Olympics

Alysa Liu finished as the top Team USA skater in the women's individual figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, ranking seventh in the final standings after Thursday's free skate.

Mariah Bell (10th overall) and Karen Chen (16th) were the other Americans to reach the second segment of the competition after Tuesday's short program.

Here's a look at how the U.S. skaters performed in the free skate:

• Liu: 139.45 (seventh)
• Bell: 136.92 (eighth)
• Chen: 115.82 (17th)

Anna Shcherbakova captured the gold medal for the Russian Olympic Committee. The ROC's Alexandra Trusova earned silver and Japan's Kaori Sakamoto took home bronze. Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian who is the focus of a highly publicized doping case following a positive test in December, failed to medal despite entering the free skate in the lead.

Liu was the top performer for Team USA in both halves of the women's individual competition. She finished eighth in the short program.

She delivered another efficient skate Thursday, but the difference in element score was simply too much to make a serious push for a medal. Her elements (71.95 points) were worth nearly 30 points fewer than those of the gold medalist, Shcherbakova (100.49).

Bell, who won the U.S. Championships in January, couldn't match her performance from that event, with her 202.30 Olympic score a little lower than the 216.25 she recorded in the nationals. Even that score wouldn't have been enough to earn a medal in Beijing, though.

Chen, 22, looked like an emerging Olympic contender when she finished fourth at the World Championships last year, but that didn't quite materialize.

She put together a nice triple lutz-double toeloop-double loop combination in the middle of her free skate, but the other elements weren't enough for her to rise up the standings.

All told, the Team USA skaters put together clean, artistic routines, but the level of difficulty fell a little shy of their fellow competitors' efforts in Beijing.

The Winter Olympics dodged major controversy Thursday when the Russian Olympic Committee's Kamila Valieva faltered during her free skate program to finish outside the podium places in women's figure skating.

Valieva, who was allowed to compete in the event despite failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs, entered the free skate on top of the leaderboard and was an overwhelming favorite after a stellar short program.

However, the pressure of the moment seemed to get to the 15-year-old, who fell and stumbled at multiple points in her free skate. The result saw her drop all the way to fourth place, allowing countrywoman Anna Shcherbakova to ascend to gold.

ROC's Alexandra Trusova took home silver, and Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto earned bronze. The International Olympic Committee said it would not have hosted a medal ceremony if Valieva medaled because of the ongoing appeal of her doping violation.

Representatives for Valieva say the banned substance, trimetazidine, entered her system through her grandfather's heart medication. Trimetazidine can be used as a performance-enhancing substance for athletes to increase their endurance during competition. 

"There can be completely different ways how it got [into Valieva's body]," attorney Anna Kozmenko said in a hearing, per The Dossier Center (h/t USA Today). "For example, [her] grandfather drank something from a glass, saliva got in [and] this glass was somehow later used by the athlete."

The Russian Olympic Committee's continued presence in the Olympic Games was already a source of controversy given the state-run doping program that led the IOC to strip the country of numerous medals and ban athletes from competing under the banner of Russia. Russian athletes have been allowed to compete in the Olympics since the ban but have done so as part of the Russian Olympic Committee.

There was widespread criticism that Valieva was allowed to compete despite her positive test, especially given Russia's recent link to PEDs. After her positive test was revealed, the Court of Arbitration for Sport determined she should not be provisionally suspended from the Games.

Amid a firestorm of controversy, Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee shockingly failed to medal in women's singles figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Thursday.

Valieva was the heavy gold-medal favorite, but it was Russian teammate Anna Shcherbakova who took gold with a score of 175.75 in the free skate and 255.95 overall. Russia's Aleksandra Trusova won silver with a score of 251.73 and Japan's Kaori Sakamoto took bronze with 233.13.

Here is a rundown of the top 10 finishers in the event, courtesy of NBCOlympics.com:

1. Anna Shcherbakova (ROC): 255.95

2. Aleksandra Trusova (ROC): 251.73

3. Kaori Sakamoto (JPN): 233.13

4. Kamila Valieva (ROC): 224.09

5. Wakaba Higuchi (JPN): 214.44

6. You Young (KOR): 213.09

7. Alysa Liu (USA): 208.95

8. Loena Hendrickx (BEL): 206.79

9. Kim Ye-Lim (KOR): 202.63

10. Mariah Bell (USA): 202.30

A Russian podium sweep seemed almost certain when Valieva became the final skater to take the ice Thursday, but she struggled through a disastrous performance with multiple falls, as Christine Brennan of USA Today described:

Former American Olympic figure skater Polina Edmunds commented on the situation as well:

As a result of her poor performance, Valieva finished off the podium in fourth place, ending her much-maligned run at the Olympics.

