New Zealand's Nico Porteous wins halfpipe gold as high winds send freeskiers tumbling

New Zealand freeskier Nico Porteous has won gold at the men's halfpipe, following a difficult final filled with painful falls and poor weather conditions.

Team USA's David Wise takes silver, and his US teammate Alex Ferreira wins bronze.

It's a freezing cold day at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, with strong wind gusts hampering the freeskiers' ability to throw their usual tricks high in the air as many of the top competitors crashed on their runs. The temperature with wind chill has dropped below -30 degrees Celsius, according to the official Olympics site.

Team USA's Aaron Blunck, who qualified in top spot, fell hard on his last run, laying at the valley of the halfpipe for a long time as medics skied down to him. His teammate Wise, watching from the bottom, sprinted up the slope in his ski boots to check on Blunck — who eventually got back up.

Great Britain's Gus Kenworthy also had a nasty fall, landing right on the edge of the halfpipe in his way down from a jump on the second run. He managed to finish his third run without incident, though placed far from the podium.

"The wind was the deciding factor for everyone," Kenworthy said afterward. "Even the guys who are on top, they put down incredible runs — it was awesome to see — but they have all scaled back from what I think they were hoping to do. I certainly scaled back from what I was hoping to do."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov pushed back at comments made by IOC president Thomas Bach on Friday about 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who placed fourth in the women's individual event and was in tears as she left the ice.

After Valieva's disastrous freeskate on Thursday, Bach said he had been "very disturbed" watching her performance and the "tremendous coldness" from her entourage afterward, including her coach.

Peskov responded in a news briefing, saying "we respect his point of view, but we don't necessarily agree with him."

Peskov added that although Bach didn’t like seeing the “tough” tactics at play, “everybody knows that in the sport of great achievements, the toughness of a trainer is the key to victory.”

Russian skater Anna Shcherbakova placed first in the women's individual event, with her Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) teammate Alexandra Trusova winning silver.

Valieva has been at the center of a doping controversy after it emerged during the Games that a sample she submitted in December tested positive for a banned substance. She was ultimately allowed to continue competing, though investigations into any doping violations by Valieva and the adults responsible for her training continue.

Great Britain's Gus Kenworthy had a bumpy start to the men's freeski halfpipe final, landing several tricks before falling on his first and second runs.

On his second run, he landed right on the edge of the halfpipe on his way down from the first trick — a painful landing that threw off one of his skis.

He has one more shot — the competitors each get three runs, with the best score taken as their final result.

The skiers are facing strong winds today, with several commenting on the difficult conditions after their runs.

This is Kenworthy's final Winter Olympics. The two-time US Olympian won silver in slopestyle at the 2014 Sochi Games before switching sporting allegiances to compete for Great Britain in Beijing.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach on Friday rebuked a Chinese official over comments she made that appeared to violate Olympic rules of keeping political neutrality.

Bach's remarks came after Yan Jiarong, a spokeswoman for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), spoke about Taiwan and Xinjiang at a Thursday news conference.

"This problem we did not ignore," Bach said. "We were in touch with BOCOG immediately after this press conference and both organizations, BOCOG and the IOC, have restated the unequivocal commitment to remain politically neutral as it is required by the Olympic charter."

Comments on Taiwan: On Thursday, when the IOC spokesperson was asked whether the Taiwan delegation would attend the closing ceremony, Yan said “there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an indivisible part of China.”

“The IOC has 206 members, including members of nations such as the People’s Republic of China and members of regions such as Taiwan,” Yan said — then quickly corrected herself to “China Taipei,” before finally correcting it to “Chinese Taipei,” the official name for the Taiwan team at the Olympics.

Xinjiang allegations: Yan also jumped in after the IOC spokesperson answered CNN’s question about whether the Olympic uniforms were made by forced labor in China’s western Xinjiang region, saying the allegation is “a lie made up by forces with ulterior motives, and the relevant organizations have provided large amounts of facts to dispute that.”

Beijing has long denied claims of rights abuses and genocide in Xinjiang, claiming its policies are part of a program of mass deradicalization and poverty alleviation.

Olympic neutrality: Yan’s comments seemed to have violated Rule 50 of the Olympic charter, which prohibits any kind of “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda.”

The organizing committee, BOCOG, did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on this matter.

The penultimate day of the Winter Olympics brings a packed schedule — and for some athletes, a last chance to medal. Here are the names and events to look out for on Saturday:

⛷️ One more shot: Team USA's Mikaela Shiffrin will compete for the sixth and final time at these Games at the alpine skiing mixed team event today. Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, has had a difficult run these past two weeks, crashing out of three events. She finished two others, but placed ninth and 18th, far from the podium. “Why do I keep coming back? Gosh knows it hurts more than it feels good lately,” Shiffrin tweeted Thursday after failing to finish the combined event, calling out some of the online abuse she has received.