Jonna Sundling kept Sweden on top of the Winter Olympics medal table as she landed the country's fourth gold, leading a 1-2 in cross-country skiing.
Sundling took the women's sprint glory ahead of compatriot Maja Dahlqvist, with Sweden now having six medals overall at Beijing 2022.
The champion labelled the track "the toughest I have competed on", and relished having Dahlqvist and another Swedish athlete, Emma Ribom, for company. Ribom finished sixth.
"It feels good to have them by my side at the start line, it feels like we are in a training session but this is the Olympics," Sundling said. "It was fun to be three Swedes in the final, it's amazing."
Dahlqvist found the event so taxing that she threw up after crossing the finish line in second place.
She said: "I was thinking it's the last thing I ever do and that if there was one race I would push as hard as I could, it was today.
"I puked five times after. I was super happy and super relieved, too. Now I feel better. I am just so happy. It was so awesome that we could make it a double."
Oskar Eriksson and Almida De Val delivered a bronze for Sweden in curling's mixed doubles, beating Great Britain in the third-place match, before Italy defeated Norway in the final.
Netherlands jumped a place to second on the table after Kjeld Nuis struck gold and Thomas Krol took silver in the men's 1,500 metres speed skating.
Nuis said he took inspiration from Ireen Wust on Monday winning the women's equivalent race, landing a gold medal for the fifth successive Winter Olympics.
"She's a really special human being," said Nuis, "she's the best skater in the world. She's been winning World Championships and Olympic medals since she was young.
"She's not winning every race any more. When I saw her win yesterday, it inspired me so much. When you see her win like that, you think, 'I want to do the same'."
Russian Olympic Committee slid from second to seventh on the table, with China nudging up to third spot thanks to Eileen Gu's stunning triumph in the freeski big air.
Gu landed a left double cork 1620, a high-tariff piece of skill, to earn China's third gold of their home Games.
Born in the United States to an American father and Chinese mother, Gu has taken flak on social media for deciding to compete for China.
But she delivered a fiery riposte to her critics, saying: "I know that I have a good heart and I know my reasons for making the decisions I do are based on a greater common interest and something I feel is for the greater good.
"If other people don't really believe that that's where I'm coming from, then that just reflects that they do not have the empathy to empathise with a good heart, perhaps because they don't share the same kind of morals that I do.
"In that sense, I'm not going to waste my time trying to placate people who are, one, uneducated and, two, probably never going to experience the kind of joy and gratitude and love that I have the great fortune to experience on a daily basis.
"If people don't like me, that's their loss. They're never going to win the Olympics."
Germany, who got a gold from Natalie Geisenberger in the women's luge singles, sit alongside China in a share of third, both having two silvers to complement their three gold medals.
Ester Ledecka's latest glorious gold, in parallel giant slalom, gave the Czech Republic a first medal of the Games, meaning they sit in a tie with New Zealand for 15th place.
Medal table (after day five):
1. Sweden (G4 S1 B1, Total: 6)
2. Netherlands (G3 S3 B1, Total: 7)
3. China (G3 S2 B0, Total: 5)
3. Germany (G3 S2 B0, Total: 5)
5. Norway (G3 S1 B4, Total: 8)
6. Italy (G2 S4 B1, Total: 7)
7. Russian Olympic Committee (G2 S3 B5, Total: 10)
8. Austria (G2 S3 B2, Total: 7)
9. Slovenia (G2 S1 B2, Total: 5)
10. France (G1 S4 B0, Total: 5)
Tuesday brought more enthralling action from Beijing, with Olympic records broken and one athlete on the verge of repeating a historic feat.
Ester Ledecka became the first female athlete to claim gold in two separate sports at the same Winter Games back in 2018, and the Czech is out to repeat that achievement this time around.
She is now halfway there, having won the women's parallel giant slalom at Genting Snow Park.
Teenage sensation Eileen Gu was also among the winners on day four, while Canada's women beat the United States 4-2 in the ice hockey, in what many view as a possible dress rehearsal for the final, and Italy defeated Norway to take gold in the mixed doubles curling final.
Ledecka on the brink of double glory
Ledecka clinched gold ahead of Austria's Daniela Ulbing. However, she does not have much time to celebrate, as her focus will now switch from snowboarding to going for the top prize in alpine skiing in three days' time.