For a time, it was unclear if Valieva would be allowed to compete in women's singles after she tested positive for a banned substance.

According to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), Russian newspaper RBC reported that the 15-year-old skater tested positive for a banned heart medication prior to the European Championships in January.

The positive test didn't come to light until after the Russian Olympic Committee won team gold in figure skating in Beijing. Valieva was part of that team, but no medal ceremony has been held, as the International Olympic Committee continues to review the situation.

Valieva received a provisional suspension, and it initially looked as though she would not be permitted to take part in women's singles at the Olympics, but the suspension was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The decision came with a catch, as the IOC announced no medal ceremony would be held for women's singles figure skating if Valieva finished in the top three. The IOC said the decision was "in the interest of fairness to all athletes."

With Valieva failing to medal, there will indeed by a medal ceremony for women's singles, and it will include two of Valieva's teammates.

Shcherbakova earned gold with her technical excellence in both the short program and the free skate. She scored a 175.75 in the free skate, which was more than 20 points clear of anyone else aside from Trusova.

Trusova actually had the highest free skate score at 177.13 thanks to the five quadruple jumps she hit. The New York Times provided a breakdown of her skate:

While Trusova scoring a massive 106.16 in the technical aspect of the free skate wasn't enough to beat out Shcherbakova, it played a big role in getting her on the podium.

The United States arrived in Beijing with hopes of a medal in women's figure skating, but it didn't come to fruition, as Alysa Liu, Mariah Bell and Karen Chen were all playing catch up after the short program.

Liu finished in seventh place with 208.95 points, Bell was 10th with 202.30 points and Chen came in 16th with 179.93 points.

While it didn't yield a medal, Bell executed a clean free skate, scoring 136.92 points, which was the eighth-highest score delivered Thursday:

Even though no American woman medaled in women's singles for the fourth consecutive Games, it was still a successful Olympics for USA figure skating.

Nathan Chen spectacularly won gold in men's singles, and Team USA won silver in the team event, although that could conceivably be bumped up to gold at some point depending on what decisions are handed down regarding Valieva.

Heading into the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Russian Olympic Committee was considered by many to be the favorite to win the gold medal in men's ice hockey. After all, the Olympic Athletes of Russia captured the gold at the 2018 Winter Games, and the Russian contingent is loaded with talent again this year.

The ROC is two wins away from the gold medal. And it can ensure that it will at least leave Beijing with the silver by notching a win in Friday's semifinals, when it will be taking on Sweden.

The winner of the matchup between the Russian Olympic Committee and Sweden will advance to face the winner of the other semifinal game between Finland and Slovakia in the gold-medal game. The losers of the semifinals will still have an opportunity to reach the podium, as they will face off in the bronze-medal game.

Here's everything you need to know heading into the ROC-Sweden semifinal matchup.

ROC vs. Sweden Info

Date: Friday, Feb. 18

Start Time: 8:10 a.m. ET

TV: USA Network

Live Stream: Peacock, NBC Sports app and NBCOlympics.com

Game Odds

Spread: Russian Olympic Committee -1.5

Over/Under: 5 total goals

Moneyline: ROC -145 (bet $145 to win $100); Sweden +115 (bet $100 to win $115)

Via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Preview

For the most part, the Russian Olympic Committee has performed as well as expected during the 2022 Winter Olympics. The Russian athletes have won three of their first four games, and they advanced to the final four with a 3-1 win over surprise package Denmark in the quarterfinals.

The ROC's only loss came during its final game of the preliminary round, when it fell 6-5 in overtime to the Czech Republic in Group B action. That was a rare off day for the Russian defense, which has allowed only one goal across its three victories in Beijing.

This semifinal should be a competitive game considering the Swedes have also lost only one game during the Olympics.

Sweden opened the Winter Games with back-to-back wins over Latvia and Slovakia. It then lost 4-3 to Finland in its final contest of the preliminary round, blowing a 3-0 third-period lead before falling in overtime.

Although that was a tough loss for Sweden, it bounced back by notching a 2-0 win over Canada in the quarterfinals. Its reward for defeating the always game Canadians is another tough test in the ROC.

