Olympic 2014 Results: Tracking Medal Count for Each Country on Day 10

There are a number of headline events in Day 10 at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi that are sure to change the outlook of the medal count.

The men take the stage in snowboard cross, the ice dancing medals will be awarded and the two-man bobsled race sees its final runs. Every event is taking on added importance for the overarching competition that is the medal count as it becomes increasingly close at the top.


The Netherlands, which has proven dominant on the speedskating ice, Russia and the United States are setting the pace, but Norway and Canada are right in contention.


Let’s dig a bit deeper into some of the key events of Day 10 that will directly impact the medal count.


Key Day 10 Events

Ice Dancing Free Skate

It was a yet another display of pure dominance for Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White in the short dance portion of the ice dancing competition.

The pair took a commanding 2.58-point lead over training partners and friends Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada. Figure skating is a sport that often comes down to tenths of a point, so having an early cushion will certainly be critical for the Red, White and Blue.

It was such a great performance that Davis felt like she was in a dream, as she said in an interview after the race in comments that were passed along by The Associated Press (via ESPN.com): "I told Charlie in the middle of the program I felt like I was in a dream. It is such a surreal experience."

The American ice dancers have not lost in nearly two years and are the defending world champions. It would be a complete upset if they took home anything other than the gold, which would be the first for the United States in ice dancing.

It is also a tight race for the bronze between the French and the Russians.


Men’s Snowboard Cross

Snowboard cross is one of the most unpredictable sports in all of the Olympics.

For further proof of that, consider the fact that the defending gold medalist, Seth Wescott, did not even make the American team for Sochi.

Instead, Nate Holland will headline the team for the United States. Joining him are Nick Baumgartner, Trevor Jacob and Alex Deibold. Holland finished in fourth place in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and is on the short list for the podium.

His top competition will come in the form of Australia’s Alex Pullin and Austria’s Markus Schairer, who finished No. 1 and No. 2 at the 2013 World Championships.


Men’s Two-Man Bobsled

It doesn’t get much tighter than the men’s two-man bobsled after two runs. There is a mere .16 of a second separating second place from sixth place, although Russia’s Alexander Zubkov leads everyone by .32 of a second.

Defending World Cup champion and American Steven Holcomb is in third place heading into the final two runs. The United States hasn’t won a medal in two-man bobsled since 1952.

One person who will be cheering Holcomb on is actor William Shatner:


If Zubkov adds the gold medal to his resume, it would join a bronze from the 2006 Olympics in Torino and a four-man silver in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Source: Bleacherreport
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Olympic Speedskating: Korean Transplant Victor An Finds Golden Home in Russia

The Russian fans were going crazy standing, cheering, banging drums.

Victor An was in the process of winning a short-track bronze medal for the Olympics' host country, but he was also hearing plenty of boos from Korean fans.

Because Victor An has another name, a Korean name. He is also known as Ahn Hyun-Soo.

Whatever his name, he is a star short-track speedskating athlete and now a Russian hero after winning gold Saturday in the 1,000 meters.

Until 2011, An competed successfully but contentiously for his native South Korea, and after much trouble with the Korean federation, he became a Russian citizen and began preparing for the Sochi Games. From what we've seen so far, the change has been a success.

An, 28, has won a bronze in the 1,500 and gold in the 1,000, with the 500 coming up on Feb. 21.

Sure, it seems against the Olympic spirit, this country-shopping, but it's happened before. It used to feel as if the Olympics was about rooting for our own country's athletes, even if they weren't the best, because they were raised and trained at home.

Now, more and more, we want to see the best, and who they compete for isn't as important.

An won Russia's first-ever short-track event with his gold in a nation more noted for long-track speedskating, as Russia chose to strengthen its short-track program by going outside the country. And An had good reasons for leaving. He was left off Korea's short-track team in 2010 even after he worked hard to rehabilitate sore knees.

It seemed like a real slap in the face to the short-track star, who still wanted to skate at the highest level and win medals for South Korea.

But if South Korea didn't want him, others did. Russia made him the best offer. He has an apartment in Moscow where he and his fiancee live and a contract that will allow him to continue coaching in Russia after the Sochi Games if he wants to. Even the U.S. tried to recruit An to its team.

