The "Snow Princess" Eileen Gu will look to add to her women's freeski big air gold medal when she competes in the slopestyle event at Beijing 2022 on Tuesday.

Gu – representing host nation China at the Winter Olympics – only finished third in qualifying, but could once again be saving her best for the final in front of her many fans.

Elsewhere, 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.

Ledecka already has a parallel giant slalom snowboard title at these games but came up short in the super-G when she made the switch to skis, though she hopes to be ready for the downhill after having had some days of rest.

"I'm really looking forward to it because I didn't have much sleep these two days and I will prepare myself, as good as I can," Ledecka said after her super-G disappointment.

Here, Stats Perform previews these and the rest of Tuesday's medal events.

Alpine skiing

The flagship event of alpine skiing takes place on Tuesday with the women's downhill, and while all eyes will be on whether Ledecka can double up on her gold medals again, she is not really among the favourites heading into it.

Switzerland duo Priska Nufer and Joana Haehlen were fastest in the two training runs possible so far (the third was cancelled for bad weather on Sunday). It is another Swiss competitor, Lara Gut-Behrami, who will likely be the one to beat after her gold in the super-G and bronze in the giant slalom already in Beijing.

Defending champion Sofia Goggia of Italy will try to become only the second athlete after Katja Seizinger of Germany to retain an Olympic title in the downhill event.

Biathlon

Norway will be looking to continue their dominance when the men's 4x7.5km relay takes place, having won four of the seven gold medals on offer so far in biathlon, and nine medals in all.

They also won the final IBU World Cup 4x7.5km relay in Italy before the Olympics, beating Russia and Germany into second and third.

Bobsleigh

Germany are in pole position to be among the medals in the two-man event after the first two heats, with Francesco Friedrich leading the way with a combined time of one minute, 58.38 seconds, ahead of compatriot Johannes Lochner (+0.15 seconds) and the Russian Olympic Committee's Rostislav Gaitiukevich (+0.94 seconds).

It already seems unlikely that anyone other than the highly decorated Friedrich or Lochner will take the gold when the final two heats happen on Tuesday, but another German, Christoph Hafer, as well as Michael Vogt (Switzerland) and Benjamin Maier (Austria) remain in with a chance of troubling the race for bronze.

Freestyle skiing

While Gu will be the headline act as the 2021 slopestyle world champion, her second run score of 79.38 was good enough only for third in qualifying, with Estonia's Kelly Sildaru finishing first with an 86.15, and Norway's Johanne Killi second on 86.00.

France's Tess Ledeux will be hoping to make up for missing out on a win in the big air, while defending champion Sarah Hoefflin of Switzerland surprisingly failed to qualify, finishing in 20th place.

Nordic combined

The individual Gundersen large hill 10km takes place on Tuesday, an event in which all three medals were won by Germany at PyeongChang 2018.

Though German Vinzenz Geiger won gold in the normal hill event on Wednesday, strong competition is expected again from Norway's Joergen Graabak and Austria's Lukas Greiderer, who took silver and bronze in the normal hill event.

Question marks remain over the involvement of pre-Olympics favourites Jarl Magnus Riiber (Norway) and Kristjan Ilves (Estonia) after both tested positive for COVID-19, but the latter was recently able to leave isolation and took part in official training.

Snowboard

Big things are again expected of New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski-Synnott in the women's big air final, having already won gold in the slopestyle event.

"I've got a new trick I've been working on," she promised after being the only qualifier to score over 90 on Monday. "I've had to reset since slopestyle, put that gold to the back of my mind. It hasn't sunk in yet. But I'm pretty stoked to put those jumps down."

In the men's event, Canada's Mark McMorris will try to become the first snowboarder to win four Olympic medals, while compatriot Max Parrot is looking to follow up on his gold in the slopestyle, which would make him the first snowboarder to win two gold medals at the same Olympic Games.

Speed skating

The women's team pursuit sees Japan defend their title from 2018, while the Netherlands will be hoping to add to their four gold medals (eight overall) in speed skating, while also getting revenge for losing their 2014 title in the final in PyeongChang.

The men's event has been an open contest since its introduction in 2006, with no country having won gold more than once. All the former champions – Italy, Canada, Netherlands and Norway – have qualified for the event, but Netherlands will likely be favourites having won 12 of 13 world championships in this event.

Norway jumped back to top spot in the Beijing 2022 medal table after another golden moment from Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, while Erin Jackson's historic gold kept up American momentum.

Germany had a barren Sunday in Beijing so dropped from first place to second, with Norway climbing after Roeiseland's triumph in the women's 10km pursuit biathlon and a cross-country skiing silver for the men's 4x10km relay team.

Roeiseland savoured her third gold of the Games, and fourth medal overall. She still has two events to come and is feeling the strain, by her own admission.

"It's something special about the Olympics and I haven't slept so good the past two nights," she said. "Of course it's a bit more pressure and you want to do something big.

"I just tried to be right here, right now and focus on the race. Before the start, my shooting coach told me to remember to enjoy this. This is once in a lifetime. He was so right."

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo was part of the relay squad and now has a medal of each colour. Norway were denied gold, which went to Russian Olympic Committee.

But silver felt good all the same, and Klaebo said afterwards: "We all need to be satisfied with today's result, and I guess we're going to celebrate it in the evening and then some of us need to start preparing for the next race. But still we're going to enjoy this evening."

Team USA, third on the table, won just one medal on Sunday, but it was a special one as Jackson triumphed in the women's 500 metres speed skating.

Trailblazer Jackson became the first black woman to win a speed skating gold at the Games, and she said of that fact: "I just hope it will do something for the sport. Hopefully more people will see this and will be, like, 'Oh, maybe I should try some of these winter sports'."

The 29-year-old's place in the Games was in doubt when she slipped in the trials, before Brittany Bowe gave up her automatic spot to allow Jackson to compete.

"It's been a big roller coaster. There's been happiness, stress, happiness. It's been a wild ride but this makes it even sweeter," said Jackson after landing gold.

