Norway's Oystein Braaten won the men's freestyle skiing slopestyle and Norway also triumphed in the 4x10km men's cross-country relay to reach nine gold medals and draw level with Germany at the top of the medals table. Martin Fourcade became France's first four-time Winter Olympic gold-medallist after a mad dash to the line in the men's 15km mass start biathlon, where he edged Germany's Simon Schempp in a dramatic photo finish.
But away from the action a fresh doping scandal threatened to set back Russian efforts to return to the Olympic fold after they were banned over a major drugs scandal. Sources said a curler with the Olympic Athletes from Russia team has been implicated in a doping case involving meldonium - the same banned substance that earned Russia's former number one tennis player Maria Sharapova a 15-month suspension. Russia was banned from the Games after the emergence of systemic doping, but it was allowed to send 168 athletes deemed clean to compete as neutrals.
The International Olympic Committee said if the case was confirmed, it would be considered by the panel deliberating whether to lift Russia's ban before the end of the Games. "On the one hand, it is extremely disappointing when prohibited substances might have been used, but on the other hand, it shows the effectiveness of the anti-doping system at the Games," an IOC statement said.
The incident emerged on a day when the Olympic Athletes from Russia won two medals: silver in the cross-country relay and bronze in the men's aerials. It has been a long wait for Games gold for Hirscher, who is the dominant figure of World Cup racing but whose best previous Olympic result was slalom silver in 2014.
However, the Austrian has flourished in South Korea. He said his years of success on the World Cup circuit proved vital as he beat Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen and France's Alexis Pinturault into second and third place.