"Part of my head is still racing right now on that course," Ledecka said. "The other side of my head is already trying to get through the lines on the skiing course. And then a small part is celebrating the win."
Slovenia's Gloria Kotnik took bronze, finishing on the podium for the first time in a career that has spanned 137 world cup events, 14 world championships and three Olympic Games.
Austria's Benjamin Karl took gold in the men's event. The 36-year-old, who is a five-time world champion, took bronze in the parallel slalom in Sochi and silver in the parallel giant slalom in Pyeongchang, making him the first snowboarder to have a complete set of Olympic medals.
Gu lives up to the billing
Gu had already made several headlines before Beijing 2022 had even begun. The 18-year-old Californian delighted China when she decided to represent the country of her mother's birth instead of the United States.
Nicknamed the "Snow Princess", Gu won two gold medals at both the Winter X Games 2021 and the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, and on Tuesday came first in the big air freestyle final.
"That was the happiest moment, day, whatever – of my life," said Gu, who landed a perfect left double cork 1620 jump for the first time in competition.
"Even if I didn't land it, I felt it would send a message out to the world and hopefully encourage more girls to break their own boundaries," the teenager added.
Olympic record smashed
The Olympic record in the men's 1500m speed skating was broken twice over, as Kjeld Nuis defended his title from 2018 in emphatic style.
Dutchman Nuis now has three golds to his name, having also won the 1000m race in Pyeongchang, and has become the fourth man to win the 1500m twice.
Nuis and his compatriot Thomas Krol, who took silver, both broke the Olympic record of 1:43.95, which had stood for 20 years, with Nuis recording a time of 1:43.21.
In the cross-country skiing, Norway's Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo dominated as he took home gold in the men's sprint free event. He won three gold medals in Pyeongchang and is a two-time defending world champion.
Sweden enjoyed success in the women's equivalent, with world champion Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist completing a one-two.
Three in a row for Geisenberger
Natalie Geisenberger is the first female luge athlete to win gold for the third straight Olympic Games, as she triumphed with a combined time of 3:53.454.
Geisenberger's time was just under half-a-second quicker than her fellow German Anna Berreiter, who claimed silver, with Tayana Ivanova taking bronze for the Russian Olympic Committee.
"It's hard to compare Olympic medals, because every one has its own history," said Geisenberger, who took a break away from the sport in 2020 to have a child.
"My first was very, very special because I was a first-time Olympic champion and now I'm a five-time Olympic champion, but it is the first time as a mother. It's just great.
"Training was done around my child. I think we did a really pretty good job as a family. To have another gold is just amazing and a very special moment."
Sweden claimed top spot in the medal table at the end of day four at Beijing 2022 after winning their third gold thanks to Sara Hector's victory in the alpine skiing women's giant slalom.
Hector finished ahead of Italy's Federica Brignone and Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami on Monday to move Sweden to the top of the table.
The Russian Olympic Committee are into second place after gold in the figure skating team event, and now have the most medals in total at the Games with seven.
Ireen Wust's gold in the women's 1500m speed skating is the second for the Netherlands, with Antoinette de Jong's bronze in the same event and Suzanne Schulting's silver in the 500m final taking their total to five medals overall.
Hosts China are up to fourth after an eventual gold for Ren Ziwei, awarded the win in the men's 1000m speed skating final ahead of Hungary's Liu Shaolin Sandor, who was disqualified for causing a collision.
Germany earned their second gold in Beijing when Denise Herrmann won the women's 15km individual biathlon, while Norway have fallen from first to sixth place in the medal table after a day with just one bronze medal.
Slovenia move down a place to seventh despite becoming the first Olympic champions in the ski jumping mixed team event on the normal hill on Monday.
The team of Nika Kriznar, Timi Zajc, Ursa Bogataj and Peter Prevc finished 111 points ahead of the ROC (890.3), with Canada claiming bronze with a score of 844.6.
Italy claimed gold as Arianna Fontana successfully defended her women's 500m speed skating title to go along with Brignone's skiing silver, while Canada sit just behind them after their first gold of the Games through Max Parrot's snowboard slopestyle effort, with Mark McMorris also grabbing bronze.
Japan endured disappointment on Monday as they slipped from joint-sixth to 10th, with Miho Takagi only managing silver in the women's 1500m speed skating and the figure skating team settling for bronze.
