In a bid to unearth potential curling talents for Jamaica's international representation, Vice President of Curling Jamaica, Robert Richards, outlined three key avenues during the launch of Curling Jamaica at the Jamaica Olympic Association's headquarters in Kingston.

A former president of the Jamaica Badminton Association and national badminton champion, Richards expressed his commitment to Curling Jamaica's mission, especially with President Ian Anderson's ambitious goal of securing Olympic gold by 2040. Speaking at the launch on Monday, Richards emphasized the three areas from which they aim to identify and develop curling talents.

"The development of this sport is going to come from, of course, those based overseas, and there are three avenues that we're going to take on to actually have the sport developed," said Richards. The first avenue involves Jamaicans based overseas, particularly those waiting for an opportunity or currently participating in another sport. Richards sees potential among young Jamaicans in colleges, not only in Canada and the US but also in Europe.

The second avenue focuses on students leaving Jamaica to study abroad. Traditionally, sports like football and track and field have been the primary choices, but with the establishment of the Curling Association, students now have an additional option. This diversification allows talented youngsters to explore new avenues and consider curling as a viable sporting path.

The third avenue involves collaboration with the Canadian team to identify potential curling talents in Jamaican schools. The vision includes sponsoring selected youngsters to attend the Curling Academy in Canada, covering their accommodation and training expenses. This initiative aims to nurture talent from an early age and potentially pave the way for scholarships and further opportunities in the sport.

Earlier, JOA Secretary General and CEO Ryan Foster welcomed Curling Jamaica to the Olympic family during the launch.

Foster highlighted the significance of Jamaica's expansion into winter sports, citing the growth in disciplines like skiing, ice hockey, figure skating, and now curling. He commended Curling Jamaica for contributing to the country's multiplicity of representation in the Winter Olympics, opening avenues for potential medals.

Foster assured Curling Jamaica of the Jamaica Olympic Association's support in fostering a holistic approach to sports governance, including educational perspectives, coaching development, equipment resources, and infrastructure support. He expressed pride in the association's open-minded approach to sports, expanding from 36 to 52 sporting disciplines.

In closing, Foster welcomed Curling Jamaica to the Jamaica Olympic family, expressing hope that the organization would manage the sport with enthusiasm, providing hope to athletes and embodying the national motto, "Out of Many, One People." He pledged the JOA's unwavering support in Curling Jamaica's quest for achievement, emphasizing the shared commitment to success in the Winter Olympics.

Curling Jamaica President Ian Robertson is aiming for Jamaica to become Olympic champions in the next decade and a half. The Canada-born and based Robertson, during a press conference hosted by the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) on Monday, revealed plans to grow interest in the sport among Jamaicans in the coming years and eventually win Olympic gold.

“In 12 to 16 years, there is going to be a gold medal champion. That’s our vision, that’s our goal and we thank the Jamaica Olympic Association for helping is attempt to achieve that,” Robertson told media at the JOA Headquarters on Cunningham Avenue in Kingston.

Jamaican-born Ben Kong incorporated the Jamaica Curling Federation in Canada in 2020. The following year the Jamaica Curling Federation Limited was incorporated in Jamaica and operating as Curling Jamaica and in 2022 was granted membership to the Jamaica Olympic Federation and World Curling Federation, subsequently holding their first team practice in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Since then, it has made significant strides with Jamaican teams participating in the Pan Continental Championships held in Canada between October 29 and November 4, 2023. The women’s team made their international debut at the tournament and won the silver medal, finishing with a 5-2 record.

Jamaica’s Mixed Doubles team competed at the World Mixed Doubles qualifier in Dumfries, Scotland from December 2 to 9, 2023. Jamaica finished with a record of two wins and four losses in the 26 team tournament finishing third in their group from which China and France qualified for the World Championships.

“So we sent two teams to world events and since we are a new country we have to start in the pre-qualifying to work our way up to the actual world event,” Robertson explained.

“The women were five and two and we finished with the silver medal in the B Division of the Pan Continental. First place there would have put us into a world event, so they were one win away from being in the pool and a shot at the world championships. All of this earns points towards the Olympic pre-qualifying and getting into the main draw of the Olympics.

“We had sent a mixed doubles team to the mixed doubles world qualifying. There were 26 teams and it is broken down into pools. As it turns out two of the teams in the pool that Jamaica was in qualified for the worlds, so it was a tough group.”

Robertson revealed that there are plans for Jamaica to participate in more qualifying tournaments in 2024 as the association progresses its strategic plan for future growth.

“So this year we plan to have a men's team and a women's team which will play in the Pan Continentals in October and the next doubles team which will play at the end of November and potentially there'll be some other teams like World Seniors and various events like that which are more of practice for our players to get ready for the national, the big national three teams.”

Meantime, the association is concentrating on growing its membership thus widening the pool of potential players it can select from.

“Over the last couple of years we've grown the membership from the three. We actually have expanded to 25 now with our membership and like a sponsorship that helps us grow our finances so we can pay for day-to-day business transactions and so on.

 “Our goal is to grow from within and the ultimate goal is to have four Jamaicans learn how to curl and in 12 to 16 years they win a gold medal in the Olympics.”

While Norway and Germany rounded off a golden Winter Olympics in style, Sunday's final day of competition marked the end of a disappointing Games for a traditional power.

