Hard to not call the performance by the US skeleton team anything but a smashing success. The US had failed to medal in both men’s and women’s skeleton in Turin and Vancouver after winning both the men’s and women’s competitions when they debuted in Salt Lake City. They medaled in both events again this time around and were one unlucky problem on John Daly’s final run from having four top four finishers.
Men’s Skeleton
It was a very strong men’s event for the US. They posted five top five times on individual runs and would have two top five finishers if John Daly’s sled hadn’t gotten caught in the ruts on the start of his final run. Matthew Antoine won bronze and the US would not have gotten a second medal even if Daly had topped Antoine. The medal was the first for the US since Salt Lake City and the fourth time the US has medaled in six Olympics with skeleton.
Women’s Skeleton
It was great to see Noelle Pikus-Pace take home a silver for the US but there was definite heartbreak in Katie Uhlaender coming up 0.04 seconds short of winning a medal of her own. The US double medaled on the women’s side in 2002 and nearly did it again in Sochi. It was the first medal for the US since Salt Lake City but you can see how experienced the team was this year with the top finisher for the US from both the Turin and Vancouver games competing again this year.
Another disappointing day as the US only managed to pick up one medal and wasn’t real close in most of the events. The highlight of the day though was an amazing hockey game between the US and Russia.
Alpine Skiing
Events:
*Women’s Super-G
There were 50 women scheduled to start the women’s super-G and only 31 completed the course. That’s how difficult the course was this morning. Leanne Smith was the first to go for the US and the only of the first eight skiers to finish the course. She finished in 1:28.38 and was 18th. Laurenne Ross was next to go for the US and while she made it through the early tough portion where many skiers succumbed she did have problems near the end and got too wide and lost the race line taking a DNF. Julia Mancuso was able to finish the course without too many difficulties but she finished 8th in 1:27.04. The final American was Stacey Cook and her run didn’t last long as she DNF’d in the treacherous early steep section.
Results Summarized:
Laurenne Ross – Made it through much of the course but missed a gate near the end and was a DNF.
Stacey Cook – Missed a gate in the earl portion and was a DNF.
Leanne Smith – Finished 18th with a time of 1:28.38.
Julia Mancuso – Finished 8th with a time of 1:27.04.
Tough day up there… that course was tricky and I let it get to me. So grateful for the days it came together. Winning feels magical.
What’s on tap today? Eight disciplines and competition in nine events with seven gold medals up for grabs. In today: Ice hockey, short track, and speed skating. Out today: Biathlon, figure skating, and freestyle skiing.
All times below are ET.
Alpine Skiing
Events: Four women in the 50-woman field for the Super-G are Americans. This single run event begins at 2 AM and it won’t take long before the first American is underway. Leanne Smith will be the second down the mountain. Laurenne Ross goes seventh, Julia Mancuso bids for a second medal in Sochi while starting 14th, and Stacey Cook goes 29th.
When:
*Women’s Super-G – 2 AM
Live Streaming: A live stream will be available on the NBC Olympics website and on the NBC Sports Live Extra app. You will probably have to authenticate a cable subscription to watch the live streams of the Olympics.
TV Coverage: The alpine skiing will be included in NBC’s evening coverage from 8-11:30 PM ET.
Friday was not great for the US. Both curling teams suffered crucial losses and the US picked up only one medal while struggling to compete for medals in most of the traditional events conducted.
Alpine Skiing
Events:
Men’s Super Combined – Downhill
*Men’s Super Combined – Slalom
The Americans hoped to get out to good starts in the downhill portion of the event. That wouldn’t exactly happen. Ted Ligety was the first to go and his time of 1:55.17 left him in 18th, 1.93 seconds off the lead. Andrew Weibrecht went next and his time of 1:55.33 was only 20th best, 2.09 seconds behind the leader. The best American was Bode Miller who finished 12th in the downhill in 1:54.67 but was still 1.43 seconds off pace. Finally Jared Goldberg finished 15th in 1:54.90 and was 1.66 seconds behind the lead.
In the slalom portion Weibrecht took a spill halfway down after straddling a pole and took a DNF. Ligety put up a 52.22 that wasn’t enough (8th fastest) and he finished 12th in 2:47.39, Goldberg couldn’t keep pace either and his 52.39 was only 10th best in the slalom and he finished 11th in 2:47.39, Miller failed to make his mark as well as his 51.93 was 6th best and he finished 7th in 2:46.60.
Results Summarized:
Andrew Weibrecht – In the downhill he was 20th in a time of 1:55.33, 2.09 seconds behind first. In the slalom he fell after straddling a pole and took a DNF.
Ted Ligety – Finished 12th overall with a time of 2:47.39. In the downhill he was 18th in a time of 1:55.17, 1.93 seconds behind first. In the slalom he was 8th with a time of 52.22.
Jared Goldberg – Finished 11th overall with a time of 2:47.29. In the downhill he was 15th in a time of 1:54.90, 1.66 seconds behind first. In the slalom he was 10th with a time of 52.39.
Bode Miller – Finished 6th overall with a time of 2:46.60. In the downhill he was 12th in a time of 1:54.67, 1.43 seconds behind first. In the slalom he was 7th with a time of 51.93.
Really tough day of racing, congrats to viletta, kostelic, and innerhoffer on their medals. It was hard fought.
What’s on tap today? Just eight disciplines and competition in 10 events with six gold medals up for grabs. In today: Alpine skiing and ski jumping. Out today: Ice hockey, luge, short track, and speed skating.
All times below are ET.
Alpine Skiing
Events: Alpine skiing returns with the men’s super combined on Friday. The 50-man field starts the downhill portion at 1 AM. Four Americans are in the field and they will take to the course in a tight grouping. Ted Ligety will start 22nd, Andrew Weibrecht 23rd, Bode Miller 24th, and Jared Goldberg 28th. The slalom begins at 6:30 AM and will start in the reverse-order of the times from the downhill portion.
When:
Men’s Super Combined – Downhill – 1 AM
*Men’s Super Combined – Slalom – 6:30 AM
Live Streaming: A live stream will be available on the NBC Olympics website and on the NBC Sports Live Extra app. You will probably have to authenticate a cable subscription to watch the live streams of the Olympics.
TV Coverage: The alpine skiing will be included in NBC’s evening coverage from 8-11:30 PM ET.
If you were waiting for the US to break out and make a move in the medal count then perhaps Thursday was your day… or perhaps a single event on Thursday was your event. The men’s ski slopestyle cross took the US from nine medals to 12 as the US swept the medals and headlined a good day for the US.
Biathlon
Events:
Men’s individual 20 km
Thursday was the men’s 20 km individual event at 9 AM. The first American to start was Tim Burke. Burke got off to a good start as he was 17th after 8 km and a round of shooting. He took a big hit with two missed targets in round two and fell into the 40s. He recovered his position some before two more missed targets in the final round left him with a 44th place finish. Next up was Lowell Bailey. Bailey combined a strong skiing performance with just one missed target to consistently be in the top 20 at checkpoints and eventually move into the top ten and finish 8th, the best ever finish by a US man. Leif Nordgren was in the top 40 through 12 km but a disastrous third round of shooting where he missed all five targets left him well behind the pack and he finished 83rd. Finally Russell Currier missed two targets on each of the first two rounds of shooting as he plummeted to 85th out of 88. He roared back however and didn’t miss another target as he ended up in 50th place.
Results Summarized:
Leif Nordgren – Finished 83rd in 58:47.6, 9:15.9 behind the leader. Missed six targets.
Russell Currier – Finished 50th in 55:07.5, 5:35.8 behind the leader. Missed four targets.
Tim Burke – Finished 44th in 54:21.2, 4:49.5 behind the leader. Missed four targets.
Lowell Bailey – Finished 8th in 50:57.4, 1:25.7 behind the leader. Missed one target.
What’s on tap today? Ten disciplines and competition in 13 events with six gold medals up for grabs. In today: Biathlon, cross country-skiing, freestyle skiing, short track, and skeleton for the first time. Out today: Alpine skiing, nordic combined, and snowboarding.
All times below are ET.
Biathlon
Events: Thursday is the men’s 20 km individual event at 9 AM. The 89-man field will start in 30-second intervals with missed targets resulting in a crucial one minute penalty added to your time. Three Americans will compete: Tim Burke, starts 29th at 9:14:30, Lowell Bailey starts 58th at 9:29, Leif Nordgren starts 62nd at 9:31, and finally Russell Currier starts 79th at 9:39.
When:
Men’s individual 20 km – 9 AM
Live Streaming: A live stream will be available on the NBC Olympics website and on the NBC Sports Live Extra app. You will probably have to authenticate a cable subscription to watch the live streams of the Olympics.
TV Coverage: The biathlon will be included in NBC’s daytime coverage from 3-5 PM ET.
The US was one of the top countries in skeleton up through 2002. The US medaled six times and won medals in each of the events up until 2002, but they haven’t medaled since. With three of the five athletes returning from Vancouver can the US use their experience to medal once again?
Skeleton’s Olympic History
Skeleton has a long Olympic history, but it’s very very sporadic. Skeleton was held in 1928 and 1948, but never again until 2002 when it was added to the program and remains to this day. The first two times it was only a men’s event but since 2002 it has involved a men’s and women’s event.
The US has won six of the 24 medals and three of the eight gold medals. Nine countries have medaled in skeleton with five of them winning gold medals.
How the Skeleton Competitions Work
Remember that skeleton is most similar to the luge in that both are small sleds that are ridden instead of a large sled that is ridden in (bobsleigh). The difference between skeleton and luge is that the skeleton is done face first instead of lying on the back. Their are only single rider competitions in skeleton, no two-person events.
The skeleton events are held over two days each and involve four runs for each athlete. The winner is the athletes whose total time is the lowest.
John Daly is the only returning US man from Vancouver. Daly finished in 17th place in Vancouver with none of his runs finishing any higher than 12th.
Both Noelle Pikus-Pace and Katie Uhlaender were part of the US team in Vancouver. Uhlaender had three runs that were in the top ten but finished 11th overall. Pikus-Pace had four runs that were all in the top seven and finished fourth overall just a tenth of a second out of a medal.
Katie Uhlaender made her Olympic debut in Turin where she was the only US competitor. The race was only over two runs and she was sixth in both runs and sixth overall.
An athlete at the start of a skeleton run in Vancouver
All Times ET, * indicates medals awarded
Thursday, February 13th
2:30 AM – Women’s Heat 1
3:40 AM – Women’s Heat 2
Friday, February 14th
7:30 AM – Men’s Heat 1
9:00 AM – Men’s Heat 2
10:40 AM – Women’s Heat 3
*11:50 AM – Women’s Heat 4
Saturday, February 15th
9:45 AM – Men’s Heat 3
*11:15 AM – Men’s Heat 4
US Team’s Recent World Championship History
Skeleton’s world championships are held as part of the FIBT World Championships. The most recent one took place in 2013 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
In the men’s skeleton event two of the American Olympians were part of the field. John Daly was the top American and finished in fifth place with less than six-tenths of a second separating him from the bronze medal. Matthew Antoine finished in 12th.
The women’s even featured both Noelle Pikus-Pace and Katie Uhlaender. Pikus-Pace was the better of the two with a second place finish while Uhlaender came in seventh.
US Olympic History
On the men’s side the US won golds in two of the first three Olympics (yes they were separated by 74 years but still…) and silvers in the first two Olympics. The US has not medaled in the last two Olympics with their best finish in 2010 was a fifth place finish by Zach Lund.
In women’s skeleton the US grabbed gold and silver in the first event in Salt Lake City but have not medaled since. Noelle Pikus-Pace’s fourth place finish in 2010 nearly grabbed them a bronze.
