Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Curling, Daily Olympic Reviews, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Olympics, Short Track Speed Skating, Sochi 2014, Speed Skating

February 10th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Review

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Today was the first day of full competition at the Olympics that didn’t feature a US gold. The US took home only a bronze but there was only five events awarding medals so not a ton of opportunities for the US. Curling got underway on both the men’s and women’s side while the US women’s hockey team played their second of three group stage matches.

Alpine Skiing

Events:

  • Women’s super combined – downhill
  • Women’s super combined – slalom

Monday was the women’s super combined event. The first half was the downhill portion with 39 athletes and four Americans in the field. The first one down the hill was Laurenne Ross but she did not finish the downhill as her shoe broke and she went down on the course. Next up was Julia Mancuso who started off great and kept it up all the way down the course leading to the best time of the event at 1:42.68. Mancuso would carry a 0.47 second lead to the slalom half. Leanne Smith finished in 1:45.06, 20th best in the downhill portion, while Stacey Cook did not finish the downhill as well.

Julia Mancuso was trying to become only the third American to medal in three straight Winter Olympics.
Julia Mancuso was trying to become only the third American to medal in three straight Winter Olympics.

Photo Credit: jonwick04 via Compfight cc

In the slalom half Smith wasn’t able to complete the course and got a DNF. That left Mancuso as the last American who could try to finish both events. Mancuso went last among the leaders and knew what she needed to take gold. She made a couple of mistakes however on the course and while she quickly recovered it wasn’t enough as she ended up third place by 0.53 seconds with a time of 2:35.15. Mancuso was thrilled with getting a bronze medal.

Results Summarized:

  • Laurenne Ross – Did not finish the downhill portion.
  • Stacey Cook – Did not finish the downhill portion.
  • Leanne Smith – Finished the downhill in 20th with a time of 1:45.06. Did not finish the slalom portion.
  • Julia Mancuso – Finished the downhill in 1st with a time of 1:42.68. Finished the slalom 13th fastest with a time of 52.47. Total time of 2:35.15 was third best, won bronze medal.

Biathlon

Events:

  • Men’s 12.5 km pursuit

Three Americans were in the 60-man field for the 12.5 km pursuit event but all had a lot of work to do to reach the top. Tim Burke started in 19th, 50 seconds behind the leader, and missed two targets during a total time of 35:37 that left him 22nd. Lowell Bailey started 35th, 1:31 behind the leader, and missed three targets. Bailey finished 38th with a time of 36:34.8. Finally Leif Nordgren was 45th at the start, 1:44 behind the leader. Nordgren missed seven targets, tied for most of anyone in the field, and fell to 53rd with a time of 39:31.4

Results Summarized:

  • Leif Nordgren – Starting 45th, 1:44 behind the leader, he missed seven targets, and finished in 53rd with a time of 39:31.4
  • Lowell Bailey – Starting 35th, 1:31 behind the leader, he missed three targets, and finished in 38th with a time of 36:34.8
  • Tim Burke – Starting 19th, 50 seconds behind the leader, he missed two targets, and finished in 22nd with a time of 35:37

Curling

Events:

  • Women’s Round Robin – USA vs. Switzerland
  • Men’s Round Robin – USA vs. Norway

The US women kicked off their curling matches with one against Switzerland. The US lost 7-4 as after starting out up 2-0 they gave up three in the fourth end and two in the fifth end. They’ll have to rebound quickly as they face Russia at 12 AM ET on Tuesday and Great Britain at 10 AM ET. Falling to 0-3 would be a lot to recover from.

[table]Teams, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Total
Switzerland, 0, 0, 0, 3, 2, 0, 0, 2, 0, X, 7
United States, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, X, 4[/table]

On the men’s side the US faced Norway and also struggled in a few decisive ends. For Norway that was frames one and two as they scored two in the first and three in the third. The match ended with the same 7-4 score as the women’s game. The men will face China at 5 AM ET on Tuesday as they look to get to .500.

