Day 14 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

By Aditi Sangal, Ben Morse, Ben Church, Rhea Mogul, Adam Renton and Patrick Sung, CNN

Updated 8:03 p.m. ET, February 18, 2022
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1:58 p.m. ET, February 18, 2022

The Beijing recap: Gu grabs historic third medal, bobsledder to carry US flag, Norwegian dominance continues

From CNN's Jason Kurtz

As the 2022 Winter Olympics nears its conclusion, there's been no shortage of exhilarating moments and compelling storylines. For those that were sleeping during Friday's pivotal moments — many of which occurred overnight for US viewers — here's a tidy recap of some of the top stories.

⛷ Eileen Gu makes history with third 2022 medal

Eileen Gu has had a historic Olympic run, cementing her status as the face of China's sporting dreams at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

The American-born teen, who competes for China, took gold in the women's freeski halfpipe on Friday, adding to a medal haul that had already included a gold in last week's big air event and a silver in Tuesday's freeski slopestyle event.

Gu — whose face is plastered across China on billboards and magazine covers — is now the first athlete to capture three medals in three separate freestyle skiing events at a single Olympics.

After her performance on Friday, Gu spoke to the confidence that helped propel her to skiing stardom, revealing, ""At the top I said, 'My name is Eileen Gu, and I'm the best halfpipe freeskier in the world.'"

🇺🇸 Team USA bobsledder to carry flag during the Closing Ceremony

American bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor will get the chance to carry the stars and stripes at Sunday's Closing Ceremony. The four-time Olympian had been tapped as a flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony but was forced to miss out on the honor as she quarantined following a positive Covid-19 test.

🥇 Norway's Winter Games dominance continues with 15th gold medal

Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bø has captured his fourth gold medal in Beijing, and fifth medal overall. This helps Norway set a Winter Games record with 15 total gold medals.

The 28-year-old won Friday's men's biathlon 15km mass start by more than 40 seconds, and had previously earned gold in the sprint, relay, and mixed relay biathlon events, as well as the bronze in the individual.

🥅 The ROC advances to gold medal match in men's hockey, will meet Finland

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) moves on to the gold medal game in men's hockey, skating past Sweden 2-1 in the 8th round of a penalty shootout.

The ROC will take on Finland in Sunday's gold medal match.

1:43 p.m. ET, February 18, 2022

Five golds were on tap this Friday. Here's who won

From CNN's Homero de La Fuente

Eileen Gu celebrates during the medal ceremony for the women's freeski halfpipe event on February 18.
Eileen Gu celebrates during the medal ceremony for the women's freeski halfpipe event on February 18. (Odd Anderson/AFP/Getty Images)

Five medals were at stake across biathlon, freestyle skiing and speed skating events on Friday at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Here's who won: 

Biathlon:

Justine Braisaz-Bouchet of France won the women’s 12.5km mass start event.

Johannes Thingnes Bø won the men’s 15km mass start event, giving Norway a historic medal tally at the Winter Olympics.

Freestyle Skiing

China's Eileen Gu won the women's freeski halfpipe and became first freeskier to win three medals in a single Games.

Switzerland's Ryan Regez clinched the gold at men’s ski cross big event.

Speed Skating

Thomas Krol of the Netherlands won the men’s 1,000m event.

Here's where the official Olympic Medal Count stands.

1:27 p.m. ET, February 18, 2022

Some of the best snaps from day 14 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games

From CNN's Will Lanzoni

Here's a look at the best photos from day 14 of the Winter Games:

American figure skating duo Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc skate in the pairs short program on February 18. LeDuc became the first openly nonbinary athlete to compete at the Winter Olympics.
American figure skating duo Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc skate in the pairs short program on February 18. LeDuc became the first openly nonbinary athlete to compete at the Winter Olympics. (Bernat Armangue/AP)

Athletes compete in the women's 12.5km biathlon mass start event on February 18.
Athletes compete in the women's 12.5km biathlon mass start event on February 18. (Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images)

Finnish goalie Harri Säteri defends his net during a hockey semifinal against Slovakia on February 18. Finland won 2-0.
Finnish goalie Harri Säteri defends his net during a hockey semifinal against Slovakia on February 18. Finland won 2-0. (Grigory Sysoev/Sputnik/AP)

Canada's Brady Leman, left, Italy's Simone Deromedis fly through the air during a ski cross race on February 18.
Canada's Brady Leman, left, Italy's Simone Deromedis fly through the air during a ski cross race on February 18. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Johannes Thingnes Bø skis during his gold medal performance in the men's biathlon 15km mass start on February 18.
Johannes Thingnes Bø skis during his gold medal performance in the men's biathlon 15km mass start on February 18. (Lars Baron/Getty Images)

Take a look back at the best photos from the Olympics so far.

