Each and every day of the 2022 Winter Games, NBCOlympics.com will keep you updated overnight with the biggest stories from across the competition landscape. This article will be refreshed throughout the night, so be sure to check back. All competition streams live on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock — visit the schedule page for more details.
Eileen Gu goes for her third medal of these Winter Olympics, John Shuster and the U.S. men's curling team play Canada in the bronze medal game, and pairs figure skating gets underway with the short program. Elsewhere, Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor return to the track for the two-woman bobsled event, and French biathlete Quentin Fillon Maillet has a chance to make Olympic history by winning his sixth medal of these Games. Stay tuned for updates throughout the night...
U.S. falls to Canada in men's curling bronze medal game
Canada denied the U.S. a medal in men's curling, winning a back-and-forth bronze medal game by a score of 8-5.
It was a gripping affair, with neither team able to pull away for most of the game. After Canada took an early lead, the U.S. battled back to take a 5-4 advantage after the sixth end. Canada blanked the seventh, then scored two in the eighth to pull back ahead 6-5.
The ninth end was where things went from bad to worse for the U.S., as Team Shuster was unable to capitalize on having the hammer, instead allowing the Canadians to steal two points. Canada took an 8-5 lead into the final end, which proved too much for the U.S. to overcome.
Since men's curling joined the Olympic program in 1998, Canada has only missed out on a medal one time — four years ago in PyeongChang. The U.S. and Canada met in the semifinals that year, with Team USA winning the game en route to its surprise gold medal.
As for this year's gold medal, that will be decided tomorrow when Great Britain plays Sweden (1 a.m. ET).
— Shawn Smith
Finland defeats Slovakia, heads to men's hockey gold medal game
Finland's women's hockey team is taking home a bronze medal, and the Finnish men are set to earn a medal of their own.
The Finns took down Slovakia in the men's hockey semifinals early Friday morning by a score of 2-0, earning them the chance to play in the gold medal game Saturday night. Finland has never won an Olympic hockey title, but has appeared in the gold medal game twice. The Finns lost both times, though, falling to the Soviet Union in 1988 and to Sweden in 2006.
"Going to an Olympic final is like a dream," said Finland forward Sakari Manninen, who opened the scoring against Slovakia. "You dream of those kind of moments, but at the same time (I try to) focus on the right things, not think about it too much and prepare for the next game."
— Ryan Quigley
SEE MORE: Finland shuts out Slovakia, advances to gold medal game
Switzerland takes gold, silver in men's ski cross
Switzerland took the top two spots on the men's ski cross podium after strong performances in the big final from Ryan Regez and Alex Fiva.
Regez and Fiva worked their way through the elimination rounds to secure spots in the four-rider big final. The two skiers stayed out front for much of that final, with Regez in the lead and Fiva behind him in second place as they came down the track and crossed the finish line.
Fiva, 36, is now the oldest freestyle skier to ever win an Olympic medal. He competed at the last two Winter Games but had yet to advance beyond the quarterfinals.
Sergey Ridzik of the ROC finished third in the big final, earning himself a bronze medal for the second consecutive Olympics. Canada's Brady Leman, the defending gold medalist, was eliminated in the semifinals.
Results: Men's Ski Cross
🥇 Ryan Regez (SUI)
🥈 Alex Fiva (SUI)
🥉 Sergey Ridzik (ROC)
— Shawn Smith
Eileen Gu wins halfpipe gold, third Olympic medal
China's Eileen Gu dominated the halfpipe to win gold and claim her third freeski medal of this year's Winter Olympics.
Gu's first two runs featured her signature amplitude and were packed full of technical tricks. The highest-scoring run, her second one, included back-to-back cork 900s up top and back-to-back alley-oop flatspin 540s at the bottom. With the win already locked up, she was able to use her final run to cruise through the pipe for a victory lap.
The win solidifies Gu's status as one of the stars of these Games. Competing for the host nation, she's earned two golds (big air, halfpipe) and a silver (slopestyle) and at 18 years old, promises to be an all-around force for years to come.
A pair of Canadians, 2018 gold medalist Cassie Sharpe and Rachael Karker, took the other spots on the medal stand behind Gu, while Estonian Kelly SIldaru, the slopestyle bronze medalist, finished fourth and narrowly missed the podium.
Hanna Faulhaber was the top U.S. finisher in sixth place. Brita Sigourney, the 2018 bronze medalist, finished 10th, and Carly Margulies, who is competing this week for the first time since 2019, took 11th.
Results: Women's Freeski Halfpipe
🥇 Eileen Gu (CHN)
🥈 Cassie Sharpe (CAN)
🥉 Rachel Karker (CAN)
— Shawn Smith
