Alpine Skiing, Curling, Daily Olympic Reviews, Figure Skating, Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Olympics, Snowboarding, Sochi 2014, Speed Skating

February 12th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Review

Leave a comment

After a couple of gold-less days for the US they finally grabbed their third gold medal late on Wednesday. It was one of two medals for the US on the day, both in the same event.

Alpine Skiing

Events:

  • *Women’s Downhill

Four Americans were in the first 12 competitors in the downhill on Wednesday but none of them could move into first when they went down the hill. Jacqueline Wiles was second to go but had some crucial mistakes in her run and finished 26th in 1:44.35. Next up was Laurenne Ross. Ross was much cleaner but her time of 1:42.68 just wasn’t good enough to reach the top and she finished 11th in 1:42.68. Stacey Cook was the third to go and her run also lacked the sharpness necessary as she finished 17th in 1:43.05. The final hope was Julia Mancuso. Mancuso had a really good run but wasn’t quick enough in the middle of the course. She ended up eighth with a time of 1:42.56

Results Summarized:

  • Jacqueline Wiles – Finished 26th in a time of 1:44.35.
  • Stacey Cook – Finished 17th in a time of 1:43.05.
  • Laurenne Ross – Finished 11th in a time of 1:42.68.
  • Julia Mancuso – Finished 8th in a time of 1:42.56.

Curling

Events:

  • Men’s Round Robin – USA vs. Denmark
  • Women’s Round Robin – USA vs. China

After 1 end on Wednesday is looked like things might be getting away from the US men again. They trailed Denmark 3-0. They turned things around in a major way scoring 2 in the end, and then stealing 1, 2, and 1 in the third, fourth, and fifth ends. They then played some great defense enroute to a 9-5 win over Denmark to move them to 1-2. They next take on Great Britain at 5 AM ET on Thursday.

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

The US women really needed to get going today against China after starting the Olympics 0-3. They got off to a good start stealing a point in the first end but never scored more than one in an end and saw China score two on three occasions enroute to a 7-4 win. The US is now 0-4 and with five matches remaining they need to win out and hope for some help to stay in medal contention.

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

Results Summarized:

  • US Women – Lost to China 9-4. Face Japan at 10 AM ET tomorrow.
  • US Men – Beat Denmark 9-5. Face Great Britain at 5 AM ET tomorrow.

Figure Skating

Events:

  • Pairs’ Free Program

There were two American couples in the free program on Wednesday. Felicia Zhang and Nathan Bartholomay were the first couple to skate and delivered a great performance. They had a negative grade of execution on just a single element as they posted a 110.31, the 12th best free program score. Their total score of 167.21 placed them 12th .  Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir were part of the second group and posted a solid 120.38. There were a few jumps/throws with problems but they do help make up for it with some really well executed elements as well. Their score was the 9th best of the free program and their total score of 187.82 had them in 9th at the end.

Results Summarized:

  • Felicia Zhang and Nathan Bartholomay – Scored a 110.31, 12th best in free program. Total score of 167.21 placed them 12th.
  • Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir – Scored a 120.38, 9th best in free program. Total score of 187.82 placed them 9th.

Ice Hockey

Events:

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

The US finally found some real tough competition in Sochi when they took on Canada Wednesday. After a scoreless first period the US got on the board late in the second period on a Hilary Knight tip-in goal assisted by Alex Carpenter and Anne Schleper. Early in the 3rd period the US took a penalty and Canada took advantage to level things at 1-1.

About 90 seconds later US goalkeeper appeared to cover the puck and the referee blew it dead. The puck wasn’t dead however and was trickling out behind her and towards the net. It appeared that referee blew the whistle before the puck had crossed the line but after reviewing the video they decided to count the goal. It was probably the wrong call to allow it but in all fairness Vetter hadn’t covered the puck and had no idea it was going into the net until it was too late. The whistle nearly saved the US but Canada probably deserved the goal.

The US battled to try and tie it up but after killing off a penalty with five minutes left they gave up a breakaway goal to Canada to make it 3-1. After pulling their goalie the US got it to 3-2 on a goal by Anne Schleper, assisted by Brianna Decker and Jocelyne Lamoureux. After a Canadian penalty for too many players on the ice the US had a 6-on-4 for 31 seconds but couldn’t take advantage, losing 3-2. Jesie Vetter stopped 28 of the 31 Canadian stops.

The loss means the US will be the #2 seed for the semifinals and have to face Finland if they win their quarterfinal against the Pool B team (Sweden or Russia). The Olympics website currently has the US playing at 12 PM ET in the semifinals but I wouldn’t lock that in just yet.

Results Summarized:

  • USA Women – Lost to Canada 3-2 to finish Pool A in 2nd place at 2-1 with 6 points. Will be in the semifinals on Monday the 17th, possibly at 12 PM ET, against the
    winner of Finland and Russia/Sweden.

Luge

Events:

  • Men’s Doubles – Run 1
  • *Men’s Doubles – Run 2

The men held the doubles event on Wednesday with two teams Christian Niccum and Jayson Terdiman finished run one in 11th with a time of 50.354 while Matthew Mortensen and Preston Griffall were 14th in 50.647. In run two Mortensen and Griffall were once again 14th, this time in 51.066. They finished in that 14th spot in 1:41.703. Niccum and Terdiman were slightly better with a 13th best second run (50.591) and finished 11th in 1:40.945.

