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.
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.
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.
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.
Humbled to be 1 of 3 American Winter Olympians to ever medal in 3 straight Olympics. With Bonnie Blair and @ApoloOhno !! Dreams come true:)
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.
What’s on tap today? Eight disciplines and competition in ten events, but just five gold medals will be awarded.
All times below are ET.
Alpine Skiing
Events: Monday the women begin their alpine skiing events with the super combined. This event is one half downhill and one half slalom. The downhill portion is at 2 AM with four Americans in the 39-woman field. Laurenne Ross will be the first American to go but goes 14th overall. Julia Mancuso goes 22nd, Leanne Smith goes 27th, and Stacey Cook goes 30th. After completing the downhill portion the athletes will compete in the slalom portion at 6 AM. The best total time wins.
Family made it to Sochi! Tomorrow is my first event. Super Combined. Lets see if I can pull it out of the hat like in Vancouver! #FastDreams
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 Olympic coverage, 8-11:30 PM ET.
The US won their most ever medals in short track speed skating with six at the Vancouver Olympics but they bring back only three members from that team. Those three combined for only one of the four individual medals won by the US in Vancouver. With a less experienced team in Sochi can the US come close to matching their results?
Short Track Speed Skating’s Olympic History
Short track speed skating was first a part of the Winter Olympics as a demonstration sport in 1988. It returned in 1992 as a full part of the Olympics with four events, a relay and an individual event on both the men’s and women’s sides. The Olympics added a second individual event in 1994 and a third in 2002. The program has remained unchanged since then.
South Korea has been the top country in short track winning 37 of the 120 medals including 19 of the 40 gold medals. The US comes in fourth in both categories with 18 medals and four gold medals. Only seven countries have won a gold medal in short track and only 11 have won a medal at all.
How the Short Track Speed Skating Competitions Work
All the individual events in short track speed skating are contested using the same format. Each event has a field of 32 athletes who will be divided into eight groups of four. The groups will race around the small track and the first two across the line advance. This is done through a three rounds to get down to a final four where the race for medals happens. And of course always watch out for DQs, usually for impeding a competitor. Sometimes you may think you know who is moving on at the finish until one of them is disqualified. Or someone who comes in far back may get advanced due to being illegal impeded.
The 1500m event is done with six heats of six where the top three move on and three semifinals of six where the top two move on to the final.
In the team relay event there are teams of four skaters. The teams will switch skaters as things are going with a push-off and the first team across the finish line moves on. The top two teams from each
US Team
The team is made up of five men and three women. Only three of the athletes are returning from Vancouver.
J.R. Celski made his Olympic debut in Vancouver for the US. Celski competed in the 1000m where he finished second in his heat and quarterfinal to advance to the semifinals. In his semifinal Celski was disqualified to end his run. Celski also competed in the 1500m event. Celski finished third in his heat to move into the semifinals where he finished second in his semifinal to qualify for the final. In the final Celski had a great race and came in third to grab a bronze medal. Celski also competed in the team relay event with Simon Cho, Travis Jayner, and Apolo Ohno. They finished second in their semifinal to reach the final. In the final Cho was replaced by Jordan Malone. The US finished third in the final by less than half a second.
Short Track Speed Skaters Ready for the Start in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics
Jordan Malone competed in two individual events in Vancouver that did not go well. Malone was disqualified in the 1500m event and finished fourth in his heat in the 500m event. Malone did pick up a medal as he was part of the US relay team in the final that won the bronze.
On the women’s side Alyson Dudek was part of the US relay team in Vancouver. Dudek skated with Kimberly Derrick, Lana Gehring, Katherine Reutter in the semifinals as they placed second in their semifinal. Derrick was replaced in the final by Allison Baver and the new group ended up with the bronze medal. Individually Dudek placed second in her heat in the 500m before being eliminated after a fourth place finish in her quarterfinal.
Schedule
All Times ET, * indicates medals awarded
Monday, February 10th
4:45 AM – Men’s 1500m Heats
5:30 AM – Ladies’ 500m Heats
6:09 AM – Men’s 1500m Semifinals
*7:08 AM – Men’s 1500m Final
Thursday, February 13th
5 AM – Ladies’ 500m Quarterfinals
5:27 AM – Men’s 1000m Heats
6:14 AM – Ladies’ 500m Semifinals
6:35 AM – Men’s 5000m Relay Semifinals
*7:07 AM – Ladies’ 500m Finals
Saturday, February 15th
5 AM – Ladies’ 1500m Heats
5:45 AM – Men’s 1000m Quarterfinals
6:16 AM – Ladies’ 1500m Semifinals
6:46 AM – Men’s 1000m Semifinals
*7:09 AM – Ladies’ 1500m Finals
*7:23 AM – Men’s 1000m Finals
Tuesday, February 18th
4:30 AM – Ladies’ 1000m Heats
5:17 AM – Men’s 500m Heats
The 2013 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships were held in Debrecen, Hungary in March.
In the men’s 500m event J.R. Celski was the top American and finished fifth overall while Christopher Creveling finished 20th being eliminated in the heats.
Creveling was the top American in the 1000m event with his 13th place finish while J.R. Celski was disqualified in the preliminaries.
In the 1500m event Celski did manage to get into the heats but finished 23rd while Creveling was eliminated in the semifinals in 11th place.
The US team in the team relay was made up Celski, Creveling, Eduardo Alvarez, and Jeff Simon (not part of the Olympic team). They came in fourth in their semifinal and didn’t reach the final.
On the women’s side in the 500m event Alyson Dudek was the top competitor with a ninth place finish being eliminated in the quarterfinals. Jessica Smith also reached the quarterfinals but finished in 13th.
In the 1000m event again Smith was eliminated in the quarterfinals, this time with an 11th place finish, while Dudek was eliminated in the heats with a 24th place finish.
In the 1500m event both Smith and Dudek reached the semifinals before being eliminated. Dudek finished 11th while Smith was 18th.
US Olympic History
The US has medaled twice in the men’s 500m event, the most recent a gold by Apollo Anton Ohno in Turin. Ohno reached the final again in 2010 but was disqualified.
Ohno has won all three of the medals for the US in the 1000m event, a silver in 2002 and bronzes in 2006 and 2010.
The US has won three medals in the 1500m event in the three Olympics it has been held. The only gold was by Ohno in 2002 while Ohno won a silver in 2010 with Celski taking a bronze as well.
The US has never won the relay event but has medaled three times in the six Olympics. The US has won the bronze in each of the last two Olympics.
In the women’s 500m event the US won gold in the first two Olympics with the event and a bronze in 1994 as well. Since then the US has been shutout in four straight Olympics and their best finisher in 2010 was Katherine Reutter in seventh.
Reutter won the first medal for the US in the 1000m event, a silver, in Vancouver. The US has never medaled in the 1500m event (held three times) with their best finish in 2010 a fourth place finish by Reutter.
