Olympics

Jakara Anthony saved her best for last.

The Australian topped all three finals runs in the women's freestyle skiing moguls competition, highlighted by a gold-medal-winning score of 83.09 in her final run. She is Australia's first gold-medal winner at the Winter Olympics since 2010 and just the sixth overall in the country's history.

2022 Women's Freestyle Skiing Moguls Results

Gold: Jakara Anthony (Australia): 83.09
Silver: Jaelin Kauf (United States): 80.28
Bronze: Anastasia Smirnova (Russia): 77.72

Tess Coady won bronze in women's snowboard slopestyle, giving Australia its first day with two medals in Winter Games history.

Jaelin Kauf of the United States earned silver with a run of 80.28, while Russia's Anastasia Smirnova brought home bronze. Third through fifth place were separated by less than a point, with France's Perrine Laffont and Japan's Anri Kawamura each narrowly missing out on a medal.

Anthony, meanwhile, looked to be in a league of her own in Sunday's final. She posted scores of 81.91 and 81.29 in the first two heats to sit atop the leaderboard in both rounds of finals qualifying before a nearly flawless final run to take gold.

Kauf, who finished second in the second heat, put together a fine run of 80.28 in her last attempt to put the pressure on Anthony, who was nothing short of spectacular with gold on the line.

China's Su Yiming posted a score of 86.80 to top the 12 qualifiers for the final in the men's snowboarding slopestyle competition at the 2022 Olympic Games.

The 17-year-old put together a stellar opening run to finish more than three points ahead of Canada's Mark McMorris, who finished second in qualifying. Three Americans, Sean Fitzsimons, Red Gerard and Chris Corning, were among the qualifiers as well.

Here is a look at the 12 competitors who will go into Monday's final.

1. Su Yiming (China): 86.80
2. Mark McMorris (Canada): 83.30
3. Sean Fitzsimons (United States): 78.76
4. Staale Sandbech (Norway): 78.61
5. Red Gerard (United States): 78.20
6. Takeru Otsuka (Japan): 74.93
7. Emiliano Lauzi (Italy): 71.71
8. Sebastien Toutant (Canada): 71.06
9. Mons Roisland (Norway): 70.96
10. Max Parrot (Canada): 70.11
11. Chris Corning (United States): 69.30
12. Kaito Hamada (Japan): 67.45

Su, a former child actor, said he fulfilled his dream of qualifying for the Olympics to participate in front of his home country. He and Fitzsimons are both first-time Olympians who look primed for a chance at winning a medal.

McMorris is the veteran of the top three, having won bronze in the 2014 and 2018 Winter Games. The 28-year-old said he's hoping to finally get over the hump and win gold in what could be his final Olympic try.

"That would be a dream come true," McMorris told reporters. "I definitely would like to change the shade of medal I've earned the past two games, but most importantly, I want to ride to the best of my ability. If I do that, I have a really good shot at it.

"I'm so thrilled to have a shot at it, and I hope I can bring my A-game tomorrow. I'm sure as heck going to try my best."

Gerard, the defending gold medalist, finds himself in an unfamiliar place looking up at the rest of the field heading into the finals. The American took home bronze in the 2020 X Games and gold in the 2020 Dew Tour and should be primed for a stronger run during his finals attempts.

Corning is currently lagging behind his two countrymen but shouldn't be counted out. The 22-year-old previously won the 2019 World Championships in slopestyle.

Norwegian Staale Sandbech was the most consistent snowboarder of the qualifying runs, posting scores of over 70 in both of his attempts. The Olympic veteran is looking to get back on the medal stand after falling just short with a fourth-place finish in 2018. He previously won silver in slopestyle at the 2014 Winter Games.

Alexander Bolshunov earned the first gold medal for the Russian Olympic Committee at the 2022 Winter Olympics with his win in the men's 30-kilometer skiathlon on Sunday.

Bolshunov finished the cross-country event in one hour, 16 minutes and 9.8 seconds, more than one minute ahead of silver medalist Denis Spitsov, also representing the ROC. Finland's Iivo Niskanen earned the bronze medal.