1:42 p.m. ET, February 18, 2022

Friday's best quotes from Beijing 2022

From CNN Sport staff

As another action-packed day at this year's Winter Games comes to its conclusion, take a look at some of the best quotes from Day 14.

Eileen Gu competes during the women's halfpipe finals on February 18.
Eileen Gu competes during the women's halfpipe finals on February 18. (Gregory Bull/AP)

Freestyle skier Eileen Gu reflected on her haul of two gold medals and a silver as she became the first freestyle skier to bag three medals at a single Games.

The 18-year-old won her second gold in the halfpipe final on Friday.

"It has changed my life forever. The second I landed the last 16 in big air, I knew my life was never going to be the same," she said.
"At the top I said, 'My name is Eileen Gu, and I'm the best halfpipe freeskier in the world.'"

Kaori Sakamoto competes in the women's free skate on February 17.
Kaori Sakamoto competes in the women's free skate on February 17. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Elsewhere, figure skating bronze medalist Kaori Sakamoto shines a light on the superstitions she has before competing.

Perhaps more athletes will start adopting such hygiene rituals.

"Before the competition, I actually clean the house. Perhaps, that might be bringing me good luck."

Norway's Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen competes in the men's 15km mass start biathlon on February 18.
Norway's Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen competes in the men's 15km mass start biathlon on February 18. (Kevin Voigt/DeFodi Images/Getty Images)

It may have been freezing cold for the men's 15km mass start biathlon, but Norwegian bronze medalist Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen didn't care one bit after making the podium.

The bitter weather has certainly played a role at this year's Games, but medals just seem to take the edge off.

"My face was hurting like hell, but I was also happy like hell."

All quotes are attributed to Beijing 2022.

12:00 p.m. ET, February 18, 2022

Great Britain defeats reigning champion Sweden to advance to women's curling Olympic final

From CNN's Homero De La Fuente

Team Great Britain celebrates after defeating Sweden in their semifinal game on February 18.
Team Great Britain celebrates after defeating Sweden in their semifinal game on February 18. (Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images)

Great Britain edged out Sweden 12-11 in the women’s semifinal on Friday to advance to the final, where the team will face Japan. 

Great Britain, led by Eve Muirhead, secured the second medal for the country after the men’s curling team advanced to the final on Thursday. 

The British women overcame a 4-0 deficit in the first end before bouncing back in a nail-biting match that finished when Team GB sealed the victory with the hammer in the extra end.

In the other semifinal, Japan pulled off the major upset by ousting world champion Switzerland 8-6. 

Great Britain and Japan will compete for the gold on Sunday, while Switzerland will play Sweden in the women’s bronze medal match on Saturday.

11:48 a.m. ET, February 18, 2022

ROC advances to gold medal game in men's ice hockey following dramatic penalty shootout

From CNN Sports staff

The Russian Olympic Committee hockey team celebrates after defeating Sweden in a penalty shootout on February 18.
The Russian Olympic Committee hockey team celebrates after defeating Sweden in a penalty shootout on February 18. (Harry How/Getty Images)

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) has advanced to the gold medal game in men’s ice hockey, defeating Sweden 2-1 in a thriller at the Beijing Olympics.

After being tied at the end of regulation and overtime sudden death, the match went into a penalty shootout where the ROC’s Arseni Gritsyuk sealed the victory for the defending champions in the eighth round.

“Honestly, it was really nerve-wracking," the ROC's Mikhail Grigorenko said.

“We knew it was not going to be a high-scoring game. I think every player on my team played his heart out. We played for each other. Credit to the Swedes, they fought hard.”

