Mikaela Shiffrin closes in on title, speed skaters bid farewell; winter sports schedule

By OlympicTalkMar 7, 2022, 11:13 AM EST

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Mikaela Shiffrin can move closer to her fourth World Cup overall title, among the winter sports live on Peacock this weekend.

Shiffrin and the women’s Alpine skiing World Cup visit Are, Sweden, for a giant slalom and slalom, the last stop before the four-race World Cup Finals.

The focus will be on Shiffrin and Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova, the world’s top two skiers this season. Last weekend, Shiffrin surged ahead in the race for the overall title, the biggest annual prize in ski racing.

She finished second and fourth in a GS and super-G, while Vlhova had a DNF and an 18th, dropping from a tie to 117 points behind with six races left. A race winner receives 100 points, with 80 points to second place and 60 for third place on a descending scale through 30th place.

Shiffrin is guaranteed to stay ahead of Vlhova going into the World Cup Finals if she places fifth or better in each race this weekend. She has been fifth or better in 10 of the 11 giant slaloms and slaloms that she has finished this season.

In the men’s World Cup, Swiss Marco Odermatt has a 189-point lead over Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde with seven races left. Kilde does not race slalom and rarely does giant slalom, so Odermatt should have his first overall title all but clinched after this week’s slalom and giant slaloms.

Elsewhere, the speed skating World Cup Finals will be a farewell for retiring Dutchwoman Ireen Wüst, who in Beijing earned her 12th and 13th medals and became the first person to win an individual medal at five Olympics.

Swede Nils van der Poel, who swept the 5000m and 10,000m at the Olympics, has said the Finals will be his last competition before elite retirement, though he could come back as he has done before.

Alpine Skiing World Cup — Flachau, Austria and Kranjska Gora, Slovenia (Men) and Are, Sweden (Women)

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Wednesday	11:45 a.m.	Men’s Slalom Run 1	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	2:45 p.m.	Men’s Slalom Run 2	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Friday	9 a.m.	Women’s Giant Slalom Run 1	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	12 p.m.	Women’s Giant Slalom Run 2	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Saturday	3:30 a.m.	Men’s Giant Slalom Run 1	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	4:30 a.m.	Women’s Slalom Run 1	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	6:30 a.m.	Men’s Giant Slalom Run 2	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	7:45 a.m.	Women’s Slalom Run 2	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	3:30 a.m.	Men’s Giant Slalom Run 1	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	6:30 a.m.	Men’s Giant Slalom Run 2	Peacock \| STREAM LINK

Speed Skating World Cup — Heerenveen, Netherlands

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Saturday	7 a.m.	Women’s 500m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	7:13 a.m.	Men’s 500m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	8:10 a.m.	Women’s 1500m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	8:55 a.m.	Men’s 1000m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	9:35 a.m.	Men’s 5000m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	8:10 a.m.	Women’s 500m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	8:49 a.m.	Men’s 500m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	9:28 a.m.	Women’s 3000m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	10:19 a.m.	Men’s 1500m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	11:03 a.m.	Women’s 1000m	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	11:49 a.m.	Men’s Mass Start	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	12:10 p.m.	Women’s Mass Start	Peacock \| STREAM LINK

Biathlon World Cup — Otepää, Estonia

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Thursday	8:30 a.m.	Men’s Sprint	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Friday	8:30 a.m.	Women’s Sprint	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Saturday	6 a.m.	Men’s Mass Start	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	8:15 a.m.	Women’s Mass Start	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	6:30 a.m.	Mixed Relay	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	9:15 a.m.	Single Mixed Relay	Peacock \| STREAM LINK

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup — Falun, Sweden

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Friday	6:15 a.m.	Sprints	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Saturday	4:30 a.m.	Men’s 15km	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	7:15 a.m.	Women’s 10km	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	4:30 a.m.	Mixed Relay	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	7:30 a.m.	Mixed Team Sprint	Peacock \| STREAM LINK

Ski Jumping World Cup — Oberhof, Germany

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Saturday	7:30 a.m.	Women	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	8:45 a.m.	Women	Peacock \| STREAM LINK

