The Latest: Nuis wins 1,000 to become double Olympic champ
By Associated Press
Feb 23, 2018 5:29 AM CST
This chart obtained by The Associated Press shows the U.S. Olympic Committee's medal projections for the 2018 Winter Games in a slide presented last year to the USOC board. The USOC targeted 37 medals for Team USA in Pyeongchang, South Korea. (AP Photo)   (Associated Press)

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

8:25 p.m.

Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands has become a double Olympic champion after adding gold in the 1,000-meters to the 1,500 title he won last week.

Nuis crossed in 1 minute, 7.95 seconds, and held an edge of 0.04 seconds over Havard Lorentzen of Norway, the 500-meter champion.

Kim Tae-yun had the support of the crowd at the Olympic oval and finished in 1.08.22 for bronze.

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7:50 p.m.

The Russian delegation at the Pyeongchang Olympics says a bobsledder tested positive for a banned substance called trimetazdine.

Russian Bobsled Federation President Alexander Zubkov told The Associated Press on Friday that a drug-test sample that pilot Nadezhda Sergeeva gave was positive.

The Russian delegation said in a statement that the substance found was trimetazdine, a medication used for angina sufferers. It is listed by the World Anti-Doping Agency as a banned substance affecting the metabolism.

Zubkov says Sergeeva confirms she took no such medication.

Sergeeva's crew finished 12th in the women's bobsled competition Wednesday after she had given the sample that later came back positive.

The Russian team was barred from the Pyeongchang Olympics for doping in Sochi, but the International Olympic Committee invited 168 athletes from the country to compete under the Olympic flag.

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7:30 p.m.

The International Olympic Committee says a ceremony has been scheduled to give Norway's mixed doubles curlers the bronze medal stripped from the Russian team over doping.

The IOC says on Twitter that Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten's medals will be presented at the medals plaza Saturday — a rare quick turnaround for such a case.

The tweet included a photo of International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach welcoming Skaslien and Nedregotten back to Pyeongchang.

Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky was stripped of his medal after admitting to a doping violation. He tested positive for the banned substance meldonium after winning bronze in mixed doubles with his wife, Anastasia Bryzgalova.

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7:15 p.m.

Veteran goaltender Vasily Koshechkin stopped all 31 shots he faced to put the Russians into the men's gold medal hockey game with a 3-0 shutout against the Czech Republic in the semifinals at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

With teammates mostly clearing the way in front of him to let him see the puck, Koshechkin made save after save look routine in eliminating the Czech Republic. Koshechkin will almost certainly start the final Sunday.

Kontinental Hockey League star Nikita Gusev and Vladislav Gavrikov scored goals 27 seconds apart in the second period on plays Czech goaltender Pavel Francouz had little chance of stopping. Ilya Kovalchuk added an empty-netter with 20.9 seconds left to seal the Russians' first trip to the gold medal game since 1998.

Canada and Germany's semifinal is later Friday.

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7:10 p.m.

The president of the Russian Bobsled Federation says a bobsledder whose crew finished 12th in the women's competition has tested positive for a banned substance.

Alexander Zubkov says a drug-test sample that pilot Nadezhda Sergeeva gave Sunday was positive for a banned heart medication.

The women's race was Wednesday. Zubkov says Sergeeva says she took no such medication and the team says she was not issued any medication.

Zubkov did not say which substance was found, saying Russian officials were working to clarify the situation. But he said it was not meldonium, the substance for which Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky was stripped of a bronze medal Thursday.

A Slovenian hockey player and a Japanese speedskater also both left the games after failing tests.

The Russians are competing under the Olympic flag and in neutral uniforms because of doping in Sochi in 2014.

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6:55 p.m.

The Swiss men have won curling's bronze medal, sending Canada to its worst finish ever in the sport.

Switzerland's team of Peter de Cruz, Benoit Schwarz, Claudio Paetz and Valentin Tanner beat Canada 7-5 on Friday. Schwarz took out two Canadian stones with his last throw of the 10th and final end. With one throw left, Canada could not score the two points it needed to force an extra end.