The ROC will face Finland the men’s final on Sunday. Sweden will face Slovakia in the bronze medal match on Sunday. 

11:41 a.m. ET, February 18, 2022

Skier Mikaela Shiffrin clarifies social media posts are "for the people getting hate"

From CNN's Homero De La Fuente

Mikaela Shiffrin at the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
Mikaela Shiffrin at the Beijing 2022 Olympics. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)

US alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin took to social media on Friday to address her previous day's posts, saying they weren’t intended for the haters but for the people getting hate.

“I truly believe that if you try to address the haters by hating on the haters, it really only continues to spread hate and it doesn’t fix the problem,” the two-time Olympic gold medalist said. “The haters are there because they have decided they want to hate you and you’re really not going to do anything to stop hating you, so you might as well not waste your energy on that.” 

On Thursday, the 26-year-old posted several screenshots on her Instagram Stories with the first four showing words and phrases written in text filled with harsh criticism, including “Choker” … “ Can’t handle the pressure” … “Arrogant”… “Disgrace. Unacceptable.”

Shiffrin failed to medal in all four individual alpine skiing events she participated at the Beijing Games, registering a did-not-finish (DNF) in three of them.

“The people out there who are experiencing any kind of those messages, those comments, that make you feel about this small, that make you feel like your entire self-worth is summed up in awful sentence sent by an awful person who thinks awful things about you," the 26-year-old wrote.

"The whole premise of it, I don’t really understand, but that message, that was meant for you guys to get up and to keep going. Get out of bed the next day even though you’re getting these messages that make you feel awful… awful.

"That’s okay, they’re always going to be there and you can choose to take them and dwell on them and let them make you want to retire, let them make you want to disappear and just never be seen again or you can just say, 'Hey, I’ve got a great sense of humor and I’ve got a lot more to give to this world, so back off and let me do my thing,' and I think a lot of you out there who might be experiencing these hate messages — I think a lot of you have that fire in you, so you just go for it and don’t send a message to your haters.

"They don’t deserve your time being wasted on them. You just spread that message to the next person getting hate.”

Shiffrin will have one more shot at a medal as she is scheduled to compete in the mixed team parallel slalom competition on Saturday. 

10:39 a.m. ET, February 18, 2022

Chinese figure skaters Sui Wenjing and Han Cong post world record score in pairs short program

From CNN’s Aleks Klosok in London

Chinese skating duo Sui Wenjing and Han Cong compete in the pairs short program on February 18.
Chinese skating duo Sui Wenjing and Han Cong compete in the pairs short program on February 18. (Bernat Armangue/AP)

Chinese pair Sui Wenjing and Han Cong produced a mesmerizing performance to shatter their own world record in the pairs short program at the Beijing Games on Friday. 

Sui and Han — silver medalists four years ago at the PyeongChang Games — scored 84.41 points, beating the previous total of 82.83 they set during the team event.

The duo were skating to the "Mission Impossible 2 Orchestra Suite: Part 1" by Hans Zimmer. 

Sui told reporters after the pair's routine that a record wasn't the goal: "To be honest, we didn’t pay much attention to how many points we could get, we focused more on if we could enjoy the program and performance today.

"I think today we enjoyed it and we are happy. I hope we can perform our best tomorrow. The short program is just the beginning."

The Chinese pair top the standings heading into Saturday’s free skating competition.

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) occupy the second and third places with both pairs scoring personal bests. 

Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov ended with a score of 84.25, ahead of world champions Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov's on 82.76 points.

9:13 a.m. ET, February 18, 2022

Catch me if you can... no, really, catch me.

From CNN Sport staff

"Yes, I really am thinking, 'Do not drop me.'"
"Yes, I really am thinking, 'Do not drop me.'" (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

"Wow, the view from up here is great!"

Hailey Kops probably didn't say that, but she would have gotten a fantastic view of the Capital Indoor Stadium after being flung in the air by teammate Evgeni Krasnopolski during the pairs skating short program.

Although he might not look confident at that exact moment in time, we can report that Krasnopolski safely caught Kops, and the pairing from Israel finished in 15th position at the end of the short program.