This is An's fourth Winter Olympics, and his resume is impressive: He's won six medals, including three for South Korea in 2006 in Turin before deciding to change nationalities.

When An medaled for Russia in the 1,500 meters, he thrust a fist in the air but had to be prompted to grab a Russian flag to carry as he skated a lap around the ice with fans chanting "Vic-tor, Vic-tor," according to Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Tribune.

It was hard to tell if the fans understood the sport, since Russians tend to win more often in long-track speedskating. But they got the part about the medal.

According to Zeigler, it's unclear if An had even set foot, or skate, in Russia before obtaining his citizenship.

Russian short-track coach Sebastien Cros, who happens to be French, told the San Diego paper, "Korea didn't want anything to do with him. So he came to Russia."

Zeigler's article also stats that after coming home from the 2006 Turin games, An and his father engaged in a screaming match with the Korean federation in the airport, an embarrassing moment witnessed by many. That split the South Korean team into an An camp and an anti-An camp.

The dispute reportedly had to do with training methods. An injured his knee in 2008 and was left off Korea's 2010 team, a controversial decision, and the final push that sent An and his father looking for another home.

The Ans even approached the United States, but Russia offered more money, so An signed a contract through the 2014 Olympics to be a Russian skater, with an option to remain as a coach.

He said he changed his name to Victor because he wanted to honor a Russian rock star he admired, Viktor Tsoi, whose father also had a Korean background.

"I thought that I could have a better chance to prepare myself for competitions, that my training environment would be more favorable in Russia," An said last Monday in Sochi, per Zeigler. "So I just changed my citizenship."

Other short-track skaters don't seem to mind, and even a Korean newspaper poll gave An a 61 percent approval for leaving.

“It is good because a champion is beautiful to see in this sport,” Italy’s Yuri Confortola told Zeigler in his report on An. “I prefer him to come back with Korea because I think he’s a Korean. I don’t like changing countries. But I prefer to see Victor An skate. With Russia is better than nothing.”

Another skater, Canada's Michael Gilday, said, "You need the best skaters on the ice. That makes the best show for the fans and helps grow the sport, so as a competitor you can't have sour grapes over the fact some guy who's really good and has a bunch of Olympic gold medals is all of a sudden getting another shot."

Cros noted that An has been in Russia for four years, has learned to speak Russian and has gotten Russian doctors who made his achy knees better.

"Always, there will be some comments like this," Cros told Zeigler. "But, you know, it's not my problem."

American short-track star Apolo Anton Ohno, who always had a big rivalry with Korean skaters in winning his eight Olympic medals, called An's defection "big news in speedskating," per Eurosport. "Any time you switch citizenship to race for another country, it's a big deal.

"I personally could never do it. But the one thing we can say for him is that he loves the sport and if that meant he had to switch the country he is representing, it really shows how dedicated he is."

There's always a debate. Should the Olympics be only about showcasing the best athletes or giving every country a chance to win something. But viewers of the Games, as many of those athletes said, want to see the best, and to them, it doesn't matter what country the best are competing for.

An belonged on the ice this year, and Russia gave him that chance, welcoming him with the best of training and medical care and a comfortable life that has allowed him to show his best so far. An told reporters through an interpreter that he will always be appreciative of what the Russians have done for him.

"I am happy to be a citizen of two countries and I hold no ill-will to Korea," An said to reporters in a post-race interview that was replayed to Bleacher Report on tape.

"I know now that I made the right decision and I'm now a man who has experienced success in two cultures. For me, that is an honor. I hope my countrymen in Russia are happy and I don't wish Korea anything but success. I feel I am lucky."

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Olympic Ski Jumping 2014: Men's Large Hill Medal Winners and Results

Kamil Stoch won his second gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics thanks to a fantastic performance in the ski jumping large-hill event.

The Polish star won the normal-hill competition earlier in the week and then built up a big lead in this event thanks to a score of 143.4 with his first jump. However, Japan's Noriaki Kasai kept the pressure on with two top-three jumps of his own.

Still, the judges gave Stoch just enough points to stay ahead of his opponent and take home another gold medal.

Peter Prevc who earned a silver medal in the normal hill had the best second jump in the competition and earned bronze.

