The Latest: Canada's Virtue, Moir break own ice dance record
By Associated Press
Feb 18, 2018 10:31 PM CST
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada perform during the ice dance, short dance figure skating in the Gangneung Ice Arena at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)   (Associated Press)

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) — The Latest on the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local):

1:30 p.m.

Two-time Olympic medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir have broken their own record for an ice dance short program with a score of 83.67 points at Gangneung Ice Arena.

The Canadians, who won Olympic gold in Vancouver and silver in Sochi, received level-four marks on all five elements in their program. That included a dazzling midline step sequence to open the program and a rhumba sequence on which they were graded harshly during the team event.

Virtue and Moir performed both their short and free skate programs in helping Canada win team gold.

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12:50 p.m.

Canada's women curlers are fighting their way back from a shocking string of losses at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The Canadians nabbed an 8-3 win over Japan on Monday in the women's round robin. Japan conceded the game early after a strong performance from the Canadians left them with little chance of catching up.

Canada's women curlers are the defending world champions and came into the games as the favorite to win gold. But they fell to last place in the standings after losing their first three games. Monday's game marks their third straight win, putting them fourth place in the rankings.

Korea and Sweden are now tied for first place in the women's rankings, followed by Japan.

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12:40 p.m.

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.

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11:50 a.m.

The women's hockey tournament will increase from eight to 10 teams for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.

International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel confirmed the change at a news conference Monday. Fasel says the Beijing organizing committee requested the addition of two teams.

The move will help allow China to have a team in the tournament.

Federation council chairwoman Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer says the quality of women's hockey around the world is good enough for this step, pointing to Japan beating Sweden on Sunday and no team scoring more than eight goals in a game as signs of progress.

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11:40 a.m.

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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10:30 a.m.

Gangneung Ice Center has been pretty much filled for most of figure skating, one of the premier events of the Winter Olympics.

Not Monday morning (Sunday evening U.S. time), though. The building that has a capacity of about 12,000 was half-empty when the short dance began. There were sections near mid-ice and also in the end zones that were practically unoccupied.

For most other figure skating events at these games, the arena filled up quickly. But it never had so few people in it for the beginning of a competition.

The top ice dance couples are not scheduled to perform until deep into the 24-duo short dance.

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10:10 a.m.

Ice dancing is underway at the Olympic Games with two-time medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada and France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron the heavy favorites to win gold.

Three American couples have a chance at landing on the podium.

Maia and Alex Shibutani, the siblings who helped the U.S. win team bronze, are making their second Olympic appearance. They're joined by Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, the reigning national champs, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the latter of whom is competing in his third Olympics.

The short dance is Monday South Korea time (to be broadcast Sunday night in the U.S.) with the free dance wrapping up the competition Tuesday.

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10 a.m.

After a one-day break, Olympic figure skating resumes with the ice dancing short program.

A strong performance from Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir helped Canada win gold in the team competition, but Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France and American siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani could provide serious competition.

Medals are up for grabs in just three events Monday: men's 500-meter speedskating, men's large hill team ski jumping, and men's two-man bobsled.

In the women's hockey semifinals, the Americans play Finland, while defending champion Canada faces Russia.

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