Page 14 - aruba-today-20220212

A14 sports
Saturday 12 February 2022
No Olympic medal as Shaun White takes flight for final time

By BERNIE WILSON Friday they would fight the
AP Sports Writer decision by Russia's anti-
BEIJING (AP) — Shaun doping agency to allow
White's brilliant and tran- the 15-year-old Valieva to
scendent Olympic career is skate in the competition
over. It ended with a fall on starting Tuesday. The Rus-
his final run down the half- sian agency provisionally
pipe, a heartfelt ovation banned Valieva on Tues-
from the crowd and then day because she failed a
a tearful farewell to a sport doping test in December.
he helped define. After an appeal, the agen-
A few mountains away, Mi- cy lifted the ban Wednes-
kaela Shiffrin finally made day.
it all the way down the Al- Valieva is the heavy favor-
pine ski hill, finished ninth ite after setting world-re-
in super-G and then ex- cord scores this season and
pressed relief. landing the first quad jump
There were no medals by a woman at an Olym-
and different emotions Fri- pics when the Russian ath-
day for two of the biggest letes competing as ROC,
American stars at the Bei- short for Russian Olympic
jing Olympics. Committee, won the team
Shiffrin could have two event Monday. The ROC
more chances to become said it will fight to keep that
the first Alpine ski racer from gold medal.
the United States to win WOMEN'S HOCKEY
three Olympic golds across The U.S. women's hockey
a career. team avoided an upset
White, though, is finished. when it rallied to beat the
His fifth and final Olympics Czech Republic 4-1 in the
ended when he clipped United States' Shaun White waves in the halfpipe course after the men's halfpipe finals at the 2022 quarterfinals. Lee Stecklein
the wall trying to land his Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. scored the go-ahead goal
second trick of his third run. Associated Press on a shot from the right
Knowing it was over, he coiffed, White had his leg- said. "I wasn't skiing safe or that race on Tuesday. point 6:49 into the third
pulled off his helmet and acy on display all around anything. But I also did get 'NO WAR' SIGN period for the defending
acknowledged the crowd him in the Secret Garden to the finish and that's really Ukrainian skeleton athlete Olympic champions.
as he slowly rode the rest of Olympic halfpipe. nice for my heart to know Vladyslav Heraskevych The Americans continue
the way down the halfpipe. "I'm sure every single per- that it's not totally aban- held up a small sign that to struggle offensively.
Trying to win his fourth gold son who competed today doning everything I thought read "No War in Ukraine" at They needed 59 shots to
medal, he instead finished looked up to him for a very I knew about the sport." the end of his third run. score their four goals. Hilary
fourth. long time," said bronze Her performance in the The sign was printed on Knight had a goal and as-
"I'm not sad," White said, medalist Jan Scherrer of super-G came after she a blue-and-yellow piece sist, and Savannah Harmon
although he cried a few Switzerland. "It's a very cool crashed out of the giant of paper, the colors of and Kendall Coyne Scho-
times, including during an moment." slalom on Monday and Ukraine's flag. field also scored.
interview with NBC when The gold medalist, 23-year- skidded out of the slalom It is possible the Interna- VAN DER POEL DOUBLES UP
he struggled to keep his old Ayuma Hirano of Ja- on Wednesday, both races tional Olympic Committee Nils van der Poel of Sweden
composure. pan, was one of them. ending just a few seconds could consider Heraskev- broke his own world record
"I'm proud of what I put He proved to be a worthy after she started. ych's act a violation of Rule and won his second gold
down," White said. "And successor to White with an Those were her best events 50 of the Olympic Charter, medal of the Beijing Games
I can't help but think if I epic final run that included and the ones in which she which prohibits political in the 10,000 meters, the
would have hit the podium a trend-setting triple-cork, had won gold medals, the demonstrations or propa- longest race in the Olympic
in third, I would have want- or three head-over-heels slalom at Sochi in 2014 and ganda during the games. program. He added it to his
ed second. And if I'd have spins while twisting above the giant slalom four years But it also could fall into a victory in the 5,000.
gotten second, I would've the pipe, for a score of 96. later at Pyeongchang. gray area since the sign did His time of 12 minutes, 30.74
wanted first. It's just the "I hoped I could send a The 26-year-old from Colo- not explicitly disrespect an seconds broke his own
fighter in me, and I'm al- message to him by show- rado said she had felt emo- opponent or criticize any world record of 12:32.95 set
ways hoping for more." ing my ride to him," said Hi- tionally fatigued. political target. a year ago and was more
White came shredding into rano, who grew up idolizing "But when we got out to- Heraskevych finished 18th than 9 seconds ahead of
the Olympics 16 years ago, White. day, I just feel a little bit in a competition ultimately the Olympic record set
a teenager from a San Di- SHRIFFIN FINISHES more settled. A little bit qui- won by Germany's Christo- four years ago by reigning
ego suburb nicknamed Mikaela Shiffrin made it eter. Trying to keep some pher Grotheer. champion Ted-Jan Bloe-
"The Flying Tomato" be- across the finish line of The calmness and just trying to VALIEVA'S DOPING CASE men of Canada.
cause of his shaggy mop Rock course on the Alpine focus on the task at hand, Russian figure skater Kamila SHORT TRACK
of red hair. He won the hill for the first time in three so I could put my attention Valieva's right to compete Suzanne Schulting of the
gold medal at Turin and re- races in the Beijing Games. where I wanted and ski the in the women's event will Netherlands success-
peated in 2010 in Vancou- She placed ninth in the su- hill and the course prop- be decided at an urgent fully defended her title in
ver. After finishing fourth in per-G, well off the pace set erly." hearing at the Court of Ar- 1,000-meter short track
Sochi, he was back on the by gold medalist Lara Gut- Shiffrin could compete bitration for Sport. speedskating in 1 minute,
top of the podium in 2018. Behrami of Switzerland. twice more individually in Both the World Anti-Doping 28.391 seconds. She set
Along the way he became "It's a really big relief to be Beijing. She'll have a few Agency and the Interna- the world and Olympic
a pop culture crossover. here now in the finish, hav- days to practice the down- tional Testing Agency — on records of 1:26.514 in the
Now 35 and his hair well- ing skied a run well," Shiffrin hill and decide if she'll enter behalf of the IOC — said quarterfinals.q