American slider Emily Sweeney had a huge moment in the women’s luge, hitting the wall then coming off her sled. It was NOT pretty.

10.02pm: Graham receives his silver medal

Matt Graham has received his silver medal for coming second in the men’s moguls last night.

The Central Coast product is the first Australian to medal at this Winter Olympics and finished just behind Canadian star Mikael Kingsbury, who claimed gold in the event.

9.52pm: How about this for a crash

One word for Bykanov from Russia....Disqualified

9.22pm: Aussies fail in cross country

In a field of 80 competitors in the men’s cross-country skiing sprint only the top 30 would advance through from qualification.

Unfortunately Australian Phillip Bellingham missed out by 15 seconds as he crossed the line in a time of 3:31.54, which placed him 66th.

The result adds to the unsuccesful attempt of Australian women in the event.

Jess Yeaton, Aimee Watson and Casey Wright all failed to finish inside the top 30.

9.05pm: Scotty and the judges know... his trick is better

Scotty James said he was worried about the judges at this Winter Olympics but one seems to think if he lands his best trick then he will have gold and not Shaun White.

James’s trick - which involves three and a half spins, two flips and a blind entry and landing (switch backside double cork 1260) is highly regarded. White employs an extra half a spin on his major trick but the landing is easier. So whose trick is better?

According to one Olympic snowboarding judge, who didn’t want to be named - it’s James’s.

“It depends on execution and amplitude (air) but on paper if both tricks were done well at good height - the switch back 12 ... as far as difficulty goes it is harder,” the judge told AAP.

But it may not even be the tricks so much as the name.

8.07pm: Rippon won’t be silenced

If one had of said before PyeongChang that the biggest political tale of this Olympics for US Vice President Mike Pence was going to be about an American figure skater, you would have been howled down.

Yet it is and Adam Rippon is refusing to back down.

The sudden darling of this Winter Olympics refused a meeting with Pence earlier this week over Pence’s past treatment of the LGBT community which included that when as governor of Indiana, Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which allowed businesses to refuse service to gay and lesbian customers, citing religious freedom. He later signed an amendment that prevented the law from being used to discriminate against LGBT customers.

Still Rippon also would like the Olympics to be about the performances of he and his teammates.

“I have no problem about what I’ve said because I stand by it, but I think right now the Olympics are about Olympic competition,” Rippon said on Tuesday.

“I don’t want my Olympic experience being about Mike Pence,” he said.

Despite that, the US figure skating star, who was part of the American roster that won the bronze medal in Monday’s team competition, said he will keep using his platform.

“I can’t tone it down. I’m being me and being myself,” Rippon said. “I’ve got so many messages from kids all over the country — I’m getting so emotional thinking about it — I think that’s why it’s so important.”

“I think as an athlete I use this platform to my advantage. I think it’s giving my skating a greater purpose,” he added.

7.10pm: Hirscher finally bags Olympic gold

Austrian star Marcel Hirscher finally bagged Olympic gold when he produced a brilliant slalom run to storm to a dominant victory in the men’s alpine combined.

Alexis Pinturault claimed silver for France with his teammate Victor Muffat-Jeandet taking an astonishing bronze after finishing 29th fastest in the opening downhill.

Hirscher, 28, has been the outstanding skier in the World Cup in recent years, his 55 career wins the bedrock of a startling six consecutive overall crystal globes.

Already guaranteed to go down in alpine history as one of the best skiers of all time, Hirscher had said he was after an “amazing” Olympic gold to cap his career, his previous best a slalom silver from Sochi four years ago.

But he had also played down his expectations in the combined following a couple of mediocre downhill training runs.

There was to be no messing on a downhill course shortened because of blustery winds, however, and the canny Austrian took full advantage of the abbreviated run to finish an impressive 12th fastest, 1.32sec off German Thomas Dressen’s lead time.

Come the slalom, a discipline in which he has won six times this season on the World Cup circuit, Austria’s favourite sporting son stepped up to the gate and promptly delivered the fastest time of 45.96sec.

It was an aggressive yet measured piece of skiing that gave him a combined time of 2min 06.52sec, 0.23sec ahead of Pinturault, with Muffat-Jeandet at 1.02sec.

“I was the favourite after the downhill,” said Pinturault, who was 10th fastest in the speed event and started his slalom with a 0.28sec lead over Hirscher.