Therese Johaug capped off a brilliant individual campaign, and her Olympic career, in Beijing as she claimed a third gold of the Games in cross-country skiing, prevailing in the women's 30km mass start on Sunday.

Already guaranteed top spot in the medal table, that win took Norway's total of golds to 16, four in front of Germany. It is the second successive games in which Norway has finished top of the pile.

A Games that has seen Germany dominate the sliding events was fittingly capped with a German victory in the four-man bobsleigh.

Francesco Friedrich piloted Germany to a 12th and final gold while Johannes Lochner finished second behind his team-mate.

Canada took bronze, with 14 of the country's 26 medals at these Games being of that variety.

A total of four golds is Canada's lowest since the 1994 Games in Lillehammer (three) and, ending the final day in 11th, the 2022 Olympics marked the first in which the North American nation has finished outside the top 10 in the medal table since its home games in Calgary in 1988, when it did not win a single gold.

Great Britain did not win a medal of any colour at that Games, but a late rush in curling ensured the Brits avoided that fate in Beijing. 

A 10-3 victory over Japan in the final on Sunday meant the women won gold a day after the men's team had to settle for silver. Team GB finished 19th in the table.

Medal table:

1. Norway (G16 S8 B13, Total: 37)
2. Germany (G12 S10 B5, Total: 27)
3. China (G9 S4 B2, Total: 15)
4. United States (G8 S10 B7, Total: 25)
5. Sweden (G8 S5 B5, Total: 18)
6. Netherlands (G8 S5 B4, Total: 17)
7. Austria (G7 S7 B4, Total: 18)
8. Switzerland (G7 S2 B5, Total: 14)
9. Russian Olympic Committee (G6 S12 B14, Total: 32)
10. France (G5 S7 B2, Total: 14)

Norway's Therese Johaug capped off a brilliant individual campaign, and her Olympic career, in Beijing as she claimed a third gold of the Games in cross-country skiing.

Johaug, who missed the 2018 Games due to a doping ban, won the very first gold medal in Beijing and rounded off the cross-country skiing events with a victory in the women's 30km mass start on Sunday.

It took Norway's gold medal total to 16, four in front of second-best Germany.

Johaug had already suggested she would be retiring before the next Olympics, in 2026 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, and the 33-year-old is set to go out on top.

"It is a dream come true that I can stand here for Norway with three gold medals in the same Olympics," she said. "I was so, so happy 14 days ago when I got my first one, and I cannot believe I have more. It's fantastic to end my Olympic career with these three gold medals."

Jessie Diggins took silver, becoming the first American woman to win a distance medal in cross-country skiing, despite having struggled with food poisoning this week.

Diggins said: "That might have been the best race of my entire life, I'm not going to lie. It was also maybe the hardest race of my whole life." 

Kerttu Niskanen took bronze to secure her second medal of the Games. 

Great Britain break their duck

Great Britain finally claimed their first gold of the Games, as Eve Muirhead led her women's curling team to a 10-3 thrashing of Japan.

It followed on from the men's team taking silver on Saturday. The gold was Team GB's first in curling in 20 years.

"It's a dream come true," Muirhead, told BBC Sport. "That was my third semi-final, and the two I lost were hard but I bounced back and here we are. We are Olympic champions. It's such a special moment."

Finland end 70-year wait

Finland won their first Olympic gold in men's ice hockey, as they defeated the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) 2-1.

It took Finland 70 years to win gold. They had previously clinched bronze in 1994, 1998, 2010 and 2014, and silver in 1988 and 2006.

The victory earned a presidential seal of approval, too.

"I heard our president is going to call me and I would like to talk to him," said coach Jukka Jalonen. 

Dominant Germany claim three more medals

It has been a brilliant Games for Germany, who have taken seven bobsleigh medals, adding to six golds and three silvers won in skeleton and luge. They have dominated on the tracks.

Francesco Friedrich steered Germany to a 12th and final gold, in the four-man event on Saturday, while Johannes Lochner finished second behind his team-mate.

Pilot Friedrich has now equalled compatriots Kevin Kuske and Andre Lange as the bobsleigh athletes with the most titles, with four gold medals each.

"We hope it goes on," he said. "Our goal is to make four more years. We want to make the Olympics with all our friends, our sponsors in Cortina. It's near Germany, so maybe we can make one or two buses for all our families and friends and sponsors to finish our careers together."

Germany also had a silver to celebrate in alpine skiing. They finished behind Austria and ahead of Norway in the mixed team parallel big final.

Great Britain has claimed its first gold medal of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on the final day after Eve Muirhead led them past Japan 10-3 in Sunday's women's curling final.

The golden finish takes Great Britain's medal tally to two following the men's curling team winning silver on Saturday.

Muirhead was competing at her fourth Winter Olympics, having claimed bronze in 2014, earning her maiden gold medal with a starring role alongside Vicky Wright, Jen Dodds, and Hailey Duff.

The 31-year-old, who had returned after hip surgery, scored four in the seventh to all but secure the victory for the British.

"It's a dream come true," Muirhead, told BBC Sport. "That was my third semi-final, and the two I lost were hard but I bounced back and here we are. We are Olympic champions. It's such a special moment."

The team's gold medal was Great Britain's first in curling in 20 years, while it marked the 23rd team to win gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics, edging the previous joint best mark of 22 from Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018.

