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Chasing Gold 🥇: Devastating day for figure skater, skiing stars and US women's hockey team at Beijing Olympics

Analis Bailey   | Paste BN

Emotions are high as the 2022 Beijing Olympics wind down this week.

The U.S. women's hockey team was defeated by Canada Thursday in the gold-medal game, and Mikaela Shiffrin's frustration at the Winter Games continued after skiing out of a third event.

With a disastrous performance in her long program Thursday night, Kamila Valieva – the 15- year-old Russian figure skating phenom at the center of an Olympic doping saga – dropped out of first place, then all the way outside of medal contention, finishing fourth.

It was heartbreaking to watch the overwhelming gold-medal favorite fall apart so completely, writes Christine Brennan, who described the night as a crushing scene, the manipulation and indeed the abuse of a child on display for all to see. 

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'ITS' DEVASTATING': The US women's hockey team fell to archrival Canada in the gold-medal game after the Canadians jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 victory.

U.S. forward Hilary, who set the American record for number of games played in the Olympics in what might be her final contest on this stage, called the result "devastating" and "heartbreaking." 

"It definitely stings. It hurts," Knight, 32, added. "It feels like we let our country down.”

Waiting to get those silver medals wasn't any easier. Watching their only true rival celebrate beating them for the biggest prize in the sport as they retreated to the bench for the hugs, tears and silence — it's 19 minutes the loser of this game dreads the most writes Dan Wolken.

'I DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND IT': After finishing fifth in the downhill portion of the Alpine combined, Mikaela Shiffrin skied out in the slalom Thursday after losing her balance at gate 10. Shiffrin had Did Not Finishes (DNF) in the giant slalom and slalom, as well, skiing off the course after the fifth gate in the first run of each race. 

"I don't really understand it. And I'm not sure when I'm going to have much of an explanation," Shiffrin said. "And I can't explain to you how frustrated I am to not know what I can learn from the day."

Though Shiffrin did not finish a single technical race, her disappointing results do nothing to diminish what she has has already accomplished. So don't say she has lost her edge or that the pressure is too much. It's not that simple, writes Nancy Armour.

SILLY MISTAKE: Norwegian skier Jarl Magnus Riiber made a mistake that costed him gold. Riiber entered the 10K cross-country race with a 44-second lead over his competitors after landing an impressive jump in the first phase of the Nordic combined. But Riiber took a wrong turn on the course.

Instead of looping around for the final two laps, Riiber skied toward the finish line. He backtracked but the error cost him nearly 40 seconds that proved to be valuable.

'IT FEELS SO GREAT': For skier Kevin Rolland, 32, this Olympics halfpipe final comes after a crash that put him in a coma and broke his body just days before he became a father for the first father. 

"A few years ago, I wasn’t supposed to compete at the Olympics because of my accident and that was my big goal to come back here and to try to do something great. It keeps the fire in my mind for all the recovery to think about the Olympics, and now it’s done," Rolland said. "It’s more than the sport. It’s my life. It’s a big moment in my life.”

WHAT'S ON TAP? With only a few days of competition left in Beijing, Thursday night brings freestyle skiing and ice hockey while Friday morning adds curling, biathlon, bobsled, figure skating and speed skating to the mix.

Say cheese! Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

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