U.S. duo representing S. Korea make cut

Published 12:00 am Monday, February 19, 2018

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Two Americans who are representing South Korea in the Pyeongchang Olympics have made the cut for the free dance competition.

Yura Min has Korean heritage, and her partner, Alexander Gamelin, passed a citizenship test to become eligible.

Min bawled when she saw the short dance numbers from the judges.

She says, “All we could ask for was to put out our best performance, and we did. It’s the most amazing feeling.”

Min had a wardrobe malfunction during the team short dance, with a hook popping at the beginning of the routine. She fought through, keeping the costume up for the entire program despite having thoughts of stopping.

No such worries this time, and she’s thrilled to be remembered for something else at these Olympics.

Vonn 3rd-fastest on the 2nd day of downhill training

Despite easing up and standing tall with arms spread at the finish, the 2010 Vancouver Games gold medalist, who missed the 2014 Olympics after knee surgery, finished the 1¾-mile course at the Jeongseon Alpine Center in 1 minute, 40.10 seconds on Monday. That was nearly a second faster than the time she turned in Sunday to lead the opening training run.

There is more training Tuesday. The race is Wednesday.

Austria’s Stephanie Venier, the runner-up at last year’s world championships, led Monday’s session at 1:39.75, with Italy’s Sofia Goggia next.

Russian athlete failed doping test

A Russian athlete who won a bronze medal in curling at the Winter Olympics here has failed a preliminary doping test, putting in jeopardy his medal and Russia’s efforts to move past a vast, state-backed cheating scheme that left it nominally barred from the games.

The athlete, Alexander Krushelnytsky, who competed in mixed doubles curling with his wife, is the first athlete from Russia to come under investigation for using a banned substance in Pyeongchang.

Traces of meldonium, a heart medicine that increases blood flow and has been banned from most sports since 2016, were found in a routine urine sample. A second test will be conducted to confirm the finding, according to a statement from an organization representing the Olympic Athletes from Russia, the designation given to more than 160 Russian athletes who had been cleared to compete at the games under that name.

Just one other athlete — Japanese short-track speedskater Kei Saito — has failed a doping test at these games. He tested positive for the masking agent acetazolamide in an out-of-competition doping test on the day of his arrival.

Father of defenseman quarantined

Amid precautions to prevent infection at the Pyeongchang Olympics, U.S. hockey defenseman James Wisniewski says his father has norovirus.

Wisniewski says his dad, Jim, who is 62, began feeling the effects of norovirus Saturday and is in quarantine.

Officials have recommended players fist-bump each other rather than shaking hands because norovirus is so contagious.

The local organizing committee had reported 199 confirmed cases of norovirus as of a week ago. At the beginning of the games, thousands of security workers were kept in their rooms because of norovirus concerns at a youth training center where they were staying.

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