The Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games are officially underway, and Australia will feature in six sports throughout the day.
Freestyle Skiing will headline the day with the men’s Moguls second qualifying round followed by the final from 9pm AEDT.
With Luge, Short Track Speed Skating, Snowboarding and Curling also featuring Aussies, it will be a day of high speed, big air, endurance and precision.
Cross-Country Skiing
Taking part in the grueling women's 7.5km + 7.5km Skiathlon in the cross-country skiing, Aussie Jess Yeaton will feature as the ultimate all-round winter athlete.
Taking place at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Centre, the event is two laps of the course, testing the endurance of athletes as they race over long distances on skis, using different techniques to move forward. The classical technique requires athletes to move both their skis forward parallel while the freestyle technique, which is faster, needs skiers to move their feet in a side-to-side motion, much like speed skating or rollerblading.
Yeaton’s race will commence at 6:45pm AEDT.
Curling
It’s been a story of fine margins so far, with Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt losing four of their first five matches by a single point, including a tie-break defeat to world champions Great Britain.
Today Hewitt and Gill will face off against Norway at 12pm AEDT before taking on Italy at 11pm AEDT.
Catch the curling action from 12pm AEDT.
Freestyle Skiing - Moguls
A strong event for Australia, our four men’s Moguls athletes will be back on the slope after their first qualification run on Thursday night, and they will all have their sights set on a finals spot later in the night.
2018 Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham did not finish his first run, so will have one chance to book his place in the final.
Brodie Summers (11th), Cooper Woods (14th) and James Matheson (20th) are well positioned after their first run.
The second round of Men's moguls qualification will begin at 9pm AEDT, followed by the final.
Luge
In one of the most exciting but arguably terrifying sports on the Olympic program, Alex Ferlazzo will feature in the men’s singles run 1 & 2, competitor 22 in a field of 35 athletes.
Originally from Townsville, QLD, the 26-year-old will be throwing himself feet first down the icy track on his sled and reach speeds of over 120km p/h. Ferlazzo will make history becoming Australia’s first ever Luge triple Olympian.
Watch Alex Ferlazzo live on 7plus from 10:10pm AEDT.
Short Track Speed Skating
Brendan Corey will make his Olympic debut on day one of the short track speed skating program, competing in the men’s 1000m heats.
Taking part in heat 8, Brendan will complete against athletes from Italy, Hungry and Latvia for a top two finish.
The top two go through to the quarterfinals automatically, and they will be joined by the four fastest third placed athletes.
Brendan Corey will be in action from 10pm AEDT.
Snowboarding
On day 1 of the snowboarding program, Australia will be represented by Tess Coady in the women's snowboard slopestyle qualification.
After a training injury prevented her from competing in 2018, the 21-year-old will have her sights on a top 12 finish to qualify for the final, with two opportunities across qualifying runs 1 and 2.
It will not be an easy task for the Fitzroy local with a strong field of 30 competitors.
Watch the women’s slopestyle qualifying runs from 1:45pm AEDT.
Shannon Knaus
