Day 10 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

By Aditi Sangal, Ben Morse, Helen Regan, Adam Renton and Patrick Sung, CNN

Updated 7:59 p.m. ET, February 14, 2022
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2:34 p.m. ET, February 14, 2022

In Beijing while you were sleeping: Russian cleared to skate, Canada vs USA again and a golden monobob debut

From CNN's Jason Kurtz

It's been a busy 24 hours for the world of sports, with the Olympics and the Super Bowl both serving up excitement and drama in portions large enough to rival crudité platters and never-ending nachos alike.

In the event that you may have missed any of the recent Olympic stories — many of which transpired late in the evening or early in the morning for US viewers — here's a recap to help get you caught up.

⛸ Russian teen skater cleared to continue competing

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has been cleared to continue participating in the Olympics despite testing positive for a banned substance in December. The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) announced the decision early Monday morning, meaning the 15-year-old will participate in Tuesday's single skating short program.

Earlier in the Olympics Valieva landed the first-ever Olympic quadruple jump by a woman, an achievement that helped the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) capture the team event gold medal. The results of Valieva's failed drug test were revealed one day after the ROC's team win, causing a delay in the medal ceremony.

The CAS's ruling has been met with disappointment and criticism from athletes and organizations alike, including the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

🏒 Rinse and repeat: US vs. Canada for gold in women's ice hockey once again

Team USA skated past Finland 4-1 on Monday in women's ice hockey, setting up a gold medal game rematch with its Canadian rivals.

Four separate players found the back of the net for the Americans, who defeated Canada in a shootout to secure gold in 2018.

Thursday's final between the two North American neighbors means that for the seventh consecutive Olympics, either Canada or the US will take home gold in women's ice hockey. Canada earned the top prize in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014, while the US struck gold in 1998 and 2018.

"We are just so excited. This is what we have been playing for. It is us against Canada and it is what we love to do and why we are here. We are really excited," said Team USA's Hayley Scamurra following the team's semifinal win, adding, "I think it is the best rivalry in sports."

🛷 Team USA dominates podium in Olympic debut of women's monobob

In Monday's women's monobob — a brand new Olympic event for 2022 — Americans Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor took gold and silver respectively, as each woman becomes the first to earn bobsled medals in four straight Olympic games.

Both athletes had to endure their fair share of obstacles just to reach the start of the race, as Humphries left Canada and earned US citizenship prior to the Olympics, while Meyers Taylor began her Olympics in quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19 after arriving in Beijing.

⛸ France takes gold in figure skating ice dance, American duos finish 3rd and 4th

The pair of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron turned in a world record score of 226.98 in Monday's figure skating ice dance event, plenty good enough to move the French duo to the top of the podium.

Papadakis and Cizeron are four-time world champions and took silver in the event four years ago.

Russians Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov earned silver in the event, while Team USA's Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue captured the bronze.

Hubbell and Donohue narrowly edged out fellow Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who were forced to settle for fourth.

⛷ Austria wins men's team ski jumping gold

On Monday, a high-flying group of Austrians — Stefan Kraft, Daniel Huber, Jan Hörl and Manuel Fettner — launched their nation to the top of the podium in men's ski jumping, despite trailing Slovenia earlier in the finals.

Austria earned the gold medal with a total score of 942.7, forcing Slovenia to settle for silver. Germany earned the bronze.

"It's unbelievable. I'd say it's one of the best days in my life," said Kraft after the team win.

"It's a team with friends, and for the whole team and for Austria, it was great."

12:21 p.m. ET, February 14, 2022

CNN's Beijing 2022 event guide: Snowboarding

From CNN's Sana Noor Haq

Japan's Kokomo Murase performs a trick during the women's snowboard slopestyle qualification on February 5.
Japan's Kokomo Murase performs a trick during the women's snowboard slopestyle qualification on February 5. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Snowboarding is one of the more recent additions to the Winter Games program, having debuted at the 1998 Nagano Olympics in Japan. Despite its younger status, the sport has quickly become a crowd pleaser at the Games.

The snowboard cross events and the parallel giant slalom are all races. But in the big air, halfpipe and slopestyle, judges score and assess riders based on aspects of their performance including the complexity of their tricks, the form of their run and the landing of their jumps. 

There will be 11 gold medals available across 11 events at this year's Games including the men's and women's parallel giant slalom, snowboard cross, halfpipe, slopestyle and big air — as well as a new mixed team snowboard cross competition.