[table]Teams, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Total
United States, 0, 1, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, X, 4
Norway, 2, 0, 3, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, X, 7[/table]

Results Summarized:

  • US Women – Lost to Switzerland 7-4
  • US Men – Lost to Norway 7-4

Freestyle Skiing

Events:

  • Men’s Moguls – Qualification 1
  • Men’s Moguls – Qualification 2
  • Men’s Moguls – Final 1
  • Men’s Moguls – Final 2
  • *Men’s Moguls – Final 3

The men’s moguls event started with 29 athletes and two Americans competing for two spots in the final in qualification round one. Bradley Wilson grabbed one of those spots with a 21.68 finish, eighth spot in the run. Patrick Deneen didn’t qualify as he got only a 10.36 and finished 25th. Deneen had to try again in the second qualification round where ten spots were available for the 19 competitors. This time Deneen left no doubt as he put up a score of 22.38, best in the round, to reach the final.

In the first round of the final Deneen continued his good skiing with a 22.27 that left him ninth and in the second round of the final. Wilson wasn’t as fortunate as he finished last with a 9.90. Deneen barely advanced from the second round where his 23.32 was 0.01 better than seventh place and gave him the final spot in the last six. Deneen would have needed his best run of the Olympics in the third round of the final but he only scored a 22.16 and finished sixth.

Results Summarized:

  • Bradley Wilson – In qualification round one he advanced to the final with eighth place score of 21.68. In round one of final he was eliminated with a 20th place score of 9.90.
  • Patrick Deneen – In qualification round one he scored a 10.36, 25th place, and had to go to qualification round two. In round two he had the top score of 22.38 to advance to the final. In round one of final he moved on with a ninth place score of 22.27. In round two he grabbed the sixth and final spot in the final with a 23.32 score. In the final he finished sixth with a score of 22.16.

Ice Hockey

Events:

  • Women’s Preliminary Round – Group A – USA vs. Switzerland

The US clinched a quarterfinal bye and a spot in the semifinals with a 9-0 win over Switzerland on Monday. The US scored early and often with Monique Lamoureux, Brianna Decker, and Amanda Kessel scoring with an Olympic record 55 second window around the halfway point of the first period. Goals by Hilary Knight and a second by Kessel made it 5-0 after one period. The second was really slow with only US goal, a second by Lamoureux to make it 6-0. In period three the US got two goals from Kendall Coyne and one from Alex Carpenter. Kelli Stack, Jocelyne Lamoureux, Coyne, and Kessel all had two assists while Meghan Duggan, Julie Chu, Decker, Knight, Lee Stecklein, Megan Bozek, and Josephine Pucci all had one assist. Molly Schaus played goalie for the US and pitched a shutout with 10 saves.

Results Summarized:

  • US Women – Beat Switzerland 9-0 to go to 2-0 in Pool A. The US has clinched a semifinal berth and will be #1 or #2 depending on the result of their game vs. Canada on Wednesday at 7:30 AM ET.

Luge

Events:

  • Women’s Singles – Run 1
  • Women’s Singles – Run 2

Three Americans were in the 31-woman field for the women’s singles luge event on Monday. The first American to go was Kate Hansen who put up a tenth best time of 50.794 in run one. Next up was Erin Hamlin who made it clear she is a medal threat when she was 2nd fastest on run one with a time of 50.356, 0.465 seconds behind the leader. The final American was Summer Britcher finished in 51.222 to place 19th.

Run two had Hamlin as the first American down the course and her time of 50.276 was 3rd fastest on the run and she sits in third place, 0.818 seconds behind the gold, as she prepares for run three. Hansen was the next to go and her time of 50.581 was 11th best in the run and she remained tenth in the overall standings. Britcher’s run time of 50.930 was 16th best and she moved all the way up to 15th in the field.

All three will be looking to continue their good Olympics with run three at 9:30 AM ET on Tuesday and run four at 11:20 AM.

