The US won two medals in Sochi but it was certainly a disappointing Olympics still as the men weren’t in contention for a medal and the team wasn’t close enough to silver to make the end of the team event interesting. There were disappointing performances in a few events but also some bright moments as well with the first gold in ice dancing and a strong showing by some young women in the ladies’ singles.
Normal Hill – 10km
In the normal hill event the top finisher for the US in Sochi was Bill Demong who was propelled by a 21st fastest cross-country portion to a 24th overall finish. No American was in the top 30 in the ski jumping but the cross-country was a strong part for the US. This was the first time since 1992 that the US didn’t have a top 20 finisher in the event and ended a run of three straight Olympics with top eight finishes, the first three times they’d ever been in the top 30.
Large Hill – 10km
In the newer large hill event the US was slightly better with Taylor Fletcher leading the way in 20th place including a big sixth place finish in the cross-country portion that allowed him to make up almost a minute of time. Bryan Fletcher’s 27th in the ski jumping was the best result for the US in the individual ski jumping portions in Sochi. In the short history of the event the US had always had a top nine finisher in the event until Sochi.
Team – Large Hill – 4x5km Relay
In the team event had some of their best jumps in Sochi including a 108.0 from Bill Demong that was the best of all. Still the US was just eighth in the ski jumping and left themselves almost 90 seconds behind the top three heading into the cross-country portion. The US was fairly strong in the cross-country but had too much ground to make up and finished in sixth. It was the first time since 1998 that the US didn’t finish in the top seven in the event.