"I came into our Olympic trials kind of expecting to qualify easily. Unfortunately, I didn't qualify. At the time, we only knew of having two Olympic spots and I placed third. My team-mate Brittany Bowe was amazing, very selfless. She sacrificed her spot. I was really grateful for her doing that and then luckily we ended up getting that third spot, so then she was able to race as well.

"It was just amazing having her out there on the ice. We could just be happy together after the race. She hugged me, said she is really proud of me, and I just said a lot of thank-yous. I will be grateful to her forever."

Norway have nine gold medals, Germany have eight, while the United States and Netherlands – fourth on the table – both have six.

The order of the medals table is dictated by which team have the most gold medals, rather than by total medal haul.

Norway have the most medals overall, with their total of 21 four better than Russian Olympic Committee's aggregate. Next with 14 medals are Germany and Austria, who sit sixth on the medal table, plus Canada. The Canadians have just one gold, however, to go with their four silver medals and nine bronze, so they sit 14th on the official table.

Medal table:

1. Norway (G9 S5 B7, Total: 21)
2. Germany (G8 S5 B1, Total: 14)
3. United States (G6 S5 B1, Total: 12)
4. Netherlands (G6 S4 B2, Total: 12)
5. Sweden (G5 S3 B3, Total: 11)
6. Austria (G4 S6 B4, Total: 14)
7. Russian Olympic Committee (G4 S5 B8, Total: 17)
8. China (G4 S3 B2, Total: 9)
9. Switzerland (G3 S0 B5, Total: 8)
10. France (G2 S6 B2, Total: 10)

The Netherlands' short track speed skating team took strength from fond memories of Lara van Ruijven as they secured gold in the women's 3,000m relay on Sunday in Beijing.

The death of Van Ruijven from the sudden onset of an autoimmune illness in July 2020 naturally hit the Dutch team hard. She was already a world champion in the 500m and would likely have competed in Beijing.

While they hold the world record and are ranked number one, it was far from a certainty they would seal the win against strong competition from South Korea and China, who finished second and third respectively.

The Dutch team, anchored by 1,000m champion Suzanne Schulting, set an Olympic record with a time of four minutes, 3.409 seconds, and were understandably emotional on the podium as they received their gold medals.

Yara van Kerkhof said after the race: "Lara is still in our team and she is always in our minds and in our hearts. She was a big reason we had so much fun in this sport, and she is a big reason why we are here.

"I asked Lara to give us strength. I don't know if it helps, but it feels like she is with us, and it feels like it helps. So we take her with us on the ice. We knew we were so good this season."

Schulting added: "It was really important to become Olympic champions, and I am so proud of the girls. Today, Lara proudly looked down on us.

"She has a special place in our hearts. This was her dream, too."

The other short track medals of the day were in the men's 500m, with Liu Shaoang of Hungary taking gold ahead of Konstantin Ivliev of the Russian Olympic Committee in second and Canada's Steven Dubois in third.

In the speed skating, the women's 500m gold went to Erin Jackson of the United States, while the silver was taken by Japan's Miho Takagi and the bronze went to Angelina Golikova of the Russian Olympic Committee.

Odermatt comes through on the slopes

Big things were expected of Swiss star Marco Odermatt coming into these Games, but that did not take away from a sensational win in difficult conditions in the men's giant slalom.

As the snow fell, so did many of the participants, but Odermatt was able to seal gold ahead of Slovenia's Zan Kranjec and France's Mathieu Faivre.

Having not won any medals in the 2021 World Championships or in any of the previous speed events in Beijing, Odermatt had plenty to prove but raced down the slope in a total time from his two runs of two minutes, 9.35 seconds, just 0.19 seconds ahead of Kranjec.

"We changed the ski and binding for the second run because I didn't feel so good on the feet after the first run," Odermatt said. "It took some courage to do it after leading the Olympic race, but it was definitely the right decision.

"Those 19-hundredths are not much. It was definitely because I changed the ski."

Russians win cross-country relay gold

Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) sealed gold in the men's 4x10km relay in cross-country skiing, ahead of Norway and France.

Having also won gold in the women’s 4x5km relay on Saturday, it was another day of triumph and dominance for the Russian team, who led from start to finish.

ROC's margin of victory of one minute, 7.2 seconds is the largest in the event since Norway defeated Italy by one minute, 26.7 seconds in 1992.

Alexey Chervotkin and Alexander Bolshunov gave their team a healthy lead before Denis Spitsov and Sergey Ustiugov brought it home with ease.

This was Bolshunov's third medal at Beijing 2022, adding to his victory in the skiathlon and a silver in the 15km classic.

Chervotkin was also part of the team that came second behind Norway in Pyeongchang and said that everything just "aligned" on the day.

"We were aiming for this,” he said after the win. “We tried to achieve it, and for several years we haven't been able to.

"Today everything aligned. Everything was super. The weather seemed to be hard and there was snow, but it was in our favour so everything was great."

Biathlon dominance continues

Norway's Marte Olsbu Roeiseland secured the women's 10km pursuit at Zhangjiakou on Sunday to win her fourth biathlon medal of the Games, the first woman to ever achieve such a feat.

The 31-year-old missed just a single shot at the range to make it three golds and a bronze from four events at Beijing 2022.

"I had really good preparation and I was looking forward to these Olympics for a really long time," she said after her latest win. "Every medal is special. I'm just trying to be right here and right now and be present. Right now I'm just enjoying this moment."

France's Quentin Fillon Maillet won the men's 12.5km pursuit to also seal his fourth medal in Beijing.

"I never expected to have four medals in four races," said Fillon Maillet, who has won two gold and two silver. "My goal, it's to have one in relay and one in individual, but right now I have four medals and that's incredible."

No man or woman is an island, but if Marte Olsbu Roeiseland classed herself as a country, she would sit ahead of Canada, France, Italy and Japan on the Winter Olympics medal table.

