Daily Olympic Reviews, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Olympics, Snowboarding, Sochi 2014

February 6th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Review

February 6, 2014 Jon Green Leave a comment

The first day of competition for the US had some bright spots and several not so bright spots. Three of the four events that began were new to the Olympics so let’s dive right in!

Freestyle Skiing

The only event to begin on Thursday was the women’s moguls event. 30 athletes made up the field for the first qualifying round where each athlete got one run and the top ten scores moved into the final. The other twenty will compete for the last ten spots in the final in a second round of qualifying on Saturday.

One of the worst parts of Thursday for the US was the warm-up crash of 21-year-old and first-time Olympian Heidi Kloser. Kloser injured her right knee and had to be taken to the hospital. Knee injuries are no surprise when you watch moguls, but to have one of the Americans go down injured so quickly on day one was really sad to see.

Things got better though as Eliza Outtrim and Heather McPhie were the first two competitors to take to the slope. Outtrim put up a great 21.51 score that led the field for quite a while before she ended up finishing fourth and easily moving into the final. McPhie put up a good score as well but her 19.92 didn’t stay in the top ten for too long and she ended up 14th. The good news is that makes her fourth best of those who will have to try to qualify again on Saturday and perhaps this will be some good extra practice. She should make the final.

The final American to go was the favorite, Hannah Kearney. Kearney delivered another knockout run and easily qualified for the final on Saturday with a first place score of 23.05.

Results Summarized:

Heidi Kloser – Injured right knee in warm-up crash and did not start event.
Eliza Outtrim – Fourth best run with a 21.51. Into final beginning at 1 PM ET on Saturday.
Heather McPhie – 14th best run with a 19.92. Will have to try to qualify for the final in qualifying round two at 9 AM ET on Saturday.
Hannah Kearney – Top run with a score of 23.05. Into final beginning at 1 PM ET on Saturday.

Figure Skating

Thursday was the debut of the new team event and featured both the men’s and pairs’ short programs. The men started things off and the US picked Jeremy Abbott as their participant. Abbott struggled in his program as he fell and received just a 65.65 to place seventh and grab only four points for the US. In the pairs’ program Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir put together a cleaner program but still only scored a 64.25 to grab fifth place and six points. It’s worth noting that the pairs’ event is the weakest for the US so this was a good result and let the US catch both Germany and France to reach a three-way tie for fifth place. That’s important since only the top five get to continue after the short programs.

Photo Credit: nabechiko29 via Compfight cc

Results Summarized:

Jeremy Abbott – Only the seventh best in men’s short program with a score of 65.65
Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir – Fifth place in the pair’s short program with a 64.25.
US Team – Currently in a tie for fifth place with Germany and France. The next two competitions are the ice dance short dance (9:30 AM ET Saturday) and the ladies’ short program (11:10 AM ET Saturday). After these two rounds the bottom five countries are cut before the top five will have the pairs’ free skate at 1:05 PM ET on Saturday.

Snowboarding

Another event debuted on Thursday, the men’s and women’s slopestyle competitions. Before the men’s event had even begun Shaun White had pulled out leaving just three Americans in the field. Chas Guldemond was in the first heat where he put up an 86.00 on his first run to place second. Unfortunately he got topped by three guys on their second runs and he couldn’t improve so his score left him in fifth place, just missing out on an automatic berth into the final. Guldemond will be in the semifinal which begins at 12:30 AM ET Saturday morning.

Heat two featured Sage Kotsenburg and Ryan Stassel. This heat saw some top scores in the first run and Kotsenburg’s 86.50 left him fifth while Stassel scored 81.00 and was still sixth. Neither athlete could improve on the second run and they slid to eighth and ninth in the heat so both will be in the semifinal on Saturday morning at 12:30 AM ET.

On the women’s side all four Americans were in heat two. Ty Walker was first up but decided not to try to make the final today due to some injuries she’s suffered this week. Instead she just came down the course not attempting jumps in order to qualify for the semifinal on Sunday morning at 1:30 AM ET. She’s hoping she’ll be feeling better by then and can make a run at a berth in the final.

Jamie Anderson was healthy on the other hand and her first run of 93.50 was the best of the first runs. She was so far ahead of most of the field that she elected to skip her second run and go with that score. She was plenty safe in the end as she ended up second and fifth place was all the way back at 77.75, no danger at all. Anderson will be in Sunday’s final at 4:15 AM ET.

That left Karly Shorr and Jessika Jenson who were the last two on each set of runs. Run one left Shorr with a 45 and Jenson with a 34 knowing they’d have to land a better run to advance straight to the final. Shorr’s second run needed to beat 77.75 and she did that easily by posting a 84.75 and moving into fourth. Jenson was the only one left who could bump her from advancing straight to the final but Jenson scored only a 58.50 and finished seventh. Shorr moved straight into the final at 4:15 AM ET on Sunday while Jenson will have to try and qualify for it out of the semifinal at 1:30 AM ET on Sunday.

