Well, the Olympics are over. With fourteen podiums on the clock, the Blues will not have broken the record of Sochi (2014) and Pyeongchang (2018). Yet Delphine Claudel almost snagged the bronze medal on the cross-country ski mass-start, finishing seven seconds behind third, Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen. This race was won by the Norwegian, Therese Johaug, who signed her third victory in Beijing. For their part, the French skiers were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the team event, by two hundredths. Here is what to remember from this last day in Beijing.
The pass of three for Johaug, Claudel seventh
This is called closing the loop. After winning the first race of these Games in cross-country skiing, the skiathlon, the Norwegian was crowned Olympic champion in the mass-start (30km) this Sunday ahead of the American Jessie Diggins and the Finnish Kerttu Niskanen. She thus won her third gold medal in Beijing. On the French side, Delphine Claudel fought to the end for the medal. Very offensive, the French finished seventh, just seven seconds from the podium, when she was in the group that was playing bronze. Flora Dolci finished 24th, and Coralie Bentz, 44th.
Small disappointment for the Blues in alpine skiing
There will be no new medals in alpine skiing. After winning their round of 16 with style against the Czechs in the team event, the French team, made up of Mathieu Faivre, Tessa Worley, Coralie Frasse-Sombet and Alexis Pinturault, was eliminated in the quarter-finals. by Norway. The two teams were tied after the four duels (2-2), but the Scandinavians validated their ticket for the semi-finals thanks to their time (obtained by adding the best men’s time and the best women’s time of each team): they finished their parallel giant in 48″23 against 48″25 for the Blues.
Austria won this team event ahead of Germany and Norway. With the fourth place of the United States, Mikaela Shiffrin leaves these Games without any medal. A first in a major event for the American.
Francesco Friedrich, king of the bob
He is definitely unbeatable. After doing the double bob at 2 – bob at 4 in Pyeongchang (2018), the German repeated the same performance in Beijing. A few days after being crowned in the two-man bobsleigh, Francesco Friedrich won the four-man bob event, ahead of the team of Johannes Lochner and that of Canadian Justin Kripps. With four coronations to the clock, he joins his glorious elder, André Lange in the pantheon of the discipline.
In search of a medal in the 4-man bobsleigh since 1998, the French team, made up of Florian Hauterville, Romain Heinrich, Jérôme Laporal and Lionel Lefebvre, finished in 19th place.
Finland Olympic Hockey Champions
It is traditionally the match that concludes the Winter Olympics: the men’s hockey final. In the running to keep their title won in Pyeongchang, the Russians failed to do the double, beaten in the final by the surprise team of this tournament, Finland (2-1). This is the first Olympic title for the Scandinavians. In the other final of the day, the British women’s curling team atomized Japan (10-3) to win the gold medal.