Norway are fortunate to have her, with the 31-year-old on Sunday landing her third gold medal of the Beijing 2022 Games when she triumphed in biathlon's women's 10km pursuit. She also has a bronze from this fruitful trip to China.

Roeiseland became the second biathlete to win the women's sprint and pursuit at a single Olympics, following Laura Dahlemeier four years ago in Pyeongchang.

Just how great her achievement is can be quantified by the fact only one biathlete before Roeiseland has won four medals in a Winter Olympics, and that was her legendary compatriot Ole Einar Bjorndalen, who landed four golds at Salt Lake City in 2002, on the way to his career haul of eight gold, four silver and a bronze.

Norway now have eight medals in biathlon at Beijing 2022, and with five events remaining, Germany's record haul of 11 medals, set in 2006, is in their sights.

Roeiseland still has the 4x6km relay on Wednesday to come before the 12.5km mass start event on Saturday, so her personal collection of medals may not be complete yet.

There were plenty of other stars breaking records and posting remarkable achievements, and Stats Perform looks here at the numbers behind their stories.

5 - Marco Odermatt of Switzerland won gold in the men's giant slalom skiing event, backing up his World Cup form after four wins from five races this season. His feat gave the Swiss their fifth giant slalom gold in the history of the Games, matching Austria's record.

7 - Russian Olympic Committee's 4x10km cross-country skiing relay triumph saw history made by Alexander Bolshunov, a key cog in the ROC team. The 25-year-old became the first male athlete representing either the Soviet Union, Unified Team, Russian Federation, Olympic Athletes from Russia or ROC to win seven medals at the Winter Olympics. Farmer's son Bolshunov won three silver and a bronze in Pyeongchang, and he has two gold and a silver from Beijing.

98 - Biathlete Quentin Fillon Maillet became the first French athlete to win four medals in a single Winter Olympics when he triumphed in the 12.5km pursuit, and the first from his country to take four at any Olympics - winter or summer - since fencer Roger Ducret did so 98 years ago when Paris put on the 1924 Games. He has two gold and two silver medals.

17 - Slovakian ice hockey perhaps has a major new star in 17-year-old Juraj Slafkovsky, who leads the men's tournament scoring charts with four goals already (the same number as Sweden's Lucas Wallmark). Youngster Slafkovsky was expected to be a fringe member of the squad but has shone on the big stage, netting on Sunday in a 5-2 victory over Latvia - Slovakia's first win of the competition. They await a qualification play-off on Tuesday, and may again look to Slafkovsky for inspiration. The boy wonder said: "If someone would have told me before coming here that I would score one goal, I would laugh, but actually it is happening. I am pretty surprised. I was coming here for some other role and I am just so happy it is working so well."

Marte Olsbu Roeiseland and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo have already struck gold in Beijing, and the Norwegians go into Sunday's programme with designs on adding to their hauls.

There could be a stirring success for the Netherlands in short track speed skating, where the Dutch 3,000m relay women will have late former team-mate Lara van Ruijven not far from their thoughts.

The United States and Germany clash in men's ice hockey qualification, while the men's giant slalom promises to be another highlight of the day.

Here, Stats Perform previews each of the day's medal events.

Alpine skiing

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt should be the man to beat in the giant slalom, having won four of five races this season to top the World Cup standings, finishing runner-up on the other occasion.

There has been a pattern in this event, however, that has seen the last three Olympic gold medals go to the reigning world champion. France's Mathieu Faivre won the world title last year, but has not been having the best season.

Another likely contender is Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen, who has one World Cup win this year and took Olympic silver in 2018 at Pyeongchang. Norway last won men's giant slalom Olympic gold in 1952.

Biathlon

Roeiseland has two golds and a bronze already in Beijing, and it would be brave to back against her in the 10km pursuit, given she has won four of the six World Cup races this season.

Perhaps the big threat will come from another Norwegian, world champion Tiril Eckhoff, who won seven of 10 races last season. Roeiseland and Eckhoff were team-mates in Norway's mixed relay triumph on the first Saturday of the Games.

The men's 12.5km pursuit is also on Sunday's schedule.

Cross-country

Klaebo has a gold and a bronze for his endeavours in China so far, and opportunity knocks again in the men's 4x10km relay.

He and Norway won gold in this event in Pyeongchang and at the last two editions of the World Championships, and a repeat is a distinct possibility, although Russia are also strong.

Klaebo is savouring another Games experience, saying this week: "In Norway we have this culture of a lot of people watching the Olympic Games, especially the cross-country. It's been for sure a lot of pressure about it and for us athletes it has been challenging sometimes. But I think we have managed to do it right, and I hope they are satisfied back home."

Short track speed skating

The death of Van Ruijven from the sudden onset of an autoimmune illness in July 2020 naturally hit the Dutch team hard. She was already a world champion in the 500m and would doubtless have competed in Beijing.

Coach Jeroen Otter spoke of his continuing sorrow ahead of Sunday's relay, where the Dutch will be firm gold medal favourites.

Otter said: "For me, Lara was a very special person. With my age, they could be my daughters, sometimes it feels like that.

"We lost her in a few days. We brought her to the hospital and I came to visit her. She was happy because she saw someone that spoke Dutch, in this strange hospital in Perpignan. Then a day and a half later, you get the message that she is having an operation. And then, it was over.

"Her team-mates are young athletes, and they bounce back. It's good that they are young. But I'm an old guy. It's easier for them to place it. Every coach wants their team to win, but it will be very special for me if they can do this one.

"For years, we've been dreaming about this team with Lara."

The 1,000m gold medallist Suzanne Schulting will anchor that team, while the men's 500m is also on Sunday's bill.

Speed skating

American Erin Jackson used to be a roller derby star, a wheeled wonder in that riotously exciting world, and a high-level racer on those skates too. Once she discovered blades and ice, a whole new sporting challenge opened up, and on Sunday the 29-year-old Floridian will be aiming to top the podium in the 500m.

She is bidding to become the first American woman to triumph over that short distance in the Olympics since Bonnie Blair in 1994 and brings strong form to the rink, having won four of this season's eight World Cup races in the discipline.

