SUPPORT.

American Mikaela Shiffrin can count on the support of her half Aleksander Aamodt Kilde after her nightmarish Olympic debut.

Favorite of the slalom, Shiffrin was in tears on Wednesday after leaving the track in the first run, like Monday on the giant.

Norwegian skier Kilde has come to his girlfriend's defense on social media.

"The pressure we put on the athletes is huge so let's give the same amount of support back," he wrote on Instagram, captioning a photo of Shiffrin slumped in the snow with his head in his hands. .

"Most of you are probably looking at (this photo) thinking, 'She's lost her mind,' 'She can't handle the pressure,' or 'What happened?'" he continues.

"It frustrates me, because what I see is

is a top athlete doing what is expected of a top athlete!

Everything is a question of balance and we are only normal human beings!!!", he was indignant, ending his post with "I love you Kaela". A little later, after the medal of silver won by Kilde in the alpine combined, Shiffrin returned the favor in an Instagram story: "A big heart for Aleks Kilde and his beautiful dancer's feet (in reference to the rhythm of the slalom).

What an athlete!”, wrote the American. (AFP)

after Kilde won silver in the alpine combined, Shiffrin returned the favor in an Instagram story: "Big heart for Aleks Kilde and his beautiful dancer's feet (referring to the rhythm of the slalom). What an athlete! “, wrote the American.

(AFP)

after Kilde won silver in the alpine combined, Shiffrin returned the favor in an Instagram story: "Big heart for Aleks Kilde and his beautiful dancer's feet (referring to the rhythm of the slalom). What an athlete! “, wrote the American.

(AFP)

TO COME UP.

"I think the combined definitely has a future," assured the president of the International Ski Federation (FIS) Johan Eliasch, after the event held at the Games.

Considered complicated to organize and not very telegenic, the combination has nevertheless been absent from the calendar of the Alpine Skiing World Cup for two seasons.

Consequence: only 27 skiers took the start of the competition on Thursday, the lowest total since the reintroduction of the combined in 1988, against 65 in 2018. (AFP)

SOCIAL NETWORKS.

Olympic figure skating champion Nathan Chen was the target of a wave of hate messages and death threats on social media on Thursday.

Using the Chinese name of the champion whose parents immigrated to the United States, with the hashtag "American athlete Chen Wei (wins) a gold medal", which has been viewed more than 90 million times, netizens Chinese attacked the American as they regularly do against brands or personalities perceived as "anti-Chinese".

The skater supported teammate Evan Bates' criticism of human rights in China.

Asked about this wave of hatred during a press conference held on Thursday, Chen said that he had "

Chinese-American skater Nathan Chen crowned at the Beijing Games on February 10, 2022 WANG Zhao AFP

HAN.

A Chinese skeleton competitor is drawing inspiration from ancient warriors from the host country in his bid to win a medal at the Beijing Olympics.

Zheng Yin, who enters the final two rounds of Friday's men's event in seventh place, wears a pattern on his helmet inspired by a Han dynasty general.

"We asked a local designer to come up with the design," the 25-year-old said.

“The top of the helmet resembles the headdress worn by an ancient warlord like Lu Bu (late 2nd century CE)” and “there are small dragons on the front of the helmet,” Zheng explained.

"It's the Olympics and I wanted to show an aspect of Chinese culture," said the 25-year-old Jincheng native.

(AFP)

Chinese Zheng Yin in action in the skeleton event of the Beijing Games, February 10, 2022 in Yanqing Joe KLAMAR AFP

WHOOPS.

Canadian James Crawford, bronze medalist in the alpine combined, got a little confused at a press conference.

"It's always been a kid's cream (he says 'cream' instead of 'dream')... Uh shit (sic). Sorry, I'm stressed. It's always been a kid's dream" , stammered the 24-year-old skier.

Crawford finally broke the family curse on Thursday: his aunt Judy had finished 4th in the slalom at the Sapporo Olympics in 1972, and had already taken 4th place in the Olympic downhill on Monday, and 4th place in the combined Worlds in 2021. ( AFP)

© 2022 AFP