The triumph also means Great Britain have claimed a gold medal at the past four Winter Olympics for the first time following Amy Williams (2010) and Lizzy Yarnold (2014, 2018) who both won gold in skeleton.

Sunday sees the final day of action at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, and the last five medal events.

Great Britain's women will attempt to go one better than their male counterparts in the curling, the four-man bobsleigh concludes, while Norway will seek to add to their impressive medal haul in the final cross-country skiing event.

The rescheduled mixed-team parallel slalom should finally get under way, and the men's ice hockey final promises to be an intriguing one.

Here, Stats Perform takes a look at Sunday's events, before the evening's closing ceremony.

Alpine skiing

The mixed team parallel slalom is due to take place after being rescheduled from Saturday due to windy conditions.

The event is part of the Olympic programme for just the second time, with Switzerland defending their title and Norway the reigning world champions.

It sees skiers race one another, two at a time, on side-by-side and identical slalom courses, with the first to reach the finish line scoring for their team. Each team contains two men and two women, who race against rivals of the same gender, with 16 teams entered and the competition operating in a knockout mode, with quarter-final places on offer to the first-round winners.

Switzerland won the first iteration in Pyeongchang, while Austria took silver and Norway claimed bronze.

Bobsleigh

The final bobsleigh event sees the four-man sleds compete, with the first two heats having taken place on Saturday.

The leaderboard at the halfway stage looks as many expected it would, with the team led by German pilot Francesco Friedrich leading the way, just ahead of the team of compatriot Johannes Lochner.

Canada's foursome led by Justin Kripps sat third, but the threat of a Germany sweep - as happened in the two-man event - remained, with Christoph Hafer's team in fourth.

German sleds have won five of the last seven four-man events at the Winter Games dating back to 1994 in Lillehammer.

Cross-country skiing

The cross-country skiing events have been largely dominated by Norway and Russian Olympic Committee, with the two teams accounting for eight of 11 gold medals so far (four each).

The final event on Sunday will be the women's 30km mass start, with Norway's Therese Johaug one of the favourites after taking gold in the 10km classic and skiathlon.

Finland's Krista Parmakoski (silver) is the only medallist from 2018 to compete here, and she will be looking to add to the bronze she won in the 10km classic.

Curling

Though Great Britain won their first medal of Beijing 2022 on Saturday, their men's curling team will have been disappointed to only take silver after losing to Sweden in the gold medal match.

Eve Muirhead leads her team into the women's final on Sunday against Japan, and will be confident of doing so having beaten them 10-4 in the round-robin stages.

Ice hockey

The men's final sees reigning Olympic champions Russian Olympic Committee take on two-time silver medallists Finland.

This will be Finland's first gold medal match since Turin 2006, which was the last Olympic final not to feature either the United States or Canada. Both the US and Canada were heavily impacted by the NHL refusing to release players for Beijing 2022, but this final still promises to be a strong one.

Belgium have long lived in the Winter Olympics shadows of their geographical neighbours, but Bart Swings ensured there was plenty to celebrate on Saturday.

France, Germany and Netherlands have historically, and recently, enjoyed plenty of podium success at the Games, but it has been in seriously short supply in the case of the Belgians.

In fact, until this weekend they had not held a Winter Olympics gold medal since Micheline Lannoy and Pierre Baugniet won the figure skating mixed pairs at the 1948 Games in St Moritz.

Swings took glory in speed skating's men's mass start event, an improvement on his silver medal from Pyeongchang four years ago as the 31-year-old backed up his top-ranked World Cup form of the past three seasons.

South Koreans Chung Jae Won and Lee Seung Hoon took silver and bronze, while last place went to Dutch great Sven Kramer, a nine-time Olympic medallist, who won four golds in his storied career and was making his final appearance at the Games.

Swings said after winning the 100th gold medal of Beijing 2022: "That silver medal in Pyeongchang was already incredible because I think it was about 20 years ago since we had won a medal.

"Now a gold medal following up on that silver is historical. It's unbelievable. I'm looking forward to getting home with my family and friends. I haven't seen them in a long time because of COVID-19. It's going to be amazing to see them and show them the gold medal."

Here, Stats Perform picks out some other standout numbers from Saturday's action in Beijing.

3 - Irene Schouten became just the second woman to win three gold medals in speed skating in a single Winter Olympics, as she won the women's mass start, adding that to her 3,000m and 5,000m victories. It meant she matched the three-gold feat of fellow Dutchwoman Yvonne van Gennip from the 1988 Calgary Games. Germany's Claudia Pechstein finished ninth in Saturday's race at the age of 49, signing off a 30-year Olympic career that saw her win five gold medals and nine medals in all.

4-3-2-1 - Niklas Edin is the poster boy for patience, finally getting his hands on gold with the Sweden men's curling team. The skip featured as the Swedes finished fourth in 2010, third in 2014, second in 2018, and the 5-4 win over Great Britain means Edin has finally led the team to first place. It makes him the first Olympian to go on a run of 4-3-2-1 finishes in the same event, and means Sweden are men's curling team champions for the first time.

7 - Russian Olympic Committee's Alexander Bolshunov struck gold in the cross-country mass start, which was shortened from 50km to 30km due to extreme weather conditions. It gave him a fifth medal and third gold of Beijing 2022, after previous triumphs in the skiathlon and men's relay. That also made him the seventh cross-country skier to win five medals in any single edition of the Olympics, and the first man. Bolshunov now has nine medals in his Olympic career, finishing on the podium every time he has competed.

