A search party out looking for QISEOC President Thomas Bach.
Back to Prime Time last night--Torico sends us off Men's Aerials Freestyle Skiing. More flipping--meh. Then it's Women's Halfpipe Freestyle Skiing--Qualifying aka the Eileen Gu Show. I keep noticing new overdramatic music beds--variations on their standard music.
Back to the Valieva issue--Torico interviews Tara and Johnny. Big surprise--their opinions haven't changed. Johnny said he cried after the Short Program. Torico used the term "cocktail" when referring to the combination of the illegal and legal drugs found in Valieva's positive test.
More Ski Halfpipe, then we return to the Shiffrin saga, as she goes to her final discipline in the Women's Combined. The announcing team, onscreen in the studio, sets it all up. Vonn still doesn't seem to understand what a "live mic" is--she says "what?" during another commentator's setup. We also learn about a built-in airbag now included in the competitor's uniforms.
Prime Time actually ended early (10:30 Eastern), due to the timing of the Women's Hockey gold medal match, which took up most of the Late Night run. Hockey is one of those sports I watch on fast forward, backing up to see each score. Spoiler--Canada wins. Not a surprise, since they also won a game against the US earlier in the tournament. The game ended just in time for NBC to catch Shiffrin drop out of the Combined Slalom. Commentators continued to emphasize her overall successful career.
Well, the news came out this morning--the Women's Free Skate was held in the early hours on the East Coast, and Valieva crashed and burned--she's out of the medals. A win for the QISEOC, who now don't have to make the tough decision, and will most likely let the team competition results stand--just as long as the billions of dollars keeps flowing to a group of European aristocrats. A win for Russia, who will likely see zero consequences from continuing to cheat. The losers: Valieva, probably off to the Gulag as I type this. NBC, watching their multi-billion dollar investment sink even further in the ratings. All the other skaters, who have now learned that they better cheat if they want a chance at gold. QISE itself--their reputation becoming more and more threadbare day by day. It's all a shame, and could have easily been avoided if the QISEOC had been more interested in ideals than money.
Off the soapbox, and onto afternoon coverage. Lowe brings us up to speed on the Women's Skating debacle. Silver winner Alexandra Trusova sobbed to the media afterward--"I'm not happy with the result. There is no happiness. I hate this sport. I never want to walk onto the ice". Good job, QISEOC (slow clap)! Lowe then pivots to Men's Nordic Combined, and reruns of a Shiffrin interview and Women's Ski Halfpipe. We then move onto Women's Skicross. A head to head race AND it doesn't involve flipping? Yes please. Lowe then interviews speed skater Erin Jackson in the studio (seems like a lot of athletes are fleeing Beijing...) Back to Ski Halfpipe to wrap things up.
Prime Time kicks off with Torico sending us off to Long Track Speed Skating, the Women's 1000m sprint. This was put at the top of the show since US skater Brittany Bowe got the bronze. Then Torico sets the table for the Women’s' Free Skate, starting with the US skaters.
More to come, including the not-Russian skaters and, according to Torico, the most drama we've ever seen in skating...