'Shaking' 15-year-old Zagitova takes gold, Nuis doubles up

Fifteen-year-old Alina Zagitova became the first Russian to win a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics, while Kjeld Nuis completed a speed-skating double and there was a ski cross one-two for Canada in Pyeongchang on Friday.

Zagitova jumped and spun her way to the top of the podium in a tense ladies' single figure skating event at Gangneung Ice Arena, ensuring compatriot and two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva had to settle for silver.

The 'Olympic Athletes from Russia' had to wait until the 14th day of the Games to claim a gold, Zagitova becoming the second-youngest female to win a Winter Olympics title behind fellow figure skater Tara Lipinski, who was just 15 years and 255 days old when she was crowned champion at Nagano in 1998.

Nuis added the 1,000 metres title to the 1500m gold he already had in the bag and there was more freestyle skiing joy for Canada, Kelsey Serwa taking gold ahead of Brittany Phelan.

Sweden won a first Olympic gold in the biathlon men's relay, while Switzerland beat Canada 5-3 to take bronze in the men's curling.

'Shaking' Zagitova denies friend and favourite

Medvedeva was the favourite in a hotly anticipated duel with her friend Zagitova, but it was the younger teen who delivered under huge pressure.

Consistent 18-year-old Medvedeva became the first woman in 16 years to win back-to-back world championships last year, but a tally of 238.26 points was not enough for an Olympic gold.

The ice-cool Zagitova amassed 239.57 points to take the top step on the podium on a day in which bobsleigh pilot Nadezhda Sergeeva became the second Russian athlete to fail a drugs test at the Games.

Zagitova said: "I didn't feel the competition, but I didn't have any room for errors. That was a motivation and anxiety at the same time. My hands were shaking but my body remembered what I've been doing many times in practice."

Kaetlyn Osmond claimed bronze for Canada with a score of 231.02.