Results Summarized:

  • Summer Britcher – Was 19th in run one (51.222) and 16th in run two (50.930). She sits in 15th with a time of 1:42.512.
  • Kate Hansen – Was 10th in run one (50.794) and 11th in run two (50.581). She sits in 10th with a time of 1:41.375.
  • Erin Hamlin – Was 2nd in run one (50.356) and 3rd in run two (50.276). She sits in 3rd with a time of 1:40.632.

Short Track Speed Skating

Events:

  • Men’s 1500m Heats
  • Women’s 500m Heats
  • Men’s 1500m Semifinals
  • *Men’s 1500m Final

Short track finally got underway on Monday with the US competing in two events. The entirety of the men’s 1500 m was held while the heats for the women’s 500 m also were held. 36 men were divided into six heats. J.R. Celski was the first to go and qualified second out of his heat to reach the semifinals. Eduardo Alvarez was next and also advanced qualified in the third spot of his heat. Finally Chris Creveling went and finished fourth in his heat and missed out on the semifinals.

In the semifinals Celski led the way in his heat to grab one of six spots in the final. Alvarez was called for a penalty in his heat and was eliminated. In the final Celski waited and waited to make his move from the back. When he finally did he couldn’t get far enough forward to reach the medals and seemed to back off on the final lap once he was out of contention. He finished fourth but was over half a second behind the medalists.

In the women’s 500 m heats the US had three competitors going in heats of four. Emily Scott was first up and got the US off to a good start when she finished second in her heat to reach the quarterfinals. Alyson Dudek was up next but she was called for a penalty and eliminated. The final one to go was Jessica Smith. Smith fell in her race and finished her heat in fourth so she did not make the quarterfinals. Scott will be the only American left in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 5 AM ET.

Results Summarized:

  • Chris Creveling – Finished fourth in his opening heat and was eliminated.
  • Eduardo Alvarez – Finished third in his opening heat and moved into the semifinals. In the semifinals he was called for a penalty and eliminated.
  • J.R. Celski – Finished second in his opening heat and moved into the semifinals. In the semifinals he won his heat to reach the final. In the final he finished fourth.
  • Emily Scott – Finished second in her heat and moved into the quarterfinals (Thursday at 5 AM ET).
  • Alyson Dudek – Received a penalty in her heat and was eliminated.
  • Jessica Smith – Finished fourth in her heat after a fall and was eliminated.

Speed Skating

Events:

  • Men’s 500m – Race 1 of 2
  • Men’s 500m – Race 2 of 2

The two portions of the men’s 500m event was held on Monday. Four of the 40 competitors were American but none of them were higher than 18th in race one. Shani Davis was the first to go and finished 22nd in a time of 35.390. Brian Hansen was next and had the worst run of all the Americans with a time of 35.64 finishing in 33rd. Later on Mitchell Whitmore finished in 35.34 (20th place) while Tucker Fredricks was the top American with a time of 35.278 (18th place).

Race two began with only three Americans as Hansen dropped out citing some lower back pain and a tight groin. Whitmore and Davis raced in the same pair with Davis winning the race 35.59 to 35.71. Davis finished in a total time of 70.98 for 24th place while Whitmore finished in 27th with a time of 71.06. The final American, Fredricks had a time of 35.72 and finished in 26th place with a time of 70.999.

Results Summarized:

  • Brian Hansen – Finished 33rd with a time of 35.64 in the first race. Did not compete in race two.
  • Mitchell Whitmore – Finished race one in 35.34 (20th place). Finished race two in 35.71 and finished 27th overall with a time of 71.06.
  • Tucker Fredricks – Finished race one in 35.278 (18th place). Finished race two in 35.72 and finished 26th overall with a time of 70.999.
  • Mitchell Whitmore – Finished race one in 35.39 (22nd place). Finished race two in 35.59 and finished 24th overall with a time of 70.98.

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