Here is a look at the top 10, courtesy of Sochi2014.com:

Men's Ski Jumping Large Hill Results
Rank Name                Country Score
1 Kamil Stoch                 Poland 278.7
2 Noriaki Kasai                   Japan 277.4
3 Peter Prevc               Slovenia 274.8
4 Severin Freund       Germany 272.2
5 Anders Fannemel       Norway 264.3
6 Marinus Kraus              Germany 257.4
7 Gregor Schlierenzauer Austria 255.2
8 Michael Hayboeck         Austria 254.7
9 Daiki Ito                           Japan 252.5
10 Reruhi Shimizu                   Japan 252.2
via Sochi2014.com

This competition featured two medalists from the 2010 Vancouver Games, including four-time gold medalist Simon Ammann. However, the Austrian simply did not have it in him, finishing in 23rd place. Two-time individual bronze medalist Gregor Schlierenzauer only managed a seventh-place finish.



It seemed like no one was going to beat Stoch unless he somehow struggled, which clearly did not happen on Saturday.

Interestingly, the World Cup winner had dealt with multiple problems during his time at Sochi when he was not competing.

He was sick during the day before winning the gold medal in the normal hill. According to The Associated Press (h/t ESPN), he explained, "When I woke up I felt a headache and I had a high temperature, but the doctors did everything they could do (sic) bring me to life and they did. They did a good job, so thanks to them."

The Polish star then dealt with a bad crash during training for the large hill but shook off his injuries. He told Rosa Khutor of Reuters, "I feel very good and my jumps were also good. My elbow is hurting slightly but it's not a big problem."

Fortunately, he had no such problems once the competition started, as he was able to finish with his second gold medal of these Games. He was also carried off the course yet again by his teammates:

The United States did have three athletes qualify for the first jump, although expectations were not too high based on recent history:

Things certainly did not get off to a good start when Anders Johnson was disqualified for having an illegal suit, according to Douglas Gelevan of CBC:

Nicholas Alexander finished in 48th place while Nicholas Fairall ended in 35th, neither man qualifying for the final round.

Still, the big man of the day is Stoch, who proved in Sochi that he is truly the best ski jumper in the world. Kasai put forth a great effort to get to the top of the podium, but the 41-year-old veteran will have to settle for a silver.

Of course, this result has a big effect on the world of ski jumping. Stoch has now won two Olympic events, the World Cup and the most recent world championships in Val di Fiemme. It is clear that he is just entering his prime at 26 years old and will likely win many more awards in the future.

Then again, the young challenger Prevc is still improving and showed he is capable of some big results, as described by Greg Ferraro of NBC Olympics:

It remains to be seen if the 21-year-old Slovenian can win gold in the future, but he is certain to provide plenty of competition going forward.

For more ski jumping action, tune into the men's team competition Feb. 17 at 12:15 ET.

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Olympic Hockey 2014: USA vs. CAN Battle Brings Women's Hockey to the Forefront

Hockey Olympic or otherwise isn't just for men.

At least, not anymore.

Teams USA and Canada are proving that women can be just as quick and hard-hitting as their male counterparts.

Both teams came in to Wednesday's game riding an undefeated Olympic streak for the year. Canada had recorded two shutouts against Switzerland and Finland, while USA had a 3-1 win over Finland and a decisive 9-0 shutout against Switzerland.

Though both teams are arguably the two best women's hockey teams this year, there is no such thing as a little friendly competition between the two.

The battle and rivalry between the two North American teams is heated, to say the least.

In December, a brawl broke out during a U.S. vs. CAN game. There was definite hostility, and it wasn't even the Olympics.


Jen Neale, writing for Yahoo!'s Puck Daddy, had it right when she wrote:

If anyone says female hockey players aren't tough like the guys, you have been officially dared to drop gloves with one of them at the rink.

On Wednesday, the competition continued in search of the gold, and the intensity grew as Canada rallied back from a 1-0 deficit in the third.

Sallie Jenkins of the Washington Post summarized the intensity of the game this way:

It was supposedly a meaningless game, just an appetizer, because both teams already had byes into the semifinals. But there was nothing casual about it as they shouldered each other into the walls and the momentum swung back and forth.

Results complaints aside, Canada left as the only undefeated team in Group A (Sweden and Russia remain undefeated in Group B).

