On the German gold track at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, the skeletons are also on the road to success after the lugers.

At half time, Christopher Grotheer leads ahead of Axel Jungk.

In the snow competitions, on the other hand, things are different: snowboarder Leilani Ettel misses out on the top ten.

Double lead:

Skeleton world champion Christopher Grotheer from Oberhof is on course for gold after two runs in the Olympic race.

With a track record of 1:00.00 minutes, Grotheer got off to a perfect start in the first round on Thursday.

Halfway through the race he is clearly in the lead and has a lead of 0.70 seconds over Axel Jungk from BSC Sachsen Oberbärenburg, who is second overall in the World Cup.

In the two final runs on Friday there is a chance for the first German men's medal at the Olympics.

Sochi Olympic champion Alexander Tretjakow from Russia is fourth, the Chinese Yan Wengang made it to third place.

Alexander Gassner from Winterberg, who won the pre-Olympic test at the Sliding Center Yanging in October, is ninth after the first two of four races.

Delay:

The start of the American ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin in the Olympic Super-G on Friday is still open.

The 26-year-old will train this Thursday and then decide whether she will compete in the first women's speed event at the games in China, the US association said when asked by dpa.

In the World Cup, Shiffrin has contested five Super-G and two downhill races so far this season.

At the Olympics, she experienced a fiasco in the first few days.

Both in the giant slalom and in the slalom she was favored and was eliminated in the first run.

The only German starter in the Super-G is Kira Weidle.

Small success:

The German snowboarder Leilani Ettel took eleventh place in the halfpipe discipline in the Olympic final.

The 20-year-old from Pullach in the Isar Valley scored 57.50 points with her best run on Thursday and thus had no chance in the fight for the medals.

Just qualifying for the final was a success for the Bavarian.

Top favorite Chloe Kim from the USA secured the gold medal in the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou in north-west Beijing.

She received 94.00 points for her best run.

The 21-year-old already won the Olympics in Pyeongchang four years ago and hasn't lost a competition in the halfpipe since then.

Silver went to Queralt Castellet from Spain, bronze to Sena Tomita from Japan.

Ice whirlwind:

In the case of the more open medal award in the Olympic team competition for figure skaters, the IOC has described reports of a doping case as "speculation".

"It would be inappropriate for us to comment on an ongoing legal process," said Mark Adams, spokesman for the International Olympic Committee, on Thursday.

The award ceremony planned for Tuesday in the competition had previously been postponed without further explanation.

According to media reports, the reason could be a possible positive doping test by a participant before the Winter Games in Beijing.

The figure skaters from Russia had won the team competition ahead of the USA and Japan.

Corona:

After a downward trend of several days, the number of corona cases at the Winter Games in Beijing rose again slightly.

As the organizers announced on Thursday, nine new infections were discovered among more than 71,000 corona tests on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, infections had reached their all-time low with just five cases.

Since the wave of arrivals for the Winter Games began on January 23, 408 infections have been detected at the airport and in the closed bladder.

Nomination:

After the one-man sprint line-up, team manager Peter Schlickenrieder again nominated the entire cross-country quartet for the 15 kilometers at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

Accordingly, Lucas Bögl, Janosch Brugger, Jonas Dobler and Albert Kuchler will be at the start of the race on Friday (8.00 a.m. CET in the FAZ live ticker for the Olympics, in ARD and Eurosport).

Dobler sat out the skiathlon because he had physical problems.

According to the association, it was a precautionary measure.

For 23-year-old Kuchler, who only made his World Cup debut this winter, it is the first race at the Olympics.