20 - New Zealand's Nico Porteous is just 20 years and 88 days old, and this is his second Winter Olympics. He landed a bronze four years ago and became the youngest gold medallist in men's freeski halfpipe with a spectacular performance on Saturday, nailing his routine to deliver a third medal for his country at these Games. It is the first time New Zealand have won three medals in a Winter Olympics, with snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott having landed the first two.

Norway did not add to their golden haul on Saturday at the Winter Olympics, but they cannot now be caught at the top of the medal table.

Nearest rivals Germany, four behind Norway's all-time record haul of 15 golds, are involved in only three of the five medal events on Sunday's final day of the Beijing Games.

Germany's 11th gold of the games arrived when Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi completed victory in the two-woman bobsleigh, ahead of compatriots Mariama Jamanka and Alexandra Burghardt.

It was almost a 1-2-3 for Germany, only for Americans Elana Meyers Taylor and Sylvia Hoffman to take bronze, with Kim Kalicki and Lisa Buckwitz having to settle for fourth place.

China sit third overall after Sui Wenjing and Han Cong delivered gold in the mixed pairs figure skating, fending off the Russian pair of Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov to earn the hosts a ninth triumph of the Games.

Norway's only medal of the day came in the men's cross-country mass start, which was shortened from 50km to 30km due to extreme weather, as Simen Hegstad Krueger took bronze.

Sweden won an eighth gold, a new Winter Olympics best for the nation, as their men's curling team, led by skip Niklas Edin, earned a 5-4 win over Great Britain in the final.

The silver put Team GB on the medal table for the first time, in a tie for 24th place, with either gold or silver to follow on Sunday in the women's curling.

Medal table:

1. Norway (G15 S8 B12, Total: 35)
2. Germany (G11 S8 B5, Total: 24)
3. China (G9 S4 B2, Total: 15)
4. United States (G8 S9 B7, Total: 24)
5. Sweden (G8 S5 B5, Total: 18)
6. Netherlands (G8 S5 B4, Total: 17)
7. Switzerland (G7 S2 B5, Total: 14)
8. Russian Olympic Committee (G6 S11 B14, Total: 31)
9. Austria (G6 S7 B4, Total: 17)
10. France (G5 S7 B2, Total: 14)

The Winter Olympics is wrapping up, and there were plenty of medals up for grabs on Saturday.

A youngster challenged over the experienced head in the men's freeski halfpipe final, while Irene Schouten clinched her third gold of the Beijing Games.

The Dutch speed skater has been a major success story and made it three of the best as she triumphed in the women's mass start, following her earlier wins in the 3000m and 5000m events.

"My dream was after these Games to be called an Olympic champion, and now I am a three-time champion. I am living the dream," said Schouten, who took bronze in the same event in 2018.

"It is a game. Not always the fastest wins, you need some luck. Today I had luck. I was fast, but I got some luck, too."

Schouten is the second woman to win three gold medals in speed skating at a single Olympic Winter Games, joining compatriot Yvonne van Gennip from 1988.

She has also joined Japan's Takagi Miho in winning four speed skating medals in Beijing. They are the fourth and fifth females to win four medals in speed skating at a single Olympic Winter Games.

In the men's equivalent, Bart Swings sealed Belgium's first Olympic Winter gold since 1948. 

Porteous bests reigning champion Wise

World champion Nico Porteous came out victorious on the slopes, claiming freeski halfpipe gold ahead of reigning Olympic champion David Wise, who was aiming for a third straight gold in the event.

Porteous is the first athlete from New Zealand to claim two medals in freestyle skiing. He took bronze in Pyeongchang.

At 20 years, 88 days, Porteous is the youngest gold medallist in men's freeski halfpipe, while Wise, who is 31 years and 234 days old, is the oldest medallist in the discipline.

Germany, ROC celebrate one-two combinations

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) claimed four medals on Saturday.

Silver and bronze came their way in the pairs figure skating, with Chinese duo Sui Wenjing and Han Cong claiming gold.

The ROC's success came in cross-country skiing, with Alexander Bolshunov cruising to gold in the shortened men's mass start. It marked his third top prize of the Games.

Ivan Yakimushkin finished 5.5 seconds behind, with Norway's Simen Hegstad Krueger, who raced for the first time in Beijing having had to isolate due to COVID-19, finishing third.

Germany also had a gold-silver combination to celebrate in women's bobsleigh.

Success for Sweden

There was heartbreak for Great Britain, as their men fell just short in a thrilling curling final against Sweden.

Great Britain had to come from 3-1 down to force an extra end, but Sweden prevailed 5-4, meaning Britain's 98-year wait for men's curling gold rolls on.

"It's still pretty raw," GB captain Bruce Mouat told BBC Sport. "That's going to be the case for quite a while.

"I'm trying to think how great our week was and [feel] proud how we went about it. We topped the table and had a really good semi-final performance so I'm trying to think about the other things apart from that game."

Sweden's women, meanwhile, downed Switzerland 9-7 in their bronze medal game. 

However, Sweden's men could not claim ice hockey bronze, as they were thrashed 4-0 by Slovakia.

Two of the great under-performers of the 2022 Winter Olympics could strike gold on the final Saturday of the Games.

Star US skier Mikaela Shiffrin has endured a dismal fortnight, and the same can be said for the Great Britain team as a whole.

