Kamila Valieva walked almost tentatively through Capital Indoor Stadium, juggling her pink-cased cellphone, her ice skates with the fuzzy pink blade guards and the stuffed mascot of the Beijing Games, Bing Dwen Dwen.
Then they all fell in a pile on the floor.
She managed to keep it together better on the ice, where the 15-year-old Russian sensation became the first woman to land a quad in the Olympics — two, in fact.
Photo: AFP
They helped the Russians cap a dominant run to the gold medal in the team event to open the figure skating program.
“I do feel this burden a bit, this pressure, because this is my first season among adult skaters,” Valieva said. “I believe that I’m coping with this pressure, and sometimes it even pushes me forward. It helps me.”
How much farther can she go?
Valieva opened with a huge quad salchow and followed with the difficult triple axel before landing another quad, this time a toe loop in combination with a triple toe loop.
The only blemish on her program came when she fell on her quad toe loop late in the program, but by that point, her first gold medal in Beijing was assured.
Another one could come shortly in the individual event, where the Russians are favored to sweep the podium.
“I’m very happy that the most part of my planned program worked out well,” she said.
The Russians finished with 74 points in the team event to win their second gold medal in three editions of it.
The US earned the silver after back-to-back bronze medals at the past two Olympics, thanks largely to a winning dance program from Madison Chock and Evan Bates, while Japan climbed onto the team podium for the first time.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
RSS