“But after what Marcel has shown since the start of the season, especially in slalom, it was very tough for me to be able to come close.

“I’m just very happy,” said Pinturault, winner of Bormio’s World Cup combined in December. “He was just stronger than me today.” Muffat-Jeandet laid down a slalom run just one-hundredth of a second slower than Hirscher, paying the price for a big mistake on the top third of the downhill.

“I was so annoyed by the downhill,” he said.

“But at the end of the day I stayed very focused. I always believed in it.”

AP

Nicole Jeffery 5.30pm: ‘Shaun White points’

Legendary American snowboarder Shaun White took the first day honours in a game of one-upmanship with Australian world champion Scotty James in the qualification round of the men’s halfpipe at Bokwang today.

In a case of perfect scheduling, White was drawn to ride immediately after James in the qualification contest, which gave the judges the opportunity for direct comparison between them.

White led after the first round with a score of 93.25, after James elected to hold some cards to his chest and complete a safer first run, which scored 89 points.

However the 23-year-old Australian soared to the top of the leaderboard with his second run, after increasing the difficulty of his tricks, scoring 96.75 points.

The 31-year-old American responded by lifting his standard and scoring 98.50 points out of a perfect 100.

Japan’s X Games champion Ayumu Hirano progressed in third place (95.25) to set up a mouth-watering final tomorrow. It shapes as the best halfpipe competition in history if the favourable conditions continue.

Australia will have two men in the final after 22-year-old Kent Callister, the great-nephew of the man who invented Vegemite, reached his second consecutive Olympic final.

Callister scored 77 points for his second run to finish 11th, with 12 riders progressing to the final.

Last month James took issue with the judging after White was awarded a perfect score of 100 at his final pre-Olympic competition, the World Cup event at Snowmass in Colorado, where James finished second.

He admitted to feeling “shafted” by being marked too harshly by judges while chief half-pipe rival White was overscored.

Shaun White and Scotty James.
Shaun White and Scotty James.

The pair met at a World Cup event in Colorado last month, with White earning a perfect 100 marker and James second on 96.25 despite landing a breakthrough switch backside double cork 1260.

James is the only rider who does the trick which involves three-and-a-half spins, and a blind entry and landing.

Former slopestyle world No.5 Aimee Fuller, from Great Britain, said White was favoured by judges because of his icon status in the sport.

“Every snowboarder starts from the bottom and they earn their points,” Fuller said. “Shaun White starts at the top and they deduct his points so unless he does anything in particular wrong, he’s staying at the top. He’s got Shaun White points.

“It’s not particularly fair, is it? But Shaun White has a glow. He walks in the room and everyone looks at him and that’s the same with his riding. He does stand out from the crowd.”

James admitted to having words with judges after recent competitions where he felt he was marked incorrectly.

“The biggest thing that frustrated me is that I have been working my whole life and I put my life on the line every day snowboarding and I work so hard and some silly people behind the desk dictate some score which is really frustrating for me sometimes,” he said.

“Honestly, I feel like there have been times when I feel like I have been a bit shafted.”

The Australian seemed content with today’s judging and will be intent on lifting again for tomorrow’s final.

James beat White twice last season, at the X Games and at the Olympic test event on the same site, and believes he can do it again tomorrow, with his new signature trick, the most technically difficult trick in the book, a switch backside double cork 1260, which features two flips, three and a half spins and a blind landing.

He downgraded it to two and a half spins in today’s contest.

4.50pm: Organisers under fire

The governing body of world skiing is being hit hard with questions about why it allowed the women’s slopestyle event to go ahead amid bitter winds and iced-over jumps.

Forty-one of the 50 runs ended with either a rider falling or bailing out because she could not build up enough speed to reach the crest of a jump.

International Ski Federation spokeswoman Jenny Wiedeke says only one team “voiced concerns” about going ahead with the event. She declined to name the country. It was different at the end of the runs when riders complained openly in the mix zone, the area where athletes speak to reporters.

Wiedeke says “we know it was very difficult conditions for the riders.” She says “no athlete is forced to go down and compete.” Wiedeke says the federation has concussion protocols and “most teams come with their own doctors. Those that don’t, there are local doctors on hand and we also have an official FIS doctor. So there are plenty of people on hand to diagnose if they feel it’s necessary.”