Norway claimed two gold medals on Saturday but Hannah Neise's skeleton triumph saw Germany maintain top spot in the Winter Olympics medals table.

Marius Lindvik ended Norway's 58-year wait for success in the men's individual ski jumping event, while Johannes Thingnes Boe triumphed for Norway in the men's 10km biathlon.

Boe's gold was combined with a bronze for his older brother Tarjei, while France's Quentin Fillon Maillet claimed silver – his third medal of the Beijing Games.

The pair of golds took Norway onto eight in total for the Games, while Lindvik's was the 200th in the nation's Olympic history across both summer and winter events.

However, it is Germany who kept hold of top spot in the medals table thanks to Neise's win in the women's skeleton and a silver for their women's relay team in the cross-country skiing.

"It is mind-blowing. I can't realise it right now. I think it takes some time. It's an unbelievable feeling," said Neise.

"I felt very confident, especially today. I don't know how to describe it. I worked a lot on my mental health and it was on point today."

Germany have won every sliding race so far at the Beijing Games, with Neise equally as thrilled by that team feat as her own.

"It means a lot, especially for skeleton sliders," she added. "We haven't had so many medals the past years, and we are very proud to represent our country and our federation. It's a step forward for us."

Norway (17) have the most medals overall, and have three more golds than the United States, the Netherlands and Sweden.

All three of those nations won medals on Saturday, with the USA triumphing in the mixed team snowboarding big cross final to move from sixth to third, while Sweden and the Netherlands took bronze in the women's cross-country skiing relay and the women's skeleton respectively.

Austria are in sixth with four golds, while success for speed skater Tingyu Gao in the men's 500m race has China on four golds too, in seventh.

The Russian Olympic Committee claimed a third gold with a victory in the women's cross-country skiing relay, with Italy and Japan rounding out the top 10 having both won silver medals on Saturday.

Medal table:

1. Germany (G8 S5 B1, Total: 14)
2. Norway (G8 S3 B6, Total: 17)
3. United States (G5 S5 B1, Total: 11) 
4. Netherlands (G5 S4 B2, Total: 11)
5. Sweden (G5 S2 B3, Total: 10)
6. Austria (G4 S6 B4, Total: 14)
7. China (G4 S3 B1, Total: 8)
8. Russian Olympic Committee (G3 S4 B6, Total: 13)
9. Italy (G2 S5 B4, Total: 11)
10. Japan (G2 S3 B5, Total: 10)

American old hands Nick Baumgartner and Lindsey Jacobellis landed a glorious gold in the Winter Olympics mixed team snowboard cross on Saturday.

Jacobellis, 36, followed her individual triumph earlier in the Games by pairing up with 40-year-old Baumgartner, who became the oldest snowboard medallist in Olympic history.

Mainstays of the United States team, the veterans proved a fine combination in the inaugural staging of the mixed team event.

For Baumgartner, who could only manage 10th in the men's individual event on Thursday, topping the podium marked the pinnacle of his career. At his fourth Games, he finally has a medal to show.

The Michigan man said he had become "hungrier" for success as the years have passed, adding: "As you get older, it's tough to watch the young kids take over and try to push you out of the sport, so that hunger is strong.

"We're embracing oldies for goldies! I don't need a jacket right now as I have an inner fire burning!"

He had a message for all 40-year-olds: that there is no reason to step back from life goals.

"You're never too late to take what you want from life and follow your dreams," Baumgartner said. "You let yourself down if you quit too early, [it] doesn't matter how old you are.

"Our success at our age is a perfect example of that and we both hope our stories can inspire other people to go out there. You get one shot at life, you should live the life you want and don't let anything stop you, [it] doesn't matter how old you are. Hard work is the answer. Go out there and get it."

The brilliant Boe brothers

Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Boe and Tarjei Boe took gold and bronze respectively in biathlon's men's 10-kilometre sprint, a giddy thrill for the brothers who grew up amid standard sibling rivalry.

France's Quentin Fillon Maillet denied them a one-two, but it was a gleeful day for the brothers who also won gold in the mixed relay on the opening Saturday.

Younger brother Johannes Thingnes said afterwards that Tarjei, five years his senior, had been "a pain in the butt until he moved out when he was 16, then we saw less of each other".

"Biathlon is easy compared to all the competitions I've had with him," added the champion. "I'm so proud. I'm more proud of him than I am of myself. A bronze medal means gold to him."

They are the first siblings to win medals in the same individual biathlon race in an Olympics, and Tarjei saluted his brother's development, saying: "I saw it quite early, 10 years ago or maybe earlier, that he would be unbeatable in a few years.

"My goal was to win as much as I could before he grew up, and I did – the start of my career was quite strong. Now he is by far the best athlete in the world."

Big hill, big thrill for Lindvik

Norway's Marius Lindvik won the large hill ski jumping gold, finishing ahead of Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi and Germany's Karl Geiger.

Poland's Kamil Stoch took fourth place, edged out of the medals as he attempted in vain to win a third consecutive large hill gold.

Lindvik had finished seventh in the normal hill event but made up for disappointment there with two giant jumps as he became Norway's first champion in the large hill discipline since 1964.

"I knew if I had a good day I was going to fight for the medals," Lindvik said. "After the normal hill I took a step back and reset and just looked forward to the big hill.

"It was probably two of my best jumps. It's pretty sick that I managed to perform two good jumps when it counts."

Golden Gao lifts hosts, breaks curse

Tingyu Gao took the men's speed skating 500 metres title in an Olympic record of 34.32 seconds, giving hosts China a fourth gold of the Games.

It made the 24-year-old, who was a bronze medallist four years ago in Pyeongchang, only the second Chinese speed skater to win an Olympic gold medal. Zhang Hong was the first in 2014, winning the women's 1,000m.

Gao said he intended to "go back to school" after achieving his sporting goal and predicted China would be "unstoppable" in speed skating in years to come.

He was China's flagbearer at the opening ceremony, and that has typically been seen as a cursed privilege, with those handed the honour often failing to match expectations when they go into action.

