Russians sing banned anthem after beating Germany to gold

Kirill Kaprizov scored in overtime to lead the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) past a feisty Germany 4-3 on Sunday to win the men’s ice hockey gold before joining his team mates to defy a ban by singing the Russian national anthem during the medal ceremony.

The Russians, competing as neutral athletes at Pyeongchang as punishment for a years-long Russian doping scandal, came back from one-goal down on a goal by Nikita Gusev with less than a minute left in regulation time to force overtime in one of the most pulsating finals in the history of Olympic hockey.

At their medal ceremony, the players team sang the Russian anthem over the sound of the Olympic anthem at the Gangneung Hockey Centre despite being barred from having their flag raised or anthem played.

The game was played hours after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided not to restore their delegation’s Olympic status, which would have enabled them to march under their flag at the closing ceremony later on Sunday.

The team’s assistant captain Ilya Kovalchuk said the players had discussed beforehand whether to sing the anthem if they were to win, and they agreed they would.

“We knew that we will do it if we win,” said Kovalchuk, the all-time leading Russian goal-scorer in Olympic play.

Singing the Russian anthem on the field of play is a violation of the IOC’s rules on neutrality, which were imposed on Russia as part of sanctions punishing the nation over systematic doping across many sports.

The victory marked the first time a team from Russia have won the gold medal in hockey since 1992, when the so-called Unified Team representing Russia and five other former Soviet republics beat Canada for the Olympic championship.

“It means a lot. We didn’t win Olympics since ‘92,” Kovalchuk said. “It was a while ago. That was our dream. That was my dream for when I was five years old, when I started playing. It’s great and it feels good.”

WILD GAME
The game was a thriller from the start and ended with flair, a perfect one-time slap shot from Kaprizov that ripped past German goaltender Danny aus den Birken with Germany’s Patrick Reimer off for high sticking.

Kaprizov had been fed the puck by the other Russian hero of the game, Gusev, who netted two third period goals, including the one that tied it, sending the game to overtime with less than a minute to go and the Germans looking like they were about to pull off a huge upset. Gusev finished as the Olympic tournament’s points leader with four goals and eight assists.

The Russians found themselves evenly matched by a German team who surprised the hockey world by making it to their first Olympic final. With the loss, the Germans won silver, their best finish ever in Olympic ice hockey and their first medal since a bronze at the Innsbruck games in 1976.

On paper the final shouldn’t have been a fair fight, but the Germans, playing hockey for a country primarily obsessed with football, skated evenly with the OAR, a team loaded with top home-grown talent from Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, seen as the world’s second-best league after the NHL, and led by ex-NHL all stars Pavel Datsyuk, their captain, and Kovalchuk.

The Germans had punched above their weight to get to the final, beating hockey powerhouses Sweden and Canada, and they were not about to quit with the gold medal on the line.

They came back twice from one-goal deficits and took the lead late on a goal by Jonas Muller, who beat Vasili Koshechkin between the legs, only to have their hearts broken by Gusev and Kaprizov.

source: news agency

White delivers again to win third halfpipe gold

American Shaun White cemented his legacy as the most successful snowboarder of all time as he delivered a stunning routine under massive pressure on the final run of a gripping halfpipe final on Wednesday to win his third Winter Olympic gold and a landmark 100th for his country.

White needed a big performance to overhaul Japan’s Ayumu Hirano and duly delivered with a spectacular display to earn a score of 97.75. His victory means the United States have won all four snowboarding golds awarded at the Games.

White, 31, triumphed in 2006 and 2010 and after a long wait for his score on Wednesday he roared with emotion, punching the air as his superstar status - briefly undermined when he failed in Sochi four years ago - was set in stone.

“Man, that was awful and amazing at the same time,” White said of the long wait for his score. “I knew I did a great ride and I was proud of that and I could walk away with my head high, but when they announced my score and I’d won, it crippled me.”

Nineteen-year-old Hirano, who edged into first place after his second run and then posted 95.25 on his third, could not hide his disappointment as he trudged away from the finish area having matched his silver from Sochi 2014.

Australian Scotty James, the 23-year-old world champion, took bronze.


source: news agency

North Korean pair given warm welcome on Pyeongchang debut

North Korean pair skaters Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik made their long-awaited debut at the Pyeongchang Olympics on Wednesday in front of a crowd of euphoric spectators cheering on every jump and lift.