She also acknowledged the course was very difficult, even in perfect conditions. Wiedeke says “at the Olympic Games we set our courses to the highest international standard. We’re very pleased with the entire course-building process. Very cold temperatures here have created ideal snow conditions for our events.”

Russia's Pavel Trikhichev falls during the alpine combined downhill. Picture: AFP
Russia's Pavel Trikhichev falls during the alpine combined downhill. Picture: AFP

4.40pm: Half-pipe masters

Australia’s Scotty James delivers a spectacular second qualifying run, taking top spot with a score of 96.75. But the lead lasts just a few minutes, as American Shaun White shades it with a 98.5. An amazing duel between the big guns of this competition.

The Flying Tomato delivers his ‘mic drop’ at the end of the routine, setting up a thrilling final tomorrow.

4.20pm: Russian recovery

Despite a highly unusual tumble on the ice, a team of Russian athletes roared back to win the bronze medal in mixed doubles curling by beating Norway 8-4 today.

A tearful Anastasia Bryzgalova leapt into her coach’s arms after her team’s victory, which earned the Russians the first Olympic medal in mixed doubles curling. The game, which is a faster, more energetic offshoot of standard single-gender curling, is making its Olympic debut at the PyeongChang Games.

Both the Russians and Norwegian teams are couples; Bryzgalova is married to teammate Aleksandr Krushelnitckii, and Norway’s Kristin Skaslien is dating teammate Magnus Nedregotten.

The most dramatic moment of the game came in the third end, or round. Bryzgalova was shuffling backward while strategizing with Krushelnitckii when she stumbled over a stone she didn’t realise was behind her.

Anastasia Bryzgalova takes a tumble. Picture: Getty
Anastasia Bryzgalova takes a tumble. Picture: Getty

For a second, it seemed as if she would recover her footing, but seconds later, her legs went flying out from under her and she crashed hard onto her backside.

It is very rare for a curler to fall in professional curling, and the spill drew gasps from the stunned crowd.

Curlers wear special shoes to help them manoeuvre across the ice. On one foot, they wear what’s known as a “gripper,” which has a rubbery bottom that helps them grip the ice. The other shoe is known as a “slider” — it has a very slippery Teflon sole that helps the curlers glide.

After looking momentarily stunned, Bryzgalova stood up and gave a sheepish smile. Her coach said she was not hurt in the fall, and she laughed off the embarrassing moment after the match.

“It was very simple — I forgot about the stone that was behind me,” she said.

Bryzgalova was able to recover and win the bronze. Picture: Getty
Bryzgalova was able to recover and win the bronze. Picture: Getty

4pm: Bruised but unbowed

It wasn’t just Chloe Kim causing headaches for competitors in the snowboard half-pipe as Australian Emily Arthur crashed and took a heavy knock on her final run today, AAP writes.

Kim was first and daylight second at the Bokwang Phoenix Park ‘pipe, the gulf in her ability compared to the opposition evidenced in her final run where she logged 98.25 points.

China’s Jiayu Liu was second (89.75) and American Arielle Gold third (85.75). Arthur (11th) had a more literal headache to contend with after she sought to boost her score on her third hit.

She looked to be heading for her top score after a modest 48.25 in her first run and a botched second effort.

But spinning a cab 540 she failed to smoothly deal with the landing and jarred her shoulder and face into the flat centre of the ‘pipe.

She gingerly got up and appeared winded before being assessed by Australian medical staff.

She had a bloody nose and there was also a small cut under her right eye. “Sorry, my head hurts a bit,” she told an over eager spectator seeking her photo as she was getting assessed.

There appeared to be no signs of concussion and Arthur joined her mother to sit with the spectators in attendance.

She’ll be monitored during the day.

3.45pm: It’s all White at the pipe

American and event favourite Shaun White has answered the challenge from Scotty James, peeling off a 93.25 to assure his passage through to tomorrow’s final.

3.30pm: James blazes

Scotty James has blitzed his first run, relatively safe but good enough for an 89 and third place after the first qualifying stage.

Shaun White completes the opening qualification run in first place on 93.25, ahead of compatriot Ben Ferguson (91).

