Team GB in Beijing: Mixed bag for curlers as Ormerod finally lives Olympic dream on Day 1

Beijing 2022 05 Feb 22

The first full day of sporting action at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games finally arrived as a host of Team GB stars burst into action.

Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds enjoyed a mixed day on the curling sheet, Katie Ormerod lived her Olympic snowboarding dream four years on from injury heartbreak and British athletes entered the fray in short track and luge.

Here’s what happened on Day 1.

  • Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds win one and lose one but move a step closer to a curling medal

  • Katie Ormerod looks at the positives despite missing out on slopestyle qualification

  • Treacy brothers and Kat Thomson unable to advance beyond heats in short track

  • Rupert Staudinger sits 24th at the midway point of the men’s luge and Will Feneley exits in the moguls

  • Andrew Musgrave among athletes to watch on Day 2

MIXED RESULTS FOR MOUAT AND DODDS

Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds moved closer to a shot at a curling mixed doubles medal with victory over Czech Republic on the morning of Day 1 but then slipped to defeat against unbeaten Italy later in the day.

The Scottish duo found their best form to notch a comfortable 8-3 win against the Czechs for a fourth triumph of the round-robin stage before a mouth-watering clash with Italy, sporting a 100 per cent record, in the evening session.

A back-and-forth contest was evenly poised at 4-4 following the sixth end but the Italians produced a brilliant seventh end to score three and take the game away from Team GB as the final score read 7-5.

Mouat and Dodds are still in prime position to book a spot in the top four, and guarantee themselves a shot at an Olympic medal, but face a crucial double-header against China and Norway on Sunday.

Read more about the latest curling action here

ORMEROD PRIDE AT FINALLY LIVING OLYMPIC DREAM

Four years ago, Katie Ormerod broke her wrist in training and then her heel on the eve of the Games in PyeongChang, so she was understandably proud at finally becoming an Olympian in Beijing.

It took 18 months of rehab following those injuries before she could walk without pain but the snowboarder dropped into slopestyle qualification at Genting Snow Park to complete her redemption arc.

She needed a top-12 finish to make Sunday’s final but ended up coming 18th after the two qualification runs, although she relished the moment her dream came true.

"I was stood at the top before my first run when I was about to drop in and I was like, 'wow, this is my moment, I've become an Olympian finally,” she explained.

Read more about Ormerod’s slopestyle performance on Day 1 here

SOLID START FOR MOTIVATED STAUDINGER

Rupert Staudinger has more motivation than most to perform on the biggest stage at Beijing 2022 and he began his men’s luge campaign in sturdy fashion to lie 24th following the first two runs.

Staudinger’s PyeongChang 2018 luge teammate AJ Rosen died of cancer at the age of just 37 in December and the Brit’s helmet in Beijing is adorned with the message 'rest in peace AJ' as he slides for his friend.

The 24-year-old is targeting a top-20 finish and that is still within reach ahead of Sunday’s final two runs after a combined time of 1:57.691 has left him 24th following Saturday’s first two attempts.

Read more about Staudinger’s opening-day efforts here

SHORT TRACK TRIO UNABLE TO ADVANCE

Team GB’s short track speed skating contingent were all in action on Day 1 but Kat Thomson, Farrell Treacy and Niall Treacy all exited their first events at the heat stage.

Going in the women’s 500m, Thomson fell at the first corner, before Niall Treacy crashed in his men’s 1000m heat on the final lap as he tried to force his way into the top two and older brother Farrell could only finish fourth in a later heat of the same event.

For Niall, his Olympic debut is now over but Farrell will compete again in the men’s 1500m, with Thomson turning her attention to the women’s 1000m and 1500m.

Read more from the opening day of short track action here

FENELEY FOCUSSED ON THE FUTURE AFTER OLYMPIC DEBUT

Freestyle skier Will Feneley admitted he was excited for the future after his Olympic debut ended at the qualification stage of the men’s moguls on Day 1.

The 22-year-old from Norfolk finished 27th overall to miss out on a spot in Saturday’s final after two qualifying heats.

Having finished 23rd in the first qualifying heat, with the top ten advancing to the final, earlier this week, Feneley came back for round two on Saturday when another ten athletes would earn their spot in the showpiece and ultimately came 17th on the day.

Read more about Feneley’s moguls debut here

SUNDAY SEES MUSGRAVE ENTER THE FRAY

Day 2 on Sunday will see plenty more Team GB athletes join the Beijing 2022 action, including cross-country skier Andrew Musgrave competing at his fourth Olympic Games.

Musgrave goes in the men’s 30km skiathlon – an event in which he finished seventh four years ago in PyeongChang – from 7am GMT with temperatures potentially getting down below minus 20 degrees, something the Brit insists suits him.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Staudinger will complete his luge campaign with at least one more run from 11.30am GMT, while Mouat and Dodds face a crunch day in the mixed doubles curling as they look to seal a place in the knockout stages – taking on hosts China at 1.05am GMT and then Norway at 12.05pm GMT.

The women’s moguls also reaches its conclusion with the Gerken Schofield sisters, Makalya and Leonie, both looking to come through qualification at 10am GMT before the final gets underway at 11.30am GMT.