Medal table (after day four):
1. Sweden (G3 S0 B0, Total: 3)
2. Russian Olympic Committee (G2 S3 B2, Total: 7)
3. Netherlands (G2 S2 B1, Total: 5)
4. China (G2 S2 B0, Total: 4)
5. Germany (G2 S1 B0, Total: 3)
6. Norway (G2 S0 B2, Total: 4)
7. Slovenia (G2 S0 B1, Total: 3)
8. Italy (G1 S3 B1, Total: 5)
9. Canada (G1 S1 B4, Total: 6)
10. Japan (G1 S1 B2, Total: 4)
History was made in several events at the Winter Olympics on Monday.
Ireen Wust became the first person to win an individual gold medal at five different Olympics, while young figure skater Kamila Valieva put her name into the record books.
Johan Clarey only claimed silver in the men's alpine skiing, but nevertheless set a record in the process.
Stats Perform has assessed some of the best data points from across the action in Beijing.
5 – Wust, who is retiring next month, secured her sixth gold medal and 12th medal overall at the Olympics as she retained her 1500m title. She is the first person to win an individual gold at five separate Games, while her time of one minute and 58.52 seconds also represents a new Olympic record.
15 – Valieva, who is representing the Russian Olympic Committee, is just 15. However, she became the first female figure skater to land a quadruple jump at an Olympic Games.
1 – Italy will win a medal in curling for the first time, after Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner defeated Sweden 8-1 in their mixed doubles semi-final. They will go up against Norway in the final.
41 – Frenchman Clarey claimed silver in alpine skiing, finishing behind Switzerland's Beat Feuz. In the process, 41-year-old Clarey became the oldest Olympic medallist in the event.
2 – Slovenia won their first gold medal thanks to Ursa Bogataj on Saturday, while her compatriot Nika Kriznar claimed bronze. The duo became the first two female ski jumpers to have won two medals at a single Games on Monday after winning gold in the mixed team event.
18 – At the age of 18 years and 31 days, Alexandria Loutitt is the youngest female athlete to pick up an Olympic medal in ski jumping.
14 – After Loutitt's success, Canada have equalled the United States' record haul of winning a medal in 14 sports at the Games.
33 – Denise Herrmann is now the oldest female biathlete representing Germany to win Olympic gold, set by Uschi Disl, who won gold in the women's relay in 2002 at age 31.
3 – Ren Ziwei became the third male athlete representing China to win individual gold at the Games, after freestyle skier Han Xiaopeng in 2006 and short track skater Wu Dajing.
Canada's Max Parrot won an emotional gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics in the snowboard slopestyle, three years after being diagnosed with cancer.
Parrot's score of 90.96 on his second run was enough to secure victory ahead of China's Su Yiming and fellow Canadian Mark McMorris, who won silver and bronze respectively.
Despite only finishing 10th in qualifying, Parrot put together a high-scoring run to go one better than the silver he achieved at PyeongChang 2018.
"This is so incredibly special, especially with the run I did today. It's the biggest run I've done in my entire career," he said afterwards. "I am extremely proud of myself and to take gold on that run means so much for me."
The 27-year-old was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma – a type of blood cancer – in late 2018 and was forced to stop competing so he could undergo chemotherapy.
However, he announced he was cancer-free in July 2019 and worked to get back to his competitive best.
"I don't take anything for granted anymore," he added. "It made me such a better snowboarder, as well. I try to appreciate every day now – the little things in the morning through to my passion of snowboard. I try to smile all day long now, and the results come with that now as well. It's amazing."
Speed skating glory for Wust
Ireen Wust became the first person to win an individual gold medal at five different Olympics after retaining her 1500m title on Monday.
Wust beat the much-fancied Japanese skater Miho Takagi, who claimed silver, breaking the Olympic record in the process with a time of one minute 53.28 seconds.
The 35-year-old is retiring next month, but despite being ranked seventh at the World Cup, had enough to secure her sixth gold medal and 12th medal overall at the Olympics.
In the shorter track events, Italy's Arianna Fontana retained her 500m title while Hungary's Liu Shaolin Sandor initially won the men's 1000m final but was eventually disqualified for initiating contact when overtaking China's Ren Ziwei.
There was another collision between the two on the finish line but Ren was declared the winner after an official review ahead of countryman Li Wenlong and Liu Shaoang, Sandor's brother.