Nordic Combined World Cup — Schonach, Germany

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Saturday	4 a.m.	Women Ski Jump	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	5 a.m.	Men Ski Jump	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	7:30 a.m.	Women 5km	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	8:15 a.m.	Men 10km	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	4 a.m.	Women Ski Jump	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	5:30 a.m.	Men Ski Jump	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	7:30 a.m.	Women 5km	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	8:35 a.m.	Men 10km	Peacock \| STREAM LINK

Freestyle Skiing World Cup — Tignes, France (Slopestyle) and Reiteralm, Austria (Ski Cross)

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Saturday	6:30 a.m.	Slopestyle	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	9 a.m.	Ski Cross	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	4:30 a.m.	Ski Cross	Peacock \| STREAM LINK

Snowboarding World Cup — Reiteralm, Austria (Snowboard Cross) and Piancavallo, Italy (Alpine)

Day	Time (ET)	Event	Platform
Saturday	5 a.m.	Snowboard Cross	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
	8 a.m.	Parallel Slalom	Peacock \| STREAM LINK
Sunday	7 a.m.	Team Parallel Slalom	Peacock \| STREAM LINK

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Taylor Fritz becomes crowd enemy at French Open

Associated PressJun 1, 2023, 7:25 PM EDT

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The French Open crowd was not happy with American player Taylor Fritz after he beat one of their own — indeed, their last man in the bracket — so they booed and whistle relentlessly. Fritz’s response? He told them to shush. Over and over again.

Fritz, a 25-year-old from California who is seeded No. 9 at Roland Garros, got into a back-and-forth with the fans at Court Suzanne Lenglen after his 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 comeback victory over 78th-ranked Arthur Rinderknech in the second round on Thursday night.

Rinderknech attempted a lob that landed long on the last point, and Fritz, who had been running toward the baseline to chase the ball, immediately looked up into the stands and pressed his right index finger to his lips to say, essentially, “Hush!”

.@Taylor_Fritz97 fights off Rinderknech and the French crowd to earn a 2-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 win!

Faces Cerundolo next for a spot in the Fourth Round. #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/156koAad5w

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 1, 2023

He held that pose for a bit as he headed back toward the net for a postmatch handshake, then spread his arms wide, wind-milled them a bit as if to egg on the rowdiness, and yelled: “Come on! I want to hear it!”

During the customary winner’s on-court interview that followed, more jeers rained down on Fritz, and 2013 Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli kept pausing her attempts to ask a question into her microphone.

So Fritz again said, “Shhhhh!” and put his finger toward his mouth, while Bartoli unsuccessfully tried to get the spectators to lower their decibel level.

More boos. More whistles.

And the awkwardness continued as both Bartoli and a stadium announcer kept saying, “S’il vous plaît” — “Please!” — to no avail, while Fritz stood there with his arms crossed.

A few U.S. supporters with signs and flags drew Fritz’s attention from the front row, and he looked over and said to them, “I love you guys.”

But the interview was still on hold.

Bartoli tried asking a question in English, which only served to draw more boos.

So Fritz told her he couldn’t hear her. Bartoli moved closer and finally got out a query — but it didn’t seem to matter what her words were.

Fritz, who has been featured on the Netflix docuseries about tennis called “Break Point,” had his hands on his hips and a message on his mind — one reminiscent of Daniil Medvedev’s contretemps with fans at the 2019 U.S. Open.

“I came out and the crowd was so great honestly. Like, the crowd was just so great,” Fritz said, as folks tried to drown out his voice. “They cheered so well for me, I wanted to make sure that I won. Thanks, guys.”

And with that, he exited the stage.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

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"The crowd was just so great that I had to let it fire me up. They cheered so well for me, I wanted to make sure I won. Thanks guys." 😂@Taylor_Fritz97 | #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/NieIPfo59e

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 1, 2023

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

By OlympicTalkJun 1, 2023, 5:26 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.

“I don’t see age as a factor,” said Gauff, who has practiced with Andreeva. “When you step on the court, you just see your opponent, and you don’t really think about the personal side of things. You just see forehand, backhand, serve, and all the same.”

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 climbing, 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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