Hong Kong Skates to Best Finish in Olympics

Lam had Hong Kong's best finish in the 2026 Winter Olympics

The 2026 Winter Olympics at Milano Cortina has been dominated by the Norway, the United States and Italy as the first, second and third on the medal standings respectively, while Canada has been struggling to get on the podium.

The Canadian women's hockey team could not bring back the gold medal and had to settle for silver, while their male counterparts just squeaked past Finland, winning 3-2, to get into the finals against the US this Sunday.

But can we talk about the small team from Hong Kong?

Today 19-year-old Joey Lam Ching-yan made her Olympic debut finishing seventh in the women's 1,500m short-track speed skating event! Lam was at the back of the pack, but four skaters had spills in her heat which helped her get into the finals.

The seventh place finish is the best result for Hong Kong in the Winter Olympics and Lam is on cloud nine.

"It is absolutely unbelievable. I still feel like I am dreaming. I never thought I could make it to the Final A before. Thank you to everyone who supported me along the way and encouraged me to never give up," Lam said.

It's quite impressive considering she raced three times in just under three hours.

Her fellow speed skater Darren Kwok Tsz-fung came in 29th in the men's 1,000m and 31st in the men's 1,500m.

Meanwhile Hong Kong also sent alpine skiers Adrian Yung Hau-tsuen and Eloise King Yung-shih, both 21, to the slopes and Yung finished 68th in the men's giant slalom, and did not finish the men's slalom; Yung crashed out in the women's slalom.

Nevertheless they all seem to have enjoyed their time at the Olympics, which is the main thing, to meet athletes from other countries, and see how well they compete against others after years of training.

Suffice to say Lam will probably be the Hong Kong flag bearer for the Closing Ceremonies? 

National Pushback Against Musk

Great car, terrible association, Tesla owners regret buying

Word on the street is that Tesla drivers are regretting their purchase following CEO Elon Musk's carte blanche to dismantle several government departments in the name of efficiency.

Some are trying to get rid of their Teslas, or embarrassed to drive it, while others who bought their cars before Musk supported Donald Trump for president will continue driving the car, though they find it awkward being associated with the South African though their vehicle.

Meanwhile in Europe it's quite evident how they feel about Musk:

Trump gives Musk carte blanche to revamp US govt

According to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, car sales are down in France by 6 percent, but when it comes to Teslas, sales are down by a whopping 63 percent. France is the second-biggest electric vehicle market in Europe, behind Germany, where sales of Teslas is down 59 percent.

It keeps going.

In Sweden it's down 44 percent, 38 percent in Norway, and 42 percent in the Netherlands. 

"Weird right? I wonder why that is?" Maddow muses to her audience.

She adds in the United States, polling has been done to gauge how Americans feel about Musk being involved in the government. YouGov took two polls, one right after the US election and another this week, two weeks after Trump took office.

In November,  47 percent of Republican voters want Musk to have "a lot" of influence in government; since the election it has plunged 21 points to only 26 percent of Republican voters wanting Musk to have "a lot" of influence in government.  

Protesters ready to stop Musk at Dept of Labor

"That has dropped like a stone in a very quick period of time," she quips.

When it comes to Democrats, only 6 percent want Musk to have "a lot" of influence, and the same percentage of independent voters. 

"He's polling at like tooth decay levels," Maddow says with a big smile. "That's like funny bone bumped into something sharp levels."

Meanwhile protests in all 50 states have erupted, protesting against Musk. One was in Maine where people occupied a Tesla charging station with signs that read: "Musk is a national security threat". 

At the Department of Labor in Washington DC, a hastily arranged protest drew lots of people to come and prevent Musk and his band of young hackers from entering the building. The protesters succeeded -- for now...