Winter Olympics Sochi 2014: Day 9

The controversy all started yesterday when the US Speedskating and Short Track team said they would be ditching their Olympic suits from Under Armour in favor of old suits that they wore for qualifying and Worlds. Thus far, the US team has been shut out of medals in these Games; Saturday was no exception. There were three more events-- in short track the ladies' 1,500 m and the men's 1,000 m and in speedskating the men's 1,500 m. The highest any American finished was Emily Scott in the ladies' event and she was in fifth place. So the big question continues, what is going on with the US Team in short track and speedskating? Shani Davis? Brian Hansen? JR Celski? Emily Scott? Heather Richardson? This is probably not just the biggest surprise of day nine, but one of the biggest surprises of this entire Games.

    from NBC Olympics website

For Shani Davis, the disappointment continues as the 1,500 was the event he wanted the most. Brodka and Davis were actually paired and the big shock was that Brodka came out the winner, the first gold for Poland in speedskating. Shocking.

    from BBC.com website

Victor An added to his hardware at this Olympics, he had a bronze and added a gold. Victor An continued his dominance in short track and helped the Russian's to go one and two in the 1,000 m. Arianna Fontana is also now a two time medalist at this Games adding a bronze medal to go with her silver; Denny Morrison did the same.

The Netherlands continued to add to their medal count at the rink at this Olympics, on Saturday they added a silver medal and a bronze.

Yang Zhou repeated her medal in the 1,500 where she also won gold in Vancouver four years ago.

The Results:

Short Track: Ladies' 1,500 m

1. Yang Zhou, China, 2:19.140
2. Suk Hee Shim, Korea, 2:19.239
3. Arianna Fontana, Italy, 2:19.146

5. Emily Scott, USA, 2:39.436

Short Track: Men's 1,000 m

1. Victor An, Russian Federation, 1:25.325
2. Vladimir Grigorev, Russian Federation, 1:25.399
3. Sjinkie Knegt, Netherlands, 1:25.611

Speedskating: Men's 1,500 m

1. Zbigniew Brodka, Poland, 1:45.006
2. Koen Verweij, Netherlands, 1:45.009
3. Denny Morrison, Canada, 1:45.22

7. Brian Hansen, USA, 1:45.59
11. Shani Davis, USA, 1:45.98

In Skeleton, the US team added a bronze medal when Matthew Antoine had the best runs of his career.

The Results:

Skeleton: Men's

1. Alexander Tretiakov, Russian Federation, total time: 3:44.29
2. Martins Dukurs, Latvia, total time: 3:45.10
3. Matthew Antoine, USA, total time: 3:47.26

Eight appears to be the magic number for Julia Mancuso, so far the only US medalist in skiing thus far at these Games. She finished third in the women's super combined slalom, but then finished eighth on Wednesday in the women's downhill and today she finished eighth in the women's super g. Atop the podium was first time winner and Olympic medalist Anna Fenninger of Austria. Hoefl Reisch or Germany and Hosp of Austria added to the medal count at these Games.

The Results:

Alpine Skiing: Women's Super G

1. Anna Fenninger, Austria, 1:25.52
2. Maria Hoelf Reisch, Germany, 1:26.07
3. Nicole Hosp, Austria, 1:26.18

8. Julia Mancuso, USA, 1:27.04

    from Sochi 2014 website

About one week ago, Kamil Stoch from Poland won a gold in ski jumping for the men's normal hill, today he repeated with a gold, this time in the men's large hill. He didn't expect a win, but it happened. He is only the third athlete to win double jumping golds in the same Winter Games. Kasai who won a silver medal has competed in his 7th Olympics at the age of 41, 20 years after winning a silver medal in Lillehammer in team competition. Peter Prevc won silver in the normal hill and picked up a bronze today, so there is real dominance in this sport.

The Results:

Ski Jumping: Men's Large Hill Individual

1. Kamil Stoch, Poland, total: 278.7
2. Noriaki Kasai, Japan, total: 277.4
3. Peter Prevc, Slovenia, total: 274.8

    from NBC Olympics website

Winter Olympics Sochi 2014: Day 6

Apologies for being late with day 6, but it was a day of competition that in some ways was full of disappointments but in other ways filled with beauty and joy.