Valieva makes history in figure skating
The Russian Olympic Committee won gold in the figure skating team event but all eyes were on Kamila Valieva as the 15-year-old became the first female figure skater to land a quadruple jump at an Olympic Games.
The ROC had already sealed the win ahead of the United States and Japan before Valieva executed a quadruple salchow at the start of her free skate, then landing another quad later in the same routine, though she fell after attempting an ambitious third.
Valieva has been breaking records since making her senior debut less than six months ago, becoming the first woman to score more than 90 points and setting a world record in the short program at the European Championships last month.
She is the heavy favourite for the women's event, which takes place on February 15 and 17.
Feuz wins downhill gold
Switzerland's Beat Feuz won the men's downhill, finishing ahead of 41-year-old Frenchman Johan Clarey at Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre.
Feuz's winning run of one minute 42.69 seconds was just one 10th of a second ahead of Clarey.
However, Clarey did make history with his silver medal, becoming the oldest Olympic medallist in alpine skiing, while Austria's Matthias Mayer claimed bronze.
"I knew I only had one chance left in my career to get a medal in the Olympics," Clarey said. "When you are a medallist, whether you are 20 or 41, it doesn't matter."
The first gold medal of the Games went the way of Norway's Therese Johaug, who stormed to success in the women's skiathlon.
Johaug missed the 2018 Winter Olympics as she was serving an 18-month suspension for a positive drugs test.
The Norwegian blamed her positive result on tainted lip balm.
However, she has returned to compete in Beijing and clinched the first gold up for grabs with a supreme display in the 7.5km+7.5km skiathlon, which was held approximately 120km northwest of China's capital.
Johaug, 33, crossed the line in a time of 44 minutes, 13.7 seconds to win what is often regarded as one of the toughest cross-country events.
She finished ahead of Natalia Nepryaeva of the Russian Olympic Committee and third-placed Austrian Teresa Stadlober.
"It was huge for me today. When I missed the Olympics Games in Pyeongchang it means is eight years since I was in Sochi," said Johaug, who is a three-time world champion in this discipline.
"The last year there have been many days away from home and to be at altitude to train to be ready for Beijing. It is huge to me to cross the finish line and know I reached my goal."
There was another gold for Norway on Saturday, as they came out on top in the mixed relay 4x6km biathlon, with France taking silver and the Russian Olympic Committee bronze.
Norway's curling team beat China and Australia in the mixed doubles round-robin stage to cap a fine day for the Scandinavian nation.
Olympic record tumbles
The Netherlands' Irene Schouten broke the Olympic record as she took gold in the women's 3000m speed skating.
Claudia Pechstein, of Germany, had set the previous record back in 2002 in Salt Lake City.
"When you say 20 years ago, the record stands a really long time. I am happy I have it now," Schouten said.
"My last lap was really good. There is a gold medal at the finish and I have to give it all and it was a good last lap."
Schouten cannot celebrate for too long, however, as she has to switch focus to the 5000m race and the team pursuit.
Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida claimed silver, while Isabelle Weidemann's bronze brought up Canada's 200th medal at the Winter Olympics.
China get up and running
There is always extra pressure on the host nation to perform and China managed to secure their first gold, triumphing in the mixed team relay of the short track speed skating.
The Chinese team just managed to hold off a late charge from Italy, who almost pipped them on the line. Hungary took bronze.
Sweden's Walter Wallberg took gold in the men's moguls final, while Slovenia's Ursa Bogataj won in the women's ski jump.
USA and Canada run riot
There were emphatic victories for the United States and Canada in the women's ice hockey.
Canada got into double figures against Finland, winning 11-1, while the USA defeated the Russian Olympic Committee 5-0 in the other Group A game.
Japan overcame Denmark 6-2 and the Czech Republic got the better of Sweden 3-1.
Norway celebrated gold in biathlon and cross-country skiing on Saturday as the most successful nation in Winter Olympics history topped the medals table.
Hosts China also got in on the gold medal action, along with Slovenia, Netherlands and Sweden, but the United States had yet to secure a medal of any colour.
Norway's mixed relay team of Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, Tiril Eckhoff, Tarjei Boe and Johannes Thingnes Boe edged out France and Russian Olympic Committee in a tight finish to the 4 x 6km event, finishing just 0.9 seconds clear.