The pair were the first North Korean athletes to qualify for the Games but it was unclear for several months whether they would actually compete in South Korea.

The sense of anticipation was palpable at the Gangneung Ice Arena before the pairs short program.

A swarm of North Korean female fans wearing red and white tracksuits marched up to the stands, smiling and waiving to passers-by as out of uniform police officer looked on.

In the stands, they rhythmically chanted the skaters’ names as they waived flags of the country.

A small group of university students supporting better inter-Korean ties brandished a banner that read: “Pyeongchang fairy Ryom Tae Ok, jump toward unification!”

Skating to an instrumental cover of “A Day in the Life” by the Beatles, the pair cleanly executed all the elements of their program with a technically-sound performance that earned them a personal best score of 69.40 points.

They finished 11th overall and will compete in the long program on Thursday.

Bruno Marcotte, a Canadian coach who works with the pair, told Reuters on Tuesday they had been striving for a personal best score close to 70 points in the short program.

Their goal for the long program is more than 125 points. Their current personal best score for that program is 119.90.

The pair, who won bronze at the Four Continents Cup in Taiwan last month, embraced each other and their coaches in the kiss and cry area, jumping up and down with joy.

“There have been no inconveniences whatsoever when it comes to the life here in the South area,” Kim said in translated televised comments before the pair sped past the mixed zone where a horde of reporters were waiting for them.

“You could really feel the power and the energy of the Korean people.”

North Korea agreed to compete in Pyeongchang after the South and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) encouraged the heavily sanctioned state to participate as a peace gesture.

The skaters were the first North Koreans to qualify for the Games after they finished in the top six at a competition in Germany in September.


source: news agency

Russian player dedicates medal to banned compatriots

London: Russian speed skater Semen Elistratov, who earned Russia its first medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, dedicated the medal to his compatriots who have been banned from the Games in an "unfair way".

After winning a bronze medal in men's 1500m short track speed skating, following a crash that took out two skaters, Elistratov said, "I have difficulties to hold back my tears. I am incredibly happy that I did it, in spite of all the circumstances around Russian sport."

"I dedicate this medal to all guys that have been excluded from these Games in such a hard and unfair way. This medal is for you," the Guardian quoted Elistratov as saying.

Russia were banned from competing at the Winter Olympics because of state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Games in Sochi.

However, 169 Russian athletes are allowed to compete in the Games as neutrals under the OAR team banner and Elistratov is one of them.

"I still have two distances to contest and I will fight until the end," he said.

Elistratov comments are, however, under investigation as they appear to breach the rule over making any political statements.

The 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang were kicked off on February 9.

The first medal of the Games was won by Sweden's Charlotte Kalla in the ladies' skiathlon while Hyo-jun Lim provided the home nation with their first gold.



source: news agency

Organizers confirm 177 total norovirus cases at Pyeongchang

Pyeongchang Winter Olympics organizers (POCOG) said on Monday a total of 177 norovirus cases had been confirmed so far at the Games but that the athletic delegations remained unaffected.

POCOG said 19 new cases of the virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea had been confirmed as of Sunday afternoon. It added that of the 177 cases, 68 had recovered and had been released from quarantine and returned to work at the Games.

The virus had broken out in the leadup to the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang last Friday and led to some 1,200 security staff being quarantined. Organizers had to call in military personnel to replace them.

No athletes have been confirmed to have contracted the highly contagious virus. An outbreak at last year’s World Athletics Championship in London forced competitors from several countries to miss events.

POCOG has said several agencies were cooperating to stifle the outbreak, with water quality being tested and inspections taking place at venues, restaurants, hotels and worker accommodation.



source: news agency

NBC boots analyst over Japan comment at Pyeongchang Games

Joshua Cooper Ramo, the commentator who offended locals during coverage of the Pyeongchang Olympics opening ceremony by straying into the sensitive issue of Japan-South Korean relations, has been taken off the air, U.S. broadcaster NBC said on Monday.

“Joshua Cooper Ramo has completed his responsibilities for NBC in Pyeongchang, and will have no further role on our air,” an NBC spokesman said in an email to Reuters.

NBC, a unit of Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) had announced in December that Ramo would be a contributor at the Games, having previously served as an expert on culture and geo-political issues during the 2008 Beijing Olympics for the network.

Ramo’s speaker agency that represents him did not respond to a request for comment.