Snowboarding wraps up on Day 11 of the Olympics: Feb. 15.

11:51 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

IOC and CAS are "not fit for purpose," former World Anti-Doping Agency official says on Valieva decision

From CNN's Amanda Davies and Aleks Klosok

ROC figure skater Kamila Valiyeva trains at the Capital Indoor Stadium on February 14.
ROC figure skater Kamila Valiyeva trains at the Capital Indoor Stadium on February 14. (Valery Sharifulin/TASS/Getty Images)

The decision by the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) to allow 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to continue competing at the Beijing Games shows that the top sports court is “not fit for purpose,” said Rob Koehler, Director General of Global Athlete and a former World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) executive.

CAS announced earlier Monday that it had rejected an appeal by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), WADA and the International Skating Union (ISU) to reinstate a provisional doping suspension against Valieva which had been lifted by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).

“CAS is definitely not fit for purpose. It lacks independence. It lacks transparency […] Time and time again, if you look at the Russian file, they have favored Russian athletes,” said Koehler. 

Koehler, who now heads an athlete advocacy group, said the decision was “a severe blow to the credibility of sport” that shows “the system is severely broken.”

Valieva played a pivotal role in guiding the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) to a gold medal in last week’s figure skating team event.

The medal ceremony for the event was due to take place last week but was postponed after a positive test — now known to be that of Valieva — was returned by a member of the ROC team.

The IOC announced earlier Monday that it would “not be appropriate” for the medal ceremony to take place at the Beijing Games until Valieva’s case had concluded.

Furthermore, the IOC also announced that if Valieva were to finish in the top three in the individual event – which begins on Tuesday – no flower or medal ceremony would take place.

The IOC’s decision is a "travesty" because it doesn't allow "athletes to have the rightful spot on a podium," Koehler said.

“Every athlete suffers because there’s a different standard over how the IOC approaches this whole situation," he told CNN. "There has to be reform. The status quo cannot continue and athletes cannot continue to be robbed of the fundamental right to compete cleanly."

He added, “I feel for every single athlete that is at the Olympic Games that has to endure this where their opportunities are totally being tainted in terms of focusing on sport, and instead, we’re focusing on a positive doping test from Russia."

CNN has reached out to the IOC and CAS for comment but has not yet received a response.

10:52 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

Why is Norway so good at the Winter Games?

From CNN's Harry Enten

Flag bearers Maiken Caspersen Falla and Kjetil Jansrud of Team Norway lead the team below the Olympic rings during the Opening Ceremony at the Beijing National Stadium on February 4.
Flag bearers Maiken Caspersen Falla and Kjetil Jansrud of Team Norway lead the team below the Olympic rings during the Opening Ceremony at the Beijing National Stadium on February 4. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

There’s a familiar country atop the medal count in the Winter Olympics: Norway. This might surprise some given that Norway has only a little more than five million residents — not even in the top 100 most populated countries. 

So what’s the secret to Norway’s historical and current success? Two big factors really. 

The first is, perhaps obviously, the weather. It’s the Winter Olympics after all. Norway ranks in the bottom five in World Bank data for average temperature during the year at about 36 degrees Fahrenheit (two degrees Celsius) — brrr 🥶. 

When you take a look at a medal count and temperature chart (as in this Economist article), you’ll see a clear correlation between the two. 

But it’s more than temperature — it is also money.

Think about how hard it is to train for the Olympics. Gear is often expensive. Children often need fortunate enough parents to get them to events. There also needs to be infrastructure in place to train for the Olympics. 

Norway is a fairly wealthy country: its GDP is in the top 35 worldwide and the GDP per capita is in the top 10

GDP though doesn’t capture all types of wealth. That’s what the United Nations Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index is for; it takes into account other variables such as education, life expectancy and inequality. 

A country where knowledge can be transferred and where more of the country has access to the funds necessary to compete would in theory supply a broader array of athletes. This was something that was noted originally in "Soccernomics" by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski. 

You know where Norway is on the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index? Number one. 

It shouldn’t be too surprising, therefore, that a wealthy country — where it is cold — dominates the Winter Games. 

10:52 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

Team USA advances to women's ice hockey gold medal game against Canada

From CNN's Wayne Sterling

USA's Megan Keller, Caroline Harvey, Kendall Coyne Schofield and teammates celebrate winning the Beijing 2022 women's semifinal against Finland on February 14.
USA's Megan Keller, Caroline Harvey, Kendall Coyne Schofield and teammates celebrate winning the Beijing 2022 women's semifinal against Finland on February 14. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images)

Team USA, the reigning Olympic women's ice hockey champion, has advanced to the gold medal game after defeating Finland 4-1 on Monday.

