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The Latest: USA, Canada face off for women’s hockey gold

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) The Latest on the Pyeongchang Olympics (all times local):

10:40 a.m.

The Americans are back for another chance at the Olympic gold medal that has eluded them since women’s hockey debuted in 1998 at Nagano.

They will play archrival Canada, four years after the Canadians rallied from two goals down to shock the Americans in the gold-medal game in Sochi.

Also Thursday, three gold medals will be decided in the final session of short-track speedskating.

Medals will be award in the men’s 500 meters, the women’s 1,000 and the men’s 5,000 relay. South Korea has won three of the five gold medals decided so far in this sport.

And the women’s snowboarding Big Air final will be held, pushed forward a day because of predicted bad weather Friday. The U.S. has four athletes competing in this event including slopestyle gold medalist Jamie Anderson and 17-year-old Hailey Langland, who has won this event at the X Games.

10:15 a.m.

Marcel Hirscher’s quest for a third gold medal at the Pyeongchang Olympics is over.

The 28-year-old Austrian star was the big favorite in slalom, his specialty, but he skied out early in the opening run on Thursday.

Hirscher looked ill at ease on a course where the gates were set by an Austrian team coach.

He started immediately after his biggest rival, Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway, set a fast target of 47.72 seconds.

Hirscher already won the giant slalom and Alpine combined titles.

8:25 a.m.

Russian state TV reports that curler Alexander Krushelnitsky will give back his Olympic bronze medal after failing a drug test at the Pyeongchang Winter Games.

Krushelnitsky tested positive for the banned substance meldonium, which is believed to help blood circulation, after winning bronze in mixed doubles along with his wife Anastasia Bryzgalova.

Russian Curling Federation spokesperson Valentina Parinova tells state TV channel Russia 1 that ”we have signed a statement that indeed he did have (meldonium in the sample) and as a result we will give the medal back.”

The secretary general for the Court of Arbitration for Sport says a hearing in Krushelnitsky’s case is still scheduled for 2 p.m. despite the Russian statements.

More AP Olympic coverage: https://wintergames.ap.org