PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) – The Latest on the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local):
2:15 p.m.
Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu has become the first man to successfully defend his Olympic figure skating title since Dick Button in 1952. He held off countryman Shoma Uno, who won silver, and Spain’s Javier Fernandez, who took bronze, in Saturday’s free skate in Pyeongchang.
Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan performs during the men’s free figure skating final in the Gangneung Ice Arena at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Fernandez and Hanyu share the same coach, Brian Orser.
American Nathan Chen surged from a fiasco of a short program, where he was 17th. He won the free skate to wind up fifth overall.
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1:25 p.m.
Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic has made a stunning run from back in the pack to take the Olympic super-G title, with a mistake costing Lindsey Vonn a spot on the podium.
Ledecka was the 26th racer to take the course. The 22-year-old blazed through the course in a time of 1 minute, 21.11 seconds. Defending champion Anna Veith of Austria earned the silver, finishing 0.01 seconds back, and Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein captured bronze.
Ledecka’s run shocked everyone, including her. She turned to someone and said, “How did that happen?”
Vonn had a fast run before going too wide on a turn near the bottom.
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This story has been corrected to show that Ledecka, not Veith, said, “How did that happen?”
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1:15 p.m.
Pyeongchang Olympics organizers say a Korean man in his 50s has died in one of the media villages at the games.
Organizing committee spokesman Sung Baik-you says the manwas working for a consortium of Japanese broadcasters during the games. The man was not responsive when he was found in his room by a co-worker.
Sung says police were called and the Korean man was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
An investigation into the cause of death has begun. Sung says out of respect for the man’s family, organizers would not release the man’s name.
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1 p.m.
Anna Veith of Austria is in first place in the Pyeongchang Olympic super-G after the top 20 racers and on the brink of defending her gold medal.
The only thing that can derail the 28-year-old is a surprise finish by one of the remaining lower-ranked skiers. Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein is in second place and Lara Gut of Switzerland in bronze position.
The first racer out of the starting gate, American Lindsey Vonn, had a fast run going before a mistake near the bottom cost her time. She was tied for fifth.
Veith won the Olympic super-G title and silver in the giant slalom four ago at the Sochi Games, when she was Anna Fenninger. She married Austrian snowboarder Manuel Veith in April 2016.
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12:40 p.m.
A spokesman for the International Olympic Committee says local organizers initially wanted IOC member Adam Pengilly kept in South Korea rather than sent home during an investigation of his altercation with a security guard.
Pengilly was expelled after an IOC Ethics Commission investigation into his run-in Thursday with the guard at an official hotel.
Pengilly apologized and acknowledged running through the security checkpoint and using course language. He denied pushing the guard.
On Saturday, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said a police report indicated there were scratches and bruises on the security guard, but he didn’t know if that was related to the case.
Adams says the Pyeongchang organizers initially asked that Pengilly not be allowed to leave the country but later accepted the sanction imposed by the IOC’s Ethics Commission.
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12:20 p.m.
There will be no medal for American skier Lindsey Vonn in the Olympic super-G at the Pyeongchang Games.
She had a fast run going before a mistake near the bottom cost her valuable time. Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein leads after the opening eight racers.
Vonn will have another chance in the downhill.
At age 33, she is trying to become the oldest woman to win an Olympic Alpine medal.
She won bronze in the super-G at the 2010 Vancouver Games – to go with her downhill gold – but missed the 2014 Sochi Olympics after surgery on her right knee.
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12:10 p.m.
Lindsey Vonn had a strong run going in the Olympic super-G until a mistake near the bottom that could cost her a Pyeongchang Olympic medal.
Vonn was the first racer out of the starting gate. The race was delayed an hour due to strong winds at the top.
At age 33, Vonn is trying to become the oldest woman to win an Olympic Alpine medal.
She won bronze in the super-G at the 2010 Vancouver Games – to go with her downhill gold – but missed the 2014 Sochi Olympics after surgery on her right knee.
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11:35 a.m.
American figure skater Nathan Chen has rallied from a fiasco of a short program with a historic free skate at the Pyeongchang Olympics that included an unparalleled six completed quadruple jumps.
The 18-year-old Chen, a two-time U.S. champion, succumbed to the pressure and massive expectations in Friday’s short program. He fell on all of his jumps in the short, plummeting to 17th place out of 24 to advance to the free skate.
But in the free skate he nailed virtually every element. He even tried a sixth quad, a loop, but put his hands down on the ice. Still, his 126.86 points for technical virtuosity put him in another stratosphere, and his 215.08 points for the free skate were a personal high.