Results Summarized:

Chas Guldemond – Fifth best in his heat with an 86.00. Will have to qualify out of semifinal on Saturday at 12:30 AM ET.
Sage Kotsenburg – Eighth best in his heat with an 86.50. Will have to qualify out of semifinal on Saturday at 12:30 AM ET.
Ryan Stassel – Ninth best in his heat with an 81.00. Will have to qualify out of semifinal on Saturday at 12:30 AM ET.
Ty Walker – Dealing with injuries scored a 1.00 by skipping tricks. That allows her to try again in semifinals though. Will have to qualify out of semifinal on Sunday at 1:30 AM ET.
Jamie Anderson – After scoring a 93.50 on her first run she skipped her second and finished second in her heat to advance to the final on Sunday at 4:15 AM ET.
Karly Shorr – Scored a 84.75 on her second run to jump into fourth. She held on for the last spot from the heat into the final on Sunday (4:15 AM ET).
Jessika Jenson – Second run score of 58.50 was only good enough for seventh in her heat. Will have to qualify out of semifinal on Sunday at 1:30 AM ET.

Rugby, Rugby Sevens

USA Sevens Rugby Gets Another Favorable Group in New Zealand, Can They Take Advantage?

February 6, 2014 Jon Green Leave a comment

When the USA Sevens team was last in action, a couple weeks ago in Las Vegas, they had a very favorable group with France, Argentina, and Spain. They couldn’t take advantage of it though and lost close decisions to France and Argentina and couldn’t reach the cup quarterfinals.

Well the story is similar for the US in New Zealand today. They are in a group with Argentina, Scotland and Canada. The highest ranked of those teams this year is Argentina in seventh. Scotland is 12th and has only been in the cup quarterfinals once. Canada is 11th and hadn’t reached the cup quarterfinals this year until a third place finish in Las Vegas.

The USA Sevens Rugby team will take on Argentina, Scotland, and Canada today in New Zealand.

Photo Credit: tedkerwin via Compfight cc

Are these teams easy wins for the US? No. They’ll be good opponents… but Portugal (right above the US) drew England (fourth), South Africa (first), and Wales (10th). Spain (right below the US) drew New Zealand (second), France (ninth), and Fiji (third). You see why the draw is so favorable now?

To reach the cup quarterfinals the US is going to have to beat some teams they know they can beat. The US was playing great rugby near the end of last season and even in Las Vegas they were neck and neck with Argentina and France. They just need to finish a game or two off tonight and get two wins. Two wins and they should be in the cup quarterfinals and make sure they take home at least ten points this weekend.

The US isn’t in big trouble in terms of the full year standings yet. They are 14th, but Spain in 15th has just six points to the 12 of the US. Spain hasn’t even won the shield yet this year. If the US continues to play at a poor level they’ll probably be okay, but it’d be great if they made it quite clear they won’t be the 15th place team and lose their spot on the world series tour for next year. They can start to make that happen with a big today in New Zealand.

Schedule:

All times ET
Thursday:
Group Stage – USA vs. Argentina – 7:21 PM
Group Stage – USA vs. Canada – 9:48 PM

Friday:
Group Stage – USA vs. Scotland – 12:56 AM

You should be able to watch online for free at the USA Sevens website. It’s worked for the last few events so I trust it will again.

Roster:

Two things to note here… one is the appearance of Carlin Isles. Yes in Las Vegas it sounded like his rugby career was over as he’d prepared to leave for the Detroit Lions, but he is still with the team this weekend. I’m not going to read into this anymore than that he is with the US this weekend.

Nothing has been reported claiming he won’t be joining the Lions at some point and if they are willing to sign him to a contract that could be much more lucrative than rugby, I’d be surprised still if he’d turn it down. It is clear though that he loves rugby, knows that he has great potential in the sport (especially for the US) and does not want to give it up easily. We’ll see where this goes but know that we should see him this weekend for the US and his speed could be a difference maker.

Second is the debut of Madison Hughes on the team for the US. Hughes is a junior wing/fullback for Darthmouth’s rugby team and it’s nice to see another young American make their debut.

Player	Shirt
Carlin Isles	1
Nick Edwards	2
Danny Barrett	3
Garrett Bender	4
Zack Test	5
Brett Thompson	6
Folau Niua	7
Andrew Durutalo	8
Ryne Haitsuka	9
Shalom Suniula	10
Madison Hughes *	11
Ryan Matyas	12

Look for a recap of the first day of action sometime tomorrow with a preview of what the US is facing in the knockout rounds.