Roeiseland said: "We did a great job, the whole team, and I'm so happy to race with such good team-mates. It's my first Olympic gold, so I'm super happy.
"It was so exciting to stand and see Johannes cross the finish line first. It was amazing."
Norway had been fifth after the third leg, but Johannes Thingnes Boe showed his prowess to guide the Norwegians into first place, in the event that combines cross-country and rifle shooting.
He said: "My feeling to anchor team Norway for gold, it doesn't get any bigger than this."
Norway's Therese Johaug had earlier won the first gold of the Games in the women's skiathlon, a 15km event.
Johaug was banned from the 2018 Games after a prior doping violation, but in Beijing she was an emphatic champion, finishing over half a minute ahead of Russian Olympic Committee's Natalia Nepryaeva and Austria's Teresa Stadlober, who took silver and bronze respectively.
China's golden moment arrived with success in the short track speed skating mixed team relay, narrowly beating Italy in the final.
Slovenia triumphed in women's ski jumping, Netherlands in women's speed skating and Sweden in men's freestyle skiing moguls.
Shaun White has confirmed the Winter Olympics halfpipe will be his last snowboarding event before retiring from the sport.
The American has a place in Games history under lock and key already, as the first and so far only snowboarder to win three gold medals.
"I really want to finish my career strongly on my own terms and put down some solid runs. If I could do that, I'll be very happy," White said on Saturday.
"I don't know how many kids really aspire to be a cowboy and get to be a cowboy. At a young age, snowboarding is what I wanted more than anything and to be walking in these shoes today is just incredible. It feels so amazing, I'm so proud."
White said he came close to missing a Games bus on Friday night because he was too occupied with trading USA team pins – an Olympics ritual that sees stars and participants swapping the colourful pin badges, amassing collections to take away as mementos.
"I'm having as much fun as I can," White said.
It is worth remembering what White has brought to the Winter Olympics and snow sport as a whole.
At the X Games – the Mardi Gras of extreme sports – White has totted up 23 medals, of which 15 have been gold. Thirteen of those gold medals have come in snowboarding, but two came in skateboarding, highlighting his prowess there.
Eight of his X Games golds came in the halfpipe event, with the other five achieved in slopestyle, the snowboarding variant that features obstacles.
He was the first snowboarder to score a perfect 100 in the halfpipe in the Winter X Games, achieving that 10 years ago in Aspen, Colorado.
White triumphed first at the Games as a 19-year-old in Turin in 2006, defending his title in 2010 in Vancouver, and recovering from the jolt of missing out on the Sochi podium four years later by landing gold again at Pyeongchang.
His score of 97.75 in his second run at Pyeongchang stands as an Olympic record.
His final bid for glory is coming up, with men's halfpipe qualifying taking place on Wednesday, before Zhangjiakou's Genting Snow Park stages the final runs on Friday.
"It will be my last competition, which is pretty special," said White, in a news conference on Saturday.
It was already known this would be his final Olympics.
Now 35, White has been snowboarding since the age of six. The red-haired Californian goes by the nickname of 'The Flying Tomato', and he says the experience of knowing this is his farewell Olympics is "pretty heavy, but I'm enjoying it".
"It's been a beautiful run. Let's see this through and see what's next," he said. "I definitely don't think I'll be leaving the sport anytime soon. All these people within an industry that ride backcountry and pipes. I'm just excited for the next chapter."
China ended a 24-year wait for a women's ice hockey group game win at the Winter Olympics as the hosts earned a 3-1 victory over Denmark.
On the official first day of the Games in Beijing, it was a timely win for the home team at the Wukesong Sports Centre.
There has of course been action ahead of Friday's formal start, and China were beaten 3-1 by Czech Republic in their opening game on Thursday.
But on the day the world began to focus on the snow and ice show in Beijing, the home team raised their game to battle back from going behind to Malene Frandsen's early strike.
Lin Qiqi drew China level when she deflected home Yu Baiwei's shot in the 37th minute, and the teams remained level heading into the final minute. China went ahead with 51 seconds remaining in the third period as Lin Ni rattled in from close range, before Lin Qiqi struck a long-range shot into an empty net moments later to make sure.
Yu said: "It was a big win, also a special day. I think both teams played good. We did not give up until the last minute, last second. I just kept shooting and hoped I could help the team."
Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) beat Switzerland 5-2, and next for the Russians is a Saturday showdown with reigning Olympic champions the United States.