3.10pm: We’re underway in the half-pipe

Australian Kent Callister has kicked off his campaign in the half-pipe, racking up a score of 66.75 on his first run. He seemed a bit disappointed in the judges’ assessment, which brings us to Scotty James.

James believes American Shaun White gets favourable treatment from the scorers because of his reputation.

White is a two-time Olympic gold medallist who has been the undisputed champion and poster boy for his sport for a decade. The 31-year-old did, however, miss out on the medals at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, finishing fourth in the half-pipe.

2.50pm: Aussie targets the Tomato

Australia’s flagbearer Scotty James is taking on US star Shaun White in the men’s half-pipe event.

White, nicknamed the Flying Tomato, is set to stun after scoring 100 points at the World Cup in January. He is a two-time Olympic champion and is definitely the one to beat, but Japan’s Ayumu Hirano and James are in the hunt.

Watch for back-to-back 1260-degree jumps - that’s 3.5 revolutions off the 22-foot-high halfpipe wall. Judging is subjective, based on height, technique and degree of difficulty.

Australian snowboarder Scotty James. Picture: Getty
Australian snowboarder Scotty James. Picture: Getty

2.10pm: More on Chloe Kim’s coronation

The 17-year-old from Torrance, California, dominated the Olympic women’s half-pipe snowboarding final today, soaring to a gold medal four years in the making, AP writes.

Kim put up a score of 93.75 on the first of her three finals runs and then bettered it with a near-perfect 98.75 on her last run with the gold already well in hand. With members of her family in the stands, including her South Korean grandmother, Kim put on a show that delivered on her considerable pre-Olympic hype.

Liu Jiayu took silver with an 89.75 to become the first Chinese snowboarder to medal at the Olympics.

American Arielle Gold, who pondered retirement last summer, edged teammate and three-time Olympic medallist Kelly Clark for bronze.

Kim’s parents were born in South Korea and moved to the United States, putting their daughter in an interesting position heading into her first Olympics. While she understands the urge to build a narrative around her that turns her into a connective tissue of sorts between the host country and the one she calls home, it’s one she has politely sidestepped. She views herself as just a kid from Southern California who likes music, the mall, ice cream and, oh, by the way, putting down the kind of gravity-escaping, physics challenging runs that have made her a dominant force in her sport.

Kim would have made the Olympic team with ease four years ago, only to have the calendar get in the way. She was 13 at the time, too young to make the trip to Russia. She entered the quadrennium between the games with the kind of expectations reserved for the Shaun Whites of the snowboarding world. She has exceeded every one.

Gold medallist Chloe Kim during her victory ceremony. Picture: Getty
Gold medallist Chloe Kim during her victory ceremony. Picture: Getty

Standing atop the hill at calm and brilliant Phoenix Snow Park — a stark contrast to the windy mess that turned the women’s slopestyle final into an ugly, borderline unsafe and crash-filled mess 24 hours earlier — Kim looked down at the crowd that included her parents, three sisters, three aunts, two cousins and her grandmother Moon Jung and proceeded to waste little time while turning the final into a global coming-out party.

She drilled her opening set, throwing in a 1080 — basically, three twists high above the pipe — before following it with a pair of flips (or “corks”). Kim celebrated at the end, pumping her fists as “USA!” “USA!” chants rained down. When her score flashed, she clasped her hands atop her head and drank in the moment.

Kim’s teammates made serious bids to give the Americans only their fourth-ever Olympic podium sweep.

Gold, who dislocated her right shoulder during training for the Sochi Olympics and didn’t compete then barely made the 12-woman final, brushed off a fall during her first run and stomped an 85.75 on her third run. Clark, the 2002 Olympic champion still going strong at age 34, couldn’t quite catch Gold with an 83.50.

Jiayu came the closest to providing Kim with a serious threat. She drilled an 89.75 during her first set to take the lead, only to watch Kim top it during her first run moments later.

Jiayu then washed out on her last trip down the longest Olympic half-pipe since the sport made its debut in 1998, turning Kim’s last run into a victory lap. Rather than playing it safe, she went for it. Her No. 1 bib soaring into the South Korean sky, she put on a display that left the rest of the field and the thousands packed near the finish roaring their approval.

Kim’s score of 98.75 flirted with perfection. Fitting in a way because Kim is as close to it as anyone in her sport.

