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Norway takes two golds to top medals table at Winter Olympics
PyeongChang, Feb 18 (IANS) Snow sports powerhouse Norway grabbed two gold medals on Sunday to top the medals table at the Winter Olympic Games here.
Norway, the cross-country-crazed nation, first saw its 16-year gold medal drought in the men’s 4×10-kilometre relay come to an end, and then claimed another gold through Oystein Braaten in freestyle skiing men’s slopestyle, reports Xinhua news agency.
The team of Didrik Toenseth, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Simen Hegstad Krueger and Klaebo won the race in 1 hour, 33 minutes and 4.9 seconds.
“It has been a long time since Norway took gold in the relay,” team member Simen Hegstad Krueger said. “It was one of the most important races for us at the Olympics.”
“It’s going well,” said Norwegian coach Tor Arne Hetland. “It’s the national sport in Norway, so of course it is an important sport for us.”
“In the individual races you are skiing for yourself. In the relay you are skiing for the team, for the older skiers and the whole country,” Hetland added.
In freestyle skiing men’s slopestyle, Braaten set his leading position with 95.00 points in the first run, an intact score throughout the competition.
The Norwegians now top the medals table with nine golds, nine silvers and eight bronzes, with Germany next (9-5-4) and the Netherlands third (6-5-2).
–IANS
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.