Watching these two teams play throws every female stereotype out the window. The players move quickly, think fast and hit hard. They compete just as hard as the men.

ESPN reported that professional football was the most popular sport in America for the 30th year in a row:

In 2014, 35 percent of fans call the NFL their favorite sport, followed by Major League Baseball (14 percent), college football (11 percent), auto racing (7 percent), the NBA (6 percent), the NHL (5 percent) and college basketball (3 percent).

Not one mention of women's sports. The only thing that comes close is auto racing, where Danica Patrick is breaking barriers. Otherwise, it's nothing but males.

In a nation where men's sports are the front-runners in popular sports, the U.S. women's hockey team is making a case for women's sports everywhere.

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Olympic Skeleton 2014: Results Tracker, Medal Winners and More

Welcome to Bleacher Report’s hub for all things Olympic skeleton. We’ll provide you with updates and analyses right here after each event of the competition in Sochi.

For a crash course in the sport’s top storylines and athletes to watch, be sure to check out B/R’s Complete Guide to Olympic Skeleton.

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Olympic Bobsled 2014: Complete Guide for Sochi Winter Olympics

The high-speed bobsled event begins its run at the Winter Olympics on Feb. 16 and finishes on Feb. 23.

Although the sport receives little attention most of the time in the United States, it is put in the spotlight every four years at the Olympics.

Germany has been the dominant country in recent Olympic bobsled competition, but an American team won the gold medal in the four-man bobsled event at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

American women have won a medal in each of the three Olympics that featured the women’s bobsled event.

Olympic bobsled competition, officially known as bobsleigh, consists of three events: men's four-man, men's two-man and women's bobsled, which is a two-person competition.

Participants in each discipline complete four runs over two days, with the lowest cumulative time from the four runs determining the order of finish and medal awards.

Bobsledders reached speeds of nearly 95 miles per hour at the Vancouver Games four years ago, but the track for this Olympics is expected to be slower.

The venue for the 2014 bobsledding event is the Sliding Center Sanki, located in Rzhanaya Polyana, Russia, which is about 37 miles from Sochi. The course is 1,500 meters long, not including the 314-meter braking area at the end of a run. According to a CBC story, maximum speed is 135 kilometers per hour, which is about 84 miles per hour.

Bobsled competition will begin Feb. 16 with heats in the two man-event. Bobsledding concludes Feb. 23 with the final heats of the four-man event.

The United States will have three teams competing in the women's and two-man bobsled competitions and two in the four-man event. The U.S. is considered a gold-medal contender in all three.

Bobsledding first became an Olympic event in the 1924 Winter Games in Chamonix, France. Only four-man bobsled competition was held in 1924, and it was changed to a five-man event in the 1928 Winter Games before reverting back to a four-man competition in 1932.

Two-man bobsled competition was added to the Olympics at the 1932 Winter Games at Lake Placid, N.Y., and women's bobsledding became an Olympic sport in 2002 at Salt Lake City, Utah.

No bobsledding competition was held at the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley, N.Y., but it has been an Olympic event in every Winter Games since.

Americans captured the gold medal in the three disciplines the first year each was an Olympic event, and American women have medaled each of the three years the Olympics featured women's bobsledding.

Germans have dominated men's bobsledding, winning the gold medal at the last three Olympics in the two-man event and taking first place in four of the past five Olympics in the four-man category. A team from Germany (including East Germany and West Germany when the country was divided) has won 15 gold medals in the 38 men's Olympic bobsled competitions held. Switzerland is next with nine gold medals in men's events.

Germany's Andre Lange has won four Olympic bobsled gold medals, the most in history. He won his second straight two-man gold medal in 2010 but finished second in the four-man competition that year before retiring.

An American four-man team led by pilot Steven Holcomb finished first in the 2010 Olympics, giving the United States its first men's bobsled gold medal since 1948. German teams finished second and fourth.

Canadian teams finished first and second in the women's bobsled competition at the 2010 Games, with Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moss capturing the gold medal.

Schedule of heats for the 2014 Olympic bobsled competition:

February 16: Two-man heats 1 and 2, 11:15 a.m. ET

February 17: Two-man heats 3 and 4, 9:30 a.m. ET

February 18: Women's heats 1 and 2, 10:15 a.m. ET

February 19: Women's heats 3 and 4, 11:15 a.m. ET

February 22: Men's four-man heats 1 and 2, 11:30 a.m. ET

February 23: Men's four-man heats 3 and 4, 4:30 a.m. ET

All events will be streamed live on NBCOlympics.com.