Ramo, who has written books on China and is a corporate director of Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) and FedEx Corp (FDX.N), said as athletes paraded into the Games stadium on Friday that “every Korean will tell you that Japan is a cultural, technological and economic example that has been so important to their own transformation”.

Koreans around the world criticized his remarks on social media and a petition soon circulated online.

Japan, which colonized the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945, has left a deep legacy of mistrust and ill-feeling in South Korea.

The Pyeongchang Organising Committee (POCOG) had earlier told Reuters that it “informed NBC of the errors in their commentary and the sensitivity of the subject in Korea”.

NBC apologized in writing to Pyeongchang’s organizing committee for the remark, which the committee said it had accepted.

The Pyeongchang organizing committee did not immediately respond to the news Ramo had been let go.

Ramo is also co-CEO of Kissinger Associates, an advisory firm of former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

NBC is the exclusive U.S. broadcaster of the Olympics having paid about $7.65 billion to air the Games until at least 2032.



source: news agency

Polish president meets winter Olympians in Pyeongchang

Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife, Agata Kornhauser Duda, have met Polish sportspeople at the Olympic village in Pyeongchang.

Several dozen Poles, among them the country's top figure ice skaters, bobsledders and cross-country skiers, also met presidential aide Krzysztof Szczerski, Polish Ambassador to South Korea Piotr Ostaszewski, Sports Minister Witold Bańka and Polish Olympic Committee chief Andrzej Kraśnicki.

“The president told competitors that he was cheering for them and wished them new personal bests,” the Polish Olympic team's spokesman, Henryk Urbaś, said.

“The presidential couple said they were happy to be in Pyeongchang and were impressed by the mood,” Urbaś added.

The Polish first couple watched the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics from the stands at Pyeongchang on Friday and are set to watch ski jumpers, including Poland's Kamil Stoch, a gold medal winner at the Sochi games, in flight on Saturday.


source: news agency

Polish ski jumpers fourth and fifth at winter Olympics

Polish ski jumping star Kamil Stoch and his teammate Stefan Hula have finished fourth and fifth respectively at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in the Normal Hill event.

Germany's Andreas Wellinger grabbed the gold with a total of 259.3 points, followed by Norwegians Johann Andre Forfang (250.9 points) and Robert Johansson (249.7 points).

Poland's Maciej Kot came 19th while his countryman Dawid Kubacki did not qualify for the final round.

Polish ski jumpers will compete in the large hill event next Saturday and in the team event on Monday, February 19.

In the run-up to the Olympics, Polish officials had named ski jumping as the country's big hope for honours in South Korea.

source: news agency

Games organisers confirm cyber attack, won't reveal source

Pyeongchang Winter Olympics organisers confirmed on Sunday that the Games had fallen victim to a cyber attack during Friday’s opening ceremony, but they refused to reveal the source.

The Games’ systems, including the internet and television services, were affected by the hack two days ago but organisers said it had not compromised any critical part of their operations.

“Maintaining secure operations is our purpose,” said International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman Mark Adams.

“We are not going to comment on the issue. It is one we are dealing with. We are making sure our systems are secure and they are secure.”

Asked if organisers knew who was behind the attack, Adams said: “I certainly don’t know. But best international practice says that you don’t talk about an attack.”

The Winter Games are being staged only 80km (50 miles) from the border with North Korea, which is technically still at war with the South since their 1950-1953 war ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.

The two teams marched together at an Olympics opening ceremony for the first time since 2006.

South Korea has been using the Pyeongchang Games to break the ice with the reclusive North, which has been trading nuclear threats with the United States recently.

“All issues were resolved and recovered yesterday morning,” Pyeongchang organising committee spokesman Sung Baik-you told reporters.

“We know the cause of the problem but that kind of issues occurs frequently during the Games. We decided with the IOC we are not going to reveal the source (of the attack),” he told reporters.

Russia, which has been banned from the Games for doping, said days before the opening ceremony that any allegations linking Russian hackers to attacks on the infrastructure connected to the Pyeongchang Olympic Games were unfounded.

“We know that Western media are planning pseudo-investigations on the theme of ‘Russian fingerprints’ in hacking attacks on information resources related to the hosting of the Winter Olympic Games in the Republic of Korea,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.

“Of course, no evidence will be presented to the world.”

Cyber security researchers said in January they had found early indications that Russia-based hackers may be planning attacks against anti-doping and Olympic organisations in retaliation for Russia’s exclusion from the Pyeongchang Games.


source: news agency