Case for the sports court: In the doping whirlwind surrounding Russian figure skater Kamila Valiyeva, the International Olympic Committee is urging the sports judges to make a quick decision. “We want to speed this up as much as possible,” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams on Friday. Valiyeva, 15, tested positive for a banned substance at the end of December, but the Russian Anti-Doping Agency had lifted her temporary ban. At the Olympics in China, Valiyeva won gold with the Russian team in the team competition ahead of the USA and Japan. On behalf of the IOC, the international test agency Ita is taking action against the lifting of the suspension.
German medal chance: The German skeleton pilots made a promising start in the fight for medals. Olympic debutant Hannah Neise from Winterberg is second after two of four runs, 0.21 seconds behind the leading Australian Jaclyn Narracott. World champion Tina Hermann from WSV Königssee finished third on Friday and is only two hundredths of a second behind Neise. The Olympic silver medalist from Pyeongchang, Jacqueline Lölling from RSG Hochsauerland, finished fifth before the two decisive races on Saturday and is 0.38 seconds behind Narracott.
Swiss gold: The Swiss ski racer Lara Gut-Behrami is Olympic champion for the first time. The world champion and 34-time World Cup winner won the Super-G at the Winter Games in China on Friday. On Monday, the 30-year-old had already won bronze in the giant slalom. The only German starter, Kira Weidle, was 15th. In the downhill next Tuesday, however, the Starnberg woman is to be assessed as much better.
Some more corona cases: The number of corona cases at the Winter Games has increased slightly for the second day in a row. After a low on Tuesday with five cases, eleven infections were found on Thursday, the organizers announced in Beijing on Friday.
Ice Sprinter arrived: After surviving a corona infection, Joel Dufter was the last German speed skater to travel to the Winter Olympics in Beijing. The 26-year-old sprinter is scheduled to start over 500 meters this Saturday and over 1000 meters on February 18.