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Olympic 2014 Results: Tracking Medal Count for Each Country on Day 6

The medal race at the 2014 Winter Olympics took another turn on Day 4 as Norway jumped into the overall lead.

However, Canada, the Netherlands, Russia and the United States are still within striking distance heading into Wednesday's action.

Germany has also emerged as a contender after claiming two gold medals on Tuesday.

With that in mind, below we'll take a closer look at the updated medal count heading into Day 5 and highlight some of the top performing nations thus far.


Norway Picks Up Medals in Biathlon, Cross-Country

Norway was by far the biggest winner on Day 4, earning four medals in all, including two gold medals in cross-country.

Maiken Caspersen Falla and Ola Vigen Hattestad won the women's and men's sprint free competitions, respectively, posting impressive times and edging out stiff competition in the process.

In the women's event, Norway's Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg also finished second to secure the silver medal.

The Scandinavian powerhouse would pick up another medal later in the day with Tora Berger taking home silver in the women's biathlon 10-kilometer pursuit. Berger's time of 30 minutes and 8.3 seconds, which included just one penalty, was 37.6 seconds off Darya Domracheva's gold-medal-winning pace.

Despite Norway's big day in biathlon and cross-country, the Olympic leaders saw opportunities go by the wayside in women's ski jumping, as Maren Lundby and Line Jahr finished eighth and ninth respectively, in the ladies' normal hill.

Lundby's 120.0 second-run score was among the best of the competition, but it wasn't enough to put her and Norway on the podium.



Canada Maintains Dominance on Slopes

Although Day 4 was one to forget for ladies' ski slopestyle favorite Kaya Turski, Canadians had plenty to cheer about at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park as Dara Howell and Kim Lamarre each landed on the podium.

Howell's first-run score of 94.20 was enough to win gold. Afterwards, the 19-year-old dedicated her run to fallen compatriot Sarah Burke, per The Guardian's Steve Busfield:

I said the other day that I really hope a Canadian brings home a gold medal and it will be for Sarah. This medal is definitely for Sarah. She pushed the sport. She always wanted to see the progression. To see the girls throwing what the guys were throwing...today I feel like that's what I did.

American Devin Logan scored 85.40 on her first run to secure silver. But the most dramatic second run was Kim Lamarre's, which scored an 85.00, enough to propel her from the bottom to the bronze.

Despite the strong Canadian presence on the podium, Turski's disappointing exit in the qualifying round and Yuki Tsubota's nasty fall likely cost the North Americans a shot at another medal on Day 4.


Germany is Golden on Day 4 

While Norway earned four medals total on Day 4, Germany was every bit as successful, coming away with three, including two golds to create a three-way tie for most gold medals thus far.

Natalie Geisenberger's triumph in the women's singles luge and Carina Vogt's inspiring performance in the first-ever ladies' normal hill ski jumping event have the European powerhouse in the medal race mix.

Meanwhile, luge silver medalist Tatjana Huefner earned Germany's first silver medal of the Games.

Unsurprisingly, after her landmark victory in ski jumping, Vogt was overcome with joy, per BBC Sport's Rob Hodgetts: "It's amazing; I'm the first women's champion in ski jumping."

Germany will have a shot to add to their tally on Day 5, when Alpine skier Viktoria Rebensburg will go for gold in the women's downhill. The Germans will also have podium opportunities in pairs figure skating, luge doubles, Nordic combined and speedskating.

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Shani Davis Skating for Gold and a Piece of U.S. Olympic History

Winning one Olympic gold medal is the dream of a lifetime for some athletes. Winning two in the same event is something only the best of the best have accomplished. Winning three is almost unheard of, but that's what U.S. speedskater Shani Davis is going after on Wednesday.

Davis is skating to win his third gold medal in 1,000-meter long-track speedskating. If he does pull off the three-peat, he'll become the first male U.S. Olympian to take home the gold in the same event at three consecutive Olympic Games. Shaun White had the same opportunity on Tuesday but failed to even make the podium in the men's snowboard halfpipe. Now, with all his competitors knowing who rules the ice in the 1,000-meter event, Davis will have to overcome an enormous amount of pressure to win once again.

So how hard will it be for Shani Davis to win it all again? We all know that he's won in 2006 and in 2010. But that's the past, and this is the present.

Davis currently holds the world record in 1,000-meter speedskating with a time of 1 minute, 6.42 seconds. In the current 2013-2014 ISU Speedskating World Cup, Shani has won three of the four 1,000-meter races and recorded the fastest time this season (1:06.88). So he's still got the goods. Now it's just a matter of who can rise up and take the gold away from him.

The Dutch have had a phenomenal start at Sochi in the speedskating events. They've swept both the men's 500-meter and 5,000-meter events, and Michel Mulder and Stefan Groothuis are the nation's best chances of getting to the podium once again.

Korea's Mo Tae-Bum is another serious contender. He won the most recent World Cup event and took home silver in the 2010 Games.

Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
The U.S.' Brian Hansen may have the best chance at besting Shani Davis.
Fellow American Brian Hansen will also be looking to pull off the upset. Of the skaters who are competing at Sochi, he's come the closest to beating Davis' best time of the 2013-2014 World Cup season with a time of 1:07.03.

If Davis skates his best, then it seems as though the competition is his to lose. The real question is whether or not the pressure will get to him.

In Olympic history, Germany's Claudia Pechstein and the U.S.' Bonnie Blair are the only two long-track speedskaters that have won three gold medals in the same event at consecutive Olympic Games. If Davis can win in Sochi, then he'd be the first male skater to accomplish the feat.

Four skaters have tried and failed before. Those four won two consecutive gold medals, then fell short the third time around.

A lot is on the line for Shani Davis. A gold in the 1,000-meters puts him among the eight Winter Olympians that have won three or more in a single individual event. Realistically, he's one of the only American long track speedskaters that can bring home a gold medal this year.

The pressure is mounting, and anything less than a third gold for Shani Davis may seem like a bit of a disappointment. Whatever the result though, Davis should be remembered as one of the most accomplished American speedskaters of his time.

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Olympic 2014 Results: Tracking Medal Count for Each Country on Day 5

After two days of competition in Sochi, Norway is atop the medal table.

Marit Bjoergen (cross-country) and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (biathalon) have captured gold medals, while Staale Sandbech (snowboarding) won a silver and four other Norwegian athletes have already notched third-place finishes.

Norway is tied with both the United States and Netherlands for gold medals, but in terms of total count, they have established an early commanding lead after taking home three bronzes on Sunday.

It's still early, though, and Day 3 will see several more medals awarded. Here's a look at the updated tally as Monday's events play out:

Note: You can click here for a complete look at Monday's (Day 3) schedule and results, courtesy of Sochi2014.com.

First up on Day 3 is the women's super combined slalom.

Germany flag-bearer Maria Hoefl-Riesch, who won gold in this event at the 2010 Olympics and then again at the 2013 World Championships, is undoubtedly the favorite.

On Friday, though, she expressed concern with the course, via Reuters, courtesy of NBCOlympics.com:

I think it's a bit over the top to move the gate around before the jump they reduced yesterday, and add even more curves to the track, because it wasn't fast anyway yesterday. The jump was not a good one, but the pace wasn't too fast. But now they've reduced the pace even more, so that part is not a downhill. It's too slow - not a downhill.

If Hoefl-Riesch's discomfort with the course dislodges her from the top of the podium, there's a good chance an Austrian will take her spot.

Nicole Hosp (2013 bronze medalist in the super combined at the World Championships), Anna Fenninger (2011 world champion in the super combined) and Michaela Kirchgasser (two-time world champion) are all legitimate contenders for the podium.

Slovenia's Tina Maze and the United States' Julia Mancuso will also challenge Hoefl-Riesch. The latter hasn't had a great season, but as Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden wrote, that means very little:

Finally, Marie-Michele Gagnon of Canada, who should make some considerable noise in her Olympic debut, is another name to watch in the stacked field.

Over on the oval, two finals will take place.

On the short track, Canada's Charles Hamelin, who won two gold medals in Vancouver and has three Olympic medals total, will be the slight favorite in the 1,500 meters, but South Korea's Lee Han-Bin and Sin Da-Woon, Russian Victor An and American J.R. Celski are strong contenders.