Over its first four games, Sweden has tallied 12 total goals, five of which have been scored by Lucas Wallmark. The 26-year-old is tied with Slovakia's Juraj Slafkovsky for the most goals in the men's tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Wallmark and Anton Lander scored the Swedes' goals in their win over Canada, both of which came in the third period.

While the Russian athletes are looking to win the gold for the second straight Winter Games, the Swedes are trying to capture their first medal since winning the silver in 2014. Sweden last won the gold in 2006.

If Sweden hopes to reach the gold-medal game, it will need to find a way to generate offense against an ROC defense that has mostly shut down its opponents. In the quarterfinals against Denmark, the Russians allowed only 18 shots on goal, while goaltender Ivan Fedotov recorded 17 saves.

The Russian Olympic Committee has also had more offensive success of late than it did earlier in the Winter Games. After scoring only three goals over its first two games, it has tallied eight goals across its past two contests. Vadim Shipachyov, Nikita Nesterov and Vyacheslav Voinov each scored a goal in the quarterfinals.

The ROC is the favorite to advance to the gold-medal game. But Sweden is going to be a formidable opponent, and this matchup could go either way.

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Since Slovakia began competing at the Winter Olympics as an independent nation in 1994, it has never won a medal in men's ice hockey. But after notching an impressive quarterfinal win over the United States at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, that could soon change.

Slovakia will face Finland on Thursday night (Friday afternoon in Beijing) with a spot in the gold-medal game on the line. The victor will face the winner of the semifinal between the Russian Olympic Committee and Sweden. The loser will contest the bronze-medal game.

Finland is the only men's team that hasn't lost at the 2022 Winter Olympics, and it made light work of Switzerland in the quarterfinals.

Here's everything you need to know heading into the Slovakia-Finland semifinal matchup.

Finland vs. Slovakia Info

Date: Thursday, Feb. 17

Start Time: 11:10 p.m. ET

TV: USA Network

Live Stream: Peacock, NBC Sports app and NBCOlympics.com

Game Odds

Spread: Finland -1.5

Over/Under: 5 total goals

Moneyline: Finland -340 (bet $340 to win $100); Slovakia +265 (bet $100 to win $265)

Via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Preview

This won't be the first time that Finland and Slovakia will have faced off at the 2022 Winter Olympics. The teams were both part of Group C and faced off Feb. 10. Finland won 6-2.

In that meeting, Slovakia took a 1-0 lead when Juraj Slafkovsky scored a little more than five minutes into the contest. However, Finland had a 3-1 advantage by the end of the first period, and it went on to win behind a hat trick from Sakari Manninen and two goals from Miro Aaltonen.

That was the start of what has been an impressive showing by Finland in Beijing. It also defeated Latvia and Sweden during the preliminary round and then routed Switzerland 5-1 in the quarterfinals.

Finland has never won an Olympic gold medal in men's hockey, but it has captured two silvers and four bronzes. Its most recent medal-winning performance came at the 2014 Winter Games, when it defeated the United States in the bronze-medal game.

Through its first four games at this year's Winter Olympics, Finland has scored at least three goals in each contest. The Finns' offense was a problem for Slovakia in the previous matchup between the two teams, and it has continued to have success in putting the puck in the net since then.

Against Switzerland, Finland had five players score its five goals. But it's not been all about its offense. The Finns have also allowed only seven goals over their four games in Beijing. Goaltender Harri Sateri recorded 33 saves and gave up only one goal in the quarterfinals.

After Slovakia lost its first game of the Winter Olympics to Finland, it then fell to Sweden. However, the Slovaks have fared much better since. They beat Latvia 5-2 in their final game of the preliminary round and then shut out Germany in its playoff to set up a quarterfinal date with the United States.

The previously unbeaten U.S. was heavily favored to advance, but Slovakia showed its resilience. After killing three penalties in the third period, Marek Hrivik scored the game-tying goal for the Slovaks with 44 seconds to go to send the game to overtime. After scoreless three-on-three hockey, Peter Cehlarik netted the lone goal of the five-round shootout to send Slovakia to the semifinals.

Although Finland has already beaten Slovakia during these Games, the semifinal matchup could be a much different contest. The Finns will know not to underestimate the Slovaks, who are playing much better than they were earlier in the Olympics.

"You want to keep getting better as the tournament moves on, and I think they've been able to do that," Finland captain Valtteri Filppula said of Slovakia, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. "Last game they played really great. So, it's going to be a tough game."

