ISU World Cup, Speed Skating

Shani Davis Wins 1000m and Heather Richardson Her 2nd Straight 500m at ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Inzell

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Previous Inzell – ISU Speed Skating World Cup Coverage

What was it about Sochi? The US showed no lingering effects from a horribly disappointing Olympics as they won one event and grabbed a medal in another in the first day of competition at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Inzell. Both came from the women with Heather Richardson winning the 500m by just one hundredth of a second while Brittany Bowe grabbed a third in the women’s 1500m.

Women’s 3000m

Womens 3000m Division B

The US didn’t have anyone in the Division A race of the women’s 3000m but they did have two in the B Division. Maria Lamb and Anna Ringsred went 12th and 13th with Lamb 9.44 seconds behind the winner.

Women’s 500m

Womens 500m Race 2

Heather Richardson followed up a win in the 500m on Friday with another on Saturday. Richardson had a bit more time to spare winning by 0.14 seconds this time. Sugar Todd in 15th and Kelly Gunther in 20th rounded out the field for the US. Richardson is now in second in the season long 500m standings by 10 points with 690.

Men’s 500m

Mens 500m Division A Race 1

The men’s 500m Division A race on Saturday had one American near the top and one well off the pace. Tucker Fredricks was 0.31 seconds behind the winner in 8th place while Mitchell Whitmore must have fallen or had some other issue as he finished in 1:34.68, almost a full minute behind.

Men’s 1000m

Mens 1000m Division A

The US grabbed two medals in the men’s 1000m and showed the strength that we all expected to see in Sochi. Shani Davis took the top spot by a tenth of a second with Brian Hansen two tenths behind Davis in third. The US placed three more (Joey Mantia – 11th, Mitchell Whitmore – 14th, and Jonathan Garcia – 17th) in the top 20. Davis has won the event at four of the five World Cup stops and will win the season long championship in it. Hansen has only raced it three times but sits in third after placing… third in all three.

Men’s Mass Start

Mens Mass Start

The US was strong in the men’s mass start on Saturday with Patrick Meek finishing 5th and within 0.31 seconds after staying in the main pack. Brian Hansen was out of the main pack but still finished 6th, 7.06 seconds back. 

Upcoming on Sunday:

Four more events will be held on Sunday. The second men’s 500m race, the women’s 1000m, and the men’s 1500m will all have both A and B division races with the US having competitors in both. The women’s mass start will also be held with three Americans in the field. WeSupportTheUS.com will have coverage of the results on Sunday night.

Schedule:

  • March 9th
    • 4:30 AM ET – Men’s 500m (2 of 2) Division B
      • Jonathan Garcia
      • Joey Mantia
    • 4:57 AM ET – Women’s 1000m Division B
      • Anna Ringsred
      • Kelly Gunther
    • 5:42 AM ET – Men’s 1500m Division B
      • Patrick Meek
    • 7:30 AM ET – Men’s 500m (2 of 2) Division A
      • Mitchell Whitmore
      • Tucker Fredricks
    • 7:57 AM ET – Women’s 1000m Division A
      • Sugar Todd
      • Heather Richardson
      • Brittany Bowe
    • 8:42 AM ET -Men’s 1500m Division A
      • Brian Hansen
      • Joey Mantia
      • Shani Davis
    • 9:36 AM ET – Women’s Mass Start
      • Maria Lamb
      • Heather Richardson
      • Brittany Bowe
Alpine Skiing, FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup

On Top Again: Ted Ligety Wins Giant Slalom at Alpine Skiing World Cup Event in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia

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Previous Men’s Alpine Skiing World Cup Coverage

Ted Ligety raced out to a great start in the first giant slalom run opening up a lead of 0.42 seconds and then hung on in the second run as he finished 12th in that run but still 0.18 seconds faster in total that anyone else to win another giant slalom event on the Alpine Skiing World Cup. Ligety, who just won gold in the giant slalom in Sochi, took his sixth giant slalom title at Kranjska Gora including three straight.

Ligety was joined in the top ten by Tim Jitloff who was 23rd on run one but second fastest in run two to get back within 1.21 seconds of Ligety and finish eighth. Bode Miller was the only other American to advance to the second run and he ended up 24th.