Daily Previews, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Olympics, Snowboarding, Sochi 2014

February 6th – Sochi 2014 – Daily Preview

February 6, 2014 Jon Green Leave a comment

It’s the first day of Olympic competition in Sochi (yes I know the opening ceremonies aren’t until Friday evening in Sochi… things start early) and four events in three sports (Snowboarding, Freestyle Skiing, and Figure Skating) will get underway.

All times below are ET.

Freestyle Skiing

Events: Thursday is the start of the women’s moguls competition. It will begin at 9 AM with a qualification round and a 30 athlete field that includes four Americans. Each athlete gets one run and the top ten move into the first round of the final (1 PM Saturday). The other twenty will move into a second qualification round at 9 AM on Saturday morning where they will compete for the final ten spots in the final. Americans Heidi Kloser, Eliza Outtrim, and Heather McPhie will actually be the first three to ski on Thursday while Hannah Kearney will go 20th.

When:

Women’s moguls qualification round 1 – 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 freestyle skiing will be included in NBC’s first night of Olympic coverage on Thursday, 8-11 PM ET/PT.

Figure Skating

Events: The debut of the team event begins Thursday morning at 10:30 AM when the men’s short program will be contested. The American team will use Jeremy Abbott and he’ll be 5th up in the short program. The pairs short program will be at 12:10 PM and involves Americans Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir. They will be the sixth pair to skate.

nabechiko29 via Compfight cc

The competitors will be ranked 1-10 based on their scores in each event with ten points going to the best, nine to second, and so on. The team with the highest point total at the end will win. After the short programs end on Saturday the bottom five teams will be cut from the competition. The next three rounds will be on Saturday beginning at 9:30 AM.

When:

Men’s short program – 10:30 AM
Pairs short program – 12:10 PM

TV Coverage: The figure skating will be included in NBC’s first night of Olympic coverage on Thursday, 8-11 PM ET/PT.

Snowboarding

Events: Thursday is the start of the men’s and women’s slopestyle competitions. On the men’s side starting at 1 AM there will be two heats and 29 competitors. Each athlete gets two runs and only their top score counts. The top four athletes move directly into the final (Saturday 3:45 PM) while the rest move into the semifinals (Saturday 12:30 AM) for a second chance at four more spots in the final. Heat one will feature American Chas Guldemond as the tenth competitor while heat two features Sage Kotsenburg seventh and Ryan Stassel 14th.

On the women’s side, starting at 5 AM, the same format is used but there are only 23 competitors. All four of the US athletes are in the second heat (7 AM start time?) with Ty Walker first up, Jamie Anderson sixth, Karly Shorr tenth and Jessika Jenson going eleventh and last. They will hope to reach Sunday’s 4:15 AM final without needing to qualifying out of the semifinal held at 1:30 AM on Sunday first.

When:

Men’s slopestyle qualification – 1 AM
Women’s slopestyle qualification – 5 AM

Live Streaming: A live stream will be available on the NBC Olympics website or 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 snowboarding will be included in NBC’s first night of Olympic coverage on Thursday, 8-11 PM ET/PT.

Olympics, Sochi 2014

What To Expect From This Blog During the Olympics

February 6, 2014 Jon Green Leave a comment

Well Sochi 2014 is here at last and it’s time for a quick refresher on what to expect from this blog during the Olympics.

First of all, there will be spoilers… if you intend to watch the tape-delayed Olympic coverage on NBC in the evening the events will have been over for many hours and news of the results will be all over the place. That may not bother you but if you want to watch it without knowing the results your best bet is to not consume much social media or sports news because otherwise you’re going to be seeing what happened.

1) Daily Previews – These will be posted in the late afternoons/evenings with a primer on what to expect the next day in Sochi. Events will be running from around midnight EST to early afternoon on most days so this will get you set for what’s coming up the next day. The preview will list all the events to be held the following day involving US athletes. You’ll get start times as well as when it will be televised (usually tape-delayed).

2) Daily Review – These will be posted in the late afternoons (hopefully) with a recap of what’s happened that day involving US athletes and setting the stage for their next competition.

3) Stories about medal winners – Won’t have individual stories about every athlete that competes but for the medal winners I’ll publish individual stories about the event.

4) Twitter Coverage – On my twitter @WeSupportTheUS you’ll find updates on the events that I’m able to watch. Not sure how much that will be but whatever fits into my schedule I’ll be tweeting about. I’ll also try to retweet other accounts that will give you great Olympic coverage.

5) Non-Olympic Coverage – Just because the Olympics are going on doesn’t mean everything else has stopped… the US will be competing in the New Zealand stop on the IRB Rugby Sevens World Series tour this weekend. The US women’s tennis team is competing against Italy in the Fed Cup on Saturday and Sunday as well. Next week is the Qatar Total Open (A premier event on the WTA tour) which will include several American women. The weekend of the 15th will be the USA stop on the Women’s IRB Rugby Sevens World Series and the 22nd is their Brazil stop. So look for some coverage of those events during the Olympics as well.

Snowboarding, Sochi 2014

Shaun White Drops Out of Snowboard Slopestyle Event

February 6, 2014 Jon Green Leave a comment

On Wednesday Shaun White announced that he would not compete in the slopestyle competition in Sochi. This did come as a surprise despite White’s injured wrist that he suffered on a training run.

White gave a statement to NBC’s Today Show which read, “After much deliberation with my team, I have made the decision to focus solely on trying to bring home the third straight gold medal in halfpipe for Team USA. The difficult decision to forgo slopestyle is not one I take lightly as I know how much effort everyone has put into holding the slopestyle event for the first time in Olympic history, a history I had planned on being a part of.”

The loss of White in the event gives the US just three competitors in the field (Chas Guldemond, Sage Kostenburg, and Ryan Stassel) and takes away their most likely medalist.

Shaun White dropped out of the slopestyle competition in Sochi to make sure he's healthy to compete in the halfpipe event. — Shaun White dropped out of the slopestyle competition in Sochi to make sure he’s healthy to compete in the halfpipe event.

416style via Compfight cc

The reasons for White’s withdrawal mostly center around the dangerous course that the athletes have been complaining about in Sochi. Snowboarding is never totally safe but this course apparently has some larger jumps and an added level of danger that has already knocked a few athletes out with injuries and now has forced one of snowboarding’s stars to pass as well. If White was a 21-year old snowboarder who wasn’t known all around the world he might have handled this differently. But he’s not. White is a 27-year old snowboarding icon who has two Olympic gold medals and 12 X-Games gold medals (including five in slopestyle). He doesn’t need to prove himself or use this stage to get attention through a great run. He’s more focused on trying to grab a third gold in halfpipe later in Sochi and wants to make sure he’s healthy for that instead of potentially missing out if he got injured in slopestyle.

While it’s disappointing we won’t see him in the slopestyle event in Sochi I think it’s easy to respect and understand his decision.

Bobsleigh, Olympic Previews, Olympics, Sochi 2014

Bobsleigh Preview

February 5, 2014 Jon Green Leave a comment

The US seems to have gotten on track in the four-man and two-woman events having won three medals in each event over the last three Olympics. The story is not so great in the two-man event where the US hasn’t won a medal in 62 years. With some experienced teams returning, including a team that nearly won the bronze at the last world championship, is 2014 the year to end that streak?

Bobsleigh’s Olympic History

Bobsleigh was one of the first Winter Olympic events debuting in 1924 but it has not been held consecutively since then. The one year it was not held was in 1960 when the organizers of the games in Squaw Valley, California didn’t want to spend the money to build a track. The original event was the four-man event while a two-man version was added in 1932. Women’s bobsleigh didn’t debut until 2002 when a two-woman version was added.

Switzerland has won 30 of the 124 bobsleigh medals contested but Germany has the most gold medals with ten of the 42. The US ranks third in both categories with 21 medals, seven of them gold.

www.guigo.eu via Compfight cc

How the Bobsleigh Competitions Work

Bobsleigh’s competitions use sleds that are rode in by teams of two or four. One of the athletes is the driver while another works the breaks. In the four-man competition the other two are there to help push start the sled before jumping in and just riding along. All of the bobsleigh competitions involve four runs over two days with the total time determining the winners.

US Team

The team is made up of eight men and six women. Six of the athletes are returning from Vancouver and two of them were part of the team in Turin. Oh and two of the athletes were part of the Summer Olympic team in Beijing and London, one of them also part of the team in Athens.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

US Bobsleigh

Men:
Cory Butner
Nick Cunningham*
Christopher Fogt*
Steve Holcomb**
Steven Langton*
Johnny Quinn
Dallas Robinson
Curtis Tomasevicz**

Women:
Aja Evans
Jazmine Fenlator
Jamie Greubel
Lolo Jones&
Elana Meyers*
Lauryn Williams^

* – Was on team in Vancouver
** – Was on team in Vancouver & Turin
& – Was in Summer Olympics in London and Beijing
^ – Was in Summer Olympics in London, Beijing, and Athens

A Sochi 2014 Bobsleigh list on twitter including all of these athletes

US Team’s Olympic History

Nick Cunningham made his Olympic debut in 2010 competing in both the two-man and four-man events. Cunningham rode with Mike Kohn in both events and had Jamie Moriarty and Bill Schuffenhauer in the four-man. In the two-man event the team finished 12th while their four-man team finished 13th.

Another first time Olympian in Vancouver was Christopher Fogt who was part of a four-man team with John Napier, Charles Berkeley, and first time Olympian Steven Langton. Their team had a crash in the second run and did not compete in the third or fourth runs.

Steve Holcomb was a drive in Vancouver who piloted a two-man team with Curtis Tomasevicz and a four-man team with Tomasevicz, Justin Olsen, and Steve Mesler. The two-man team came in sixth while the four-man team set the track record on each of their first two runs en route to a gold medal.

Both Holcomb and Tomasevicz were part of a same four-man team in Turin where they teamed with Lorenzo Smith III and Bill Schuffenhauer. That team came in sixth. Holcomb also drove a two-man team with Schuffenhauer that came in 14th.

Making her debut in Vancouver, Elana Meyers ran the brakes in a two-woman sled with Erin Pac in Vancouver. The duo won a bronze medal despite having the eighth fastest final run.

The US two man team of John Napier and Steven Langton in Vancouver.

The U.S. Army via Compfight cc

Schedule

All Times ET, * indicates medals awarded
Sunday, February 16th
11:15 AM – Two-man Heat 1
12:50 PM – Two-man Heat 2

Monday, February 17th
9:30 AM – Two-man Heat 3
*11:05 AM – Two-man Heat 4

Tuesday, February 18th
10:15 AM – Women’s Heat 1
11:23 AM – Women’s Heat 2

Wednesday, February 19th
11:15 AM – Women’s Heat 3
*12:23 PM – Women’s Heat 4

Saturday, February 22nd
11:30 AM – Four-man Heat 1
1 PM – Four-man Heat 2

Sunday, February 23rd
4:30 AM – Four-man Heat 3
*6 AM – Four-man Heat 4

US Team’s Recent World Championship History

Bobsleigh’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 two-man event the Olympic team of Steven Holcomb/Steven Langton competed and came in fourth, just 0.08 seconds behind the bronze. Cory Butner drove a two-man sled (though with Christopher Fogt, not his Olympic partner) that finished ninth. Another driver from Sochi, Nick Cunningham, had a two-man sled (with Dallas Robinson, not his Olympic partner) that came in 13th.

In the four-man event the team of Steven Holcomb/Steven Langton/Curtis Tomasevicz/Justin Olsen got the bronze medal. This team will largely stay intact for Sochi with Olsen switching with Christopher Fogt. Another four-man team involving Nick Cunningham and Christopher Fogt (none of Cunningham’s team mates for Sochi were on this sled) came in 19th. There was a third four-man team in the event for the US, the only Olympian on it was Johnny Quinn. The team came in 30th and didn’t make the 20-team cut for the final run.

On the women’s side the top US team was that of Elana Meyers who was with Katie Eberling (not part of team in Sochi). That team came in second to win the silver. Meyers’ partner in Sochi, Aja Evans, teamed with Jazmine Fenlator for an eighth place finish.

The US team of John Napier and Steven Langton heads down the track in Vancouver.

The U.S. Army via Compfight cc

US Olympic History

The US was one of the dominant countries in the early years of the four-man bobsled competition winning eight medals in the first seven games. After 1956 thought it was a long 46 year wait until their next medals in 2002. In the last three Olympics the US has won a gold, silver, and bronze with the gold coming in 2010.

The US was also one of the top countries in the early two-man bobsled event as they won six medals in the first four events. Again a drought happened though as the US has not won a medal since 1952, 62 years and counting. In 2010 the best US competitors were sixth (Steve Holcomb/Curtis Tomasevicz) less than a half a second from a medal.

The two-woman event has only been contested three times but the US has won a gold, silver, and bronze already. Their most recent medal was the bronze in 2010 won by Erin Pac and Elana Meyers.

Olympic Previews, Olympics, Skeleton, Sochi 2014

Skeleton Preview

February 5, 2014 Jon Green Leave a comment

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.

One of the skeleton athletes racing in Vancouver.

jonwick04 via Compfight cc

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.

jonwick04 via Compfight cc

US Team

The team is made up of three men and two women. Three of the athletes are back from Vancouver while one was also part of the team in Turin.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

US Skeleton

Men:
Matt Antoine
John Daly*
Kyle Tress

Women:
Noelle Pikus-Pace*
Katie Uhlaender**

* – Was on team in Vancouver
** – Was on team in Vancouver & Turin

A Sochi 2014 Skeleton list on twitter including all of these athletes

US Team’s Olympic History

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

jonwick04 via Compfight cc

Schedule

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.

Nordic Combined, Olympic Previews, Olympics, Sochi 2014

Nordic Combined Preview

February 5, 2014 Jon Green Leave a comment

20 Olympic competitions without a single medal, that was the story for the US going into Vancouver when it came to nordic combined. That changed in a big way when the US won four medals, three silvers and a gold. The US now can boast a medal in each of the three nordic combined events. It will be very hard to top that in Sochi.

Nordic Combined’s Olympic History

Nordic combined is one of the original Winter Olympic events having debuted in 1924 with a single event. That event was the only one until 1988 when a team event was added. A second individual event was started in 2002 and that is how the program remains to this day. There are no women’s events in nordic combined.

16 nations have medaled in nordic combined with Norway leading the way with 26 of the 93 medals. Norway also has 11 of the 31 gold medals while the US has won just four medals, three silvers and a gold, in nordic combined.

How the Nordic Combined Competitions Work

Nordic combined is a combination event of ski jumping and cross-country skiing. The ski jumping event will come first with the cross-country skiing following it. The scores from the ski jumping event set the field for the cross-country skiing race with the athletes delayed depending on how far behind the leader they are. The first man across the line is the winner.

The two individual events both feature a 10km cross-country race, they differ in which ski jumping hill is used. One event uses the normal hill while the other uses the large hill.

The team event is conducted using the large hill and four athletes per team. Their combined team score is used to set the field for the relay portion with teams delayed based on how far they are behind the leading team. The teams will race along four 5km legs with the first team across the finish line the winner.

Ski jumping is one part of the nordic combined event.

Marcin Chady via Compfight cc

US Team

There are four men on the team and three of them are returning from Vancouver. Two have been on the team ever since Nagano and one was even part of the team in Lillehammer twenty years ago.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

US Nordic Combined

Men:
Bill Demong****
Bryan Fletcher
Taylor Fletcher*
Todd Lodwick*****

* – Was on team in Vancouver
**** – Was on team in Vancouver, Turin, Salt Lake City, & Nagano
***** – Was on team in Vancouver, Turin, Salt Lake City, Nagano, & Lillehammer

A Sochi 2014 Nordic Combined list on twitter including all of these athletes

US Team’s Olympic History

In 2010 the US team featured three of the four current Olympians. In the normal event Bill Demong finished sixth while Todd Lodwick finished fourth for the US. The large hill event saw Demong do even better with a gold medal, the first ever in nordic combined for the US. Lodwick finished 13th while Taylor Fletcher finished 45th. Lodwick and Demong joined with Brett Camerota and Johnny Spillane in the team event to win another silver medal for the US.

In 2006 both Lodwick and Demong were taking part in the events. The program was not exactly the same as it is now with a sprint event that featured one jump and a 7.5km cross-country portion and an individual gunderson event that had two jumps and a 15km cross-country part. In the sprint event Lodwick finished ninth while Demong was 25th. The individual gunderson event was more of the same with Lodwick in eighth and Demong in 15th. They teamed up in the team event with Spillane and Carl van Loan to finish seventh.

In 2002 Lodwick was again threatening for medals with a fifth place finish in the sprint event and a seventh place finish in the individual gunderson event. Demong was again near the top with 14th and 19th place finishes respectively. Again they were in the team event with Spillane and Matt Dayton this time. The team came in fourth place missing a medal by six seconds.

All the way back in Nagano there was only one individual event, the individual gunderson event. Lodwick came in 20th place while Demong finished 34th. They were again part of the team event with Tim Tetreault and Dave Jarrett their teammates this time. The team came in tenth.

Twenty years ago in Lillehammer Lodwick was the top performing American with a 13th place finish in the individual event. Lodwick was also part of the team that finished seventh along with Ryan Heckman and Jarrett.

Schedule

All Times ET, * indicates medals awarded
Wednesday, February 12th
4:30 AM – Individual Gundersen NH/10 km Competition Round
*7:30 AM – Individual Gundersen NH/10 km Cross-Country

Tuesday, February 18th
4:30 AM – Individual Gundersen LH/10 km Competition Round
*7 AM – Individual Gundersen LH/10 km Cross-Country

Thursday, February 20th
3 AM – Team Gundersen LH/4×5 km Competition Round
*6 AM – Team Gundersen LH/4×5 km Cross-Country

US Team’s Recent World Championship History

The nordic combined world championships are part of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. Most recently they were held in Val di Fiemme, Italy in February-March 2013.

In those championships the US had all four of their Olympians in the individual normal hill competition. Bryan Fletcher was the top American finishing in 14th overall. Behind him came Bill Demong in 23rd, Taylor Fletcher in 25th, and Todd Lodwick in 35th.

Three of those Americans took part in the large hill competition. This time Demong was the top Americans with a 15th place finish. Taylor Fletcher was hot on his trail in 17th while Bryan Fletcher was 23rd.

The event featuring the 4x5km relay at the world championships was held using the normal hill. Demong, Lodwick, and both Fletchers teamed up in this event. They were in fifth after the ski jumping but came on strong in the cross-country race to move into third and win a bronze less than five seconds behind the winners.

Cross-country skiing is one part of the nordic combined event at the Olympics.

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US Olympic History

The US had never medaled before the Vancouver Olympics but can now say that they have medaled in every Olympic nordic combined event. In the individual normal hill event that was when Johnny Spillane grabbed a silver, in the large hill it was Bill Demong grabbing gold and Spillane getting silver. Meanwhile the team of Spillane, Demong, and Todd Lodwick and Brett Camerota won a silver in the team event.

Curling, Olympic Previews, Olympics, Sochi 2014

Curling Preview

February 5, 2014 Jon Green Leave a comment

The US has only won one medal in curling, a men’s bronze in 2006. The sport has been growing though in popularity in the US. Will that lead to anymore success in Sochi though? One reason to hope, the women’s team did nearly medal at the latest world championships.

Curling’s Olympic History

Curling’s Olympic history is long but also full of holes. The sport was contested in the original Winter Olympics, 1924, but then only as a demonstration sport in the following 74 years. And even then it was only held in 1932, 1998, and 1992. In 1998 Curling was finally added to the Olympic program and has been part of it since then.

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Canada has the most curling medals with eight including the most golds, three. Ten countries have medaled with five winning golds. The US has just one medal, a bronze on the men’s side in 2006.

How the Curling Competitions Work

If you’re not familiar with curling it’s not too hard to get the basics down. A curling game features ten ends. Think of these like innings in baseball or frames in bowling. In an end each team will have eight stones they send down towards the target. Four different players will each send two of the stones, with the two teams alternating turns. In the end the team with the stone closest to the center of the “house” scores one point for each of their stones closer to the center than the closest stone of their opponent. The stone does have to be on the house target to score. Sum up the total score from the ten ends and you’ll have the final score of the game. The teams take turn alternating who goes first. If it’s still tied the teams would go to an extra end until the tie is broken.

Chase N. via Compfight cc

Ten teams will contest both the men’s and women’s events in Sochi. The events begin with a round-robin portion where every country will face every other country. After that the standings will be used to determine the semifinal matchups.

US Team

The US teams are five men and five women. Four athletes were on the teams in Vancouver, two were on the teams in Turin, one was on the team in Salt Lake City, and one was on the team in Nagano.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

US Curling

Men:
Craig Brown – Alternate
Jeff Isaacson* – Third
John Landsteiner – Lead
John Shuster** – Skip
Jared Zezel – Second

Women:
Erika Brown% – Skip
Debbie McCormick^ – Third
Allison Pottinger* – Alternate
Jessica Schultz& – Second
Ann Swisshelm – Lead

* – Was on team in Vancouver
** – Was on team in Vancouver & Turin
& – Was on team in Turin
^ – Was on team in Vancouver & Salt Lake City
% – Was on team in Nagano

A Sochi 2014 Curling list on twitter including all of these athletes

US Team’s Olympic History

In 2010 the men’s team featured Jeff Isaacson as the second and John Shuster as the skip. The team went 2-7 in the round robin finishing tied for last. Their wins came over France and Sweden (who ended up winning the gold).

The women’s team in 2010 Debbie McCormick as their skip and Allison Pottinger as their third. That team went 2-7 in the round robin and finished last. Their wins came over Russia and Great Britain, neither of whom finished in the top four.

In 2006 the men’s team featured John Shuster. That team went 6-3 in the round robin to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals the US lost to Canada before defeating Great Britain in the final 8-6 to win the bronze medal.

The women’s team in Turin featured Jessica Schultz. The team went 2-8 and finished in ninth place.

The 2002 women’s team featured Debbie McCormick as their third. The team went 6-3 and reached the semifinal round of the tournament. The US lost 9-4 to Switzerland in the semifinals and 9-5 to Canada in the bronze medal final.

The 1998 women’s team featured Erika Brown in third position. That team went 2-5 and finished seventh.

Curling Sheets at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics

Chase N. via Compfight cc

Schedule

All Times ET, * indicates medals awarded
Monday, February 10th
5 AM – Women’s Round Robin Session 1 – USA vs. Switzerland
10 AM – Men’s Round Robin Session 2 – USA vs. Norway

Tuesday, February 11th
12 AM – Women’s Round Robin Session 2 – USA vs. Russia
5 AM – Men’s Round Robin Session 3 – USA vs. China
10 AM – Women’s Round Robin Session 3 – USA vs. Great Britain

Wednesday, February 12th
12 AM – Men’s Round Robin Session 4 – USA vs. Denmark
5 AM – Women’s Round Robin Session 4 – USA vs. China

Thursday, February 13th
5 AM – Men’s Round Robin Session 6 – USA vs. Great Britain
10 AM – Women’s Round Robin Session 6 – USA vs. Japan