Slovakia became the first team to beat the United States at the 2022 Winter Games. Will its recent momentum be enough for it to also become the first team to defeat Finland? There's a good chance that this game will be more competitive than the first meeting between the two teams in Beijing, but it would still be a surprise if the Slovaks can knock off the Finns.

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The final individual gold medal for alpine skiing at the 2022 Beijing Olympics belongs to Switzerland's Michelle Gisin.

Gisin defended her title and won the women's alpine combined, featuring one downhill run and one slalom run, with a time of 2:25.67 on Wednesday. She was joined by Switzerland's Wendy Holdener (2:26.72 for silver) and Italy's Federica Brignone (2:27.52 for bronze) on the medal podium.

Mikaela Shiffrin was in position to challenge for her first medal of the Games after a strong showing in the downhill, but she skied out during the slalom portion in another disappointing outing.

While she is already one of the all-time greats at 26 years old, she did not finish in the slalom or giant slalom either, before placing 18th in downhill and ninth in Super G.

She has received plenty of support even in defeat and figured to compete for a medal Wednesday since she took home silver in the combined event in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

It felt like the medal was coming after downhill.

While she didn't come close to medaling in the downhill competition, it was clear the experience she picked up was key when she finished fifth in that portion. Combine that with her ability in the other half of the combined event as the 2014 gold medalist in slalom and 2018 gold medalist in giant slalom, and Shiffrin was suddenly a threat to Gisin.

Gisin entered the alpine combined as the defending Olympic champion, and she already took home the bronze in the Super G in Beijing. Fellow Swiss competitor Holdener was also on the shortlist of contenders as a four-time Olympic medalist who took home bronze in this year's slalom and in this event in 2018.

The mission for Gisin, Holdener and all the contenders was to have a healthy lead over Shiffrin after the downhill given the American's prowess in slalom, but both Swiss representatives were behind her after the first half.

In fact, everyone but Austria's Christine Scheyer, Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka, Austria's Ramona Siebenhofer and France's Romane Miradoli were ahead of Shiffrin after an impressive downhill run that put her in position to challenge for gold.

Alas, the slalom was a problem once again for the American star.

That cleared the way for Gisin, Holdener and Brignone to win the medals.

Canada's women's hockey team is back on top of the sport.

The Canadians defeated the rival United States 3-2 in Wednesday's gold-medal matchup at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Nurse and goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens led the way for the victors and helped their side reclaim the gold medal it won in the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 Games.

Hilary Knight and Amanda Kessel scored for the Americans, but it wasn't enough for back-to-back Olympic glory.

Poulin was dominant in a gold-medal game once again with two goals and an assist, while Nurse tallied a goal and assist for two points of her own. Their offense was enough thanks to Desbiens, who turned in an all-time clutch performance between the pipes while the United States created a 40-21 advantage in shots on goal.

Few things seemed as inevitable in the entire Olympics than these two nations facing off for the title.

After all, they have played each other in the gold-medal game in six of the seven tournaments since women's hockey was added to the Olympics in 1998. Canada wasted little time establishing itself as the gold standard, but the United States was the reigning champion coming into Wednesday's matchup.

Still, Canada figured to have plenty of confidence after defeating the Americans 4-2 in a preliminary round game. Desbiens was excellent in that one and had the chance to lead her team to gold with a repeat performance.

She took center stage again in the opening period by turning away each of the United States' shot attempts. Meanwhile, her offense staked her to a quick lead.

Even though Natalie Spooner's goal in the first seven minutes was overturned for offside upon review, Canada continued to control the early scoring opportunities and took advantage after a faceoff when Nurse found the back of the net.

Poulin assisted that first goal and then did it all herself for the second one by stripping the puck away and scoring on a wrist shot. It was a poorly timed turnover from the defense, but American goaltender Alex Cavallini's struggles in the first period were on full display when she failed to stop the ensuing shot.

It was also more of the same for the dominant Poulin, who scored her sixth goal in a gold-medal game with the first one. Her seventh extended the lead to 3-0 in the second period when she buried a rebound on a two-on-one break. Nurse was credited with one of the assists as the pair continued to deliver in the biggest moments.It was also more of the same for the dominant Poulin, who scored her sixth goal of a gold-medal game with the first one and her seventh when she extended the lead to 3-0 in the second period by burying a rebound on a two-on-one break. Nurse was credited with one of the assists as the pair continued to deliver in the biggest moments.

The assist gave Nurse an Olympic-record 18th point in this year's Games.

