Roundup: Canada avenges PyeongChang defeat to U.S. in women's ice hockey final, Norway takes 14th gold

Canadan players celebrate scoring during their women's ice hockey gold medal game against the United States at the Beijing Winter Olympics at Wukesong Sports Center in Beijing, Feb. 17, 2022. (Xinhua/Li An)

Canada dethroned defending champions USA for their fifth Olympic women's ice hockey title, avenging their defeat to the Americans in PyeongChang four years ago. With three days to go before the Games close, Norway continues to lead the medal tally with 14 golds.

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Canada took down defending champions the United States 3-2 in the women's ice hockey final for their fifth Olympic title, while Norway consolidated its leading position on the medal table after claiming gold in the combined team event on Thursday.

Canada lost to the U.S. 3-2 through a shootout in the final at the PyeongChang 2018. The two countries have split all the seven gold medals since women's ice hockey entered the Winter Olympic program in 1998.

"To be honest, I think the loss in 2018 was a motivation for us to change things. When you are on the same page, and when everybody wants to succeed, it makes me different," said Marie-Philip Poulin, the captain of Canada.

Canadian forward Sarah Nurse scored at 7:50, which was her fifth goal in Beijing. The 30-year-old Poulin put the puck into the net at 15:02 to widen the lead to 2-0 in the first period, becoming the only hockey player, female or male, to score in four Olympic gold medal games after the finals in Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018.

Poulin scored her sixth goal in Beijing at 29:08, before American forward Hilary Knight netted at 36:39 to cut the deficit to 3-1, and forward Amanda Kessel scored their last goal at 59:47 in power play.

Canada set a new scoring record of 57 goals in seven games in the Winter Olympics.

Gold medalists Team Canada pose for a photo during the award ceremony of women's ice hockey. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

In the Nordic combined large hill/4x5km cross-country team event, despite setting off eight seconds behind ski jumping leader Austria, the Norwegian quartet of Espen Bjornstad, Espen Andersen, Jens Luras Oftebro and Joergen Graabak finished the race in 50 minutes and 45.1 seconds for the victory. Germany took the silver in 51:40.0, edging Japan by 0.3 seconds.

Bjornstad was selected to replace Jarl Magnus Riiber in the team event. Hot favorite Riiber squandered his lead in ski jumping large hill by taking the wrong turn in his 10km cross-country race on Tuesday with a disappointing eighth place finish.

"Jarl texted me quite soon after the [large hill/10km] race on and he told me to get ready," Bjornstad recalled.

With three days to go before the closing of the Games, Norway sits on top of the medal standings with 14 golds, seven silvers and eight bronzes, followed by Germany and the United States with 10 and eight golds respectively.

Espen Bjornstad (R) of Norway, Manuel Faisst (C) of Germany and Watabe Yoshito of Japan compete during cross-country of Nordic combined large hill/4x5km team event at the National Cross-Country Skiing Center in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 17, 2022. (Xinhua/Dai Tianfang)

In women's singles figure skating, Anna Shcherbakova of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) collected 175.75 points in the free skate for a winning total of 255.95 points.

Another ROC skater Alexandra Trusova posted a leading score of 177.13 points in free skate for a total of 251.73 to take the silver, while Japan's Kaori Sakamoto came third with 233.13.

Miho Takagi of Japan added a gold to her threefold Beijing silverware when she broke the Olympic record to win the women's 1,000m speed skating competition.

The 27-year-old clocked a winning time of one minute and 13.19 seconds, lowering the previous Olympic record of 1:13.56 set by Jorien ter Mors from the Netherlands at PyeongChang 2018.

Earlier, the Japanese skater won silver in the 1,500m, 500m as well as the team pursuit.

Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands seized the silver in 1:13.83, while world record holder Brittany Bowe of the United States finished third in 1:14.61.

Takagi Miho of Japan competes during the speed skating women's 1,000m at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 17, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)

Michelle Gisin of Switzerland defended her Olympic title in the women's Alpine combined slalom.

Despite a mistake in the downhill in the morning, Gisin finished first with a total time of 2 minutes and 25.67 seconds, 1.05 seconds ahead of her compatriot Wendy Holdener. Federica Brignone of Italy took bronze in 2:27.52.

Sandra Naeslund from Sweden broke Canada's dominance in the women's free ski cross to win the gold. Canada had never conceded the event's Olympic gold prior to Beijing 2022.

Naeslund made a flash start in the four-athlete big final including Marielle Thompson from Canada, Daniela Maier from Germany and Fanny Smith from Switzerland.

In the final, which had almost been postponed due to heavy snow, Naeslund led from the start to the end but the chasers closely followed her throughout the duel.

Thompson, the champion at Sochi 2014, tried to overtake Naeslund several times at curves but failed and had to settle for the silver.

The bronze went to Olympic debutant Maier, who finished the run in the fourth place but the third finisher Smith, the bronze medalist at PyeongChang 2018, was judged a foul near the finish line later.

Chinese athlete Gu Ailing competes during the freestyle skiing women's freeski halfpipe qualification of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 17, 2022. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

China's freestyle skier Gu Ailing, Zhang Kexin and Li Fanghui qualified for the women's halfpipe final.

Gu led all the way in both runs and topped 12 qualifiers with 95.50 points. The 19-year-old Zhang ranked fifth with 86.50 points, and Li ranked seventh in 84.75.

Five gold medals in biathlon, freestyle skiing and speed skating will be contended on Friday. ■