Kim during the half-pipe final. Picture: Getty
Kim during the half-pipe final. Picture: Getty

1.50pm: A spectacular crash

Alpine skiing is finally under way under blue skies and sunshine at the wind-buffeted PyeongChang Olympics.

Thomas Dressen of Germany was the first racer in the downhill portion of the men’s Alpine combined event in Jeongseon.

The wind is again a factor after forcing organisers to postpone other events earlier in the week.

Gusts higher up the mountain forced organisers to lower the start, cutting 20 seconds from the run. The gates were also moved to let racers take a safer line cresting the jumps.

The third starter, Russian Pavel Trikhichev, crashed out and slid into the safety fences after his left ski hooked a gate. The race was delayed. Trikhichev, the only Russian athlete in the race, was able to stand but it’s not clear how badly he was hurt.

A slalom leg will be raced in the afternoon, and the Olympic champion is the skier with the fastest combined time.

Men’s combined was supposed to be the third event on the Alpine program. The men’s downhill and women’s giant slalom have been postponed until Thursday.

1.35pm: Golden girl fulfils her destiny

American teenager Chloe Kim has won the women’s half-pipe snowboarding event, crushing her rivals and completing what many saw as a fait accompli.

Kim ended the final with a stunning performance, racking up a score of 98.25, well ahead of China’s Liu Jiayu (89.75) and American Arielle Gold (85.75).

The four-time X Games champion might have challenged for gold in Sochi four years ago — if she hadn’t been too young to compete.

The 17-year-old was heavily favoured to win the half-pipe event, and she coolly carried the favouritism tag throughout. Kim even tweeted out a hankering for some ice cream as she was about to compete in the preliminary rounds.

Australia’s Emily Arthur finished 11th out of 12 with a best run of 48.25.

Arthur was left with a bloodied nose and sore mouth after landing on her face during her third and final run at the half-pipe.

Emily Arthur hits the deck in the half-pipe final. Picture: Getty
Emily Arthur hits the deck in the half-pipe final. Picture: Getty

1.25pm: Brutal crash ends Aussie hopes

Emily Arthur’s bid for a place on the podium in the half-pipe final have ended after a crash in which she face-planted at the bottom of the pipe.

After a few seconds of concern and attention from stewards, Arthur was able to get up and walk out of the arena unassisted. A brave finish for the 18-year-old at her first Olympics.

Her campaign ended with a score of 25, and an overall best of 48.25, and a finish of 11th out of 12.

1.15pm: Wind forces course changes

Alpine ski racing is finally set to begin at the Winter Olympics, though high winds will mean courses for events will be shortened.

Organisers say the downhill run that opens the men’s alpine combined event on Tuesday will begin lower down the mountain at Jeongseon due to gusts at the scheduled start house.

The downhill should begin on time at the lower start used for the super-G. That will shorten the run by about 20 seconds.

It means the afternoon slalom run that concludes the combined will also be shortened, by about 10 gates.

That will help balance the race as an equal test for the downhill and slalom specialists.

Men’s combined is the first medal race after high winds at two different venues forced the men’s downhill and women’s giant slalom to be postponed until Thursday.

Course slippers ski down as they help to prepare the piste ahead of the downhill portion of the men's combined in Jeongseon. Picture: AP
Course slippers ski down as they help to prepare the piste ahead of the downhill portion of the men's combined in Jeongseon. Picture: AP

12.55pm: All to do for Aussie

Australia’s Emily Arthur will need a big third run at the half-pipe after a spill in her second during the final. The best score of the three attempts will be the one that counts, so Arthur’s 9.25 will be a mere footnote if she can nail her third.

Arthur is sitting 10th out of 12 at this stage, while Chloe Kim leads on 93.75, ahead of Liu Jiayu (89.75) and Kelly Clark (81.75).

12.30pm: A first for the Games

Japanese short-track speed skater Kei Saito has tested positive for doping, the first case of the Games, the Court of Arbitration for Sport says.

Saito, 21, failed an out-of-competition test prior to the event, the anti-doping authority said in a statement, adding that he tested positive for acetalozamide, a banned diuretic which is considered as a masking agent.

The CAS statement said Saito had left the athletes’ Olympic Village voluntarily and would be provisionally suspended from the Olympics and other competitions pending a full investigation.