Cayla Barnes, Hilary Knight, Hayley Scamurra and Abby Roque scored for the Americans.

The United States will face Canada, who beat Switzerland 10-3 earlier Monday, in the final on Thursday.

This is the sixth time in the last seven Olympic finals that both North American teams will face each other for a chance at gold. In 2018, the US beat Canada 3-2 in a shootout. 

After the semifinal, Scamurra talked to reporters about the feeling on the team to come up against Canada once again.

"We are just so excited. This is what we have been playing for. It is us against Canada and it is what we love to do and why we are here. We are really excited," she said.

"I think it is the best rivalry in sports. You can feel it when you are watching it and when you are doing it, it is that much more. It is so much fun. I love it."

All six Winter Games gold medals have gone to the two teams. Canada won in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014, and the US earned gold in 1998 and 2018.

Finland and Switzerland are set to face off for the bronze on Wednesday.

10:12 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

4 medals were at stake on Day 10 of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Here's who won

From CNN's Wayne Sterling

Gold medalist Kallie Humphries of Team USA celebrates during the women's monobob bobsled event on February 14.
Gold medalist Kallie Humphries of Team USA celebrates during the women's monobob bobsled event on February 14. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Monday saw a mixed set of podium finishes at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Take a look at the winners and how the competition is shaking out so far:

Here's where the official Olympic medal count stands.

9:33 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

China's Kong Fanyu bounces back after wipeout in freestyle skiing aerials final

From CNN Sport staff

Bottoms up.
Bottoms up. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

While the Olympics is the peak of athletic preparation and performance, sometimes, it just doesn't go to plan.

China's Kong Fanyu — who won bronze at PyeongChang 2018 — found this out the hard way during the women's freestyle skiing aerials final on Monday.

While she placed last in the event after crashing, she was fortunately OK.

8:56 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

Austria wins men's team ski jumping gold

From CNN's Patrick Sung and Aleks Klosok

Stefan Kraft, Daniel Huber and Jan Hörl and Manuel Fettner of Team Austria celebrate on the podium after winning the gold medal in the men's ski jumping final on February 14.
Stefan Kraft, Daniel Huber and Jan Hörl and Manuel Fettner of Team Austria celebrate on the podium after winning the gold medal in the men's ski jumping final on February 14. (Lars Baron/Getty Images)

Austria won the gold medal in the men's team ski jumping competition, with a total score of 942.7, after trailing Slovenia following the first round of the final.

Stefan Kraft, Daniel Huber, Jan Hörl and Manuel Fettner finished the final strongly to earn the gold for Austria.

"It's unbelievable. I'd say it's one of the best days in my life," said Kraft, "It's a team with friends, and for the whole team and for Austria, it was great."

"It's just an amazing event here at the Olympics. It's mentally so tough, but we did the best jump we could do today and it feels amazing," added Huber.

Slovenia finished with the silver medal on 934.4 points, while Germany earned the bronze with 922.9 points.

The win is Austria's third in the event, tying the record for most golds with Germany.

8:38 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

China's Xu Mengtao wins elusive gold medal in women's aerials

From CNN's Aditi Sangal

China's Xu Mengtao reacts to winning the gold medal during the women's freestyle skiing aerials final at Genting Snow Park on February 14.
China's Xu Mengtao reacts to winning the gold medal during the women's freestyle skiing aerials final at Genting Snow Park on February 14. (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

It took four Olympic Games but China's Xu Mengtao finally captured her elusive gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in the women's aerials event.

Xu finished sixth at Vancouver 2010, won the silver at Sochi 2014 and finished ninth in PyeongChang 2018. She also won a silver in Beijing as part of China's mixed team.

After the final, Xu bursted with emotion, telling the press about her immense joy: "I'm just super excited. This is the first gold medal by China in women's aerials and it's just super cool.

"I just wanted to do the best tricks I can do and I did it and that was all."

At the aerials event, 2018 gold medalist Hanna Huskova had set the marker with a big jump that earned her a score of 107.95, but Xu scored a 108.61 after landing a Back Full-Full-Full. Team USA's Megan Nick, in her first Olympic Games, won bronze.