The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics yesterday was hit by a third doping scandal, casting a shadow over the magic on ice served up by peerless Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
Slovenian ice hockey player Ziga Jeglic failed a drugs test and has been banned from the Olympics, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said.
Jeglic, 29, who plays professional ice hockey in Russia, tested positive for fenoterol, a banned substance used to treat breathing difficulties, and was given 24 hours to leave the Olympic Village.
Photo: EPA
The latest drugs scandal hit just after one of the high points of the Games: the gold medal-winning performance of Virtue and Moir to clinch victory in the ice dance.
They skated last after watching French rivals Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron break their own free dance record and top the standings with the best combined total of their careers.
The pressure was unbearable, but Virtue and Moir showed no signs of buckling, skating out a flawless routine to Roxanne from Moulin Rouge in what might be their last hurrah on the world stage.
“Amazing. It was a special moment to come out last,” Virtue said. “It was a strong last group, there was a lot of pressure, but I’m so happy with how we performed.”
The 2010 Olympic gold medalists scored a record combined total of 206.07 points, narrowly bettering the French duo’s 205.28.
Away from the grace and elegance of the skating rink, another Canadian, Cassie Sharpe, produced some jaw-dropping aerobatics to storm to freestyle skiing’s halfpipe gold.
French rival Marie Martinod wiped out on her final run and finished second after Sharpe produced a top score of 95.8 on her second effort, celebrated by raising her hands behind her head in a bunny-ear sign as she crossed the line backward.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but it’s just an incredible feeling,” she said.
However, more Canadian glory looks to be in the cards after they and the US booked their places in the final of the women’s ice hockey tournament, scheduled for tomorrow.
“A battle for the ages, as usual,” Brianne Jenner said after the Canadians stretched their Olympic win streak to 24 games by beating the Olympic Athletes from Russia 5-0 to reach the final.
The US women, who have not won Olympic gold in 20 years, smashed Finland 5-0 in the other semi-final.
The joint Korean team ended their historic Olympic run with a crushing 6-1 defeat to Sweden, but still received an emotional standing ovation from the crowd.
The home support roared when South Korean Han Soo-jin scored to tie the game in the first period, earning them their second goal in five games, before the Swedes ran out easy winners.
For many, the unified team’s games have been about much more than the score and when the final buzzer sounded, all sides of the arena rose as one, accompanied by a deafening round of applause.
In return, the players bowed deeply.
The Korean team’s head coach, Canadian Sarah Murray, broke into tears as she watched her players salute the crowd and hugged North Korean coach Pak Chul-ho.
“All the sacrifices our players and team have been making, it was worth it,” Murray told reporters.
In men’s hockey, US top scorer Ryan Donato and goaltender Ryan Zapolski steered the US over Slovakia 5-1 and into the quarter-finals.
Harvard University star Donato scored two goals and Zapolski made 22 saves to drive the Americans, who have not taken Olympic gold since 1980, into a last-eight clash today against unbeaten Czech Republic.
Also advancing was Norway, who edged Slovenia 2-1 on Alexander Bonsaksen’s over-time goal to reach a quarter-final against the Olympic Athletes from Russia.
Later games pit Finland against South Korea, the winner facing two-time defending champion Canada in a quarter-final, and Switzerland against Germany, with the winner meeting unbeaten Sweden today.
In alpine skiing, US ace Lindsey Vonn completed her third training session and remained on course for a gold medal in today’s downhill.
At 33, she is the favorite for the prestigious race that will take place without Mikaela Shiffrin, who pulled out after the alpine combined was brought forward to tomorrow because of bad weather forecast for Friday, when is was originally scheduled.
The US ski star has had a mixed time of it in South Korea, winning giant slalom gold, but failing to defend her slalom title, finishing just off the podium in fourth after vomiting at the start.
However, she said she was “relieved” after pulling out of the downhill so she could concentrate on the combined.
Meanwhile, in the speed skating on Monday night, Taiwan’s William Tai finished 34th in the men’s 1,500m, ahead of only Norway’s Allan Dahl Johansson, who did not finish.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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