The game looked all but over at that point, but Knight was fittingly the one who got the Americans back within striking distance with a short-handed goal when things were slipping away.

If nothing else, it gave the Red, White and Blue some momentum that they built on with an onslaught of pressure and scoring chances. Yet Desbiens stood strong with a little help from the post and maintained Canada's two-goal lead heading into crunch time.

Any lingering momentum faded for the United States when it failed to convert on a power play in the final 10 minutes, and the frustration began to grow with every Desbiens save.

The Americans had one final power play in the last two minutes, but the theme of Canada's defense and goaltender turning them away continued until Kessel scored with 13.5 seconds remaining. Unfortunately for her side, it came just a little too late for a comeback.

Austria's Christine Scheyer set the pace in the women's combined alpine skiing event at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Thursday (Wednesday ET).

Scheyer raced down the downhill course in 1:32.42, putting her in first place. She was separated from the Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka by just 0.01 seconds. Ramona Siebenhofer trails her fellow Austrian by 0.14 seconds in third place.

Women's Alpine Combined—Downhill

1. Christine Scheyer (AUT), 1:32.42
2. Ester Ledecka (CZE), 1:32.43
3. Ramona Siebenhofer (AUT), 1:32.56
4. Romane Miradoli (FRA), 1:32.95
5. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA), 1:32.98
6. Marusa Ferk Saioni (SLO), 1:33.07
7. Keely Cashman (USA), 1:33.09
8. Federica Brignone (ITA), 1:33.11
9. Nicol Delago (ITA), 1:33.12
10. Priska Nufer (SUI), 1:33.15

Full results available on the Olympics' official site

The combined event provided Mikaela Shiffrin with an opportunity to atone for a 2022 Winter Games that hasn't lived up to her lofty expectations.

Having already crashed in the giant slalom, the 26-year-old cut a forlorn figure after failing to complete the slalom days later. She competed in the standalone downhill event, finishing 18th.

While the downhill isn't her speciality, Shiffrin just needed to post a good enough time to leave her in the medal hunt ahead of the slalom. She was the silver medalist in the combined event in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The ninth skier to start, Shiffrin was in second place when she completed her run in 1:32.98.

With 17 skiers to come after, the American was left to wait and see how her time would hold up.

Scheyer, who started 10th, quickly bumped Shiffrin down the leaderboard. All things considered, fifth place was a good outcome and leaves her sitting nicely ahead of the slalom.

Shiffrin's clean performance should also provide her with the necessary confidence to seal the deal later on.

Team USA might have another medal hopeful in Keely Cashman after her seventh-place showing. She trails Scheyer by 0.67 seconds, and perhaps more importantly, she's only 0.53 seconds behind Siebenhofer in order to at least claim a place on the podium.

The medals will be handed out following the slalom portion of the event, which is scheduled to get underway Thursday at 2 p.m. local time (1 a.m. ET).

The International Olympic Committee has responded to accusations by American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson insinuating double standards in the handling of Russian Olympic Committee figure skater Kamila Valieva's failed drug test.

"You can't talk about double standards in relation to Russian and American athletes, each case is individual," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said, per The Independent's Jack Rathborn (via Yahoo Sports).

Valieva, a 15-year-old phenom who helped lead the ROC to a gold medal in the women's free skate team event, was cleared to continue competing despite testing positive for a prohibited medication called trimetazidine.

The IOC stated that if Valieva earns a spot on the podium in any women's individual competition, a medal ceremony won't be held "in the interest of fairness to all athletes."

Richardson, who was expected to contend for a medal in the women's 100 meters at the Tokyo Olympics, was forced to miss the Games last summer after she was banned for testing positive for marijuana.

Richardson took to Twitter on Monday and voiced her displeasure with the IOC's decision on Valieva:

Adams suggested that the differences between the two cases came down to timing. Valieva's failed drug test occurred at the Russian national competition on Dec. 25, but the results weren't made public until last week.

"Richardson's positive doping test was discovered on 19 June, and the result was received before the start of the Olympics," Adams said. "She was suspended for a month. There is nothing in common between these two cases. This Games, which has not concluded, concerns an issue in December."

Adams went on to express sympathy for Valieva's situation, saying the IOC is trying to accommodate her in any way it can.

"She is in the center of a lot of speculation. It must be very tough for her," he said. "We of course are in touch with the team, her welfare is the team's first priority, and obviously we are very careful of that but there's only so much that we can do."