Zagitova smashes record, Bjoergen makes history

Pyeongchang, February 21 

The 15-year-old Alina Zagitova stole the show in figure skating today as American skier Lindsey Vonn took bronze in her final Olympic downhill and Norway’s Marit Bjoergen became the most successful athlete in Winter Games history.

Zagitova was breathtaking in the Russian-dominated short programme, breaking the world record set just minutes earlier by her teammate, the 18-year-old Evgenia Medvedeva.

It put the Russian starlets top of the standings ahead of Friday’s free skate, where Zagitova will attempt to become the youngest women’s singles figure skating champion since Tara Lipinski in 1998. They also look set to win the first gold of the Games for the Olympic Athletes from Russia, who are competing as neutrals after Russia’s national team was banned over a major doping scandal.

“We are friends, we are young girls, we can talk about anything with each other,“ said Medvedeva, who like Zagitova is making her Olympic debut. “But on the ice, we must fight, I feel like it’s a little war, when you skate you are alone,“ added the double world champion.

Bjoergen’s record 

Bjoergen reached 14 Olympics medals when she took bronze in the cross-country team sprint event, outstripping compatriot Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, who has 13 in biathlon. Bjoergen, 37, is also the second most successful woman at either the Summer or Winter Games, trailing only Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina with 18 medals. 

“It’s hard to understand, actually,“ Bjoergen said. “I think I’ll need to have time to myself and look behind me and look how I’ve been able to do this. It’s still hard to understand it when I’m standing here.“ 

Bronze for Vonn 

America’s Vonn, 33, was aiming for a second downhill title in her final Olympics, but it was not to be as she finished third behind Italy’s Sofia Goggia and Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway. But she was delighted to reach the podium, becoming alpine skiing’s oldest female medallist after a series of injuries which threatened to wreck her career . — AFP