Results Summarized:

  • Matthew Mortensen and Preston Griffall – Finished 14th in 1:41.703. Were 14th in run one (50.467) and 14th in run two (51.066).
  • Christian Niccum and Jayson Terdiman – Finished 11th in 1:40.945. Was 11th in run one (51.354) and 13th in run two (50.591).

Here’s a fun video shot by Matt Mortensen of the POV when you go down the track.

Nordic Combined

Events:

  • Individual Gundersen NH/10 km Competition Round
  • *Individual Gundersen NH/10 km Cross-Country

Nordic combined got underway with the normal hill/10 km competition. The Americans did not find much success in the ski jumping portion of the event. Todd Lodwick was the first American to go and his score of 108.0 was the 34th best in the 46-man field. Taylor Fletcher went next and finished 46th with a 92.9. Bill Demong scored 108.2, 31st place. While Bryan Fletcher finished 41st with a 105.6.

The cross-country portion went much better but was too little too late. Demong was the first to go, 1:33 behind the leader, and improved from 31st to 24th during the race. Next to start was Bryan Fletcher who had to wait 1:44. Fletcher improved to 26th by the end of the race. Taylor Fletcher stared last, 2:34 behind the leader, but moved all the way up to 33rd and gained 1.3 seconds on the leader (who went on to be the winner). Fletcher was one of only 11 in the field who gained on him. Todd Lodwick did not start the cross-country portion.

Results Summarized:

  • Todd Lodwick – Finished 34th in the ski jumping with a 108.0. Did not start cross-country portion.
  • Taylor Fletcher – Finished 46th in the ski jumping with a 92.9. Started cross-country portion 2:34 behind the leader and moved up to 33rd by the end of the race.
  • Bryan Fletcher – Finished 41st in the ski jumping with a 105.6. Started cross-country portion 1:44 behind the leader and moved up to 26th by the end of the race.
  • Bill Demong – Finished 31st in the ski jumping with a 108.2. Started cross-country portion 1:33 behind the leader and moved up to 24th by the end of the race.

Snowboarding

Events:

  • Women’s Halfpipe Qualification
  • Women’s Halfpipe Semifinals
  • *Women’s Halfpipe Finals

Before things even got started on Wednesday the Americans already had a competitor out as Arielle Gold hurt her shoulder in practice just before the qualification round and could not start the event. In heat one the Americans had Kelly Clark and she made sure she made the final with some major runs. Amazingly her 92.25 on run one wasn’t good enough for the top spot so she went and put up a 95 on run two to grab the top spot in the heat and make the final.

In heat two Kaitlyn Farrington put up an 87 on her first run and sat in the top three after one run. Right before her second run though she saw it topped by an 88 and she couldn’t beat that as she scored just a 34.50. She did finish fourth in the heat though so she made the semifinals. Hannah Teter was second best on her first run of 90.25 and knew she was in the final before her second run. She still went out and topped the first one with a 92. In the semifinals Farrington was the last to go and put up an 87.50 on her first run to take the lead. As run two went on she quickly found out she’d be in the final and would win the heat, so her second run wasn’t to gain anything but practice.

On the first run of the final the Americans saw Kaitlyn Farrington (85.75) and Hannah Teter (90.50) each go to the top on their runs. With Kelly Clark going last it looked like it could be 1-2-3 for America after run one, but Clark caught the edge and crashed on her run after a spectacular start. She was in 10th after run one.

On run two Farrington took her final chance and made the most of it by leapfrogging Teter and going into first with a 91.75. Teter got a chance to answer back but fell on her run and stayed in second with three snowboarders left. After Torah Bright dashed the US plans to go 1-2-3 it was up to Kelly Clark to finalize the medal stand. Clark put up a 90.75, bumping Teter into 4th and Kaitlyn Farrington won the GOLD MEDAL!

Results Summarized:

  • Arielle Gold – hurt her shoulder in practice just before the qualification round and could not start event.
  • Kelly Clark – Finished first in heat one after a 95 on her second run to advance to the final. In the final her best run was a 90.75 on her second run and she finished 3rd and grabbed the bronze.
  • Kaitlyn Farrington – Finished fourth in heat two after an 87 on her first run to advance to the semifinal. Finished first in the semifinal after an 87.50 on her first run to advance to the final. In the final her best run was a 91.75 on her second run and she finished 1st winning the GOLD MEDAL!.
  • Hannah Teter – Finished second in heat two after a 92 on her second run to advance to the final. In the final her best run was a 90.50 on her first run and she finished 4th.

Speed Skating

Events:

  • Men’s 1000m

With the 1000m event on Wednesday the US had a real gold medal threat in two-time defending gold medalist Shani Davis. Before Davis went though there were several other Americans to get their chance. Jonathan Garcia was the first American to go and his time of 1:10.74 placed him 28th in the end. Next up was Joey Mantia who put up a good 1:09.72 and finished 15th. Shani Davis went next and wasn’t able to challenge the leaders as he finished eighth with a 1:09.12. The final one to go was Brian Hansen who finished ninth with a 1:09.21.

Results Summarized:

  • Jonathan Garcia – Finished 28th in 1:10.74.
  • Joey Mantia – Finished 15th in 1:09.72.
  • Brian Hansen – Finished 9th in 1:09.21.
  • Shani Davis – Finished 8th in 1:09.12.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *