Beijing, (Asian independent) Sweden won their second goal and joined Norway at the top of the medals table even as Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Germany, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand opened their accounts with gold medals on the second day of competition at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on Sunday.
Russian Olympic Committee athlete Alexander Bolshunov won his first Olympic gold in men’s 30km cross-country skiathlon on Sunday.
The skiathlon began with 15 kilometres of classic skiing and switched to freestyle after the half-point. The 25-year-old opened a big gap in the second half and crossed the line with a comfortable lead, winning in one hour, 16 minutes and 9.8 seconds.
His compatriot Denis Spitsov surpassed Finnish athlete Livo Niskanen in the second half to take his third Olympic silver medal in 1:17:20.8. Niskanen finished third in 1:18:10.0.
This is Bolshunov’s first Olympic gold medal after the Russian won three silver medals (50km mass start, team sprint, 4x10km relay) and one bronze (sprint) at Pyeongchang 2018.
Van der Poel bags gold
World record holder Nils van der Poel took gold in the men’s 5,000m speed skating competition on Sunday, the second gold for Sweden in this Games.
The 25-year-old Swede clocked a winning time of six minutes and 08.84 seconds to lower the Olympic record set by Dutchman Sven Kramer.
Patrick Roest of the Netherlands, who qualified first in the discipline at the Dutch trials, took the silver medal with 6:09.31. Hallgeir Engebraaten of Norway finished third in 6:09.88.
At nearby Chongli, Zhangjiakou, Japanese ski jumper Ryoyu Kobayashi claimed the men’s normal hill individual gold medal on Sunday.
Kobayashi collected a match-leading 145.4 points in the first round. Despite his 129.6 points only ranking fifth in the final round, a total of 275.0 points was enough for the Japanese to stand atop the podium.
Fueled by 136.3 points in the final round, Manuel Fettner from Austria climbed up from the fifth position after the first round to the second with 270.8 points.
The bronze medal went to Dawid Kubacki from Poland, who collected 265.9 points from two jumps.
Germany’s Johannes Ludwig won men’s singles gold at Beijing 2022 luge event held at the Yanqing Sliding Centre on Sunday. The 35-year-old Ludwig, this winter’s overall World Cup winner, clocked a combined time of three minutes, 48.735 seconds in four runs for the gold medal.
Wolfgang Kindl of Austria, who was crowned European champion last month, won silver in 3:48.895. Italian luger Dominik Fischnaller came third in a total time of 3:49.686.
In Chongli, Jakara Anthony of Australia won the freestyle skiing women’s moguls gold on Sunday. The 23-year-old garnered 83.09 points from a combination of time, air, and turns, becoming the first Australian female to win an Olympic medal in moguls.
Jaelin Kauf of the United States took silver with 80.28 points, and Russian Olympic Committee athlete Anastasiia Smirnova took bronze with 77.72.