Ligety is now within 50 points of the lead for the season long giant slalom standings. He’d need some help in the final event of the year in Lenzerheide to catch the leader and win the title, but it certainly is possible.

Kranjska Gora - Mens Giant Slalom

On Sunday they’ll turn to the slalom event at the same site. Ted Ligety will compete in that as well and be joined by four other Americans including Nolan Kasper who finished 13th in the slalom in Sochi.

Schedule:

  • March 9th
    • 2:30 AM ET – Slalom – Run 1
      • Ted Ligety
      • David Chodounsky
      • Will Brandenburg
      • Nolan Kasper
      • Colby Granstrom
    • 6:30 AM ET – Slalom – Run 2
Paralympics, Sochi 2014

Three Medals for the US in Women’s Downhill Highlight the First Day of the Paralympics

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Previous 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics Coverage

The US got the Paralympics off to a good start by grabbing three medals (two bronze and a silver) in the women’s downhill on the first day. There were a few other top ten finishes including two athletes who missed out on bronze by a matter of seconds. The other highlight of the first day was a strong 5-1 win for the ice sledge hockey team.

Wheelchair Curling

Round Robin #1Round Robin #2

 

The US wheelchair curling team got underway on Saturday with two matches to open the Sochi Olympics. The US fell behind 3-0 in each match while starting with the hammer and were able to come back to get within a goal against Slovakia but fell 6-4 while they could never get closer than down two to Korea falling 9-5. There are still plenty of games for the US in Sochi but it wasn’t the start they wanted.Round Robin Standings - 3-8-14

Alpine Skiing – Women’s Downhill

Womens Downhill - SittingWomens Downhill - Standing Womens Downhill - Visually ImpairedFour US women competed in the downhill on Saturday with three of them grabbing medals. Alana Nichols grabbed silver, missing gold by 0.14 seconds, with Laurie Stephens in the sitting race. Allison Jones grabbed the bronze in the standing race while Danelle Umstead was fifth in the visually impaired race.

Biathlon – Women’s 6km

Womens 6km - Sitting

Oksana Masters was the only woman in the 6km biathlon for the US. She competed in the sitting race and, despite missing no targets, finished fourth, missing out on bronze by just over three seconds.

Biathlon – Men’s 7.5km

Mens 7.5km - Sitting Mens 7.5km - Visually Impaired Mens 7.5km - Standing

The men’s 7.5km biathlon was full of Americans with nine taking part. Only one finished in the top ten in any of the three events: Andrew Soule who missed no targets and finished fourth in the sitting race. Soule missed out on the bronze by about three seconds. In the standing race Omar Bermejo was the top American in 18th and Jacob Adicoff was the top Amercan in the visually impaired race in 14th.

Alpine Skiing – Men’s Downhill

Mens Downhill - SittingMens Downhill - Visually Impaired

Mark Bathum came the closest to medaling for the US on Saturday in the men’s downhill with a fifth place finish in the visually impaired, 0.8 seconds behind the bronze. In the sitting event Christopher Devlin-Young was the only one of the three Americans to start that was able to finish as he placed 10th.

Ice Sledge Hockey

Group B Scores - 3-8

The ice sledge hockey team got off to a good start with a 5-1 win over Italy. That left the US in first place in Group B as Korea beat Russia in overtime in the other game. Brody Roybal had two goals to lead the way for the US. The US next takes on Korea in a matchup that could decide the winner of the group.

Group B Standings - 3-8

Upcoming:

Both the wheelchair curling and the ice sledge hockey teams will be playing on Sunday and 17 other individuals will be competing in five events between the Super-G and cross-country skiing.

Broadcast Information:

TeamUSA.org will have live streaming of likely all of the events Sunday while NBCSN will cover the cross-country skiing live from 1-5:30 AM ET Saturday and show a daily coverage show from 11 PM-1 AM ET Sunday night.

