China rises to 3rd on Beijing 2022 medal table as figure skaters Sui/Han bag 9th gold for hosts
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E-mail Xinhua, February 20, 2022
China won its record ninth gold medal as figure skating world champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong triumphed in the pairs competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Saturday evening.
China now ranks third at the medal table with nine gold, four silver and two bronze medals on the penultimate day of the Games. Norway remains a runaway leader with 15 golds, followed by Germany with 11 golds.
Sui/Han, China's two-time world champions, led both the short program and free skate, collecting 239.88 points in total for the victory.
The PyeongChang silver medalists Sui/Han, who missed the top honor by a mere 0.43 points in South Korea, finally fulfilled their dream at home to become the second Chinese pairs skaters winning the Olympic gold, after pairs couple Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, also coach of Sui/Han, awarded China its first figure skating Olympic gold at Vancouver 2010.
"I accepted what has given to me from the world, because I think everything has its rightful place," Sui said.
"We wish to deliver the strength through our performance to all people to come together and go through all difficulties together," explained Han, who expressed gratitude for the support from Sui and his team.
Alexander Bolshunov of Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) clinched the cross-country skiing men's mass start free gold as the original 50km was shortened to 30km due to strong winds on the course.
Bolshunov won the event in one hour, 11 minutes and 32.7 seconds, grabbing his third gold medal at Beijing 2022, after his victory in men's 15km+15km skiathlon and men's 4x10km relay. He also took a silver in men's 15km classic and a bronze in men's team sprint classic.
New Zealand's Nico Porteous claimed gold in men's halfpipe, the last event of freestyle skiing competition at Beijing 2022.
As the reigning world champion and X Games winner, as well as PyeongChang 2018 bronze medallist, the 20-year-old Porteous made a show of strength in his first run with 93.00 points to dominate the race, though he fell in following both runs.
In curling, Sweden claimed the country's first ever gold medal in the men's team event by beating Britain 5-4. Sweden's star skip Niklas Edin completed an unprecedented Olympic cycle, finishing fourth in 2010, third in 2014, second in 2018, and now first in 2022.
In speed skating, Dutch athlete Irene Schouten snatched the women's mass start gold while Belgian skater Bart Swings won the men's mass start.
Elsewhere, gusty wind has forced the Alpine skiing mixed team parallel to be postponed to Sunday. The jury and organizers of the race announced the rescheduling was decided "in agreement with all involved stakeholders."
"The wind was really strong. When you have air fences flying then it's a clear decision," said Jenny Wiedeke, the International Ski Federation (FIS) communications director.
With Beijing 2022 set to close on Sunday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded the Olympic Cup to the Chinese people in recognition of their support for the Games.
"Beijing 2022 could not have achieved this level of excellence without the support of the Chinese people. We could feel their warmth, energy, hospitality and support. They were greatly committed to the success of the Games," IOC President Thomas Bach said.
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