Canada won the last three gold medals in Olympic men's curling and had never even failed to reach the gold medal match since the sport was restored to the Olympics in 1998. The Canadian women also failed to medal — the first time they'd missed the podium.

"I know that after results like this, people are going to reflect on what went wrong," Canadian third Marc Kennedy said. "But at the end of the day, it just comes down to individual performance."

Canada did win a gold medal in mixed curling, which was added to the Winter Games this year.

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6:40 p.m.

France's Martin Fourcade will go for his fourth Olympic gold medal on Friday night in the men's 4x7.5-kilometer biathlon relay.

The event begins at 8:15 p.m. local time (6:15 a.m. EST.)

Fourcade could become only the second biathlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympic Games, joining Norway's Ole Einar Bjourndalen, who accomplished the feat at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

Fourcade and Norway cross-country skier Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo are the only athletes who've won three gold medals at the Pyeongchang Games. Kleabo will compete in his final event on Saturday in the men's 50-kilometer mass start.

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6:30 p.m.

Leaders at the U.S. Olympic Committee projected Team USA to win 37 medals at the Pyeongchang Games — a goal the U.S. will not come close to reaching when the Olympics close on Sunday.

The Associated Press obtained a slide that was presented to the USOC board in meetings last year, and used to set expectations and funding levels for the Winter Games.

Heading into the final 48 hours of action, the United States had 21 medals. Even if things were to go well over the handful of remaining events, the team will fall more than 10 medals short of the goal.

Alan Ashley, the USOC's chief of sport performance, tells AP the team is doing fine. He says another way to view it is the number of close calls America has had at these games. The U.S. has placed fourth or fifth in 21 events.

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5:15 p.m.

Ivanka Trump has landed in South Korea to attend this weekend's closing ceremony for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

South Korea is rolling out the red carpet for her first visit since her father, Donald Trump, became U.S. president. Her arrival at the airport Friday was broadcast live on TV.

According to South Korean media reports, Ivanka Trump will have dinner Friday with President Moon Jae-in in a traditional Korean house at Moon's office.

A North Korean delegation will also attend the closing ceremony, but the South Korean government said it's unlikely that Ivanka Trump would meet North Koreans or defectors from North Korea.

Hopes are high in South Korea that she may deliver a message from her father on North Korea.

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4:30 p.m.

The Russians have come to dominate women's figure skating and they showed it by sweeping the top two medals at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Even their closest rivals acknowledge how much ground they have to make up. But what's much more difficult to pin down is whether it's possible to close the gap and what it will take for someone to rise to the Russians' level.

Alina Zagitova won individual gold with 239.57 points Friday, beating her training partner and close friend Evgenia Medvedeva by less than two points.

That they would stand on the top two steps of the podium at Gangneung Ice Arena was about as predictable as the sun rising over the nearby Sea of Japan, the only question left being what order they would finish.

Canadian Kaetlyn Osmond put together two clean programs for what she claimed was the first time ever, and she still only managed 231.02 points, leaving her a distant — but quite happy — third.

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2:45 p.m.

South Korea's women's curling team has become a global sensation. And they don't even know it.

The team known as the "Garlic Girls" came into the Pyeongchang Games as the underdog who few believed would medal. Now they're number one in the rankings.

They have earned worldwide attention for their fierce talent and funny personality.

But their coach has shielded them from publicity and the women agreed to turn off their phones before the Games. So they have no idea they're superstars.

They got their name from their hometown of Uiseong, known for its prolific garlic production.

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2 p.m.

Alina Zagitova has won the women's figure skating competition, becoming the first Russian gold medalist at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The 15-year-old Zagitova edged her friend and training partner Evgenia Medvedeva to end the gold drought for the Olympic Athletes from Russia. That's the designation given to the nation's competitors after Russia was officially banned by the IOC for a doping scandal.

Zagitova and Medvedeva tied in the free skate, a rare occurrence, but Zagitova had won the short program Wednesday, so she got gold.

Kaetlyn Osmond has won bronze, giving Canada four overall medals in figure skating.

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1:10 p.m.

The Americans secured their worst showing in modern-era Olympic women's figure skating with Mirai Nagasu failing to get any lift on her triple axel and popping a triple lutz.

