PYEONGCHANG 2018: Olympic Athlete from Russia's (OAR) Alina Zagitova won gold in one of the Winter Games' most highly anticipated events -- the women's Figure Skating.
Securing OAR's first gold medal of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics, 15-year-old Zagitova eclipsed two-time World Champion and compatriot Evgenia Medvedeva by 1.31 points.
"I didn't feel the competition," Zagitova said.
"My hands were shaking but my body remembered what I've been doing many times in practice."
Canada's Kaetlyn Osmond claimed bronze in a personal best performance to 'Black Swan'.
"All day I was terrified, I was so nervous," she said.
"But it is a programme I feel super comfortable with in practice and I was so ready to show it in compeition. That's exactly what I felt."
Find out how Australia's Kailani Craine went HERE.
The women's Ski Cross finals were underway at Phoenix Snow Park on Friday morning, with Canada's Kelsey Serwa and Brittany Phelan finishing first and second respectively.
The pair, who are friends and train together, were joined on the podium by Switzerland's Fanny Smith.
Phelan said that sharing the podium with her closest friend "couldn't have worked out any better".
"It's having that person who's on the same schedule and that supports you no matter what, that tells you, 'You suck' if you suck, but helps you out and how to get better," she said.
"To finish second behind my best friend, it's like a dream come true."
With Serwa's medal, Canada has dominated PyeongChang's freestyle skiing competition by claiming four of the 10 golds on offer.
Smith, 25, who failed to qualify at Sochi, said Friday's result was the ultimate redemption.
"It's just a revenge I get at the Olympic Games," she said.
"I'm so happy to get a medal, finally, after my third Olympic Games, so it means a lot to me."
Aussie Sami Kennedy-Sim recorded her season's best result with eighth place. Find out more on Kennedy-Sim's performance HERE.
It was an historic day at Gangneung Oval as the Netherlands' Kjeld Nuis became the third man to win the 1000m and 1500m at a single Olympic Winter Games.
"Relief. The 1500 [gold medal] was a vicotry and this relief. I was psyched to get this one," Nuis said.
"I really felt the tension today and after the false start the nerves were running through my body, but now it doesn't matter anymore."
Norway's Havard Lorentzen claimed silver while Korea's Tae-Yun Kim took bronze.
"It is like a dream, I didn't do well in the World Cups this year," Kim said.
"I think all my hard work paid off. It is still like a dream. I am so happy."
Sweden won gold in the men's Biathlon 4x7.5km relay, while Norway claimed silver and Germany took bronze.
Gangneung Curling Centre saw another action packed day of men's Curling as Switzerland defeated Canada to secure bronze.
Canada's Brent Laing said that he couldn't sum up the feeling of leaving without a medal "without swearing".
"We feel disheartened, disappointed, just kind of gutted really," he said.
"That's not the way it was supposed to go, wasn't what we planned, but the better team won today and unfortunately it wasn't us."
As the underdogs heading into the tournament, Switzerland felt the pressure to perform.
"It added a little pressure that whenever you went into the dining hall you see all these athletes showing off their medals to their friends and families," skip Peter De Cruz said.
"That really gave me a lot of pressure, feeling like, well this seems like a huge mountain to climb.
"We wanted to make them throw some difficult shots, some shots to win the game, some shots to stay in the game and I think we did that."
David Barden
olympics.com.au