Gao bucked that trend and said: "I was really scared of this, but as the Republic of China's flagbearer, I wanted to win gold for China.

"In the competition, I didn't care about the curse. I think I did very well leading the Chinese athletes to achieve their goals. As a Chinese you need to walk the talk and fulfil your promises."

Saturday sees us pass the halfway point of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, with six medals on the line in China's capital.

More drama awaits in the snowboarding as the first mixed team snowboard cross takes place at the Olympics, while Japan's Kobayashi Ryoyu looks to cement his place as the world's premier ski jumper.

One of the more intriguing non-medal events of the day will see the United States and Canada face off in the men's ice hockey, the first time that the two nations have met since Canada beat their rivals 1-0 in the semi-finals at Sochi 2014.

Here, Stats Perform previews each of the day's medal events. 

Biathlon

Norway's Johannes Thingnes Boe already has two medals from these Games, but is aiming to arguably win his most important one on Saturday in the men's 10km sprint, the only one that eluded him at Pyeongchang 2018.

He will likely face fierce competition from France's Quentin Fillon Maillet, who won gold in the individual biathlon on Tuesday, while Sweden's Sebastian Samuelsson could also be one to keep an eye on.

Samuelsson currently leads the World Cup standings and finished ahead of both Boe and Fillon Maillet in consecutive sprint events in Ostersund earlier in the season.

Cross-country skiing

The women's 4x5km relay takes place on Saturday, with Norway hoping to successfully defend their title from Pyeongchang.

Norway has won two of the last three golds in this race, with Sweden taking the win at Sochi 2014.

Skeleton

Women's skeleton is celebrating its 20th year on the Olympic programme, and Germany's Tina Hermann will be hoping to replicate the success of compatriot Christopher Grotheer, who won the men's gold on Friday.

Hermann won the test event at this track in October, and sits in third place on a time of two minutes, 4.57 seconds after the first two heats on Friday. 

Australia's Jaclyn Narracott is in first place heading into the final two heats on two minutes, ahead of another German, Hannah Neise.

Ski jumping

The men's large hill event qualifying saw Norway's Marius Lindvik and Halvor Egner Granerud take first and second respectively, and both will be fancied in Saturday's final.

Granerud was the 2020-21 overall World Cup winner, but he and his compatriot will have to look out for Japan's Kobayashi Ryoyu, arguably the favourite for gold. The 25-year-old won the recent Four Hills Tournament as well as the normal hill event in Beijing.

According to the Beijing 2022 website, the large hill at the National Ski Jumping Centre has a height of 446 feet, "with the landing funnelling straight into a large stadium which can be used for football matches in the summer."

Snowboard

History will be made as the first mixed team snowboard cross medals will be handed out at the Olympic Games.

Pairs made up of one male and one female competitor will face off in quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final on Saturday, with current world champions Australia among the favourites along with the United States. 

There will be 15 teams competing from 10 nations, with Australia, Canada, France, Italy and the United States having two teams.

Speed skating

Haavard Lorentzen will look to defend his title from 2018 but faces strong competition in the men's 500m. The 29-year-old set an Olympic record in Pyeongchang and became the first Norwegian to win gold in the event since 1948.

Canada's Laurent Dubreuil recorded the fastest time in the 500m last year and is currently at the top of the World Cup standings, while South Korea's Cha Min-kyu will aim to make amends for missing out four years ago when Lorentzen beat him by 0.01 of a second in the final.

Europe dominated the Winter Olympics medal table after Friday's successes were shared out, with no nation picking up more than one gold and Germany holding on to top spot.

Snowboard halfpipe champion Ayumu Hirano was the only non-European to earn podium-topping honours, as he delivered Japan's second gold in Beijing.

Hirano competed in skateboarding at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and said that stood him in good stead for his mission on snow, as he fended off rivals including Shaun White, who finished in fourth.

"Experiencing something that is different from snowboarding helps me mentally and how I manage my emotions," Hirano said.

"Skateboarding helped me substantially in that sense. This event was a huge challenge for me, but that experience itself gave me a lot of confidence, looking back over the last four years. Skateboarding helped make me stronger."

American success dried up for 24 hours, after a golden day for Team USA on Thursday, and they slipped to sixth after missing out on the medals front.

Germany consolidated first place, now with seven gold and two silver medals, after Christopher Grotheer led a one-two in men's skeleton, ahead of team-mate Axel Jungk.

Norway sit second, with Marte Olsbu Roeiseland an emphatic winner of the women's 7.5km sprint biathlon and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo taking bronze in the men's 15km classic cross-country, behind Finnish winner Iivo Niskanen.

Klaebo, a 25-year-old who has four Olympic gold medals to his name, including three from 2018 in Pyeongchang, did not mind his first experience of a lower position on the podium at the Games.

"For me it's the first [Olympic] medal in distance and I think this one is as good as a gold medal for sure. So really, really satisfied," he said.

Netherlands struck gold in speed skating again, this time in the short course 1,000 metres discipline as Suzanne Schulting successfully defended her title. After setting a world record to win her quarter-final, Schulting did not need to go so quickly in the final.

She was runner-up in the 500m earlier in her Beijing campaign, and said on Friday: "I was really happy with the silver. But when I was at the medal plaza and stood on the medal podium, I was like, 'I really want to have that gold one'. So it was kind of motivation for today."

Behind third-placed Netherlands sat Sweden, who landed a second speed skating gold through Nils van der Poel, and then Austria, completing an all-European top five on the medal table, with the USA and China sixth and seventh after relatively quiet days.

Medal table:

1. Germany (G7 S4 B0, Total: 11)
2. Norway (G6 S3 B5, Total: 14)
3. Netherlands (G5 S4 B1, Total: 10)
4. Sweden (G5 S2 B2, Total: 9)
5. Austria (G4 S6 B4, Total: 14)
6. United States (G4 S5 B1, Total: 10)
7. China (G3 S3 B1, Total: 7)
8. Russian Olympic Committee (G2 S4 B6, Total: 12)
9. Italy (G2 S4 B4, Total: 10)
10. Japan (G2 S2 B4, Total: 8)

Ayumu Hirano finally secured gold in the men's snowboard halfpipe as boarding legend Shaun White narrowly missed out on a medal at his final Winter Olympic Games.

Hirano could only manage silver medals at Sochi 2014 and at Pyeongchang in 2018, and he sat in second place again behind Australian rival Scotty James heading into his third and final run.

The Japanese star executed a perfect 1440 triple cork followed by a back-to-back 1260 and a frontside 1440 to earn a score of 96.00 and his first Olympic title.

James finished in second with a score of 92.50, while Swiss athlete Jan Scherrer claimed bronze with 87.25.

White turned back the clock with a second run that scored 85.00, but on his final attempt, the 35-year-old attempted an ambitious jump that he was unable to land, ending his medal hopes as he finished in fourth place.

An emotional White, who confirmed before Beijing 2022 that these would be his final Games, said: "Snowboarding, thank you. It's been the love of my life."

Hirano was delighted with his victory, and claimed that the anger he felt for receiving a lower score than James for his second run spurred him on to pull off a near-perfect final run.

"I did what I wanted to do right at the end," Hirano said. "I wasn't able to accept the second run's score, but I managed to express my anger well at the end."

Schulting confirms speed skating dominance

Suzanne Schulting won gold in the short track speed skating 1,000m on Friday, retaining the title she won four years ago in Pyeongchang, becoming the first woman since 1998 to win consecutive Olympic titles in short track speed skating.

Having broken the world record in her quarter-final (one minute, 26.514 seconds), Dutch star Schulting narrowly beat South Korea's Choi Min-jeong in a time of 1:28.391.

Belgian Hanne Desmet took bronze after a collision between Italy's Arianna Fontana and Kristen Santos of the United States.

"I became really confident out there after skating a world record," Schulting said after her win. "I was focusing on what I had to do and on my technique. It's insane."

Bittersweet day for Shiffrin

It has been a Games to forget for Mikaela Shiffrin. The American was fancied to take multiple medals away from Beijing, but skied out in both the giant slalom and slalom events, and even cast doubt on whether she would compete further after those disappointments.

However, she took to the slopes for the women's super-G on Friday, and though she did not medal, did at least finish the race.

"It felt really nice to ski that today," Shiffrin said after finishing in ninth. "There's a lot of disappointment over the last week. There's a lot of emotions. [It was] not really easy to reset and know if I was up for the challenge today.

"The track itself is beautiful, and it's sunny, and the snow is amazing. Coming back out and getting the chance to race again was just the perfect thing to do, actually.

"It's possible to feel both proud of a career and sad for the moment you're in."

The super-G was won by Swiss athlete Lara Gut-Behrami, with Austria's Mirjam Puchner claiming silver and another Swiss competitor Michelle Gisin taking bronze.

Germany make no bones about skeleton

It was a German one-two in the first completed skeleton event at Beijing 2022, with Christopher Grotheer and Axel Jungk claiming gold and silver respectively in the men's event.

Grotheer was comfortable in the end with his time of four minutes, 1.01 seconds putting him two-thirds of a second ahead of his compatriot (4:01.67), with China's Yan Wengang taking bronze (4:01.77).

Elsewhere, Iivo Niskanen of Finland claimed his third Olympic gold after winning the men's 15km classic in cross-country skiing, ahead of the Russian Olympic Committee's Alexander Bolshunov and Norway's Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo.

An exhausted Niskanen fell into the snow after crossing the line in a time of 37 minutes, 54.8 seconds.

Marte Olsbu Roeiseland of Norway claimed her third medal of the Games with gold in the 7.5km women's sprint in biathlon, hitting all 10 targets on her way to finishing ahead of Sweden's Elvira Oeberg and Italy's Dorothea Wierer.

In the women's ice hockey, the United States and Canada both comfortably secured their semi-final places with wins over Czech Republic and Sweden, with Canada thrashing the Swedes 11-0.

Sweden's Nils van der Poel set a new world record as he claimed his second gold of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Speed skater Van der Poel won the 5,000m race earlier this week and on Friday he outclassed his opposition in the 10,000m event.

Van der Poel smashed his own world record as he recorded a time of just 12 minutes and 30.74 seconds. That cut over two seconds from his previous best, which was set last year.

It gave Van der Poel a 13.85-point cushion over his nearest rival, Patrick Roest of the Netherlands.

In the process, Van der Poel also became the 10th man to win the 5,000m and 10,000m races at the same Games.

To make his triumph even more unique, Van der Poel's time was set at sea level, whereas most of the world records now set take place at indoor ovals at altitude.

Indeed, the last world record set in the Olympic 10,000m race was by Jochem Uytdehaage of the Netherlands, back in 2002.

Previously, five other speed skaters had set world records while winning 10,000m Olympic golds.

Van der Poel is the 23rd different winner of the event in the Olympics - it is the event held most at the Games without an athlete winning on more than one occasion.

Remarkably, there was even time for a slip-up in Van der Poel's record-setting run.

"With eight laps to go I felt like 'OK, I've got the gold within control, now I just need to not f**k it up,' which I almost did with two-and-a-half laps to go," Van der Poel said.

"I put my right blade really straight out, I stumbled a little for sure.

"With four laps to go it was like, 'OK, now I can also go for the world record'. I felt like, 'Yeah, I have this in my body on a good day,' and it played out that way."

This was the sixth gold medal for Sweden in the event, but the first since 1988. Sweden's six gold medals trail only the Netherlands (seven).

Roest became the third speed skater representing the Netherlands to win an Olympic medal in four different events, after Ireen Wust (five) and Rintje Ritsma (four).

However, Van der Poel's margin of victory was the largest since Johan Olav Koss triumphed by 18.70 seconds in 1994.

Mikaela Shiffrin has two ugly DNF marks by her name so far at the Winter Olympics, but it could be third time lucky for the American on Friday.

