ISU

Following the hearing of the Ad hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the arbitration procedures relating to Figure Skater Kamila Valieva (ROC), the International Skating Union (ISU) duly noted and will respect the ruling namely that the provisional suspension of Ms. Valieva remains lifted.

Erin Jackson (USA) first put on skates six years ago and she had trouble to even stay upright, but she turned out to be a quick student. After coming in 24th at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games, the 29-year-old from Florida ran away with gold in the 500m four years later in Beijing. Miho Takagi (JPN) took a surprise silver and world champion Angelina Golikova (ROC) seized bronze. Jackson could hardly believe she’d pulled it off after her bumpy road towards Beijing.

Shaoang Liu of Hungary struck gold in the Men’s 500m at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games while Suzanne Schulting led the Netherlands to their triumph in the Women’s 3000m Relay at the Beijing Capital Indoor Stadium Sunday.

No matter the result, the Beijing 2022 Women’s 500m contains one of those stories that make the Olympic Games just that little more special than any other championships. It’s about Olympic spirit. After Erin Jackson (USA) messed up her race at the USA Olympic Trials, teammate Brittany Bowe sacrificed her qualifying spot. Being the favorite doesn’t make it easier for Jackson, who faces a highly competitive field, and as her hiccup at the trials showed, even the smallest mistake can be deadly in the 500m.

The Short Track competition at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games continues on February 13 with the Men’s 500m and the Women’s 3000m Relay at the Beijing Capital Indoor Stadium.

2018 Olympic silver medalists Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France danced to the lead in the Rhythm Dance, setting a new highest score as the Ice Dance event kicked off at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. ROC’s World Champions Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov are following in second, trailing the leaders by two points. Three-time ISU World medalists Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA) placed third.

Home favorite Gao Tingyu (CHN) led an all Asian podium in the men’s 500m on Saturday. The 2018 Olympic bronze medal winner hammered out a 9.42s opener and maintained his blistering pace throughout the lap, to finish in a new Olympic record of 34.32s. Korea’s Cha Min Kyu repeated his silver medal from the PyeongChang 2018 Games, and Japan’s Wataru Morishige completed the Beijing 2022 podium seizing the bonze. World Cup leader Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) finished 0.03 adrift of the podium in fourth place.

The ISU is continually monitoring the sanitary and entry conditions in countries hosting ISU Events, as well as travel restrictions around the World.

Saturday’s action at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing is all about the fast and the furious, with the Men’s 500m on the program. Home favorite Gao Tingyu (CHN) showed the fastest ever opener with 9.32s at the first World Cup this season, but World Cup leader Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) has been most consistent, being on the podium in all eight races and winning two. For Håvard Lorentzen (NOR), defending his 2018 title will be an uphill battle: “I am not as strong as I was four years ago,” he said.

Flying Dutchwoman Suzanne Schulting defended her Olympic title in the 1000m in a dramatic Final. Korea’s Minjeong Choi claimed silver and Hanne Desmet of Belgium earned the bronze.

Patrick Roest (NED) knew he had to do ‘something really special’, to beat Nils van der Poel (SWE) in the 10,000m on Friday.  After having won the 5000m by a small margin last Sunday, the Swedish long distance-machine shifted to another gear again and hammered out an incredible word record of 12 minutes and 30.74 seconds. Roest had to settle for silver trailing by 13.85 seconds, and Davide Ghiotto (ITA) took bronze at 15.24s.

Douwe de Vries (NED) was elected on February 11, 2022 to the ISU Athletes Commission as the Speed Skating representative.

2018 Olympic silver medalists Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA) headline the Ice Dance field as the Figure Skating events continue on Saturday at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games with the Rhythm Dance. Competition promises to be exciting with several strong couples in the medal hunt.

The International Skating Union (ISU) duly noted the press release issued by the International Testing Agency (ITA) and at this time it has nothing to add other than the below.

Nils van der Poel (SWE) will start the Men’s 10,000m as main favorite, having won the world title with a superb world record on lowland track Heerenveen (NED) last season. The 25-year-old Swede started his Olympic campaign in Beijing with a hard-fought gold in the 5000m on Sunday. His Dutch rival Patrick Roest (NED) took silver in the 5000m, but he was happy to have closed the big early-season gap at the National Speed Skating Oval between him and Van der Poel.