All this could change, as Shiffrin bids to end her Beijing campaign on a high with a first medal at her sixth attempt, while Team GB are guaranteed at least silver in men's and women's curling. They have yet to appear on the medal table, with curling proving the team's salvation.

Sweden will face Slovakia in the men's ice hockey bronze medal game, ahead of Sunday's final between Finland and Russian Olympic Committee.

Here, Stats Perform takes a look at Saturday's gold medal events.

Alpine skiing

Shiffrin remarked that she felt "like a joke" after failing to finish the women's combined – a third DNF of her difficult trip to China. She has also had a ninth place and an 18th, so Shiffrin has a lot on the line in the mixed team parallel slalom.

The event is part of the Olympic programme for just the second time, with Switzerland defending their title and Norway the reigning world champions.

It sees skiers race one another, two at a time, on side-by-side and identical slalom courses, with the first to reach the finish line scoring for their team. Each team contains two men and two women, who race against rivals of the same gender, with 16 teams entered and the competition operating in a knockout mode, with quarter-final places on offer to the first-round winners.

Bobsleigh

Germany lead the way in the battle for the top of the podium after two of the four heats staged so far, with the sled piloted by Laura Nolte in gold medal position, ahead of defending champion Mariama Jamanka.

That creates the possibility of a German one-two, although the USA's Elana Meyers Taylor sat third with aspirations of improving on that position going into Saturday, when the competition concludes.

Cross-country skiing

Finland's Iivo Niskanen is the reigning champion in the 50km mass start and has a gold, silver and bronze from Beijing, but he is sitting out Saturday's event.

There are a host of challengers lining up to succeed Niskanen as champion. Among them, Russian Olympic Committee's Alexander Bolshunov will be looking to improve on his silver from 2018 and add to his four medals accrued so far in Beijing.

Norway's Simen Hegstad Krueger and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo could also be in the mix, along with the likes of Bolshunov's team-mate Denis Spitsov.

Curling

Standing between Bruce Mouat's Team GB rink and the gold medal are a strong Sweden team, led by skip and former army tank commander Niklas Edin.

Edin was not mincing his words when he described the showdown as "a clash of the titans in our sport".

Great Britain edged their round-robin tussle 7-6 in Beijing but also have recent experience of losing to Sweden. Competing as Scotland, the GB men were beaten 10-5 by the Swedes in the 2021 World Championship final.

Edin said of Saturday's match: "It might be nerve-wracking, but it's going to be a super well-played game. For the last couple of years they've probably been the most consistent team. And in championships over the past seven, eight years we've been the most consistent team."

Sweden also feature in Saturday's women's bronze medal game, taking on Switzerland, after losing 12-11 to Great Britain in Friday's semi-final.

Figure skating

China's Sui Wenjing and Han Cong set the highest score ever achieved by a duo in a short programme to edge ahead in the pairs skating on Friday, with Saturday's free skating to come.

Their score of 84.41 points eclipsed that of Russian Olympic Committee's Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov (84.25), with a second Russian pair consisting of world champions Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov in third.

China have won gold in the pairs once before, when Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, a married couple, triumphed on the Vancouver ice in 2010.

Freestyle skiing

New Zealand have taken a gold and silver from Beijing so far, both going to snowboard marvel Zoi Sadowski-Synnott. Now freeski world champion Nico Porteous will look to follow her lead and reach the podium in the men's halfpipe final.

Porteous will compete in a field otherwise made up of competitors from the United States and Canada, and by setting the second-best score in qualifying has already served a reminder of his medal credentials.

US star Aaron Blunck led the way in qualifying, with another American, Birk Irving, in third. But perhaps all eyes should be on David Wise, winner of this event at the last two Games. At the age of 31, Wise is chasing a hat-trick, and posting the fourth-best score in qualifying suggests the man from Reno, Nevada, should not be discounted.

Speed skating

Action on the speed skating rink wraps up on Saturday with the men's and women's mass start events.

Korea's Lee Seung Hoon is the men's defending champion and is joined in the field by the silver medallist from four years ago, Belgium's Bart Swings. The last time Belgium won a Winter Olympics gold was in the pairs figure skating at the 1948 Games in St Moritz. American Joey Mantia is another with serious designs on gold.

In the women's event, the Dutch duo of Irene Schouten and Marijke Groenewoud are likely to be there or thereabouts, along with Canada's Ivanie Blondin and Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida.

Eileen Gu told herself she was the best before going out and proving it as China's home Winter Olympics superstar landed a second gold medal of the Games in Beijing.

The United States-based teenager triumphed in the women's freeski halfpipe, posting a best score of 95.25 to win comfortably from the Canadian pair of Cassie Sharpe and Rachael Karker.

It made Gu, at the age of 18 years and 168 days, the youngest athlete to win three individual medals at any single edition of the Winter Olympics.

Dubbed the 'Snow Princess', Gu said the Olympic experience had been a life-changer.

"It has been two straight weeks of the most intense highs and lows I've ever experienced," she said. "It has changed my life forever."

After gold in the freeski big air and silver in slopestyle, this was her sign-off event at Beijing 2022, with Gu delivering a mesmerising display of agility and skill after giving herself a pep talk.

"Instead of looking to other athletes and being like, 'Oh, what are they doing? How can I be like them?', I try to build myself up more," Gu said. "So, it's the opposite of what I do in training, but at the top I said, 'My name is Eileen Gu, and I'm the best halfpipe freeskier in the world'."

