Sports
Redemption: Austria's Janine Flock wins women’s skeleton singles
Feb 14, 2014; Krasnaya Polyana, RUSSIA; Janine Flock (AUT) competes in women’s skeleton during the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games at Sanki Sliding Center. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-Imagn Images CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Austria’s Janine Flock finally erased her Pyeongchang pain on Saturday when, at the age of 36, she won the Olympic women’s skeleton singles with a performance of masterful consistency and iron nerve.
Flock, who led going into the final run eight years ago but slipped to fourth to miss a medal by two hundredths of a second, made no mistake this time to win a first women’s skeleton medal for her country.
Germany’s Olympic debutant Susanne Kreher took silver, three-tenths adrift but ahead of compatriot Jacqueline Pfeifer, who added bronze to her silver from 2018.
Another German, Hannah Neise, who won gold in Beijing as a 21-year-old, finished fourth.
Flock is the country’s second skeleton medalist after Martin Rettl took a men’s silver in 2002. She is also the oldest winner of the women’s event that joined the Games in the same year.
“I stayed with myself the whole time. I felt incredibly comfortable from the very beginning and never doubted that I could win here,” said Flock, who either side of Pyeongchang 2018 finished ninth and 10th in Sochi and Beijing, respectively.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling to cross the finish line, to hear the cheering, to see the red white red flags and to be able to embrace all the team members and my family.
“I couldn’t tell what my time was (on the final run). I just knew I put down four really consistent runs and hoped that it was enough.”
FLOCK ENJOYS DREAM START
Flock had a dream start to the night as she went out first on the third run and posted the same time as on her second on Friday – 57.26 seconds – marginally behind the track record set on her first run and a level of consistency nobody could match.
She then sat back and watched the three Germans who had been breathing down her neck overnight all lose ground with scruffy third runs and suddenly she had a 0.21 cushion over Kreher, with Pfeifer and Neise looking out of the fight for gold.
Flock could have been forgiven for being nervous as she contemplated her final run. In Pyeongchang, she somehow found herself leading despite not managing a top-two finish in any of her three runs.
She had a scratchy run then, slipping agonizingly to fourth, but now, a more mature athlete with three overall World Cup titles to her name, she was bang on the money with a 57.28 – making all four runs within six hundredths of a second of each other.
Her times were all the more impressive given her shocking starts, where she was regularly among the very worst of the 25-woman field this week but routinely made up the time with her calm, smooth negotiation of the technically challenging upper half of the new Cortina course.
Overall World Cup champion Kim Meylemans of Belgium had a disappointing week, finishing sixth, but might perhaps find some Valentine’s Day comfort from her wife, Nicole Silveira, who came in 11th representing Brazil in a rare example of a married couple competing against each other at the Olympics.
The skeleton programme comes to a close on Sunday with the first Olympic outing for the two-person, mixed team relay, where Germany and Britain, boasting newly crowned men’s singles champion Matt Weston, will expect to battle it out for gold.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Kevin Fiala's NHL season likely over after Olympic injury, surgery
Feb 5, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Los Angeles Kings left wing Kevin Fiala (22) warms up before a game against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Kevin Fiala underwent surgery on his left leg after being removed from the ice on a stretcher Friday from Switzerland’s preliminary round game in the Milan Cortina Olympics, and ESPN reported Saturday that the injury will likely end his NHL season with the Los Angeles Kings.
The Swiss Ice Hockey Federation announced the surgery on Saturday for Fiala and said he will miss the remainder of the Olympics.
The injury occurred late in the third period of Switzerland’s 5-1 loss to Canada on Friday in a Group A preliminary round game in Milan. Fiala got his legs tangled with Canada’s Tom Wilson with just less than three minutes left in the game. Fiala was unable to get to his feet and medical personnel attended to him after a stoppage in play.
“Obviously it doesn’t look very good,” Switzerland coach Patrick Fischer said after the game. “Tough moment for Kevin and the whole team, obviously.”
Fiala, 29, has recorded 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists) in 56 games this season with the Kings, who reside three points in back of the Anaheim Ducks for the final wild-card spot in the NHL’s Western Conference.
“We need that guy on my team back home, big time,” said Canada defenseman Drew Doughty, who plays for the Kings.
Another Kings’ teammate, Adrian Kempe, also lamented the loss after his Swedish team’s 5-3 win over Slovakia on Saturday.
“It’s really tough for him personally and for us as a team. You know how much he means to our team back home in L.A.,” Kempe said. “It’s just very unfortunate for him that it comes in a tournament like this that we’ve been looking forward to playing in for so long. I feel for him.”
For Fiala’s career, the 2022-23 All-Star has 229 goals and 299 assists across 707 games. He is in his 12th NHL season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Twisted Minds move to semis at OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Twisted Minds recorded a 3-0 sweep of T1 on Saturday to advance to the semifinals of the Overwatch Champions Series Pre-Season Bootcamp in Seoul.
Twisted Minds posted a 2-0 win on Busan, 1-0 victory on Blizzard World and 3-2 triumph on New Junk City.
They advanced to set up a semifinal encounter on Sunday versus Team Liquid, who posted a 3-1 win over Virtus.pro.
Team Liquid got the early jump on Virtus.pro by securing a 2-0 victory on Lijiang Tower and 1-0 triumph on Eichenwalde. Virtus.pro responded with a 3-0 win on New Junk City before Team Liquid ended the match with a 5-4 victory on Havana.
Sunday’s other semifinal will pit Crazy Racoon versus Team Falcons.
Crazy Raccoon seized a 3-1 win over Team Peps on Saturday. The teams split the first two maps before Crazy Raccoon notched a 3-0 win on Shambali Monastery and a 3-2 victory on Blizzard World.
Team Falcons alternated wins and losses before posting a 3-2 win over Weibo Gaming. Team Falcons recorded a 2-1 victory on Ilios, an 83.98m-53.02m win on Esperanca and 1-0 triumph on Shambali Monastery to offset 2-1 setbacks on Midtown and Havana.
Twelve teams are participating in the $25,000 event that kicks off the 2026 Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS). Teams from North America, the EMEA region, China, Japan and elsewhere in Asia were invited.
The single-elimination bracket saw teams seeded by regional and 2025 World Finals performance. All matches are first-to-three until Sunday’s grand finals, which are first-to-four.
Overwatch Champions Series 2026 Pre-Season Bootcamp prize pool
1. $15,000
2. $5,000
3-4. $2,500
5-8. No money — Team Peps, Weibo Gaming, T1, Virtus.pro
9-12. No money — Disguised, VARREL, Dallas Fuel, All Gamers
–Field Level Media
Sports
Daytona 500 start time moved up due to weather concerns
Feb 13, 2026; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (8) during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images NASCAR moved up the start time for Sunday’s Daytona 500 by one hour due to the threat of inclement weather.
The National Weather Service forecast calls for a 50% chance of rain Sunday afternoon, with the chances rising as the day goes on. Officials hope the time change will allow drivers to finish all 500 miles on Sunday.
Rain is nothing new for “The Great American Race.” The Daytona 500 was postponed to a Monday finish in 2024 and featured a 3 1/2-hour delay last year.
Pole winner Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe will share the front row when the green flag waves to start the race at 2:13 p.m. ET.
–Field Level Media
Report: Kevin Fiala's NHL season likely over after Olympic injury, surgery
Twisted Minds move to semis at OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp
