Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Daily Previews, Ice Hockey, Olympics, Short Track Speed Skating, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Sochi 2014, Speed Skating

February 15th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Preview

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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.

Continue reading February 15th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Preview →

Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Daily Olympic Reviews, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Olympics, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Sochi 2014

February 14th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Review

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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.

Continue reading February 14th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Review →

Rugby, Rugby Sevens

USA Women Set to Host IRB Women’s Sevens World Series in Atlanta This Weekend

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The last time the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series was in action was 2.5 months ago in late November in Duabi. The US went 2-3-1 and but they lost to every team in the top six that they faced. Now they come home to American soil for the 2nd event of the year in Atlanta. While the home crowd support will be nice it’s not going to be easy as the US will be in a pool with Australia (1st), Canada (4th), and China (first tournament of year).

Continue reading USA Women Set to Host IRB Women’s Sevens World Series in Atlanta This Weekend →

Soccer

US Women’s Soccer Dominates Russia 8-0 in Friendly in Snowy Atlanta

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The fans who made it to this match had to deal with some bad weather and the game being rescheduled from Wednesday to Thursday. Once they got inside the Georgia Dome though they were warm and entertained as a strong American side destroyed Russia 8-0 behind seven second half goals. Perhaps the US women watched the US men’s hockey team put up six in the second period against Slovakia in a 7-1 win and though, we can do better.

The US put out a strong lineup…

Hope Solo
Ali Krieger, Whitney Engen, Rachel Van Hollebeke, Kelly O’Hara
Heather O’Reilly, Morgan Brian, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe
Amy Rodgriguez, Abby Wambach

and used six subs in the game: Jill Loyden, Becky Sauerbrunn, Kristie Mewis, Lauren Holiday, Sydney Leroux, and Christen Press.

Continue reading US Women’s Soccer Dominates Russia 8-0 in Friendly in Snowy Atlanta →

Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Daily Previews, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Olympics, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Sochi 2014

February 14th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Preview

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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.

Continue reading February 14th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Preview →

Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Daily Olympic Reviews, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Olympics, Short Track Speed Skating, Skeleton, Sochi 2014, Speed Skating

February 13th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Review

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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.

Continue reading February 13th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Review →

Freestyle Skiing, Olympics, Sochi 2014

Sochi 2014 – USA Gold Medal Winner #4 – Joss Christensen

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Well yesterday when Kaitlyn Farrington won gold I showed you a screenshot of her wikipedia page to show how unknown she was. I’m going to do something similar today. I’ll show you Joss Christensen’s wikipedia page a week ago.

Joss ChristensenIT DIDN’T EXIST. It was made three days ago. That’s how much of an after thought he was coming into these games. He was the 4th American nominated to the slopestyle team, named to the team less than three weeks before the start of the games when the US knew they’d have a quota spot in the event for him.

His profile on TeamUSA.org doesn’t have a win listed in his career highlights, the best stuff is a 3rd place finish in slopestyle at Mammoth Mountain in 2012 and six world cup starts and one podium.

The story of Joss Christensen is best told by others, but it’s a story of tragedy, perseverance, and finally triumph today in Sochi.

Joss Christensen came to Sochi an unknown, he leaves a gold medalist. He will always be known as Olympic gold medal winner Joss Christensen when it comes to his sporting achievements. Amazing what a difference a week can make.

Fed Cup, Tennis

USA Women to host France in Fed Cup World Group Play-off April 19th-20th

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We found out on Tuesday the opponent for the US in the world group play-off round and it is France.  France is up to 13th in the world rankings while the US has fallen to eighth. We know that the US will host the matchup but the location is still TBD. Personally I vote Omaha, Nebraska… ;).

Fed Cup World Group Play-off 2014

The USA has an 11-1 all-time record against France in Fed Cup play with the only loss a 4-1 defeat in the 2003 Final. The last matchup went 4-1 to the US in the World Group first round in February 2010 with Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Melanie Oudin, Christina McHale, and Liezel Huber representing the US.

France advanced to the World Group Play-off after beating Switzerland 3-2 in Paris in the World Group II in February. Virginie Razzano, Alize Cornet and Kristina Mladenovic appeared for the French team. Their top singles players are Cornet (#25), Mladenovic (#71), Carolina Garcia (#76) and Razzano (#87). Mladenovic is currently the #17 doubles player with Garcia ranked #74.

The US will definitely be favorites in the tie. Home court advantage will help but the biggest question may be which women will agree to play. It is a much better travel situation for US players compared to the last round as the previous three biggest WTA tournaments are on US soil. There is a WTA Premier tournament (Porsche Tennis Grand Prix) in Germany the next week. The US has 11 players in the top 67 in the world so regardless of which four are on the team I expect the US to be favorites.

Recaps, Tennis, WTA Tour

Venus Williams and Bethanie Mattek-Sands Lose Tough Three Setters, All Four Americans Out in Qatar

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A day after upsetting #15 Eugenie Bouchard in the first round Bethanie Mattek-Sands faced Monica Niculescu as the higher seeded player in the second round but couldn’t deliver another top performance. Mattek-Sands struggled to get her serve in with a 51% first serve %. Of those that did get in on the first serve she won less than half (47%) and overall won just 39% of points on her serve. So it was no surprise that she was broke 10 times in 13 service games including on all five of her service games in the third set. She fought back hard on Niculescu’s serve breaking her seven times in 12 service games. Niculescu was also underwater winning just 45% of points on her serve. In the end the woes on her own serve were too much to overcome and Mattek-Sands lost 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

The other American in action was Venus Williams who was making an upset bid against #3 Petra Kvitova. After dropping set one 6-2 Williams fought back with a great 6-2 win in set two. The 3rd set was back and forth with Williams up a break at 4-1 before Kvitova broke her twice in a row making it 5-4 and giving her a chance to serve for the match. Williams was able to break Kvitova with the pressure on and the set went to a tiebreaker. The extremely tight tiebreaker went 16 points before Kvitova pulled off the 9-7 win to avoid the Williams upset bid. Both players struggled with their serve with each being broken six times on 14 service games. Kvitova won six more points, 114 to 108 as this one was extremely close. While it’s a disappointment that Williams couldn’t get the win here it is a good sign that she played toe-to-toe with one of the ten best in the world again. Hopefully this is a sign of how the rest of the year will be playing out.

Continue reading Venus Williams and Bethanie Mattek-Sands Lose Tough Three Setters, All Four Americans Out in Qatar →

Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Daily Previews, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Olympics, Short Track Speed Skating, Skeleton, Sochi 2014, Speed Skating

February 13th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Preview

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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.

Continue reading February 13th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Preview →

Covering America's Athletes