Gu burst into tears as her achievement sank in. She also cast a little doubt over her future in the sport. Asked if she might consider competing for the USA in future, Gu said: "I have no idea what I'm even doing next year. I'm going to go to college, but in terms of skiing competitively, am I going to continue competing? Who knows?

"I love skiing and I would love to continue competing, but in terms of resources and time and, you know, what else I'm juggling. It just depends, right? I'm going to do whatever feels right and hopefully be able to create some kind of positive change out of any decision that I make."

Medals record for Norway

Johannes Thingnes Boe's fourth biathlon triumph in Beijing established a Winter Olympics landmark as it gave Norway a 15th gold medal, a record haul for a single edition of the Games.

Norway were already the most successful nation in Winter Olympics history, and they have been hammering home that status over the past fortnight.

Boe's latest run to glory came in the 15km mass start, which he won by 40.3 seconds from Sweden's Martin Ponsiluoma. Norway also took bronze through Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen.

The 28-year-old Boe, who also has a bronze from the 20km individual, enjoyed having a team-mate on the podium and said of Norway's record feat: "I feel really proud. We have both been a part of it, winning gold today and also in the men's relay where Vetle won a gold medal for us, so we are making history and as a nation we are really proud."

Norway also landed silver and bronze in the women's 12.5km mass start, which was won by France's Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, ahead of Tiril Eckhoff and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland.

Roeiseland's bronze gave her a fifth medal in Beijing, a second third-place finish to add to three gold-winning performances, and she said: "I was maybe not at my best in this cold, but I really tried to fight, and it was so fun to race with Tiril today, we raced the whole race together and the position in the standing was really tough. Today I'm just so happy with the bronze, for me it was like gold actually."

Champion Braisaz-Bouchet said: "I was so shocked I won. I'm really happy to say I'm Olympic champion. It's quite amazing."

Regez leads Swiss cross double

Ryan Regez and Alex Fiva delivered a Swiss one-two in freestyle's men's ski cross, with champion Regez finding the equilibrium he had been seeking all week when it mattered most.

"I've been really nervous for the whole week," Regez said. "It's my first Games and the last big event was the World Championships last year, which Alex won, and I was just super nervous there as well and I was skiing in my head, so thinking whilst skiing and there I messed up.

"Today it was just a lot of pressure on me because I won the last two World Cup events. I'm in the lead of the overall World Cup so for sure everyone was just hoping I would come here and take the victory and eventually it worked out, but there was just so much going on, so much pressure. I phoned a lot with family, friends, and yesterday I had a long talk with my coaches.

"That just calms me down a lot and that was really important. Today actually I wasn't nervous at all, which was quite unusual. In the morning, yes I was, but then as soon as I went on the mountains everything was gone and I just could ski free."

Dutch skaters back up to speed

Thomas Krol delivered a fifth long-track speed skating gold medal for the Netherlands team, but a first for eight days after the wins began to dry up.

Krol's victory came in the 1,000 metres, as he edged out fast times from Canada's Laurent Dubreuil and Norway's Haavard Holmefjord Lorentzen.

"It's really hard to express all the emotions that are going through me, a dream just came true," said the 29-year-old, who has aspirations to become a pilot when his sporting career ends. "I'm so intensely happy that I made it. It means everything.

"I was expecting my time not to be fast enough because there were more great skaters coming. So, it was a nerve-wracking 10 minutes for me."

Dubreuil put disappointment at missing out on gold into context, saying: "My daughter especially helped me. She is just three years old, and she doesn't care about my results. Seeing her not even one per cent sad after my race when I called them, she was running around and having so much fun, running and jumping and yelling. It made me realise, it's just sport."

Eileen Gu has already delighted China by sealing gold and silver medals at Beijing 2022 in freestyle skiing, and she is looking for a third success on Friday.

If the qualifying performance of the 'Snow Princess' on Thursday is anything to go by, Gu will be a worthy hot favourite for the freeski halfpipe.

Elsewhere, Team GB will find out what colour their first medal of these Games will be in the men's curling final, while Netherlands aim for more speed skating gold and biathlon signs off with its final two events.

The two-woman bobsled heats are also due to take place, along with the pairs short programme in figure skating, and the men's semi-finals of the ice hockey as Finland face Slovakia and the Russian Olympic Committee go up against Sweden.

Here, Stats Perform takes a look at Friday's medal events:

Biathlon

The men's 15km mass start takes place on Friday, with France's Quentin Fillon Maillet gunning for his sixth medal.

He became the first biathlete to win five medals at a single Winter Games after securing two golds and three silvers in Beijing, although he has not won a men's World Cup mass start race in the past two seasons.

There will be plenty of competition as six of the last seven World Championship gold medallists in the mass start are competing here, including the Boe brothers of Norway.

In the women's 12.5km mass start, which has been rescheduled from Saturday due to anticipated weather conditions, Norway's Marte Olsbu Roeiseland is looking to match Fillon Maillet's current haul by winning a fifth medal in Beijing.

If she does win a medal, Roeiseland will also become the first biathlete to finish on the podium in all four individual events at a single Winter Games.

The last three world champions in this event, including Roeiseland, will be competing, with Italy's Dorothea Wierer and Austria's Lisa Theresa Hauser looking to overcome the dominant Norwegian.