Saito, a human biology student whose sister Hitomi is also competing in PyeongChang, was a member of Japan’s 3000m relay team that finished third at the 2013 and 2014 world junior championships.

He competed on Saturday in the short track speed skating 1500m but was eliminated in the heats. He was scheduled for more races during the Games.

Japan's Kei Saito, right, during the 1500m short track speed skating event. Picture: AFP
Japan's Kei Saito, right, during the 1500m short track speed skating event. Picture: AFP

12.15pm: Aussie Arthur is underway

Australia’s Emily Arthur is ninth after the first run of the women’s half-pipe. She scored 48.25, while American star Chloe Kim notched a 93.75, well ahead of China’s Liu Jiayu (85.5) and Kelly Clark (76.25).

11.45am: Heaven is a half-pipe

US snowboarder Chloe Kim will vie for an Olympic medal in the women’s half-pipe and skiers may finally get to compete in the first Alpine event of the PyeongChang Winter Games.

Russia and Norway are also facing off for a bronze medal in Olympic curling today.

Kim, a California teenager whose parents are from South Korea, was close to her best in leading the qualifying round yesterday.

Australia’s Emily Arthur is also in the 12-woman final.

American Kelly Clark, a three-time Olympic medallist, barely qualified and is hoping for a better day. The men’s combined is scheduled for today and could be the first Alpine event of these games. The men’s downhill and women’s giant slalom both have been postponed because of gusty winds.

11.15am: Just a quick break

If you’re leaving PyeongChang on Tuesday morning, check out the folks sitting next to you.

They might be wearing Olympic medals.

The way the figure skating program is set up, there is a long break between the team competition and the ice dance and women’s competitions. The pairs program begins Wednesday and the men take the ice for their individual event Friday, but the rest are off until next week.

So, most of the ice dancers and women from powerhouse countries such as Canada were leaving the craziness of the Olympic sphere Tuesday for calmer surroundings. In their case, dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and the women’s contingent of Kaetlyn Osmond, Gabrielle Daleman and Larkyn Austman were on their way back to Seoul for a few days of work in an out-of-the-way rink. Virtue and Moir, along with Osmond and Daleman, were instrumental in the Canadians winning gold in the team event. The Olympic Athletes from Russia took silver and the US won bronze.

“We’ll be going to our training site outside of the Olympic structure, so to speak, and we’ll be able to take our experience of competing in this team event to our advantage,” said Moir, who along with Virtue are aiming for a fifth Olympic medal. “It’s a huge advantage that we’ve been out there.” Mirai Nagasu became only the third woman and first American to land a triple axel in Olympic competition, helping the US secure its bronze. Now, she’s headed to a secret location outside the host city of Gangneung with teammates Karen Chen and Bradie Tennell to keep the jump sharp.

10.45am: Kim’s army meets its match

North Korea’s band of all-female supporters was unable to inspire the historic joint Korean women’s ice hockey team as they were dumped out of the PyeongChang Olympics with an 8-0 defeat to Sweden late on Monday.

The unified team for the Winter Games in South Korea was the product of a landmark deal between the South and North Korea — the neighbours still technically at war — after a year of high tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests.

The home crowd — seated among them the North Korean cheerleaders — roared their players as they skated onto the ice in their blue-and-red jerseys, “KOREA” emblazoned over a pale blue silhouette of the peninsula.

The joint team is deeply symbolic, but as a hockey side they were at the Games with little hope of making a serious impression in terms of the competition.

South Korean cheerleaders perform during the women's preliminary ice hockey. Picture: AFP
South Korean cheerleaders perform during the women's preliminary ice hockey. Picture: AFP

And so it proved as they were hammered 8-0 for the second time in a row, this time to the Swedes, ranked five in the world.

Sweden were 3-0 up in just 10 minutes and the heavy defeat means Korea play Japan on Wednesday in their final match in a dead rubber.

But even as the home team were being pounded, the 200-strong North Korean cheerleaders in red, blue and white tracksuits chanted, “Cheer up”, clapping and waving mini-unification flags in unison and setting off a Mexican wave.

The unity was interrupted when a four-member South Korean cheering group, in tight white T-shirts and pink shorts, skipped and hopped to Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend”.

The North Koreans responded with songs of their own — mostly old folk numbers, including a ballad longing for one’s home town — showing a deep cultural divide between the two halves of the divided peninsula.