Scott Patterson was the top American finisher in 11th place. 

The skiathlon is a two-part event that features classical and freestyle skiing with a pit stop in the middle to change skis. Bolshunov was the fastest in both styles in Beijing, helping him cruise to an easy win on the biggest stage.

"My emotions cannot be expressed," he said after the race. "I still have not realized that I am truly an Olympic champion."

Bolshunov, the top-ranked distance competitor in the World Cup, was a favorite entering the event. He won the 2021 World Championships in this event, also earning a silver in the 50-kilometer race.

There was still a challenge early from Niskanen, who was less than a second off the lead after the first half of the race. It took the freestyle portion for the Russian to separate himself from the rest of the field.

After winning three silvers and a bronze in the 2018 Games, Bolshunov now has his first Olympic gold.

Simen Hegstad Kruger was the defending champion of the 30-kilometer skiathlon, but he did not compete Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19. Four years after Norway swept the medals at this event, no one from the country finished better than fourth this time around.   

Mikaela Shiffrin makes her debut at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Sunday with her lone gold-medal defense.

Shiffrin captured the gold in the women's giant slalom four years ago. She faces stiff competition in her bid to repeat as the event winner.

The American comes into Beijing as the third-ranked women's skier in the FIS World Cup standings, but she did not finish in the top three in her last World Cup event prior to the Olympics.

World Cup giant slalom leader Sara Hector of Sweden could be viewed as the favorite. She won the past two giant slalom events and finished in the top three in her past four giant slalom entries on the World Cup circuit.

The women's giant slalom takes place over two runs. The first will take place in Sunday's prime-time television coverage window, while the second run will be overnight for the American viewers.

Women's Giant Slalom Info

Run 1: Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET (NBC)

Run 2: Monday, 1:30 a.m. ET 

Events can be live-streamed on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock.

Preview

Shiffrin should be in contention to defend her gold medal in the women's giant slalom. She has been near the top of the World Cup standings in the event for most of the season. She won the giant slalom event in Courchevel, France, in December and took fifth in the final pre-Olympic event in Kronplatz, Italy.

The American's competition is different from her medal quest from four years ago in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Sweden's Sara Hector, who leads the giant slalom World Cup standings, took 10th in the event four years ago. France's Tessa Worley, who is second in the World Cup standings, was seventh.

Pyeongchang silver medalist Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway is sixth in the World Cup event standings, and reigning bronze medalist Federica Brignone took fourth in her most recent World Cup event in the discipline.

Shiffrin took first, second, fifth and seventh in her past four World Cup events on the European circuit. The World Cup did not run in China, as it tries to do with new Olympic venues.

The defending Olympic champion leads the overall World Cup standings, which spans four disciplines, all of which will be competed in Beijing.

Slovakia's Petra Vlahova is second behind Shiffrin in the overall standings, and she could contend Sunday since she finished on the podium in the last giant slalom event before Beijing.

Vlahova, Hector and others give Shiffrin stiff competition in her attempt to win back-to-back golds in the event. Shiffrin finished fifth in her other giant slalom entrance in 2014. She should at least be in contention for a medal, and if she puts down a strong set of runs, she could defend her gold to kick off what could be a successful trip to China.

Shiffrin comes into Beijing with two gold medals and a silver from the combined in Pyeongchang. She could add multiple medals to that haul based off her form on the World Cup circuit.

The United States should add to its Winter Olympics medal haul Sunday night.

The Americans will likely pick up a medal in the figure skating team event, and Mikaela Shiffrin will be in contention for gold in her first event in Beijing.

Shiffrin competes in the women's giant slalom event Sunday night as part of a loaded alpine skiing schedule. The men's downhill was pushed back to Sunday because of poor weather conditions Saturday.

Red Gerard and Sean Fitzsimons will be after medals in the men's snowboard slopestyle competition. Julia Marino won the first American medal in Beijing by taking silver in the women's slopestyle event Saturday.

Sunday Olympic Schedule

Ski Jumping: Men's individual normal hill (7 a.m. ET) 

Curling: Mixed doubles round robin (7:05 a.m. ET) 

Women's Hockey: United States vs. Switzerland (8:10 a.m. ET, USA)

Luge: Men's singles (8:15 a.m. ET) 

Curling: Mixed doubles round robin (8 p.m. ET) 

Figure Skating: Team event pairs free skate (8:15 p.m. ET, NBC) 

Alpine Skiing: Women's giant slalom run 1 (8:30 p.m. ET, USA) 

Figure Skating: Team event free dance (9:30 p.m. ET, NBC) 

Figure Skating: Team event women's free skate (10:35 p.m. ET, NBC) 

Alpine Skiing: Men's downhill final (11 p.m. ET) 

Snowboarding: Men's slopestyle final (11 p.m. ET) 

Women's Hockey: ROC vs. Canada (11:10 p.m. ET) 

All events can be live-streamed on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock.

Predictions

Mikaela Shiffrin Picks Up 1st Medal In Beijing

Shiffrin opens her competition schedule in Beijing with the defense of her gold medal in the giant slalom.

Her giant slalom victory in 2018 earned her the second gold of her career. She has three total Olympic medals.

The 26-year-old arrived in Beijing in third place in the FIS World Cup standings in the event behind Sweden's Sara Hector and Tessa Worley of France.

Shiffrin has two victories on the World Cup circuit in giant slalom this season, both of which came before the calendar flipped to 2022. She won the events in Austria and France in October and December, respectively, and then she took fifth in her final buildup event in Kronplatz, Italy.

Hector and Worley finished inside the top three along with Petra Vlahova in the Kronplatz giant slalom, so all of the gold-medal favorites come into Beijing in solid form.

All of the competitors will be skiing on a new course to them in China. Typically, the skiers get a test event on the course in the World Cup season, but that did not happen with Beijing. That unfamiliarity could lead to some unexpected results. But if form holds, Shiffrin should earn a medal to kick off her Olympic program.

Americans Hold On for Medal in Figure Skating

The United States sit three points back of the Russian Olympic Committee in the figure skating team event standings.

ROC overtook the Americans on Saturday after a terrific short program from women's gold medal favorite Kamila Valieva.

ROC then took second in the men's free skate through Mark Kondratiuk to preserve its lead going into the final day of the team event.

The women's free skate, pairs free skate and ice dance will take place Sunday night. There will be five routines in each event. The team competition was trimmed from 10 teams to five after the women's short program.

The Americans sit three points ahead of Japan and 12 points in front of Canada, so they have a buffer in the medal places. The ideal situation would be for the Americans to lock up a medal through the pairs events before the women's free skate.

Women's singles is the weakest of the disciplines on the American roster. It is the strongest for ROC, which could sweep the medal places in the individual event.

The Americans may not catch ROC because of the leader's strength in the women's discipline, but they should at least land a medal as long as their duos turn in strong skates.

The first medals in figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics will be handed out Sunday. 

There will be a total of three events, starting with the pairs free skate. The ice dance free skate will take place thereafter and is followed by the women's free skate. 

All three events will also count toward the overall team standings. Team USA held a surprising lead with 28 points following three phases of the team event, but the Russian Olympic Committee was already closing the gap with 26 points.

Sunday Figure Skating Schedule 

Pairs Free Skating: 8:15 p.m. ET

Ice Dance Free Skate: 9:30 p.m. ET

Women's Free Skate: 10:35 p.m. ET

Watch: NBC

Live Stream: Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Standings via NBCOlympics.com.

Predictions

History suggests the Russian Olympic Committee is going to perform well in all three Sunday events. 

Russians haven't finished worse than third in any of these events since the team format was adopted in 2014, including three wins eight years ago en route to the team winning gold. 

If there is going to be a potential spoiler, it could come in the pairs free skate or free dance. The Chinese duo of Sui Wenjing and Han Cong placed first in the short program Thursday. They squeaked past Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov 82.83 to 82.64 thanks to a .44 advantage in the component score. 

For perspective on how dominant those teams were in the short program, the U.S. pair of Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier finished a distant third with a score of 75.00. 

Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue got off to a fantastic start at the 2022 Games on Thursday. They took the top spot in the rhythm dance with an 86.56, more than one full point ahead of Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov in second place (85.05). 

Hubbell and Donohue are vying for their first Olympic medal and redemption in the free skate. A technical fall by Donohue four years ago left them in fifth place in the free-skate standings. They finished fourth overall in the final standings. 

The most anticipated performance of the day will likely end up coming in the women's free skate. The 15-year-old Kamila Valieva is enjoying a rapid ascent up the world rankings.

She has already set the scoring world record in the short program twice in the past three months.

Vaileva posted a score of 87.42 at the 2021 Rostelecom Cup in November, beating the previous world-record mark of 85.45 set by Alena Kostornaia in 2019. She became the first woman to break 90 points in January at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships (90.45).

At the same Rostelecom Cup event in November, Vaileva set a free-skate world record with a score of 185.29, breaking her own record in the process (180.89 from Skate Canada in October).

It seems unlikely anyone will challenge Vaileva for the top spot given her track record.

The United States figure skating team was looking to build off a strong first day of competition when it took the ice Saturday (Sunday in Beijing) at Capital Indoor Stadium. However, both the men and women faltered on day two. 

While Karen Chen finished fifth in the women's short program to begin the day, Vincent Zhou, followed it up with a third-place finish in the men's free skate with a score of 171.44. 

The 21-year-old entered as the favorite in the men's free skate, but made several mistakes en route to the third-place finish. His performance was very shaky as he under-rotated on both a quad salchow and quad toe loop. He also bailed on a planned quad flip. 

While his performance earned the United States eight team points, the United States is still behind the Olympic Athletes from Russia in the overall team standings with 42 points, compared to the ROC's 45. 

Japan's Yuma Kagiyama, who is making his Olympic debut, won the event, and 10 points for his team, with 208.94 points. 

However, Kagiyama's performance does not come as a surprise. The 18-year-old unexpectedly won the 2021 world silver medal behind Nathan Chen, and was sure to come into the Winter Games with fire. 

The ROC's Mark Kondratiuk also had a solid performance and finished Saturday's event in second place with 181.65 points. He earned nine points for his team to help it overtake the United States in the standings. 

For perspective on how bad the Americans performed Saturday, they entered the day in first place thanks to Chen's success in the men's short program, coupled with the performance of Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue in the rhythm dance.

If one thing is clear after day two, it's that the Americans will need a strong ending to this competition if it wants to win a gold medal. Otherwise, it looks like the Olympic Athletes from Russia are headed for their first gold medal since 2014. 

Men's Scores:

1. Yuma Kagiyama, Japan: 208.94
2. Mark Kondratiuk, Russian Olympic Committee: 181.65
3. Vincent Zhou, United States: 171.44
4. Boyang Jin, China: 155.04
5. Roman Sadovsky, Canada: 122.60

Overall Team Standings:

1. ROC: 45 points
2. United States: 42 points
3. Japan: 39 points
4. Canada: 30 points
5. China: 29 points
6. Georgia: 22 points
7. Italy: 20 points
8. Czech Republic: 15 points
9. Germany: 8 points
10. Ukraine: 8 points

What's Next?

Three more team events will take place on Sunday (Monday in Beijing), including pairs free skating, free ice dance and women's single skating. 

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott won New Zealand's first-ever Winter Olympics gold medal on Sunday after she took down the women's snowboarding slopestyle event at the Beijing Games.

Sadowski-Synnott's phenomenal third run propelled her onto the top of the podium, as she earned the competition's only score above 90 (92.88).

A 28-competitor field was cut to 12 after qualification runs the day before. For the finals, each snowboarder had three runs, with the best result from that trio serving as their top score.

Here's a look at the final results.

Women's Snowboarding Slopestyle Results

1. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (New Zealand): 92.88

2. Julia Marino (United States): 87.68

3. Tess Coady (Australia): 84.15

4. Laurie Blouin (Canada): 81.41

5. Reira Iwabuchi (Japan): 80.03

6. Anna Gasser (Austria): 75.33

7. Enni Rukajarvi (Finland): 71.45

8. Annika Morgan (Germany): 64.13

9. Jamie Anderson (United States): 60.78

10. Kokomo Murase (Japan): 49.05

11. Hailey Langland (United States): 48.35

12. Ariane Burri (Switzerland): 24.01

Source: Olympics.com

Sadowski-Synnott came into the Olympics as the world's top slopestyle snowboarder, as the 20-year-old earned gold at this year's X-Games and last year's World Championships. She'll remain No. 1 after a fantastic performance.

She also ended the qualification round with the top score in the 28-snowboarder field.

Julia Marino's second results (87.68) served as the gold standard until the very last run when Sadowski-Synnott made history.

The American ended up taking silver, which serves as Team USA's first medal in this Olympics.

Sadowski-Synnott and Australia's Tess Coady were the only two competitors to post scores of 80 points or better on two separate final runs. Coady's best effort, an 84.15-point result on her third run, earned the bronze medal.

It was a remarkable, resilient accomplishment after she suffered a torn ACL during a practice run at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Per Andrew Hawkins of the Victoria Racing Club, this event marks the first time two southern hemisphere athletes have appeared on the same Winter Olympics podium.

Jamie Anderson, who won gold in each of the last two Olympics in slopestyle, finished ninth. It wasn't her day, but she's still the most decorated slopestyle performer in history. Anderson owns nine slopestyle gold medals (seven Winter X-Games, two Olympics), as well as nine silver or bronze medals in the World Championships or Winter X-Games.

The final portion of the first half of the 2022 Olympic figure skating team event, the women's short program, took place Saturday evening (Sunday in Beijing) at Capital Indoor Stadium.

The United States entered the women's short in first place thanks to Nathan Chen's success in the men's short program, coupled with the performance of Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue in the rhythm dance.

The Olympic Athletes from Russia entered Saturday in second place, while China ranked third. 

Ten women from 10 of the world's premier figure skating countries took the ice Saturday with hopes of bettering their teams' scores. The Olympic Athletes of Russia's Kamila Valieva, who is making her Olympic debut, put on a show in front of an empty arena, scoring a 90.18 to help her country leapfrog the United States in the overall standings. 

Valieva, who is just 15 years old, tallied 10 points for her country, which now holds a two-point lead over the U.S. Her best trick was a triple lutz plus a triple toe loop, which gave her 13.30 points. Her triple axel landed her 11.31 points. She is the first European Woman to land a triple axel at the Olympic Games. 

This performance from Valieva should come as no surprise. The rising star broke her own short program world record with 90.45 points at the 2022 European Figure Skating Championships. 

In addition to Valieva, Japan's Wakaba Higuchi also had an impressive performance, scoring a 74.73 to finish second ahead of Canada's Madeline Schizas, who finished with a 63.90. Higuchi snagged nine points for her country, which is now in third place behind the Olympic Athletes from Russia. 

Karen Chen of the United States had a disappointing performance, scoring just 65.20 points to come in fifth place. She particularly struggled on her triple loop and layback spin 3. She also under-rotated on her best trick of the day, a triple lutz plus a triple toe loop for 8.42 points. 

Chen's performance still gave the U.S. six points, and the Americans are still in contention for a gold medal. 

Women's Scores:

1. Kamila Valieva, Olympic Athletes from Russia: 90.18
2. Wakaba Higuchi, Japan: 74.73
3. Madeline Schizas, Canada: 69.60
4. Anastasiia Gubanova, Georiga: 67.56
5. Karen Chen, United States: 65.20
6. Nicole Schott, Germany: 62.66
7. Anastasiia Shabotova, Ukraine: 62.49
8. Eliska Brezinova, Czech Republic: 61.05
9. Lara Naki Gutmann, Italy: 58.52
10. Yi Zhu, China: 47.03

Overall Team Standings:

1. Olympic Athletes of Russia: 36 points
2. United States: 34 points
3. Japan: 29 points
4. Canada: 24 points
5. China: 22 points
6. Georgia: 22 points (final not reached)
7. Italy: 20 points (final not reached)
8. Czech Republic: 15 points (final not reached)
9. Germany: 8 points (final not reached)
10. Ukraine: 8 points (final not reached)