The 26-year-old took home one gold medal from both the 2014 Sochi Games and 2018 in Pyeongchang, and came to Beijing with high hopes of adding to that haul.

Ester Ledecka is among the rivals who will also be targeting the super-G podium, while other multiple champions in action elsewhere on Friday include Shaun White and Dario Cologna.

Here, Stats Perform previews each of the day's medal events. 

Alpine skiing

Shiffrin took super-G gold at the 2019 World Championships, so she cannot be counted out here, providing she cuts out the errors and finishes the course.

Italians Federica Brignone, Elena Curtoni and Sofia Goggia are 1-2-3 in the World Cup standings, so should be factors, while Czech star Ledecka is chasing a second extraordinary double. She took snowboard parallel giant slalom gold earlier in the Games, and after winning both that and the super-G in 2018, she cannot be ruled out.

Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami won the world title last year and sits fifth in the World Cup standings, but a reigning world champion has never won gold in the women's Olympic super-G.

Biathlon

Can Norway's Marte Olsbu Roeiseland upgrade from silver four years ago in the women's 7.5km sprint? Her World Cup form has been good, with two wins in the sprints, so gold is a realistic aim. She already has one gold from Beijing, in the team relay, and a bronze from the 15km individual.

Norway's Tiril Eckhoff has not shown her best form in the World Cup this year, but Roeiseland's compatriot is the reigning world champion, a two-time Olympic relay gold medallist, and could come into the equation.

Cross-country skiing

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won gold in the sprint and should again be a factor in Friday's men's 15km classic, but the Norwegian says Finland's Iivo Niskanen is the hottest prospect for top of the podium. 

"He's definitely the favourite I would say, together with [Alexander] Bolshunov," said Klaebo. "All of us need to have the best day we can have, and it will be tough but we're just going to give it all and hopefully manage to have a good day and to have good skis and everything and then for sure it's possible."

Swiss veteran Cologna has won this event in the last three Olympics, but a four-peat seems an unlikely prospect.

Short track speed skating

Netherlands' Suzanne Schulting competes in the women's 1,000m, looking to defend the title, which has not been achieved since Lee-kyung Chun did so in 1998. South Korea and China have won 16 of the 21 medals in this event since its Olympic debut in 1994.

Skeleton

Christopher Grotheer was star of the show as the men's skeleton began on Thursday, leading by 0.70 seconds after two runs. That is a significant gap, with the German's closest rival being his compatriot Alex Jungk.

World champion Grotheer said: "The first run was brilliant, and the second run was also really good. I have a really good first day and I hope [on Friday] I can show this performance too."

Snowboard

American White heads into the halfpipe knowing this will be his career swan song, having decided to retire. Three times a gold medallist, the 35-year-old is bidding to become the first man to win individual gold medals at four Winter Olympics.

White was fourth in qualifying, with Japan's Ayumu Hirano leading the way.

Speed skating

Sweden's Nils van der Poel has made his mark on and off the rink in Beijing, winning gold in the men's 5,000m before making a raft of accusations, claiming the dominant Netherlands team have unduly influenced racing conditions. He goes again on Friday in the men's 10,000m and is the likely champion.

The United States are finally on the move at the Winter Olympics, soaring from 10th to fourth place on the medal table after three golden moments on Thursday.

There were triumphs for Nathan Chen in figure skating, Chloe Kim in the snowboard halfpipe, and the freeski mixed team aerials trio, hoisting Team USA to four golds in China and 10 medals overall.

Historically, only Norway have won more gold medals than the USA at the Winter Olympics.

Germany continue to top the medal table after landing luge team relay gold late on in Thursday's programme, with Norway in second and Austria third.

Chen produced a mesmerising display in a routine to Elton John's 'Rocket Man' as he delivered on the ice, and he said afterwards: "Historically I skated to pretty slower-paced, more classical pieces, so bringing in this faster-pace, very exciting, very happy programme was something I wasn't totally adjusted to from the beginning.

"But as we started working on it, it was something that totally made sense, and was just so much fun to skate to. This programme, no matter what, is always fun for me to skate.

"It means the world. I'm just so happy. It's a whirlwind right now. I had a blast out there."

Kim savoured her success at Genting Snow Park, but the 21-year-old, competing in her second Games after also striking gold in Pyeongchang, is making no promises she will be back for more at Milano Cortina 2026.

She told reporters: "I genuinely don't know how many more Olympics I'm going to do, it's all about how am I feeling mentally and physically.

"What you guys need to understand is this isn't an easy sport. It's really hard. And all the ladies make it look really easy, but I promise you, if any of you tried to do half the things they did, it wouldn't end very well."

Christopher Lillis and the power couple of Ashley Caldwell and Justin Schoenefeld delivered the aerials gold.

Caldwell, who made her Winter Olympics debut as a 16-year-old in 2010, said: "I couldn't be more excited. This is my fourth Games, and I've been in the hunt for a gold medal my entire career.

"To do it with these guys is incredible. Chris has been like a brother to me forever, and Justin is the love of my life, so that really helps."

Medal table:

1. Germany (G6 S3 B0, Total: 9)
2. Norway (G5 S3 B4, Total: 12)
3. Austria (G4 S5 B4, Total: 13)
4. United States (G4 S5 B1, Total: 10)
5. Netherlands (G4 S3 B1, Total: 8)
6. Sweden (G4 S1 B2, Total: 7)
7. China (G3 S3 B0, Total: 6)
8. Italy (G2 S4 B2, Total: 8)
9. Russian Olympic Committee (G2 S3 B6, Total: 11)
10. Slovenia (G2 S1 B2, Total: 5)

Another day, another speed-skating gold medal for the Netherlands at the Winter Olympics.

The Dutch are dominating at the National Speed Skating Oval, winning four of five titles so far, and Irene Schouten is now a double champion in Beijing after adding the 5,000 metres to her 3,000m gold. She became the fifth woman in history to pull off that double.