Schedule:

  • March 9th
    • 12:30 AM ET – Wheelchair Curling – Round Robin – USA vs. Norway
    • 1 AM ET – Men’s Alpine Skiing – Super-G – Visually Impaired
      • Mark Bathum
    • 1 AM ET – Men’s Cross-Country Skiing – 15km – Sitting
      • Bryan Price
      • Augusto Jose Perez
      • Aaron Pike
      • Andrew Soule
      • Sean Halsted
      • Daniel Cnossen
    • 1:20 AM ET – Men’s Alpine Skiing – Super-G – Standing
      • James Stanton
      • Ralph Green
      • Jonathan Lujan
    • 2:15 AM ET – Men’s Alpine Skiing – Super-G – Sitting
      • Heath Calhoun
      • Jasmin Bambur
      • Christopher Devlin-Young
    • 4:30 AM ET – Women’s Cross-Country Skiing – 12km – Sitting
      • Beth Requist
      • Monica Bascio
      • Tatyana McFadden
      • Oksana Masters
    • 8:30 AM ET – Ice Sledge Hockey – Group Round – Group B – USA vs. South Korea
FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, Nordic Combined

Taylor Fletcher in 22nd Leads Pair of Top-30 Americans in Nordic Combined World Cup Event in Oslo

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Previous Trondheim – FIS Nordic Combined World Cup Coverage

Well it wasn’t quite the 10th place finish that Bill Demong achieved earlier in the week but the US was respectable on Saturday. Taylor Fletcher was the top American in 22nd and was joined by Demong in the top 30 after Demong used a strong cross-country time to move up from 38th. Bryan Fletcher in 36th and Nick Hendrickson (47th) rounded out the field for the US.

Oslo - Large Hill-10km

The Nordic Combined World Cup is now headed for the final weekend of competition. Falun, Sweden will host things as a team competition will be contested on Saturday, March 15th and an individual event is scheduled for that Sunday. WeSupportTheUS.com will have coverage of those events next weekend as the US looks to end the year on a high note.

Alpine Skiing, FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup

Just Like Sochi: Mikaela Shiffrin Wins the Slalom Again at Alpine Skiing World Cup Event in Are, Sweden

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Previous Are – Women’s FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Coverage

Mikaela Shiffrin finally got to race the slalom again and the 18-year-old picked up where she left off in Sochi with another slalom win, her fourth win in seven events this year. Her total of 538 points in the slalom has clinched her the season title with one slalom race left. Resi Stiegler showed some nice skill as well navigating the course to a sixth best time on her second run and finishing 14th overall despite being over three seconds behind Shiffrin on the first run.

Are - Womens Slalom

The slalom will be back in action next Saturday at the final stop in Lenzerheide, Switzerland while the next women alpine skiing event is Wednesday in Lenzerheide when the final women’s downhill is held. WeSupportTheUS.com will have coverage of all the skiing in Lenzerheide.

Biathlon, Biathlon World Cup

Lowell Bailey Leads Way with 10th Place Finish in Men’s Pursuit at Biathlon World Cup in Pokljuka

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Previous Pokljuka – Biathlon World Cup Coverage

The US continued to find success in the biathlon, especially on the men’s side, with two men placing in the top 13 in the men’s pursuit on Saturday. Lowell Bailey led the way with a 10th place finish after missing three targets and finishing 1:20.5 behind the winner. He was just seven seconds ahead of Tim Burke who also missed three targets. Both Bailey and Burke will be in the mass start event on Sunday. Leif Nordgren missed just two targets but started 2:42 behind the first competitor to start so he was going to finish pretty far down the list and ended up 31st, 3:55.1 behind.

Pokljuka - Mens Pursuit

Things didn’t go as well on the women’s side where both Susan Dunklee and Sara Studebaker were already stuck starting about two minutes behind. Dunklee missed two targets in both the third and fourth round and finished 20th, 3:27.5 behind the winner. Studebaker was a cleaner shooter, missing three targets, but she wasn’t as quick as she finished over a minute behind Dunklee in 37th. Neither of them will compete in the women’s mass start on Sunday.

Pokljuka - Womens Pursuit

WeSupportTheUS.com will have coverage of the men’s mass start results on Sunday evening. The women will be back in action at the next Biathlon World Cup stop in Kontiolahti starting on Thursday.