North Korean cheerleaders at the ice hockey match between Sweden and Unified Korea. Picture: AFP
North Korean cheerleaders at the ice hockey match between Sweden and Unified Korea. Picture: AFP

10.15am: Even the athletes are feeling the chill

Competitors in the women’s ski jumping normal hill event were forced to rug up as temperatures plummeted late on day three.

The temperature was -11C at the start of competition at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre, and athletes bundled up with blankets while waiting on the steps to take their jumps.

After dominating the ski jumping World Cup this season, Maren Lundby wasn’t about to be denied on the sport’s biggest stage. The 23-year-old Norwegian, who has won seven of 10 events this season, nailed a jump of 110m for 264.6 points to capture Norway’s second gold medal of the games.

“I knew when I landed I had won because I saw the green light go on,” Lundby said, referring to the light that indicates how far you have to jump to take the lead.

“I didn’t look at the scoreboard but I heard the announcers say ‘It’s gold’.”

The conditions have tested even the most seasoned winter sports veterans, but Lundby said it’s all part of ski jumping.

“We’ve had a lot of competitions in heavy conditions,” she said. “We had a competition in Japan recently with similar conditions.”

Maren Lundby soars through the snow amid freezing conditions in the women's normal hill individual ski jumping. Picture: AP
Maren Lundby soars through the snow amid freezing conditions in the women's normal hill individual ski jumping. Picture: AP

9.45am: Arthur dances into the final

She’s best known as the Aussie snowboarder who’ll be trying to win a medal in the women’s half-pipe later today (noon AEDT) ... but if Emily Arthur manages to earn a bit of fame as a dancer, she won’t be upset.

Arthur was captured on cameras yesterday dancing as she prepared to compete in her second run in the women’s half-pipe ... and it seemed the dancing did the trick, because her second run secured her place in the final as the eighth-best qualifier.

“We just let the music flow through our body and whatever happens, happens,” she told Channel 7 yesterday.

9.15am: Graham’s bold decision pays off

Australian skier Matt Graham was preparing a wild party long into the night in Bokwang after winning the first PyeongChang Olympic medal for Australia, a silver in the moguls.

A silver medal? That’s gold for Matt Graham. Photo: AAP
A silver medal? That’s gold for Matt Graham. Photo: AAP

And after a few beers and putting his tired legs up he intends to return to his Narara, Central Coast home to enjoy some sunshine and compete in his other sport — sailing.

Graham couldn’t contain his excitement and joy as he hugged Team Graham — his girlfriend Jess, his three mates from school, his parents and his grandparents — all jumping up and down in celebration and to keep warm in the minus 12 degree temperatures at the bottom of the moguls course after his Olympic silver medal was confirmed.

Graham had started third in the super final of six skiers and was superb down the 250m course, keeping his skis together and nailing his two jumps, a back full and then a cork 1080 to record an impressive score of 82.57.

And it was a brave decision to ski solo on the outside run that helped nail the final run. Read Jacquelin Magnay’s full story here.

8.30am: Dutch courage needed here

NBC’s Katie Couric had some Dutch in stitches when she said during the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics that the Netherlands was so good at speed skating because it “is an important mode of transportation”.

The Dutch Olympic Committee’s chief commercial officer Thomas van Schaik tweeted: “Sure... Just like most Latvians use a bobsleigh to get to work & Austrian kids ski jump to school.”

Others sent dummied up pictures of suited up businessmen skating to work and presenting some mass skating events as big shopping days.

Couric centred on Amsterdam and said that in winter “for as long as those canals have existed the Dutch have skated on them to get from place to place.”

Nowadays, the canals rarely freeze and when they do, skaters almost exclusively use it for recreational purposes.

American TV anchor Katie Couric. Photo: Getty Images
American TV anchor Katie Couric. Photo: Getty Images

8.15am: Summers’ Winter hell

Brodie Summers lost the battle against his body but has backed his decision to fight it.

The Australian skier’s Winter Olympics campaign failed to get off the ground after he succumbed to an injury to the same knee he has spent the last five months rehabilitating.