Friday, February 14th
12 AM – Men’s Round Robin Session 7 – USA vs. Germany
5 AM – Women’s Round Robin Session 7 – USA vs. Denmark
10 AM – Men’s Round Robin Session 8 – USA vs. Russia

Saturday, February 15th
10 AM – Women’s Round Robin Session 9 – USA vs. Sweden

Sunday, February 16th
12 AM – Men’s Round Robin Session 7 – USA vs. Canada
5 AM – Women’s Round Robin Session 10 – USA vs. Canada
10 AM – Men’s Round Robin Session 11 – USA vs. Sweden

Monday, February 17th
12 AM – Women’s Round Robin Session 11 – USA vs. Korea
5 AM – Men’s Round Robin Session 12 – USA vs. Switzerland

Wednesday, February 19th
10 AM – Women’s Semifinals
10 AM – Men’s Semifinals

Thursday, February 20th
3:30 AM – Women’s Bronze Medal Match
8:30 AM – Women’s Gold Medal Match

Friday, February 21st
3:30 AM – Men’s Bronze Medal Match
8:30 AM – Men’s Gold Medal Match

US Team’s Recent World Championship History

The 2013 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship was held in Victoria, British Columbia in March-April 2013. The team representing the US didn’t feature any of the Olympians for the US. That team went 5-6 in the round robin portion but missed out on the semifinals.

The 2013 World Women’s Curling Championship was held in Riga, Latvia in March 2013. The team featured Erika Brown as their skip, Debbie McCormick as their third, Jessica Schultz as their second, and Ann Swisshelm as their lead. The team went 6-5 in the round robin beating four Olympic teams (Denmark, Canada, Japan, Russia), but losing to three others (Sweden, Switzerland, China). That put the US into a three-way tie for fourth with Russia and Switzerland. Those two faced off with the winner taking on the US. It ended up being a rematch with Switzerland and the US advanced with a 7-4 win.

In the semifinals the US took on Canada and was down 4-1 after three ends. The US fought back and cut it to 4-3 before Canada pulled back out to a 7-4 lead. The US got it to 7-6 but couldn’t tie it up and fell into the bronze medal match. In the bronze medal match the US took on Canada again (this is a weird playoff format…). The US had an early 2-1 lead but Canada went back in front 4-2 and never gave up the lead going on to win 8-6.

Members of Team USA at the 2010 Olympics.

Chase N. via Compfight cc

US Olympic History

The US has only medaled once in the Olympics, a bronze on the men’s side in 2006. They also finished fourth in 1998 but were ninth in 2002 and tenth in 2010. On the women’s side the best finish by the US was a fourth place finish in 2002. Outside of that they have finished eighth twice (1998 and 2006) and tenth (2010).

Olympic Previews, Olympics, Short Track Speed Skating, Sochi 2014

Short Track Speed Skating Preview

February 5, 2014 Jon Green Leave a comment

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.

johnthescone via Compfight cc

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.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

US Short Track Speed Skating

Men:
Eduardo Alvarez
Kyle Carr
J.R. Celski*
Christopher Creveling
Jordan Malone*

Women:
Alyson Dudek*
Emily Scott
Jessica Smith

* – Was on team in Vancouver

A Sochi 2014 Short Track Speed Skating list on twitter including all of these athletes

US Team’s Olympic History

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

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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

Friday, February 21st
11:30 AM – Men’s 500m Quarterfinals
11:44 AM – Ladies’ 1000m Quarterfinals
12:15 PM – Men’s 500m Semifinals
12:23 PM – Ladies’ 1000m Semifinals
12:46 PM – Men’s 500m Finals
12:56 PM – Ladies’ 1000m Finals
1:21 PM – Men’s 5000m Relay Finals

US Team’s Recent World Championship History

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.

Freestyle Skiing

Figure Skating

Snowboarding

Schedule:

Roster:

Freestyle Skiing

Figure Skating

Snowboarding

Bobsleigh’s Olympic History

How the Bobsleigh Competitions Work

US Team

US Team’s Olympic History

Schedule

US Team’s Recent World Championship History

US Olympic History

Skeleton’s Olympic History

How the Skeleton Competitions Work

US Team

US Team’s Olympic History

Schedule

US Team’s Recent World Championship History

US Olympic History

Nordic Combined’s Olympic History

How the Nordic Combined Competitions Work

US Team

US Team’s Olympic History

Schedule

US Team’s Recent World Championship History

US Olympic History

Curling’s Olympic History

How the Curling Competitions Work

US Team

US Team’s Olympic History

Schedule

US Team’s Recent World Championship History

US Olympic History

Short Track Speed Skating’s Olympic History

How the Short Track Speed Skating Competitions Work

US Team

US Team’s Olympic History

Schedule

US Team’s Recent World Championship History

US Olympic History

Covering America's Athletes