Curling

Great Britain will win a medal at Beijing 2022, which did not look like it would be the case for the majority of these Games.

Bruce Mouat and his team celebrated a hard-fought 8-4 win against the United States in the semi-final on Thursday, and will face Niklas Edin and his Sweden team in Friday's gold medal match after they beat Canada 6-3.

"I'm really struggling to sum it up, but I guess you saw from our reaction there that it was just pure elation," Mouat said after beating the champions from PyeongChang 2018.

"It's going to be amazing. Niklas and his team have been our rivals for so many years now. We’ve played them in numerous Europeans and World Championships, so it feels really nice to be able to play them in a larger final."

Great Britain beat Sweden 7-6 in the round-robin stage earlier at these Games.

Freestyle skiing

As usual when she competes at these Games, all eyes will be on Gu. She comfortably qualified in first place on Thursday with scores in her two runs of 93.75 and 95.50, with no-one else in the field achieving a score higher than 89.50 from either jump.

"I was journaling last night, I wrote some affirmations, I was like, 'I am fresh. I am not tired. I am excited'," the 18-year-old said after sealing her place in the final.

"The joke is I'm actually exhausted, I'm not fresh, but I was writing in my journal to try to convince myself that I was - and it's working, I slept well last night."

Canada's Rachael Karker, Estonia's Kelly Sildaru, who won bronze in the slopestyle, and Great Britain's Zoe Atkin completed the top four in qualifying and will likely be Gu's biggest competition.

Speed skating

In the men's 1,000m, the Netherlands will be aiming to become the first country to win the event at three consecutive Olympic Winter Games, following Stefan Groothuis (Sochi 2014) and Kjeld Nuis (PyeongChang 2018).

Kai Verbij may be their best hope as the reigning world champion, though Thomas Krol leads the World Cup 1,000m rankings. 

China's Gao Tingyu, who won the 500m, is looking to become only the second skater to win both 500m and 1,000m at the same Winter Games after Eric Heiden of the United States did so in 1980.

Kaillie Humphries will be hoping to become the first ever women's monobob Olympic champion in Beijing on Monday, while whoever wins the women's aerials will have to go through qualification and the final in the same day.

There are just four medal events to start the week, but there are also some intriguing non-medal events.

The women's ice hockey reaches the semi-final stage as Canada face Switzerland, while the United States take on Finland.

The postponed women's downhill from Sunday will hopefully take place, the men and women's curling round robins continue, and the two-man bobsleigh event begins.

The men's and women's big air events in the snowboard get under way as well, with the gold medallists from Pyeongchang, Sebastien Toutant of Canada and Anna Gasser of Austria, both back to defend their titles.

Here, Stats Perform previews Monday's medal events.

Bobsleigh

One of the new events at the Olympics is the women's monobob, which will see its first Olympic champion crowned on Monday.

In Sunday's first two heats it was Humphries of the United States who led the way ahead of Christine de Bruin of Canada and Germany's Laura Nolte.

Another American athlete, Elana Meyers Taylor, was one of the favourites but sat down in fourth place ahead of Monday's crucial final two heats.

Figure skating

The ice dance pairs will see new faces win gold medals as 2018 champions Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany are not competing in Beijing.

The rhythm dance took place on Saturday and saw French pair Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron take first place ahead of Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of the Russian Olympic Committee and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States.

Freestyle skiing

The women's aerials event will take place on Monday, though qualifying was postponed on Sunday due to poor weather and will now take place on Monday afternoon Beijing time. It has been confirmed that the final is still scheduled for later in the day.

When the event finally does get going, Australia's Laura Peel and Chinese duo Xu Mengtao and Kong Fanyu are among those expected to do well.

Ski jumping

The men's team trial round, team first round and final are all scheduled for Monday, with Norway aiming to defend their title from 2018, though Germany and Japan are also likely to be in contention.

It will be the final ski jumping event of Beijing 2022.

It was quite a day on Tuesday at the Winter Olympics with dramatic medals won and records broken, but Wednesday has the potential to supersede it as Beijing 2022 continues.

The men's ice hockey gets under way, while there are big medal events in the luge, Nordic combined and short track speed skating, among others.

The men will try to follow Tuesday's exhilarating effort from the women in the freeski big air final, while the women's slalom and snowboard cross promise more excitement.

Stats Perform has you covered ahead of Wednesday's action.

Alpine skiing

The women's slalom provides an opportunity for both success and redemption on the 'Ice River' course at the Yanqing National Ski Centre.

Sweden's Sara Hector will be hoping to follow up Monday's gold medal in the giant slalom, while Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States will want to make up for crashing out of the same competition just five turns into her opening run.

Petra Vlhova of Slovakia and Katharina Liensberger of Austria, the reigning world champion, are two who could also challenge.

Curling

After Italy's dominance ended in an inevitable gold in the mixed doubles on Tuesday, the men's competition gets under way.

The opening series of matches will see Denmark face Canada, the United States go up against Russian Olympic Committee, Norway will play Switzerland and hosts China face Sweden.

Three of the US's gold medal team from Pyeongchang return to defend their title, including skip John Shuster.

Freestyle skiing

Following a sensational victory for China's 'Snow Princess' Eileen Gu on Tuesday, the pressure is on the men to follow suit.

The big story had been the return to competition of reigning slopestyle world champion Andri Ragettli, but the Swiss star failed to qualify for the final having only finished 14th on Monday.