There was American success on Friday in figure skating as the three-day team event got under way, with the USA leading the way after the first three disciplines.
US star Nathan Chen edged out Japan's Shoma Uno in the men's short programme, while Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue led the way in rhythm dance, lifting the Americans to 28 points overall, two clear of ROC and seven ahead of China in third.
USA co-captain Evan Bates said: "Our team has great potential, and that was demonstrated in the great performances. I don't necessarily think we feel surprised to be leading. Looking at the roster, we know we have the potential to bring home the gold medal."
Italy remain the only team with a 100 per cent winning record in curling's mixed doubles after Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini fended off Norway 11-8 and scored a 10-2 trouncing of the Czech Republic team on Friday, making it four wins from four. Canada, Sweden and Great Britain each have three wins so far.
Freestyle skiing star Mikael Kingsbury declared qualifying for the men's moguls final "the icing on the cake" as the defending champion began his Beijing 2022 campaign with a flawless run.
Kingsbury, who won gold at Pyeongchang 2018, suffered a broken back in 2020, fracturing his T4 and T5 vertebrae in training.
He has returned to top form, however, and is heavily fancied to retain his Olympic title after achieving a score of 81.15 at Genting Snow Park in the Zhangjiakou zone on Thursday to qualify automatically for Saturday's final in first place.
Kingsbury has won the most medals at the Freestyle World Championships of any male skier in history and is the reigning world champion in the moguls.
But to be back in contention at the Winter Games is extra special for the Canadian after his injury hell.
"It's been a tough year and a half," Kingsbury told Olympics.com. "And even though we're all wearing masks, it's awesome to be competing.
"I've been dreaming of going to the Olympics since I was a kid and just to be here is so amazing, it's a huge accomplishment just to be able to ski on the Olympic course and to do well is the icing on the cake.
"I'm just very satisfied with my skiing and the progression that I made to the Olympics. And now I feel ready to compete and to perform. And I think the results show today."
Reflecting on his performance, he said: "Great run, difficult conditions, very cold. I did the job that I wanted, I didn't try to do too much. I just did exactly what I needed to do for qualification.
"I know I'm capable of better skiing and jumping a bit better, but for right now, I'm satisfied, and I get a good day off tomorrow to chat with my coaches and come up with a plan to come from stronger for Saturday."
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games officially begin on Friday.
Beijing’s National Stadium - aka, the Bird's Nest - will host the opening ceremony at 20:00 local time (12:00 GMT) 14 years after it did so for the 2008 Summer Games.
President Xi Jinping will be in attendance to officially open the Games, and the ceremony will be directed by celebrated Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who has promised a simpler show than the one he directed in 2008, with an apparently unprecedented method of lighting the Olympic flame.
Away from the pyrotechnics, the flag bearing and the flame lighting, Stats Perform gives you a rundown of what other events take place in Beijing on Friday.
Alpine skiing
The second men's downhill training run takes place on Friday at Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre.
The field includes highly-fancied Swiss star Marco Odermatt as well as one of his closest contenders, Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.
Curling
This will actually be the third day of the mixed doubles competition, with Italy (2-0) the only team to have not yet lost, though they have only played twice while eight of the other nine teams have played three matches. The Italians play Norway (1-2) in the morning session and Czech Republic (2-1) in the afternoon.
Hosts China (2-1) face Canada (1-1) in the afternoon session, after the Canadians take on Switzerland (2-1).
Australia (0-3) are the only team yet to record a win but will have two opportunities to do so on Friday. They play Sweden (2-1) in the morning followed by Great Britain (2-1) in the afternoon, when Sweden also face the United States (1-2).
Figure skating
The team event begins on Friday, with the men's single short programme followed by the ice dance rhythm dance and the pairs short programme.
The United States, Russian Olympic Committee and Japan are expected to perform well, though Japanese superstar Hanyu Yuzuru is saving himself for the men's singles competition, with Uno Shoma listed instead for the short programme.
Ice hockey
Two more games in the women's preliminary round take place as hosts China face Denmark while Russian Olympic Committee take on Switzerland.
Both China and Switzerland will be hoping to fare better than they did on Thursday, with the former losing 3-1 to Czech Republic while the latter were thrashed 12-1 by Canada.
Luge
It is also the third day of the luge, with the fifth and sixth men's training runs scheduled for Friday.
