The Winter Olympic Virus, Day 4

• Peng Shuai was seen, apparently, at the team figure skating event, a probable CCP reward for continuing to retract her story of sexual assault at the hands of the CCP.  If you think I trust that any more than I can throw these guys...   
• She has also met with IOC President Thomas Bach, as was proposed before the Games.
• And, in a shocking announcement late on Day Four, Peng Shuai has RETIRED from the sport of women's tennis, part and parcel.  Oh shit...
• The United States ambassador to the UN saw right through the publicity stunt by the CCP and condemns the use of the Uyghur athlete to light the Cauldron Friday night.
• Ireen Wust of the Netherlands made Olympic history last night in winning the 1500m speed-skating event.  She becomes the first Winter Olympian to win gold medals in five straight Games.  Three gold medals at 1500 (defended the title she also won in 2018 and 2010, silver in 2014), gold at 3000 in 2006 and 2014, silver in 2018, gold at the team pursuit in 2014 and silver in 2018.  Twelve Olympic medals now -- 6 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze.
• In the history of the Winter Olympic Games, only 23 nations have scored more medals than Wust has by herself.
• The Winter Olympic medal record is 15.  The record for golds is 8.  Both are held by women's cross-country skier Marit Bjorgen of Norway, who retired after Pyeongchang.  Single silvers in 2002 (relay) and 2006 (10km).  Broke through with three golds (relay, sprint, pursuit), a silver (30km) and a bronze (10km) in 2010.  Won three more golds (team sprint, pursuit, 30km) in 2014.  Won two golds (relay and 30km), a silver (sprint), and two bronzes (10km and team sprint) in 2018.
• For the golds, Bjorgen is tied with countryman Bjorn Daehlie.  Three in 1992 (50km, relay, pursuit), two in 1994 (10km and pursuit).  Three more in 1998 (10km, 50km, relay).
• To give you an idea of how likely it is Michael Phelps did any of this clean (HA!), he holds the Summer Olympics golds record at TWENTY-THREE and the total record at twenty-eight.  Phelps has won as many gold medals in the Summer Games as the country of Ethiopia, and only 35 nations have exceeded that total on the all-time table.   In both this determination and the one above about Wust, Germany, all the Russian variations (of which I believe there are now FIVE -- Russia itself, the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, the Olympic Athletes from Russia, and the Russian Olympic Committee team), etc. count as one each.
• The heavily-favored Canadian women's hockey team refused to take the ice vs. the illegal Russian team yesterday -- stood to reason.  The ROC team has had COVID positives already and the Canadians' wanted the results of that day's testing before taking the ice against them.  After about an hour's delay, everything was to everyone's satisfaction, Canada won 6-1 after the USA beat the ROC 5-0 the day before.  And now it's on:  The group-stage fight between the two gold medal favorites.
• ... which, with three second-period goals in a five-minute period, the clear gold medal favorites from Canada defeated the USA 4-2.
• Don't look now, and this probably won't hold, but...  Early gold medal for China in the women's Big Air skiing event, and that puts China to the top of the table with two silvers to tiebreak with Sweden on three golds.  France gets it's fourth silver to break that tie and drop the USA to fifteenth on the medal table!
• Eileen Gu, another American who decided, instead, to compete for China in these Games, won the gold in the event and is favored for two more medals in freestyle skiing.
• Then the USA reties France with a surprise fourth silver, in the men's Super G.
• Ugly incident online against a Chinese figure-skater who renounced her US citizenship to move to China and compete for them at these Games after Zhu Yi fell at the team competition.
• Nathan Chen has done half the work:  World Record in the short program score to take a substantial lead into Thursday's free skate to get the USA it's first gold of these Games.  There are some chances tomorrow, but it is clearly not out of the question that Chen could be going for that first USA gold on the morning of Day Six.   
• And speaking of rather "interesting outcomes"...  There is growing discontent in the short-track speed-skating event that officials are, in fact, aiding the hometown Chinese team with questionable calls at the rink.
• This has led to an appeal by South Korea to the CAS regarding one of the Chinese gold medals in the sport and the DQ of two South Korean skaters to get it.
• There is even some question as to whether South Korea might, in fact, even pull out of the Olympics entirely over it.
• Another controversial story is the sudden disqualifications of five female ski-jumpers in the Mixed Team competition for the belief that their outfits being too baggy may actually improve their jumps.
• There has been dialogue of substandard conditions at the COVID-protocol quarantine hotels in Bejing.

Medal Count:

• It's all in the books for Day Four except for a couple of the women's hockey prelims (the men start on Day Five).
• Sweden's victory in the women's sprint cross-country event gives them four gold medals, and tops the table as a result.  Dominance in the long-track speed-skating event has the Netherlands joining China, Germany (largely sliding events), and Norway (largely cross-country) with three each.  Silver medal tiebreakers have the top five on the table in that order:  SWE, NED, CHN, GER, NOR.
• The USA, without a gold medal, but four silvers and a bronze in four days, now stands seventeenth on the table.  And by a quick perusal of the schedule for today, I don't like their chances here either.
• Their five total is eighth.  The illegal Russian team leads the total with ten medals.
• Sixteen countries, including New Zealand's first Winter Games gold medal, have won gold medals.
• 22 nations have now medaled.