double lead: Skeleton world champion Christopher Grotheer from Oberhof is on course for gold after two runs at the Olympic race. With a track record of 1:00.00 minutes, Grotheer got off to a perfect start in the first round on Thursday. Halfway through the race he is clearly in the lead and has a lead of 0.70 seconds over Axel Jungk from BSC Sachsen Oberbärenburg, who is second overall in the World Cup. In the two final runs on Friday there is a chance for the first German men’s medal at the Olympics.
Small success: The German snowboarder Leilani Ettel took eleventh place in the halfpipe discipline in the Olympic final. The 20-year-old from Pullach in the Isar Valley scored 57.50 points with her best run on Thursday and thus had no chance in the fight for the medals. Just qualifying for the final was a success for the Bavarian. Top favorite Chloe Kim from the USA secured the gold medal in the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou in north-west Beijing. She received 94.00 points for her best run.
ice vortex: In the case of the more open medal awarding in the Olympic figure skating team competition, the IOC has described reports of a doping case as “speculation”. “It would be inappropriate for us to comment on an ongoing legal process,” said Mark Adams, spokesman for the International Olympic Committee, on Thursday. The award ceremony planned for Tuesday in the competition had previously been postponed without further explanation. According to media reports, the reason could be a possible positive doping test by a participant before the Winter Games in Beijing. The figure skaters from Russia had won the team competition ahead of the USA and Japan.
combination: Norway’s downhill skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde leads at halftime in Alpine Combined at the Olympics. The only German starter, Simon Jocher from SC Garmisch, on the other hand, has little chance of a top placement. The 25-year-old was 2.68 seconds slower than Kilde in the downhill on Thursday and is in 16th place. The upcoming slalom (7:15 a.m. CET) is his weaker discipline.
nomination: Team boss Peter Schlickenrieder has again nominated the entire cross-country quartet for the 15 kilometers at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing after the one-man sprint line-up. Accordingly, Lucas Bögl, Janosch Brugger, Jonas Dobler and Albert Kuchler will start in the race on Friday (8 a.m. / ARD and Eurosport). Dobler sat out the skiathlon because he had physical problems. According to the association, it was a precautionary measure. For 23-year-old Kuchler, who only made his World Cup debut this winter, it is the first race at the Olympics.