So far, the Netherlands have totted up four gold medals, two silver and a bronze in speed skating, drawing the ire of Sweden's Nils van der Poel.

Van der Poel, who won the men's 5,000m on Sunday, claimed subsequently that the Dutch are being allowed to bring undue influence to the ice conditions, describing that as "corruption" and "the biggest scandal in our sport".

Netherlands technical director Maurits Hendriks rejected the claims from Van der Poel, saying: "We are really disappointed that Sweden didn't reach out. We feel that before you make statements like this it is good to have a one-on-one chat. We have nothing to hide."

Schouten set an Olympic record of six minutes and 43.51 seconds to land her second gold of the Games on Thursday, with the team pursuit and mass start events still to come.

"Of course, I hope to win [gold] medals in those events as well," said Schouten, "but those are more difficult to win because you're depending on others."

Canadian silver medallist Isabelle Weidemann roared her approval for the champion, saying: "Schouten is incredible. I wanted to cheer for her. She takes the level up so much."

There were plenty of other stars breaking records and posting remarkable achievements, and Stats Perform looks here at the numbers behind their stories.

21 - American Chloe Kim followed her halfpipe title in Pyeongchang with more glory in Beijing, becoming the sixth snowboarder to defend an individual title, and only the third woman, after compatriot Jamie Anderson and Czech star Ester Ledecka. Kim, 21, also became the first United States competitor to win multiple gold medals at the Winter Olympics before turning 22 since Eric Heiden won five gold medals in speed skating in 1980 at Lake Placid. Heiden was also 21 at the time and later became a world-class cyclist, riding the 1986 Tour de France.

1988 - Johannes Strolz was born four years after his father, Hubert, triumphed in the men's Alpine combined at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. On Thursday, Austrian 29-year-old Strolz followed his dad into the Games history books, also winning the Alpine combined. It makes Johannes and Hubert the first parent and child to win the same individual event at the Winter Olympics.

50 - Norway now have 50 Olympic gold medals in cross-country skiing, the first national association to reach the landmark in a single sport at the Winter Games. That is because Therese Johaug won her second gold in Beijing, adding the 10km classic to her skiathlon success. Johaug, who also won women's relay gold at the 2010 Games, joins cross-country skier Marit Bjoergen (eight) and figure skater Sonja Henie (three) as the only Norwegian women to win at least three gold medals at the Winter Olympics.

8 - When it comes to men's figure skating, USA take some beating. Nathan Chen became the seventh US star to win gold in men's single skating. Dick Button began the run of success in 1948 and 1952, and the USA have eight gold medals and 16 medals overall in the event, putting them top of that particular all-time medal table. Eight golds in a single discipline is now also a US record for any event at the Winter Olympics, ahead of women's singles figure skating and men's 500m speed skating (both seven).

24 - The USA had not won a gold medal in freeski aerials since 1998, when they won the men's and women's individual events, but they ended a 24-year wait with glory in the inaugural mixed team aerials. Ashley Caldwell, Christopher Lillis and Justin Schoenefeld fended off China, with Lillis landing a quintuple twisting triple for a score of 135 points, the best yet of the Games on the aerials course.

Johannes Strolz was a surprise winner in the Alpine combined race on Thursday, as he repeated his father's Olympic achievement.

Hubert Strolz took gold in the same event at Calgary 1988 and his son made it something of a family tradition at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre.

Strolz was half a second quicker than anyone else in the slalom and combined with his fourth-best time in the downhill run, it meant he edged out Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway by just over half a second.

It completes a fairytale for the unheralded Austrian, who seemed destined to miss out on the team heading to Beijing after he had his funding cut last year.

Strolz juggled training while working as a police officer to help keep up his income, yet the 29-year-old is now an Olympic champion.

He had a helping hand from compatriot Matthias Mayer, who is a three-time Olympic gold medallist having won the super-G earlier this week, as he lent Strolz some downhill skis to add further charm to a remarkable tale.

"I think I'm a good example of never giving up," said Strolz, who finished only three of 10 World Cup events last season. 

"If you believe in yourself, you have to take your chance and keep going."

Johaug, Schouten double up

Therese Johaug claimed the first gold of the Beijing Games and the Norwegian doubled her personal tally by coming out on top in the women's 10km classic at the National Cross-Country Skiing Centre.

Johaug – who missed the 2018 Games due to a doping ban – beat Finland's Kerttu Niskanen by just 0.4 seconds in an incredibly tight finish. Krista Paramoski, also of Finland, took bronze. 

"It was a close race with the Finnish girls but I was feeling really well at the end of the race. It's so much more fun to stand at the top of the podium when you know that you have won a big fight out there," Johaug said.

"It's a crazy feeling when you’re standing there and you realise it goes your way – 0.4, it's so close."

Irene Schouten, meanwhile, completed a clean sweep of the women's speed skating distance events, setting another Olympic record in the process.

The Dutchwoman triumphed in the 5,000m race, having previously won the 3,000m on Saturday, in which she set a record.

Her time of 6:43.51 on Thursday smashed the Olympic record previously set by Claudia Pechstein (6:46.91) in 2002.

"Schouten is incredible," said silver medallist Isabelle Weidemann. "Just watching her skate, she takes the level up so much. I hope in the future I can push her time and push the event even more. The faster more women can go, the better."

A golden day for Team USA

Nathan Chen capped off a fine day for the United States as he took gold in the men's single free skating.

"I never really felt I'd be able to make it this far in my career," Chen said.

"I'd always of course dream about making the Olympics and winning the Olympics, but I [thought], 'That's hard, I don't know if I can make that happen."

Chen endured a dreadful Olympic debut in 2018 but stormed to the gold medal this time around with a score of 332.60, winning by over 22 points ahead of Japanese duo Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno. 

Team USA's brilliant day began when Chloe Kim made history by becoming the first woman to win two Winter Olympics gold medals in the snowboard halfpipe event, while they also took gold in the freestyle skiing mixed team aerials final.

Their men's ice hockey team, meanwhile, hammered hosts China 8-0.