Chen was guaranteed to rocket up the standings with a 297.35 total, perhaps into the top 10.
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10:50 a.m.
Vincent Zhou has been overshadowed during the Pyeongchang Olympics by teammates Adam Rippon and Nathan Chen.
But the youngest member of the U.S. figure skating team is smart and funny. And after a terrific short program, he has a chance to finish in the top 10 at the Winter Games.
The openly gay Adam Rippon has become a media darling, combining excellent skating to help the U.S. win team bronze with an unfiltered approach to interviews. The talented Nathan Chen had been tipped as a gold medal favorite until everything went awry during his short program.
Together, they had held the spotlight until Zhou landed the first quad lutz in an Olympic event, and put together the best short program of his career to briefly take the lead.
He wound up 12th among 30 skaters, easily qualifying for the free skate.
Make no mistake, Zhou is trying to finish as high as possible during these Olympics. But he also knows the next Olympics could be more his time, the moment when everything aligns and he contends for a medal.
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10:30 a.m.
Some fret that the world is falling apart. But talk to curlers and their fans at the Pyeongchang Olympics and they’ll say that curling may be the perfect antidote to our troubled times. Curling’s rules dictate that players treat their opponents with kindness.
There is no need for referees, because curlers police themselves. And the winners generally buy the losers a beer. Curling enthusiasts say society has much to learn from this inclusive and honorable sport.
In the 500 years since curling was conceived on the frozen ponds of Scotland, it has remained largely immune to the cheating controversies and bloated egos common in other sports. This is thanks to what is known as “The Spirit of Curling,” a deeply ingrained ethos that dictates that curlers conduct themselves with honor and adhere to good sportsmanship.
It’s not that curling isn’t competitive. Like every other Olympian in Pyeongchang, curlers all want the gold – just not at the expense of their integrity.
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10 a.m.
Japanese sensation Yuzuru Hanyu heads into the free skate at Gangneung Ice Arena aiming to become the first men’s figure skater to defend his Olympic title since Dick Button in 1952.
Hanyu set an Olympic record with 111.68 points during his mesmerizing short program Friday, and he carries a roughly four-point lead over Spain’s Javier Fernandez into Saturday’s free skate.
Shoma Uno could give Japan another medal. He was third with 104.17 points in his short program.
American skater Nathan Chen is trying to bounce back from a dreadful performance that left him well out of medal contention. His teammates, Adam Rippon and Vincent Zhou, are also in action.
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9:15 a.m.
Lindsey Vonn’s first race at the Pyeongchang Olympics is the latest to be delayed because of strong winds.
The start for the women’s super-G has been pushed back by an hour to Saturday at noon local time (Friday at 10 p.m. EST).
Vonn was drawn to be the first racer down the hill at Jeongseon Alpine Center.
She won a bronze in the super-G at the 2010 Vancouver Games, where she also won a gold medal in the downhill. The 33-year-old American missed the 2014 Sochi Olympics after surgery on her right knee.
Earlier in the week, the women’s giant slalom and the men’s downhill were rescheduled because of high winds.
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More AP Olympic coverage: https://wintergames.ap.org
Canada fans react after a goal by Wojtek Wolski during the second period of a preliminary round men’s hockey game against Switzerland at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Czech Republic’s Ester Ledecka smiles after competing in the women’s super-G at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Jeongseon, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Austria’s Anna Veith competes in the women’s super-G at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Jeongseon, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
FILE – In this Feb. 28, 2009 file photo, Britain’s Adam Pengilly pumps his fist after finishing second in the men’s Skeleton World Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. The International Olympic Committee says it is sending home Pengilly, who is one of its members, following an altercation with a security guard at the Pyeongchang Games. The IOC said Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018, that Pengilly has apologized to the security guard and will leave the Olympics immediately. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
United States’ Lindsey Vonn reacts in the finish area after competing in the women’s super-G at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Jeongseon, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
United States’ Lindsey Vonn competes in the women’s super-G at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Jeongseon, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Nathan Chen of the United States performs during the men’s free figure skating final in the Gangneung Ice Arena at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Vincent Zhou of the United States performs during the men’s short program figure skating in the Gangneung Ice Arena at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Denmark’s skip Rasmus Stjerne, left, smiles to Sweden’s skip Niklas Edin during their curling match at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018. At the Pyeongchang Olympics, curlers and their fans agree: In an era of vitriol and venom, curling may be the perfect antidote to our troubled times. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan performs during the men’s short program figure skating in the Gangneung Ice Arena at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Empty seats of the Alpensia Biathlon center are pictured as the women’s 15km Individual race was canceled due to strong winds at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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