Olympics Overnight: Shock and drama in men’s figure skating, Eileen Gu wins gold and breaks Chinese social media

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This article was published 08/02/2022 (1333 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rise and shine, Olympics fans. Here’s what you missed overnight and need to know about the 2022 Beijing Olympics this morning.

For all the Star-related Winter Games content, visit our Olympics page here.

Good morning! (Or bad morning, if you’re a Team Yuzu person, like myself).

It was a mostly quiet Day 4 for Team Canada, but there were a few important results — including a solid preliminary win for the women’s hockey team over their rival Team USA, and an impressive result from Canadian biathlete Scott Gow in the men’s 20km individual race.

Still, there was plenty of drama and excitement from Beijing, especially in the world of figure skating and freestyle skiing, so lets get to it.

Women’s hockey team sets the tone vs. Team USA

Four years ago in PyeongChang, the Canadian women’s historical gold streak (four Olympics championships in a row!) came to an end against their arch rival Team USA. Now, they’re out for revenge.

Team Canada goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens stood on her head on Tuesday, making a jaw-dropping 51 saves against the defending champions — more than the combined shots she faced in her previous two starts.

Her incredible effort led the team to a 4-2 victory in the team’s final preliminary matchup of the tournament. Canada finishes the preliminary round atop Pool A with a record of 4-0.

“I love it, but not really,” said the Desbiens after her herculean victory. “I enjoy it personally, but from a team perspective, that’s not the kind of game you want to have too often.”

“It just showed that we can improve on things, get better during the medal round. Selfishly, it’s fun, but I’d rather not.”

The quarterfinals get underway on Feb. 11.

No hardware, but a historic finish for Scott Gow

The 31-year-old biathlete from Calgary placed fifth in the men’s 20km individual biathlon event, setting a a new Canadian Olympic record. The result also ties Canada’s best-ever Olympic result in any men’s biathlon event

Scott Gow looking very good for Canada’s first ever top-10, improving from his 14th place finish in 2018. Prior to that, Canada’s best finish was 13th by Jean-Philippe Leguellec at the 2010 Games.

Gow improves on his 14th place finish in 2018. Previously, Canada’s best finish was 13th by Jean-Philippe Leguellec at the 2010 Games.

Redemp-Chen? Shock, excitement and tears from the skating rink

Men’s singles figure skating got underway with the short program on Tuesday, headlined by the highly-anticipated showdown between two-time Olympic champion Hanyu Yuzuru and the red-hot U.S. skater Nathan Chen.

Chen, seeking redemption for his fifth-place finish in 2018, was perfect in his free skate, easily setting a new world record with 113.97 points.

In a shocking turn, Hanyu made a major error in his first planned quadruple Salchow, singling the jump. He scored just 95.15 points, which would eventually land him eighth place.

“I’m struggling to get a hold of this more than anyone right now,” Hanyu said following the skate, saying that he may have hit a divot in the ice.

“Honestly, it feels like I didn’t even make a mistake. I don’t know, is it bad karma? Did I do something to be disliked by the ice? That’s how I feel, standing here being interviewed.”

And while Chen holds a major lead going into the free skate, Hanyu — who last week hinted that he may attempt a quadruple Axel in these games — still plans to fight for gold.

Yuma Kagiyama of Japan finished second with a score of 108.12, while his teammate Shoma Uno finished third with 105.90.

A solid finish for Canada’s Kegan Messing

The 30-year-old Canadian, who was a late arrival after testing positive for COVID-19, skated a clean program to “Never Tear Us Apart,” that included a quadruple toe loop, to score 93.24 points.

Needing four negative tests before getting the green light to travel, he was forced to spend about a week in Vancouver, running up and down his hotel stairwell to keep fit before he was cleared to practice during private ice time in the city.

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc with figure skating. American Vincent Zhou was forced to withdraw from men’s singles after testing positive a day earlier.

Donovan Carrillo makes history for Mexico

Skating to Santana’s “Black Magic Woman,” 22-year-old Donovan Carrillo — the first Mexican figure skater to compete in the Winter Olympics in 30 years — scored a stellar 79.69 points in the men’s short program, becoming the first Mexican to ever qualify for the long program.

“I didn’t want it to end,” he said. “I wanted to keep skating and living the Olympic dream. For me to qualify also for the free skating is a dream come true.”

Eileen Gu takes home her first gold with a stunning 1620

18-year-old freestyle skiing sensation Eileen Gu took home gold for Team China in the debut of the women’s big air competition, narrowly beating out France’s Tess Ledeux with a ridiculous 1620 (four-and-a-half rotations).

Gu, who was born in California but decided to ski for China — where her mother was born — has become a poster child for China’s Olympic ambitions, while also drawing controversy in the U.S.

Sina Weibo, the massive social network that is similar to Twitter found its servers temporarily overloaded, according to Chinese media. Of the top 10 trending topics on the platform, five were dedicated to adoration for the 18-year-old champion.

“That was the best moment of my life. The happiest moment, day, whatever, of my life. I just cannot believe what just happened,” said Gu.

She’ll have two more shots at gold in the coming days — in the halfpipe and slopestyle.

Read more from the Star’s Bruce Arthur.

Other Canadian results:

• Connor Howe finished fifth in the men’s 1,500 long-track speedskating.

• Toronto’s Jack Crawford sixth in giant slalom.

• Megan Oldham finished in fourth in the women’s big air final, while Olivia Asselin finished in eighth.

What’s in store today:

• Evan McEachran hopes to end up on the podium in men’s big air. 10 p.m. ET.

Medal report

Canada has six medals (one gold, one silver and four bronze).

The Star in Beijing

Dave Feschuk: Something missing at Beijing Olympics. Actually it’s someone — Jasey-Jay Anderson

Bruce Arthur: American-born Chinese star Eileen Gu has a big air about her, and the gold medal to match

Rosie Dimanno: Kim Boutin repeats Olympic short track bronze — this time without the drama

Random bits

A Russian athlete shared a photo of a meal she received in the Olympic village… serious “Fyre Festival” vibes.

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Many viewers of the big air competition were less than impressed by the event’s industrial scenery.

Swiss snowboarder Nicolas Huber is certainly enjoying his time in Beijing.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

With files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press.

Richie Assaly is a Toronto-based digital producer for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @rdassaly