Schedule:

  • March 9th
    • 6:15 AM – Men’s 15km Mass Start
      • Tim Burke
      • Lowell Bailey
Cross-Country Skiing, FIS Cross-Country World Cup

Noah Hoffman Finishes 29th in Grueling 2+ Hour 50km Cross-Country World Cup Race in Oslo

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Previous Oslo – FIS Cross-Country Skiing World Cup Coverage

The cross-country men took on the long 50km race on Saturday in Oslo. Noah Hoffman led the way for the US as the only American to place in the top 50 as he finished 29th, seven minutes behind the winner. Three Americans finished from 51st-56th (Erik Bjornsen, Simeon Hamilton, Reese Hanneman) while two others did not finish.

Oslo - Mens 50km Classic

The women’s 30km will be held on Sunday and seven Americans will take part. Elizabeth Stephen finished 24th and Kikkan Randall 28th in the similar race in Sochi which used the freestyle instead of classic. WeSupportTheUS.com will have coverage of the results on Sunday evening.

Schedule:

  • March 9th
    • 6 AM ET – Women’s 30km Classic
      • Elizabeth Stephen
      • Kikkan Randall
      • Sadie Bjornsen
      • Caitlin Gregg
      • Sophie Caldwell
      • Ida Sargent
      • Jennie Bender
ATP Tour, Tennis, WTA Tour

20-Year-Old Lauren Davis Knocks off World #4 Victoria Azarenka in Straight Sets at BNP Paribas Open

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Previous BNP Paribas Open Coverage

Lauren Davis picked up quite possibly the most significant win of her career on Friday night when she knocked out #3 Victoria Azarenka in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open 6-0, 7-6 (2). Davis is now into the third round where she’ll face another American, Varavara Lepchenko, guaranteeing we’ll have at least one American woman in the round of 16.

Women’s Singles

Womens Singles - 3-8-14

Click Image to Expand

I mentioned in the opening how Lauren Davis took full advantage of her opportunity against Victoria Azarenka to get a major upset and move into the third round. Her opponent in the third round, Varvara Lepchenko, also upset her opponent, Daniela Hantuchova, on Friday 6-3, 6-2. Madison Keys lost 3-6, 3-6 to Robert Vinci to end her hopes of making some noise in Indian Wells while Shelby Rogers saw her tournament end 4-6, 3-6 to Magadalena Rybarikova.

On Saturday the top-ten upset chance will be presented to Coco Vandeweghe who takes on world #9 Petra Kvitova. 17-year-old Taylor Townsend has an exciting matchup with #20 Flavia Pennetta while Sloane Stephens will finally get started as she takes on Ajla Tomljanovic to wrap up the day in Stadium 1. Stephens has struggled in tournaments the last month but with a big chance here and playing in the main court I imagine she’ll show up for this one.

Women’s Doubles

Womens Doubles - 3-8-14

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The US doubles teams have fallen quickly in the first round. The only Americans left, Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears, advanced by beating another American, Megan Moulton-Levy and partner Sharon Fichman of Canada, 7-6 (4), 6-2 on Friday. Moulton-Levy/Fichman replaced Lisa Raymond/Shuai Zhang (China).

Kops-Jones/Spears will take on #5 Cara Black/Sania Mirza on Saturday to try and remain the last Americans in the field.

Men’s Singles

Mens Singles - 3-8-14

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The US went 0-4 on Friday in the first round but it wasn’t real unexpected as three of  the four were ranked 119 or worse. Hopefully that number doesn’t repeat itself as four Americans play in the second round on Saturday. The best chance for a winner for the US is likely Sam Querrey who takes on #29 Andreas Seppi. The other three US players to play on Saturday (Tim Smyczek, Michael Russell, Ryan Harrison) are all outside the top 100 and will be looking for big upsets.

Men’s Doubles

Mens Doubles - 3-8-14

Click Image to Expand

Their are only four American men’s doubles teams playing in the tournament and two of them will be extremely challenged in the first round today. Eric Butorac/Raven Klaasen (South Africa) take on #2 Alexander Peya/Bruno Soares in one matchup while Scott Lipsky/Florian Mayer (Germany) face the #1 team in the world, Americans Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. The Americans are likely to have a team deep in to the tournament in Bryan/Bryan but it’s quite possible they will be the only ones to advance from the first round too.