The 24-year-old Nagasu was fourth at the 2010 Vancouver Games but never got going in the individual competition at the Pyeongchang Games after helping the U.S. win a team bronze. She hit her triple axel in that event, becoming the first American woman and third overall to do so in an Olympics. But she slipped below U.S. champion Bradie Tennell in the standings after Friday's free skate, with 2017 national champ Karen Chen just behind.

With the top six skaters to go, the Americans almost certainly will wind up ninth, 10th and 11th. Since World War II, at least one American woman finished sixth or higher.

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1 p.m.

Canadian defenseman Jocelyne Larocque says she wishes she hadn't taken off her silver medal almost immediately after it was placed around her neck at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Larocque issued a statement through Team Canada apologizing to the IOC, International Ice Hockey Federation, the Pyeongchang Olympic Organizing Committee, the Canadian Olympic Committee, Hockey Canada and her teammates and fans.

She says her emotions got the best of her Thursday after a 3-2 shootout loss to the United States and she meant no disrespect. Larocque says she takes being a role model and representing Canada seriously and is truly sorry that her actions did not represent her values or those of her family and team.

The general manager of Canada's national team programs says they expect professionalism and sportsmanship from their players.

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11:50 a.m.

American ski great Lindsey Vonn not only won a bronze medal at the Pyeongchang Olympics, she also had a chance to scatter some of her grandfather's ashes on a rock near the mountain where the downhill races were run.

Don Kildow served in the Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean War in the 1950s.

"I know that it would mean a lot to him to be back here, a part of him is in South Korea always," says Vonn, who shared her story with The Associated Press and the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

Vonn says she scattered parts of Don Kildow's ashes "just a few days ago" on a rock that she was told was special when she visited South Korea last year to be named a Pyeongchang Olympic ambassador. She described the location as "right by the men's downhill start."

Vonn won a bronze medal in the downhill , but skied out of Thursday's slalom leg of the Alpine combined in what was likely her last Olympic race. Later in the day, a group of elderly South Korean men gave her family some gifts and a letter of thanks to mark her grandfather's service during the 1950-53 Korean War.

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11:30 a.m.

Canada's Kelsey Serwa has raced to victory in women's skicross, giving her a gold medal to go with the silver she won in Sochi four years ago.

Serwa raced to the lead early in the final and was well in front by the time she reached the bottom of the course at Phoenix Snow Park. Canadian teammate Brittany Phelan made an impressive pass late in the run to finish second.

Serwa's victory came two days after Canada's Brady Leman took gold in the men's event.

Switzerland's Fanny Smith held off Sweden's Sandra Naeslund for bronze.

While Serwa and Phelan gave the Canadians a one-two finish, teammates Marielle Thompson and India Sherrit were not so fortunate. Thompson, the defending Olympic champion, clipped a ski in the first elimination round and did not finish. Sherrit left the course in a medical sled following a frightening crash. There was no immediate update on her status.

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10:15 a.m.

The final competitive event of figure skating at the Pyeongchang Games is underway with Russian rivals Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva dueling for the gold medal.

They are so far ahead of the rest of the field after their short program that everyone else is competing for bronze in the free skate. Kaetlyn Osmond of Canada is currently third, but Japan's Satoko Miyahara and Kaori Sakamoto are within striking distance.

The trio U.S. women are well off the pace and need a big rally in their free skates to avoid the worst showing by the American contingent in Olympic history.

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10 a.m.

The Russians have a good shot at winning their first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Olympics when teenager figure skaters Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva take the ice for the women's free skate.

Zagitova and Medvedeva were in first and second place, respectively, after the women's short program, where they had the highest scores ever. First Medvedeva broke the record she'd set the week before during the team competition, then Zagitova broke that record.

Americans Bradie Tennell, Mirai Nagasu and Karen Chen are unlikely to medal after struggling in their short programs.

Also Friday, speedskaters will compete in the men's 1,000 meter. In hockey it's the Czech Republic vs. the Olympic Athletes from Russia and Canada vs. Germany to determine who will play for gold.

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