• Show director hails singer’s ‘extraordinary’ performance

• IOC plays down booing of US vice president JD Vance

The organisers of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony have refused to deny speculation that the US pop diva Mariah Carey lip synced her part in the show. Carey took to the stage to sing Domenico Modugno’s “Nel Blu, dipinto di Blu” in Italian, followed by one of her own songs, “Nothing Is Impossible”, but many on social media quickly claimed that there were several times where her lip movements were out of time with the music.

When asked directly whether Carey was lip synching, the director of the show, Maria Laura Iascone, confirmed that there had been a pre-recording – but refused to say whether it had been used or the American had sung live.

• Special sausage named for Swiss champion – the ‘Silberblitz’

• Hosts claim silver and bronze on a perfect day in Bormio

When the Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen first broke through in the junior ranks, his village butcher created a special sausage – the Silberblitz-Wurscht or Silver Lightning – in his honour. After his stunning performance in the men’s downhill on Saturday, it is surely time for an upgrade.

On a beautiful day in Bormio, the 24-year-old dominated a challenging course to win in 1:min 51.61sec and take the first medal of these Olympic Games. That time was good enough to withstand Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni, who finished with the silver medal 0.20sec back. Another Italian, Dominik Paris, who is vocalist of a heavy metal band called Rise of Voltage, claimed bronze.