Broadcasting Information:

Tennis Channel will be broadcasting the tournament from 2 PM – 2 AM ET while ESPN3.com has streams of the play at three stadiums that will include 3 of the 7 singles matches involving the US on Thursday including Sloan Stephens.

Schedule:

  • March 8th – Tennis Channel – 2 PM-2 AM ET
    • Men’s Second Round
      • 2 PM ET – Michael Russell vs. #14 Mikhail Youzhny
      • Approx. 4 PM ET – Sam Querrey vs.  #29 Andreas Seppi
      • Approx. 6 PM ET – Tim Smyczek vs. #28 Alexandr Dolgopolov
      • Approx. 8 PM ET – Ryan Harrison vs.  #13 Fabio Fognini – Stadium 3 – ESPN3.com
    • Women’s Second Round
      • Approx. 4 PM ET – Coco Vandeweghe vs. #8 Petra Kvitova – Stadium 3 – ESPN3.com
      • Approx. 8 PM ET – Taylor Townsend vs. #20 Flavia Pennetta
      • Approx. 12 AM ET – #17 Sloane Stephens vs. Ajla Tomljanovic – Stadium 1 – ESPN3.com
    • Women’s Doubles Round of 16
      • Approx. 6 PM ET – Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears vs. #5 Cara Black/Sania Mirza
    • Men’s Doubles First Round
      • 2 PM ET – Eric Butorac/Raven Klaasen (South Africa) vs. #2 Alexander Peya/Bruno Soares
      • Approx. 12 AM ET – #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan vs. Scott Lipsky/Florian Mayer (Germany) – Stadium 2 – ESPN3.com
Soccer

Sweden Goal Ends Two Years Without a Loss For US Women’s Soccer

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Previous 2014 Algarve Cup Coverage

The streak is finally over. A stretch of 43 games without a loss came to an end in the same place it began, the Algarve Cup in Portugal. A goal by Lotta Schelin of Sweden in the 24th minute stood up for the rest of the way as the US again struggled to create offense.

The US had 12 shots to Sweden’s four and six shots on goal to Sweden’s three but for the second straight game the dominance in possession and shots didn’t see itself reflected on the scoreboard. Through 180 minutes of play in the Algarve Cup the only goal for the US has been off a deflect clearance when Sydney Leroux.

The US now sits third in their group with the possibility of winning the group gone. If Sweden defeats Japan the US can finish second by beating Denmark by two or more goals or by having Japan beat by two or more goals. If the US loses to Denmark they’d finish last. The US can face any of the four teams from Group A except for Germany (China, Iceland, Norway) in their final match. The US takes on Denmark on Monday morning in their final group stage match.

Algarve Cup 3-8-14

WeSupportTheUS.com will have a recap on the final group stage matches on Monday and a look at who the US will face in their final match.

Group Stage Schedule:

  • March 5th
    • 7:45 AM ET – USA 1-1 Japan
    • 1 PM ET – Sweden 2-0 Denmark
  • March 7th
    • 8:30 AM ET – USA 0-1 Sweden
    • 9:10 AM ET – Japan 1-0 Denmark
  • March 10th
    • 9:40 AM ET – Japan vs. Sweden
    • 9:40 AM ET – USA vs. Denmark
FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup, Freestyle Skiing

John Teller Eliminated in 1/8 Finals of Men’s Ski Cross World Cup Event in Arosa

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Previous Arosa – FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup Coverage

John Teller’s day in the men’s ski cross in Arosa, Switzerland didn’t last long. Teller finished third in his heat behind Andreas Matt and Christopher Wahrstoetter of Austria and was eliminated in the 1/8 finals. Matt went on to finish seventh in the event.

Arosa - Mens Ski Cross - 1-8 Finals 

Teller will (I assume) be back in action next weekend when ski cross is contested again on the World Cup tour with two races in Are, Sweden. Qualifying will begin for that event on Friday and WeSupportTheUS.com will have coverage.

Covering America's Athletes