American trio Alex Hall, Colby Stevenson and Mac Forehand could challenge for the medals, while Sweden's Oliwer Magnusson and Norway's Birk Ruud are also among the favourites, with the latter topping qualifying.

Ice hockey

With no involvement from NHL players, the men's tournament gets going in Beijing, feeling like it could almost be anyone's game.

Defending Olympic champions Russian Olympic Committee face Switzerland on Wednesday, while Czech Republic play Denmark.

Luge

The doubles event is expected to be dominated by Germany, with the 2014 and 2018 Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt returning, while bronze medallists from 2018 and current World Cup leaders Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken will likely provide stern competition.

Eggert and Benecken are also the track record holders after their November 2021 run of 58.793 seconds.

Nordic combined

One of the primary stories in the Nordic combined is whether Olympic champion Eric Frenzel of Germany and world champion Jarl Magnus Riiber of Norway will be able to compete after both contracted COVID-19.

Should they not make the start line, Austria's Johannes Lamparter is likely to be the favourite after his numerous Nordic Combined World Cup wins, including three in January.

Short track speed skating

The men's 1,500m final takes place on Wednesday, with China's Ren Ziwei looking to add to the two gold medals he already has from the 1,000m and mixed team relay.

Hungary's Liu Shaolin Sandor was disqualified for causing a collision with Ren in the 1,000m and will want to make up for that in the longer form final.

Snowboard

The women's snowboard cross probably sees Great Britain's best chance at a medal in Beijing with Charlotte Bankes among the favourites.

The 26-year-old leads this season’s World Cup standings with five podiums from six events, while Australia's Belle Brockhoff and Italy's Michela Moioli are likely to provide her strongest competition.

The men's and women's halfpipe qualifying also begin, which will see superstar Shaun White - who has confirmed these will be his last Games - and fellow United States star Chloe Kim compete.

Jonna Sundling kept Sweden on top of the Winter Olympics medal table as she landed the country's fourth gold, leading a 1-2 in cross-country skiing.

Sundling took the women's sprint glory ahead of compatriot Maja Dahlqvist, with Sweden now having six medals overall at Beijing 2022.

The champion labelled the track "the toughest I have competed on", and relished having Dahlqvist and another Swedish athlete, Emma Ribom, for company. Ribom finished sixth.

"It feels good to have them by my side at the start line, it feels like we are in a training session but this is the Olympics," Sundling said. "It was fun to be three Swedes in the final, it's amazing."

Dahlqvist found the event so taxing that she threw up after crossing the finish line in second place.

She said: "I was thinking it's the last thing I ever do and that if there was one race I would push as hard as I could, it was today. 

"I puked five times after. I was super happy and super relieved, too. Now I feel better. I am just so happy. It was so awesome that we could make it a double."

Oskar Eriksson and Almida De Val delivered a bronze for Sweden in curling's mixed doubles, beating Great Britain in the third-place match, before Italy defeated Norway in the final.

Netherlands jumped a place to second on the table after Kjeld Nuis struck gold and Thomas Krol took silver in the men's 1,500 metres speed skating.

Nuis said he took inspiration from Ireen Wust on Monday winning the women's equivalent race, landing a gold medal for the fifth successive Winter Olympics.

"She's a really special human being," said Nuis, "she's the best skater in the world. She's been winning World Championships and Olympic medals since she was young.

"She's not winning every race any more. When I saw her win yesterday, it inspired me so much. When you see her win like that, you think, 'I want to do the same'."

Russian Olympic Committee slid from second to seventh on the table, with China nudging up to third spot thanks to Eileen Gu's stunning triumph in the freeski big air.

Gu landed a left double cork 1620, a high-tariff piece of skill, to earn China's third gold of their home Games.

Born in the United States to an American father and Chinese mother, Gu has taken flak on social media for deciding to compete for China.

But she delivered a fiery riposte to her critics, saying: "I know that I have a good heart and I know my reasons for making the decisions I do are based on a greater common interest and something I feel is for the greater good.

"If other people don't really believe that that's where I'm coming from, then that just reflects that they do not have the empathy to empathise with a good heart, perhaps because they don't share the same kind of morals that I do.

"In that sense, I'm not going to waste my time trying to placate people who are, one, uneducated and, two, probably never going to experience the kind of joy and gratitude and love that I have the great fortune to experience on a daily basis.

"If people don't like me, that's their loss. They're never going to win the Olympics."

Germany, who got a gold from Natalie Geisenberger in the women's luge singles, sit alongside China in a share of third, both having two silvers to complement their three gold medals.

Ester Ledecka's latest glorious gold, in parallel giant slalom, gave the Czech Republic a first medal of the Games, meaning they sit in a tie with New Zealand for 15th place.

Medal table (after day five):

1. Sweden (G4 S1 B1, Total: 6)
2. Netherlands (G3 S3 B1, Total: 7)
3. China (G3 S2 B0, Total: 5)
3. Germany (G3 S2 B0, Total: 5)
5. Norway (G3 S1 B4, Total: 8)
6. Italy (G2 S4 B1, Total: 7)
7. Russian Olympic Committee (G2 S3 B5, Total: 10)
8. Austria (G2 S3 B2, Total: 7)
9. Slovenia (G2 S1 B2, Total: 5)
10. France (G1 S4 B0, Total: 5)