For Julia Mancuso of the US, adding to the medal count in the women's downhill was out of the question. Four years ago in Vancouver, Tina Maze of Slovenia finished 18th in this same event, in Sochi, her mind was on gold. one of two gold medalists, Dominique Gisin from Switzerland also skied in the downhill four years ago, the result--- she didn't even finish. Tara Gut from Switzerland is the newcomer of the group, at 22 years of age, Sochi is her first Olympics, and an opportunity to make her mark. This is alpine skiing's downhill: unpredictable and exciting.

The Results:

Alpine Skiing: Women's Downhill

1. Tina Maze, Slovenia, 1:41.57
1. Dominique Gisin, Switzerland, 1:41.57
3. Lara Gut, Switzerland, 1:41.67

8. Julia Mancuso, USA, 1:42.56

For Shani Davis of the US, the third time was not a charm, Davis was looking for a 3-peat in the men's 1,000 m, but it was not to be. Davis said his best wasn't good enough today. This event was further proof that the Netherlands has a team that is near impossible to beat with Stefan Groothuis picking up gold. Michael Mulder of the Netherlands became the first athlete at the games to win two medals. He won gold in the 500 m on Monday. Davis finished in eighth and looks to medal in the 1,500.

The Results:

Speedskating: Men's 1,000 m

1. Stefan Groothuis, Netherlands, 1:08/39
2. Denny Morrison, Canada, 1:08.43
3. Michel Mulder, Netherlands, 1:08.74

8. Shani Davis, USA, 1:09.12
9. Brian Hansen, USA, 1:09.21

Women's Hockey continues with preliminary rounds, Finland beat Switzerland 4-3 and Canada beat the US 3-2 in a match up that we will probably see again.

I had so much fun watching the ladies' half pipe. This is an event that US ladies dominate, along with an Australian named Torah Bright. One could say that this event showcased a passing of the torch. Kelly Clark (age 30), gold medalist in 2002 in Salt Lake City took bronze, 2010 Vancouver gold medalist Torah Bright (age 27) took silver, and a girl who almost didn't even make the finals, Kaitlyn Farrington (age 24) of the US took gold in Sochi. Hannah Teter (age 27), who was the gold medalist in Torino finished in 4th place this time around. Clearly, this is a close knit group.

The Results:

Snowboarding: The Ladies' Halfpipe

1. Kaitlyn Farrington, USA, run one: 85.75, run two: 91.75, best: 91.75
2. Torah Bright, Australia, run one: 58.25, run two: 91.50, best: 91.50
3. Kelly Clark, USA, run one: 48.25, run two: 90.75, best 90.75

4. Hannah Teter, USA, run one: 90.50, run two: 26.75, best: 90.50

The Russians regained the spot that has been their destiny since the 1964 Games. Gold. After winning 12 straight Olympic gold medals in pairs, the Russians didn't even make the podium in Vancouver in 2010. This was devastating for a country in which Figure Skating holds such deep tradition, particularly in the pairs event. Wednesday night, February 12, 2014 was perhaps one of the most beautiful long programs that I have seen since I was child watching figure skating. Their throws were massive, their spins were synchronized, and the emotion not only filled the room but as I sat at home in front of the TV I was affected bu this pair and the passion they displayed. They've been together for less than four years, but they skate as though they've been together forever. At 27 and 30, I cannot wait to see Tatiana and Maxim's next chapter.

The Results:

Figure Skating: Pairs Finals

1. Tatiana Voloszhar and Maxim Trankov, Russian Federation, short program: 84.17, free program: 152.69, total: 236.86
2. Ksenia Stoblova and Fedor Klimov, Russian Federation, short program: 75.21, free program: 143.47, total: 218.68
3. Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, Germany, short program: 79.64, free program: 136.14, total: 215.78

4. Qing Pan and Jian Tong, China, short program: 73.30, free program: 136.58, total: 209.88
9. Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir, USA, short program: 67.44, free program: 120.38, total: 187.82