Brodie Summers of Australia holds his knee after sustaining an injury in practice on Friday. Photo: AAP
Brodie Summers of Australia holds his knee after sustaining an injury in practice on Friday. Photo: AAP

Summers tore his right ACL in September, never considering shelving his PyeongChang plans to make way for a fitter athlete before being unable to compete on either of days of the moguls event.

“My team and I knew that it was possible to get back here and I left no stone unturned,” he said.

“I put in every ounce of blood, sweat and tears to get back here and I can walk away from these Olympics knowing I gave everything.

“I’m proud of that. It wasn’t enough in this situation but I genuinely believed it would be enough.”

Summers, a World Cup medallist who watched countryman Matt Graham win Olympic silver last night, said he skied pain-free before PyeongChang. But after pulling up gingerly after a training run before qualifications on Friday, the 24-year-old lacked mobility ahead of repechage and was deemed at risk of further injury.

“Right up to that qualification I had full confidence,” he said. “It was just building up every week, every day even. Because of the condensed time frame of the rehab, I was noticing huge gains day by day.

“Honestly, right up to that little tweak on the first day of competition, I was genuinely feeling really good. I was so close.”

— AAP

8am: Craine happy slipping under radar

Harley Windsor’s unique Olympic story may have captured much of the interest in Australia’s figure skating campaign but his teammate Kailani Craine has no issue flying under the radar.

Kailani Craine competes in the women's figure skating at last year’s Asian Winter Games in Japan. Photo: Getty Imageso
Kailani Craine competes in the women's figure skating at last year’s Asian Winter Games in Japan. Photo: Getty Imageso

Craine is part of a four-strong contingent featuring Windsor, who’s set to become the first indigenous Australian Winter Olympian, his Russian-born pair Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Sochi Olympian Brendan Kerry.

Windsor has completed a slew of media engagements with major Australian and international media outlets ahead of him competing in PyeongChang.

Craine, 19, has kept a low profile since arriving at the athletes village a week ago, quietly confident about her own prospects ahead of competing next week.

“I’m really glad I got here earlier because I feel like now I’m starting to settle down from all the adrenaline,” she said.

“I feel really solid now. The first day, I was kind a little off on some elements that I usually nail all the time. But that’s to be expected.

“I just really want to do solid and clean skates and if I do that I really can’t be disappointed with my results.

“I do not need to let silly points slip away.”

Craine will take to the ice after a promising season in which she won the Nebelhorn Trophy, an Olympic qualifying event.

A long-time friend of Windsor, she has backed him and Alexandrovskaya to handle the Games experience.

“They’re going really well. I feel really confident for them,” she said.

— AAP

7.30am: Aussies in action on Day 3 (all times AEDT)

SNOWBOARDING
* 12pm: Emily Arthur — women’s half-pipe final (run 1 at 12pm, run 2 at 12.30pm, run 3 at 1pm)
* 3pm: Scotty James, Kent Callister, Nathan Johnstone — men’s half-pipe qualification (run 1 at 3pm, run 2 at 3.56pm)

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING
* 7.30pm: Jessica Yeaton, Casey Wright, Aimee Watson — women’s sprint classic qualification
* 8.05pm: Phillip Bellingham — men’s sprint classic qualification

Jessica Yeaton is in action for Australia today in cross-country skiing. Photo: Getty Images
Jessica Yeaton is in action for Australia today in cross-country skiing. Photo: Getty Images

7am: How the Aussies fared on Day 3

SNOWBOARDING
* Women’s half-pipe qualification: Emily Arthur 8th (qualified), Holly Crawford 13th (eliminated). Read the full story here.
FREESTYLE SKIING
* Men’s moguls finals: Matt Graham silver medal, James Matheson 14th, Rohan Chapman-Davies 22nd, Brodie Summers DNS. Read the full story here.

Matt Graham of Australia, Mikael Kingsbury of Canada and Daichi Hara of Japan stand on the podium after winning the silver, gold and bronze medals respectively in the men's moguls final. Photo: AAP
Matt Graham of Australia, Mikael Kingsbury of Canada and Daichi Hara of Japan stand on the podium after winning the silver, gold and bronze medals respectively in the men's moguls final. Photo: AAP

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/winter-olympics-2018/winter-olympics-2018-day-4-live-coverage-emily-arthur-scotty-james-in-snowboard-halfpipe/news-story/55cd11720f61ef592b4628799b84d432