The German and Austrian athletes have so far dominated in Group A while the slightly more open Group B has seen Italy's representatives mostly impress, though Latvia's Kristers Aparjods has also been among the frontrunners.
Ski jumping
Day two of the men's and women's normal hill training takes place at the Zhangjiakou National Ski Jumping Centre.
Thursday saw Japan's Sara Takanashi rank first in two of the three women's rounds, while in the men's event there was little consistency to be found anywhere, though Norway's Daniel Huber registered the longest jump of 106 metres across the three rounds.
Olympics chief Thomas Bach has confirmed he will meet with tennis star Peng Shuai during the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
There has been global concern expressed for the safety, whereabouts and wellbeing of Chinese player Peng, who has competed at three summer Olympic Games.
In December, Peng denied making an accusation of sexual assault against a Chinese government official, saying there had been "a lot of misunderstandings" about a post on social media in November.
That post on her Weibo account, since removed, contained sexual assault allegations against Zhang Gaoli, the ex-vice premier and member of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee.
Amid concerns for Peng after the accusation, the head of the women's tennis tour, WTA chairman Steve Simon, said he struggled to believe she had sent him an email that claimed the allegations were false and that she was safely at home.
The WTA has since suspended all its tournaments in China.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Bach said in a news conference on the eve of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony that 36-year-old Peng was living in Beijing, and that she claimed to be allowed to move freely. He said the IOC would support Peng if she considered an "inquiry" into her circumstances necessary.
Bach's stance throughout has been that "quiet diplomacy" is required, and he did not deviate from that on Thursday. He explained Peng would enter the "closed loop" of the Games, which has been designed to separate the Olympics from the rest of Beijing during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"The answer is, yes, we will have the meeting," Bach said, when the issue was raised in a news conference.
"I'm very happy and grateful to Peng Shuai that she will enter, in order to have this meeting, because she also wanted to have this. We discussed it in November."
Bach said the IOC had previously made contact with Peng "to get to know where she is and as far as possible how she is". He has already spoken to Peng via video link.
"What better way than to have a personal meeting," he added. "This is why already in the first meeting, I said I want to meet personally once I arrive in China, and this will happen.
"It is also not only a sign of respect, but a necessity to respect her and then to listen to her and how she sees the situation, how she wants to live her life. This is what we are step by step trying to find out.
"If she wants to have an inquiry, of course we would also support her in this, but it must be her decision. It's her life; it's her allegations. We have heard the allegations, and we have heard the withdrawal.
"We will have this personal meeting and there we will continue this conversation, and we will know better about her physical integrity and her mental state when we can meet in person. This was the objective of this initiative from the very beginning.
"We say it publicly we have this information, but so far only by video conference. This cannot replace the personal contact and appearance.
"We know from her explanations during these video conferences that she is living here, in Beijing. She's reporting she can move freely, she's spending time with her family and friends, and now we will be able to do the next step in a personal meeting to convince us of her wellbeing and her state of mind."
Canada have reported five COVID-19 cases among their Winter Olympics delegation in Beijing.
The names of those infected have not been released, nor has it been specified whether those affected are athletes or support staff, or a combination of those.
The Beijing 2022 opening ceremony takes place on Friday, February 4, although curling begins two days earlier and freestyle skiing and ice hockey start on the eve of the Games.
The Canadian Olympic Committee said in a statement: "Currently five out of the 246 members of the Team Canada delegation in Beijing are in COVID-19 protocols.
"We are following the Beijing 2022 playbook rules. Part of our strategy was to arrive early to allow time for confirmation testing and, if necessary, the medical expert panel process to unfold.
"Because there will likely be persistent shedders among the delegation, we will not be sharing names at this time. Members of Team Canada's delegation include athletes, coaches and mission team."
Persistent shedders are those who have recovered from having the coronavirus and may no longer be contagious, but who still have remnants of the virus in their system.
The Beijing Games playbook for athletes is their guide to the Games, and it outlines COVID-19 rules, with those that test positive to be taken to a designated hospital if symptomatic, or to an isolation facility if showing no outward signs of the virus.
Canada has a rich tradition of success at the Winter Olympics, finishing third on the medal table at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The news comes a day after Norway's reigning Winter Olympics skiathlon champion Simen Hegstad Kruger was revealed to have tested positive.
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