Karen Chen, of the United States, competes in the women’s team free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Grit, glory and gobsmacking feats of limit-pulverizing human performance. Visuals from day three of the Olympics Games Beijing 2022 showcased all three.
Fremont native Karen Chen leads our Monday gallery in a stone-studded dress crafted by her mother, Hsiu-Hui Tseng. Chen illuminated the mother-daughter teamwork that went into the outfit in an Instagram video posted to the Team USA account:
“She probably does 90% of the work and I do like 10%, by 10% I tell her, like ‘Oh that looks good or that doesn’t look good,’” Chen said. “She does all the hard work. She puts blood, sweat and tears into it and I think my favorite part is this butterfly … She strategically put the stones and arranged them in a way to look like a butterfly, because in my free program I’m skating to Butterfly Lover’s Concerto.”
The work that inspired Chen’s butterfly marked dress is considered one of the most renowned pieces of Chinese orchestral music and was written in 1959. It tells the tragic legend of two young scholars, also called Butterfly Lovers. The original story is set in the Eastern Jin dynasty (265-420 CE). The tune that brings its emotional arc to life served as the soundtrack to Chen’s fourth-place free skate performance.
Chen’s finish Monday helped lift Team USA’s figure skating arm to a silver medal, its first in the global sports contest.
Below are more photos of children curling on the streets of Beijing, hockey teams fighting to score and defend, Southern California snowboarder Shaun White practicing ahead of his final Olympic outing, speed skiers and the race to sell and snatch souvenirs of Bing Dwen Dwen, the official panda mascot of the seasonal athletic games.
An athlete performs a trick during the Women’s Freestyle Skiing Freeski Big Air Qualification on Day 3 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Big Air Shougang on February 07, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)Children play curling at a Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Live Site set up in a park on February 07, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Andrea Verdelli/Getty Images)Ziwei Ren of Team China celebrates winning the Gold medal during the Men’s 1000m Final A on day three of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Capital Indoor Stadium on February 07, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)James Crawford of Team USA skis in his run during the Men’s Downhill on day three of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at National Alpine Ski Centre on February 07, 2022 in Yanqing, China. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier of Team United States skate during the Pair Skating Free Skating Team Event on day three of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Capital Indoor Stadium on February 07, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)Dorothea Wierer of Team Italy skis during Women’s Biathlon 15km Individual at National Biathlon Centre on February 07, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)A man holds the Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen doll which he purchased from a store selling 2022 Winter Olympics memorabilia in Beijing, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. The race is on to snap up scarce 2022 Winter Olympics souvenirs. Dolls of mascot Bing Dwen Dwen, a panda in a winter coat, sold out after buyers waited in line overnight in freezing weather. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)Petra Vlhova of Slovakia makes a turn during the first run of the women’s giant slalom at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. Vlhova finished 14th. “Something was missing, and I was a bit in trouble with the conditions,” Vlhova said. “I tried to do my best, but it was not enough.” (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)Emma Soderberg #30 of Team Sweden misses the puck after a shot by Mulan Kang #17 of Team China in the first period during the Women’s Preliminary Round Group B match at Wukesong Sports Centre on February 07, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Song Yanhua/Getty Images)Suzanne Schulting of Team Netherlands, Arianna Fontana of Team Italy, Kim Boutin of Team Canada and Yuting Zhang of Team China during the Women’s 500m Final A on day three of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Capital Indoor Stadium on February 07, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)Dominique Ohaco of Chile competes during the women’s freestyle skiing Big Air qualification round of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)Nana Takagi of Japan competes in the women’s speedskating 1,500-meter race at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)United States’ Shaun White trains on the halfpipe course at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. White, the three-time gold medalist who said recently the Beijing Games would be his last competition, begins qualifying for the halfpipe Tuesday. “I really want to finish my career strongly on my own terms and put down some solid runs,” White said. “If I could do that, I’ll be very happy.” (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)Ireen Wust of the Netherlands reacts after winning her heat and breaking an Olympic record in the women’s speedskating 1,500-meter race at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. Her time stood for the gold medal. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)Suvi Minkkinen of Team Finland skis during Women’s Biathlon 15km Individual at National Biathlon Centre on February 07, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)Amos Mosaner, of Italy, during the semi-finals round of the mixed doubles curling match against at the Beijing Winter Olympics Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