In the men's short-distance (500 meters) speeskating, 2010 Olympic gold medalist Mo Tae-Bum of South Korea is undoubtedly the skater to watch. In addition to his win in the Vancouver Games, he has two straight World Championship titles in this same event.

He has competition, though, especially from the Netherlands. Brothers Michael and Ronald Mulder should challenge Mo, while countryman Jan Smeekens is a solid bet to be in the mix at the finish line. The Americans will lean on Tucker Fredricks and Mitchell Whitmore to help bring gold back to the United States, which won this event in 2002 and 2006.

Finally, we have the men's 12.5-km pursuit, where Bjoerndalen will go off first in search of a record 13th Winter Olympics medal.

American Tim Burke, who will start 19th in the event, had high words of praise for the decorated Norwegian, via NBCOlympics.com's Nick Zaccardi:

He’s single handedly changed the sport. He really turned it into a professional sport, in the late ‘90s, I would say. He’s very innovative, and he became so dominant that everyone else had to react to the way he was training to be competitive.

This usually isn't an event that is too popular, but on Monday, there's a good chance you'll get to witness history with Bjoerndalen.

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Olympic Women's Downhill Skiing Schedule 2014: TV Info, Day 5 Medal Predictions

Uncertainty will reign supreme for the world's best women skiers as they head into Wednesday's downhill final at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Organizers were forced to cancel the final training session for the event on Tuesday, as temperatures were higher than expected and the terrain proved untenable. As noted by The Associated Press' Krasnaya Polyana (via ABC News), ruts left over from this week's super-combined competition needed to be repaired especially toward the bottom of the course.

This leaves the skiers in the field with just four instead of the typical five practice runs.


Luckily, most of the contenders have a good idea of how this will play out. Lindsey Vonn's absence from Sochi due to injury cracked the downhill field wide open, as the American star was widely expected to run away with the competition. Without Vonn, German and super-combined winner Maria Hoefl-Riesch will have a good chance, as will American Julia Mancuso, who finished second behind Vonn in Vancouver.

But there is an eclectic field here in Russia, one that won't have any fear on the slopes. And these women qualified for the Olympics for a reason. They are very, very good at skiing very, very fast down a sheet of snow.

We'll have to watch and see how this event plays out. With that in mind, let's check out how you can watch Wednesday's downhill competition and predict the medalists.

Women's Downhill Viewing Info
Date: Feb. 12
Time: 2 a.m. ET
TV: Click here for TV listings
Live Stream: Available on the NBC Olympics website


Medal Predictions

Gold: Lara Gut (Switzerland)

Gut comes into the downhill hoping to atone for a frustrating run at the super-combined. Heading into her second run, she was just 47 seconds behind Mancuso, with the rest of the field breaking perfectly for an easy medal. Hoefl-Riesch put together a solid lead time, but not an unattainable one for Gut, a Swiss who was exceptional in super-combined events in 2013.

Instead, Gut faltered. She was one of numerous high-profile skiers to disqualify herself early in her run, pulling off the slopes before even putting a medal anywhere near attainability. It was a disappointing performance that left Gut in tears after her run, her coach Hans Flatscher told Graham Dunbar of the AP (via The Charlotte Observer).

Still, the disappointment seemingly turned into motivation. Flatscher noted that his skier was still "really angry ... but after a few hours she was already in focus for the downhill."

The downhill very well could end with glory for Gut. At age 22, she came into Sochi seemingly primed for a run at gold. Gut, who was too injured to compete at the 2010 Games, was considered an up-and-coming threat for Vonn's throne in Vancouver before being ruled out. Now four years older and fully healthy, nearly everyone close to the Swiss thinks she has what it takes.

"She's physically perfect. Technically she improved because she did more work in the summer," Mauro Pini, Gut's former coach, told Dunbar (via The Washington Times). "I think the important point is Lara is not any more a little girl, she's a young lady. She is more mature."

From a purely physical standpoint, I tend to agree. But we'll have to see how she handles the mental spotlight. There is no telling whether it was nerves or merely a mental error that caused her to cough up the chance to medal in the super-combined. If it was the former, another disqualification or a poor run could forbid her contention once more.

If it's the latter, as suspected, Switzerland will be walking away with its third gold in Sochi.



Silver: Julia Mancuso (United States)

Will Mancuso ever get the rightful credit she deserves within United States skiing circles? Vonn is widely considered the most decorated female skier in the country's history, but that entirely depends upon how you judge someone's legacy.

When it comes to World Cup victories, Vonn is unimpeachable. Her 59 is more than eight times Mancuso's piddly total of seven. She consistently ranks as the first- or second-best skier in the world in season standings, dominating the downhill event to the point that she would have been the super-combined favorite just by proxy.

The Olympics are another story entirely. Vonn's only two Olympic medals came in 2010, a gold in the downhill and a bronze in the super-G. Mancuso has twice her American friend and rival's bling. She has medaled in each of the last three Olympics, with her four overall medals being the most for a female skier in U.S. history.

"That kind of stuff has never mattered to me," Mancuso told Bonnie D. Ford of ESPN. "My teammates have been incredible. Lindsey Vonn is a champion and of course has had way more success than I have on the World Cup [59 wins to seven for Mancuso], so it's definitely warranted to give her a lot of credit."

Still, with Vonn injured, Mancuso added to her total in the super-combined. Though one has to surmise she was a little disappointed with bronze considering the lead she held coming in, Mancuso raised her arms in triumph ever the good sport. Her slalom run was uncharacteristically sloppy at points, as she was unable to let go of the skis at the right time and wound up losing momentum as her run went along.

The first downhill run, on the other hand, was nearly flawless. She had a near half-second lead over Gut going into the slalom, and only the top four competitors were within a second. If past performance is any indicator of future results, Mancuso may add to her 2010 silver with a 2014 gold. I'm taking Gut, but these two are our favorites.


Bronze: Maria Hoefl-Riesch (Germany)

Believe it or not, Hoefl-Riesch is a bit of an underdog coming into the downhill. Though the AP (via Yahoo! Sports) selected her as the favorite to win the downhill, the actual results don't back that up. The German is a menace in slalom competition and has won each of the last two super-combined medals, but the downhill is arguably her worst discipline.

She ran only fifth during the downhill portion of the super-combined and was absent from the podium in Vancouver, finishing eighth. While she has had some success in the event on the world circuit, bronze is the best Hoefl-Riesch has ever done in the World Championships.

Here, then, would likely be the spot where an underdog could slip in. Tina Maze of Slovenia is the best bet to take Hoefl-Riesch's place, as is Leanne Smith, the least-discussed of the American skiers in the field. And there are a number of dark horses who could come completely out of the woodwork to a surprise medal.

Hoefl-Riesch is just performing far too well to predict any of that stuff will happen. She's been brilliant in Sochi—and all season actually. She has tamed her greatest beast with three wins in seven World Cup downhills this season and, if she wins on Wednesday, will tie the women's all-time Alpine Olympic record of four golds.

"I don't think about records so much," said Hoefl-Riesch, per the AP (via ABC News). "If it happens, it's great."

It's a bit of a long shot, but if we've learned anything in Sochi, it's never count Maria Hoefl-Riesch out of any skiing competition.

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Olympic 2014 Results: Tracking Medal Count for Each Country on Day 4

Jamie Anderson, the American out of Lake Tahoe, won the Ladies' Slopestyle snowboard with a 95.5 in her second run. Enni Rukajarvi (Finland) received the silver at 92.50, and Jenny Jones of Bristol, Great Britain received the bronze with an 87.25 score.

The latest medal count

Be sure to keep SB Nation's beautiful, constantly-updated medal tracker by your side all Olympics long.
In the Men's Skiathalon, a combination of skiing 15 kilometers freestyle and 15 kilometers classic, the Swiss Dario Cologna received the gold medal with his 1:08.15.4 time. Marcus Hellner of Sweden got the bronze at 1:08.14.8 (an agonizing four tenths of a second behind Cologna). Norwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby added to his country's medals with a 1:08:16.8 time, just barely edging out homeland hero Maxim Vylegzhanin of Udmurtia, Russia's medal hopes by a tenth of a second.

Men's Downhill Alpine Skiing, one of the blueblood events of the Games, was swept by the blueblood countries. