Beijing Olympic Highlights -- Feb. 17

Beijing Olympics - Highlights:

-- Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who’s been the focus of intense attention as she was allowed to compete despite a positive doping test in December, and who’d been heavily-favored to win gold, stunningly finished in fourth place after falling repeatedly during the free skate. Teammates Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Truscova won gold and silver, respectively, and Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto won an unexpected bronze. The 15-year-old Valieva was sobbing and inconsolable, while Trusova was angry and also in tears because she hadn’t won despite landing four quad jumps. Alysa Liu was the highest-finishing American, in seventh place.

-- International Olympic Committee president Thomas criticized the treatment of Valieva by her entourage after her fourth-place finish following multiple falls during her free skate. He said at a news conference, “When I afterwards saw how she was received by her closest entourage, with such, what appeared to be a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this. Rather than giving her comfort, rather than to try to help her, you could feel this chilling atmosphere, this distance.” As Valieva got off the ice, her controversial coach, Eteri Tutberidze, said to her, “Why did you let it go? Why did you stop fighting?” -- U.S.-born freestyle skier Eillen Gu, who competes for her mother’s native China, won gold in ski halfpipe. She also won gold in freestyle big air and silver in slopestyle, the first freeski athlete to medal in three events in one Olympics.

-- The defending Olympic champion U.S. men lost to Canada in the curling bronze medal game. The U.S. was playing for bronze after losing to Britain in their semifinal. The British will play Sweden for the gold, after the Swedes beat Canada in their semi.

-- A second Ukrainian has tested positive for doping in Beijing, with bobsledder Lidiia Hunko  testing positive for an anabolic steroid after competing Monday in the monobob, in which she come in 20th. A Ukrainian cross-country skier and an Iranian skier also tested positive in Beijing. Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who was allowed to continue competing, tested positive in a sample taken in December.

Medal Count: (As of 4:00 a.m. ET) - Norway is in first place with 31 medals, followed by the Russian Olympic Committee with 27, and Canada with 23. In the gold medal count, Norway is first with 14, Germany is second with 10, and the U.S. and China have eight each. The U.S. has 21 medals overall, eight gold, eight silver and five bronze.