Previewing the final week in PyeongChang

By Kyle FitzgeraldFeb 19, 2018, 10:00 AM EST

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The Olympics have already provided some remarkable storylines. From Shaun White redeeming himself in the men’s snowboard halfpipe, to John-Henry Krueger ending the U.S.’s medal drought in short track, memorable storylines have certainly developed.

The international field, too, has certainly had its own flair for the dramatic. Look back at Ester Ledecka, a snowboarder, stunning the world by winning the alpine skiing super-G. Or look at Simen Hagsted Krueger’s improbable comeback to win the men’s cross-country 30km skiathlon.

Here at OlympicTalk, we’ve compiled six of the best events that are still to be featured in PyeongChang. There are more storylines to be written, more heroes to emerge, and plenty of heartbreak to be endured.

Ladies Downhill: Feb. 21 (9:00p.m. EST / 6:00p.m. PST)

Lindsey Vonn has hinted that this will probably be her last Olympics. The downhill is her best event, and she’ll surely be looking to fix the mistakes that she made on the slalom. She’s even started the competing in the training runs. Cheeky as ever, Vonn admitted to playing “mind games” with her competitors, allowing them to best her training run times. She doesn’t want to win training; she’ll save that for when it actually matters.

It’s been a long road for Shiffrin these past several years, having to pull out of Sochi because of a knee injury. She’s returned in good form, though, despite that disappointing performance in the giant slalom.

With Mikaela Shiffrin pulling out of the event, all eyes will be on Lindsey Vonn as she attempts to become the undisputed queen of the downhill.

Women’s Ice Hockey Gold Medal Match: Feb. 22 (11:10p.m. EST / 8:10p.m. PST)

The United States and Canada have met in three of the past four gold medal matches at the Olympics, and Canada have won all three of those meetings. The 2014 gold medal match was heart breaking for the Americans in particular, losing in overtime.

The Americans have made it abundantly clear that not a day has passed since they lost that game, and we got to see some of that anger when these two teams met in the group stages. Canada came on top of that one, 2-1, but it was by far the highest quality game and also the most physical.

There is no clear favorite in this game, no telling what the scoreline will be. The only known certainty is that it will be the most physically demanding game that either of these teams will play.

Figure Skating, Ladies Singles: Feb. 21, 23 (8:00p.m. EST / 5:00.m. PST)

Mirai Nagasu already made history in the team event when she became the first American woman to land a triple Axel. With the ladies singles event coming up, her focus looks razor sharp. She faces stiff competition for the gold, though.

To get a glimpse into what the ladies singles event could hold, look at the team event earlier in these Games. The athletes from OAR and Canada are going to be fighting amongst themselves for the medal haul. Yevgenia Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova won both of their skate programs, with Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond and Gabrielle Daleman finishing third in theirs.

Speed Skating Mass Start: Feb. 24 (6:00a.m. EST / 3:00a.m. PST)

Making its debut on the Olympic stage, the Mass Start is sure to be a thrilling conclusion to the speed skating competition. Up to 16 athletes compete at a time, pushing each other out of the way to win those sprint points. Short track is unpredictable because of the four skaters who are all jostling for that inside lane. What happens then when you add 12 more to the field?

The Koreans love speed skating, and they’ll certainly create the buzz during the Mass Start. Just listen to the roar from the crowd whenever a Korean skater makes a move for the front.

Click here to read more on the Mass Start

Cross-Country Men’s 50k Mass Start: Feb. 24 (12:00a.m. EST / 9:00p.m. PST)

This event may not have any Americans in this event (at least any who have any chance at a medal), but that doesn’t mean you should skip this event. These skiers will be in the thick of it for approximately 30 tortuous miles. Cross-country skiers literally collapse at the end of a 10km or 15km race. How could they possibly go on for another 40km?

So who are the favorites? “Super” Dario Cologna is probably the man to beat as he has one a couple of Olympic gold medals already, but the Norwegians did sweep the men’s 30km skiathlon. Simen Hegstad Krueger has been the standout athlete for Norway this season, and Denis Spitsov has been performing well for OAR.

Men’s Ice Hockey Gold Medal Game: Feb. 25 (11:10p.m. EST / 8:10p.m. PST)

Okay, so we don’t know who’s going to be in the final yet. As things stand the quarterfinals haven’t even begun. OAR are still the favorites, but Sweden are sitting in the no.1 seed in the bracket stage.

The men’s hockey final has always proven to be a memorable way to end the Olympics. Canada and Sweden have traded the gold medals the past few years. There aren’t any NHL players this time around, though, and that’s already provided for some surprising resutls.

India wrestlers delay plan to throw medals in Ganges River as part of sexual abuse protest

Associated PressJun 1, 2023, 2:44 PM EDT

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat (center) is detained by the police while attempting to march to India's new parliament building on Sunday./Getty

India’s top wrestlers held off from throwing their medals into the country’s sacred Ganges River on Tuesday — as part of an ongoing protest against sexual harassment — after a community leader intervened and persuaded them against doing so.

The wrestlers, who have been demanding the resignation and arrest of the president of the wrestling federation for allegedly sexually harassing young female athletes, had said they would throw their medals into the river and then begin a hunger strike in the capital New Delhi.

The protest is being led by two women — Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik and world championships medalist Vinesh Phogat — as well as Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia, who is male. They reached the city of Haridwar in the evening, sat on the banks of the river and tearfully clutched their medals as a crowd gathered around them.

They changed their mind after Naresh Tikait, a community leader, reached the site and convinced the wrestlers to give the government five days to respond, local media reported.

“These medals are our life and soul. After we immerse them in the Ganga river, there would be no meaning for us to live. So we will go to India Gate and sit on a fast unto death,” the wrestlers had said in a statement released earlier Tuesday. The India Gate is a war memorial located in the heart of New Delhi.

The wrestlers, joined by hundreds of supporters, have been staging a protest in the center of New Delhi for a month, amid a brutal heatwave while foregoing their training schedules. The protest has drawn support from opposition parties and farmer unions as most of the Indian wrestlers come from the northern agricultural states of Haryana and Punjab.

They accuse Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the president of the Wrestling Federation of India, of sexually harassing seven young female wrestlers, one of whom was a minor. Singh, a 66-year-old powerful lawmaker representing the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has denied the accusations and called the protests “politically motivated” by the opposition Congress party.

On Sunday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building, police detained a number of protesting wrestlers, including Punia and Malik, who were attempting to march to the building. Some of the protesters scuffled with police and were taken away in a bus.

In their statement on Tuesday, the wrestlers said they were treated in “a barbaric manner” by the police and that their protest site was dismantled.

“Did we commit a crime by demanding justice for the sexual harassment committed against the female wrestlers? We have been treated like criminals,” they said. “We women wrestlers feel there is nothing left for us in this country.”

Phogat claimed in January that several coaches have exploited female wrestlers at the behest of the WFI president.

Indian police are investigating the allegations of sexual harassment against Singh, and he has been questioned in the case. India’s Supreme Court has also acknowledged that the case involves “serious allegations of sexual harassment,” but it has been met with silence from the ruling party leaders, including Modi.

After their initial protest in January, Indian Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur asked the president of the federation to step aside and help in carrying out the probe. He also said a committee would be set up to investigate the allegations and that a report would be released in four weeks.

But no report has been released in the months since while Singh continues to head the federation, prompting the wrestlers to resume their protest in April.

The case has again highlighted the #MeToo movement in India, which picked up pace in 2018 when a spate of actresses and writers flooded social media with allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

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French Open: Coco Gauff to face younger opponent for first time at a Grand Slam

By OlympicTalkJun 1, 2023, 2:27 PM EDT

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Coco Gauff‘s first 49 Grand Slam main draw singles matches were all against older opponents. Her 50th will be against a younger one.

The sixth-seeded Gauff reached the French Open third round by beating 61st-ranked Austrian Julia Grabher 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday. Gauff, 19, next plays 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the round of 32 on Saturday.

Gauff made her major debut at age 15 in 2019 by beating Venus Williams at Wimbledon. In her 15 majors, Gauff has usually been the youngest male or female singles player, including most recently at 2022 Wimbledon. She is still the lone teenager in the WTA top 49.

But that may soon change. Youngsters from the Czech Republic and Russia are on the rise. Such as Andreeva, who, at No. 143 in the world and rising, is the highest-ranked player under the age of 18. And she doesn’t turn 17 until next April. Andreeva dropped just six games in her first two matches, fewest of any woman.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

But Gauff is still in a class of her own among her generation, having at last year’s French Open become the youngest major finalist since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon at 17. She somehow flew somewhat under the radar into Paris this year with a 4-4 record this spring and in between full-time coaches.

She has now won back-to-back matches for the first time since March, rallying past 71st-ranked Spaniard Rebeka Masarova in the first round and then dispatching an error-prone Grabher, a runner-up at a low-level clay event last week.

The other three seeds in Gauff’s section have all lost, so she would not play a seed until the quarterfinals. And that would be No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who has won all 12 sets they’ve played, including in last year’s French Open final.

“I lost that final, and like for like a week or two, I really thought it was the worst thing ever,” Gauff said. “There’s no point in me revisiting last year. It’s in the past. It was a great tournament, but I’m looking forward for more this week.”

While the men’s draw has been upended by 14-time champion Rafael Nadal‘s pre-event withdrawal and No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev‘s loss in the first round, the top women have taken care of business.

The top four seeds — Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, American Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan — all reached the third round without dropping a set.

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