PyeongChang 2018: Last minute surprises on final day

PyeongChang 2018 had already set new records in terms of participant nations, athletes, media, medallist countries and ticket sales. But the last day of the Winter Paralympics on Sunday (18 March) still showcased a breath-taking Para ice hockey final and a teenager denying a perfect record to a nine-time Paralympic champion in alpine skiing.

USA topped the medal table with 13 gold, 15 silver and 8 bronze. One silver turned gold with 37 seconds to the end of the regulation at a sold-out Gangneung Hockey Centre.

USA was 1-0 down against rivals Canada, who hit the post at an empty net with less than a minute to go. But equalised and made it 2-1 at overtime to claim the fourth ever gold in the sport.

"It was an awesome feeling to tie it up and then to score the winner is like a kid's dream. I owed it to the team too because I missed some chances. I had to make it up to them," said Declan Farmer, who scored USA’s both goals.

The other side, it was an even more painful defeat to defenceman Rob Armstrong, who missed the opportunity to give Canada the gold in the last minute.

"It hurts. I will be playing that shot over in my mind for a long time, a very long time."

The Jeongseong Alpine Centre hosted the last day of the alpine skiing competition with the women’s slalom. France’s Marie Bochet dominated the standing category once again and took her fourth gold in PyeongChang and eighth of her career.

But the Games in Korea showed that the French star will face fierce competition in the future as 18-year-old Canadian Mollie Jespen added the slalom silver to a gold and two bronze from previous days.

But Sunday’s number 1 teenage talent came from a country that only once had won Paralympic gold in alpine skiing. It seemed like the women’s slalom vision impaired would finish with the fifth gold of Slovakia’s Henrieta Farkasova in as many events. But 19-year-old Menna Fizpatrick had other plans.

“We just had to put in our best performance. And we fought the whole way down,” Fizpatrick said.

It was her fourth medal in the Games, the second British gold in alpine skiing following Kelly Gallagher’s gold in the women’s Super-G vision impaired at Sochi 2014.

In the women’s slalom sitting competition, Germany’s Anna-Lena Forster won her second at PyeongChang 2018.

The Alpensia Biathlon Centre saw the final day of the cross-country competition with the relay events. Ukraine took the gold in the 4x2.5km Mixed Relay and France jumped to the top four in the medals’ table with the gold at the 4x2.5km Open Relay.