Axios

The Team USA men's hockey team beat Team Canada, 4-2, in a preliminary round showdown at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Saturday, beating their rivals for the first time since 2010.

The big picture: Day 8 of the Games saw Team USA win its fifth gold medal in Beijing — Lindsey Jacobellis and Nick Baumgartner came from behind to win the first-ever mixed team snowboard cross.

Russian figure skating star Kamila Valieva's eligibility hearing after testing positive for a banned substance will be held Sunday with a decision on her status for the women's individual competition expected to come the next day, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said in a statement.

Driving the news: Valieva, 15, tested positive for trimetazidine after last December's Russian national championships and had been provisionally suspended by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) before winning an appeal.

The big picture: Valieva is the favorite to win the women's individual competition which starts Tuesday, but could still be suspended for her positive drug test.

• The panel of arbitrators will meet Sunday and consider an appeal filed by several groups, including the World Anti-Doping Agency, the International Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union. The groups have challenged the RUSADA's decision to lift Valieva's appeal, the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: Russia has had an extensive history of doping, and in 2020 was banned from using its name and flag at the Olympics because of its state-run doping program.

• Valieva and her teammates had won gold in the team competition competing as the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), but the medal ceremony was delayed.
• If the appeal is successful and the ROC's gold medal is stripped, Team USA would likely see its silver medal upgraded to gold and Japan's bronze bumped to silver.
• Team Canada, which finished fourth, would get the bronze medal.

What they're saying: Valieva’s coach, Eteri Tutberidze, told Russia’s state-run TV network that "this is a very complicated and controversial situation," the Times reports.

• “There are many questions and very few answers," she said.
• “I wanted to say that we are absolutely confident that Kamila is innocent and clean," Tutberidze added.

The ROC has also defended Valieva, saying that she "repeatedly passed doping tests" in Beijing, CNN reports.

• "The doping test of an athlete who tested positive does not apply to the period of the Olympic Games. At the same time, the athlete repeatedly passed doping tests before and after December 25, 2021, including while already in Beijing during the figure skating tournament. All the results are negative," the ROC statement said.
• "The Russian Olympic Committee is taking comprehensive measures to protect the rights and interests of the members of the ROC Team, and to keep the honestly won Olympic gold medal."

Americans Lindsey Jacobellis and Nick Baumgartner captured the gold medal on Sunday in the debut of the mixed team snowboard cross at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Driving the news: It was Team USA's fifth gold medal of these Games and Jacobellis' second gold after she won the women's snowboard cross Wednesday.

The Chicago White Sox are mandating all minor league players receive a COVID-19 booster shot, becoming the first team in MLB to issue a requirement, ESPN reports.

Driving the news: The team said that players who do not comply "will not be able to participate" in spring training, according to a copy of the letter obtained by ESPN.

Super Bowl LVI is a homecoming of sorts, as the NFL's marquee event returns to La La Land 55 years after its birth.

The backdrop: The first Super Bowl was played at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum in 1967, a 35-10 win for the Packers over the Chiefs. It was last there in 1993, when the Cowboys beat the Bills, 52-17, at the Rose Bowl.

Super Bowl commercials have been brands' big moment ever since Apple's groundbreaking "1984" ad. Four decades and one fractured media landscape later, that real estate is more valuable than ever.

By the numbers: The price for a 30-second slot was roughly $6 million this year, and some sold for a record $7 million. Crypto and gambling companies are expected to make a big splash.

A Ukrainian skeleton athlete on Friday displayed a small sign that read "No War in Ukraine" after he finished his race at the Winter Olympics, AP reports.

Driving the news: "It’s my position. Like any normal people, I don’t want war," Vladyslav Heraskevych told AP after his competition. "I want peace in my country, and I want peace in the world. It’s my position, so I fight for that. I fight for peace."

The Russian Olympic Committee vowed Friday to take "exhaustive measures" to protect the figure skating team's Winter Olympics gold medal after star skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance, per the Washington Post.

Why it matters: Valieva, 15, was in the ROC group that beat the U.S. into second place in the team figure skating competition on Monday, but a "legal issue" delayed the scheduled medal ceremony, officials said. The ITA confirmed Friday that this was due to Valieva testing positive for trimetazidine.

The Team USA women's hockey team overcame a tough challenge from the Czech Republic to win 4-1 in their quarterfinals clash at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Friday.

The big picture: Day 7 of the Games marked the end of an era for U.S. snowboarding great Shaun White, who finished fourth in the men's halfpipe competition — his last-ever Olympics appearance.

U.S. alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin may be out of super-G medal contention at the Beijing Winter Olympics, but she told NBC on Friday: "I proved to myself that I can still trust my instincts a bit."

The big picture: The two-time Olympic Alpine gold medalist had never competed in the super-G before, but it was the first time in three events at the 2022 Beijing Games that she had completed a race, finishing ninth with a time of 1 minute, 14.30 seconds. She also spoke of how moved she'd been by the support she's received this week.

American Shaun White capped off his snowboarding career on Friday, finishing fourth in the men's halfpipe competition at the Beijing Olympics.

Driving the news: White announced last week that this would be his final competition, citing recurring knee and back injuries as a factor in his decision.