dcro

I really did not expect the ice dance judges to go off script, but here we are, they did with both higher and lower ranked couples.

Another surprise. Nikita made a couple of errors. Meanwhile, Gilles/Poirier got rather low presentation mark. Maybe the judges didn't like the orange, or maybe they are too leaving the sinking ship that is Canada?

G/F beat G/P.

Looks like they consulted the Slovak designers.

Japan got lucky here with both Germany and especially Ukraine flopping. Looks like the last spots for the final will be decided between . EDIT: Oh wait. Italy has a chance too. CZE/GER/UKR will be 8th-10th.

Wow, the Czechs finish ahead of Japan. This could be costly. However the Germans had a poor skate just now and should drop behind both.

The season's theme for rhythm dance is street dance, in a nutshell.

And so it begins. Training delayed for one hour due to weather.

But only if ROC also had several bad skates. Japan is only positively better in the men's singles.

Nathan finally conquers his Olympic demons. Looks like game over for Canada already. At least we get a new nation on the podium I guess.

Pretty uneventful atmosphere. Incidentally, more likely than not, Paul Fentz will be the one and only athlete whose participation will end before the Opening Ceremony.

Hot mess for Sadovsky.

Just curling and figure skating for me tomorrow. Downhill training too. Will gladly skip the Opening Ceremony for various reasons.

Yeah, not very surprising how they scheduled women's moguls ahead of men's. Anyways, two direct finals for Finland, nice!

It could be a key for funding. For Germany it is. They desperately want Top 8.

Doesn't help that FIS organized, among other things, the most lucrative Nordic combined WC stage last weekend.

Zero-COVID policy (especially the part with hyper sensitive tests and inconclusive results) makes absolutely no sense. I mean, it did make sense two years ago when nobody knew what COVID was, how to control it, etc, but right now it makes no sense since it is not going away. Why not control every other transmisable disease like this then? Apparently Xi's invention of zero-COVID policy faces scrutiny in the communist party too, but without his approval nothing will change. But we all know what having giant ego can do. Leaving millions at indefinite house arrest is so much easier.

Leona Popović dobila nedefinirane rezultate na testu zbog čega joj ulazak u avion nije bio dopušten. Izgleda jako loše. Mislim da veleslalom otpada sigurno, a za slalom možda još ima šanse.

Moral of the story? Everyone should buy a private plane?

At least two golds gone for Norway...? Hey China may win the medal table after all.

Aaaaaaaand confirmed... Leona Popović tested 'inconclusive' and was not allowed to board the plane. I guess it's likely game over for her since tech events are early.

Yeah, it would probably have to turn into something like the junior hockey worlds (complete teams withdrawing).

Record 55 positives today. I guess the most worrying fact is that almost half of these come from those who were already in the village.... Rumour has it there is a secret set number of positive tests allowed beyond which the Olympics will get cancelled...

Rogge threatened to have the women's ice hockey removed after the Vancouver fiasco, for what it's worth, but statements like that will never again come from the IOC president even if justified.

If Top 20 NOC are delusioning, what hope there is for the rest of us?