Parrot wins Olympic gold after beating cancer

Just three years after being diagnosed with cancer, Max Parrot couldn't have wished for a better way to return to the Winter Olympics.

The 27-year-old Canadian secured gold in snowboard slopestyle with a score of 90.96, one-upping the silver medal he had won at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

It was ten months after the Pyeongchang Games when Parrot received a diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma, which kept him out of action from the entirety of the 2018-19 season. He went through six months of chemotherapy, a period which he described as the most difficult of his life.

"Exactly three years ago I was lying in a hospital and I had no energy, no muscles, no cardio. To be standing here three years later at the Olympics again, doing my passion, laying down the best run I've ever done and winning gold. It's insane," he said, adding that battling cancer has left its mark on him mentally.

"Going through 12 treatments of chemotherapy over six months makes you a lot stronger." Parrot finally adds Olympic gold to his medal collection, which includes eight X Games titles.

Local favorite Su Yiming won silver, much to the chagrin of Chinese social media users, who voiced their displeasure with what many perceived as a low score. Still, China's young prodigy has called his silver medal a "dream come true."

Gold medals

Switzerland's Beat Feuz won the gold in the men's downhill, as the 34-year-old added Olympic gold to an already glittering career. This comes after the race was pushed back one day due to heavy winds. 

Sweden's Sara Hector won gold in the women's giant slalom, beating Italy's Federica Brignone by a mere 0.28 seconds on a day that saw several favorites crash out, including 2018 gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin from the US.

As expected, Russia took the team figure skating gold, but it was 15-year-old Kamila Valieva who stole the show after landing the first quad jump in Olympic history, helping her team reach 178.2 points. 

Ireen Wust, of the Netherlands, broke the Olympic record in the women’s 1,500-meter speed skating, winning gold, with compatriot Antionette De Jong also winning bronze. Japan’s Takagi Miho came second.

Germany update

Biathlete Denise Herrmann secured gold in the women's 15 kilometer race. The 33-year-old missed just one of her 20 shots as she claimed her second Olympic medal, after winning bronze in cross-country, her original event, at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

"I am unbelievably happy and proud," Herrmann told German public broadcaster ZDF.  "I’m lost for words."

In the same event, 24-year-old Vanessa Voigt produced one of the best results of her career as she missed out on a bronze medal by just over a second.

Other than that, it wasn’t a day to remember for Germany at the Winter Olympics with Dominik Schwaiger suffering a nasty crash in the men’s downhill. The extent of his injuries are not yet clear, according to a spokesperson of Germany’s ski association.

In other news

After much anticipation, figure skating superstar Hanyu Yuzuru completed his first training session in Beijing ahead of the men’s short program. Questions had been raised as to his whereabouts after the 27-year-old, who is looking to win three consecutive figure skating gold medals, shunned the opening ceremony and team event. 

Afterwards, training on Monday he told reporters he was "relieved" the rink is in good condition. "I was nervous at first, about the dryness of the ice and my inner balance," Yuzuru said. "But I managed to concentrate the second I touched the ice and I’m very satisfied."

He has announced that he will attempt a quadruple axel (4A), the only quad jump in the sport not to be landed successfully in competition. Though he admitted he’s thinking about the jump, he remains focused on Tuesday’s short program – his 4A attempt will come in Thursday’s free skate.

"There is this echo inside me – '4A' '4A' '4A.' But tomorrow is the short program and I will give it the same affection."