Day 4 of Olympic action is in the books from Beijing, and there’s been no shortage of standout stories and newsy nuggets to devour. For those who may have been deep in slumber while the 2022 Games were peaking in daytime Beijing hours, here’s a roundup of what you missed.
? China’s Eileen Gu takes gold, creates citizenship controversy and breaks internet
Eighteen-year-old freeski superstar Eileen Gu nailed a 1620 in Tuesday’s big air competition. The move was good enough to secure her first-ever Olympic gold medal. But Gu wasn’t quite done.
Her performance — which she described as being a “testament to her character”— was so awe-inspiring that China’s Twitter-style platform, Weibo, crashed amid due to a massive number of users. Later, Gu, who skis for China but was born in the US, further stirred up public interest when she deftly dodged post-event inquiries regarding her citizenship and nationality. That is a busy day, Ms. Gu.
Eileen Gu performs her final jump in the women's Freestyle Skiing Big Air on February 8.
(Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press/AP)
? Chen dethrones skating’s “Ice Prince”
Team USA figure skater Nathan Chen is quad-flipping and triple-axeling his way toward a gold medal, and breaking world records in the process.
Chen, 22, nailed his short program Tuesday, earning a record-breaking score of 113.97. The mark breaks the previous record set by his rival Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu, who goes by the nickname “Ice Prince.”
Chen, however, stands poised to become the sport’s king, leading all competitors heading to Thursday’s free skate which will determine the event’s medal winners.
USA's Nathan Chen competes in the men's single skating short program of the figure skating event on February 8.
(Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images)
?? See you again soon, Canada?
The US women’s hockey team fell 4-2 to Canada in a hotly-contested and highly-anticipated preliminary round match in Beijing. But Canada and the US, who met in the gold medal game in Pyeongchang four years ago, may have yet another chapter to write in their historic rivalry.
Each nation has already secured a spot in Thursday’s quarterfinals, which means if they each keep winning, they’ll meet again in the finals. Between the two of them, Canada and the US have captured every gold medal in the sport.
Canada's Marie-Philip Poulin (L) and USA's Abby Roque vie for the puck during the women's preliminary round group A match of the ice hockey competition on February 8.?
(Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images)
And if you missed yesterday’s Olympic action, here are a couple of compelling stories from Monday at the Games:
?? Australian beach kid captures gold on snow
Jakara Anthony’s gold medal in women’s moguls is Australia’s first Winter Olympics gold in more than a decade.
Anthony, who grew up in a beach town, called her Olympic moment “mindblowing.”
Speaking with CNN, the 23-year-old noted that “people think we’re a bit of an underdog in winter sports but we’ve actually proven that we’re pretty strong.”
Jakara Anthony celebrates during the women's moguls victory ceremony on February 7.
(Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images)
?? Max Parrot stands up to cancer, captures snowboarding gold
Canadian snowboarder Max Parrot, 27, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in December 2018. Now, he’s an Olympic champion, capturing gold in the men’s slopestyle event.
Parrot describes his cancer fight as a “nightmare journey” and said that while battling the disease, and being unable to compete, he felt “like I was a lion in a cage.”
Max Parrot reacts after winning the snowboard men's slopestyle final run in Zhangjiakou on February 7.
(Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images)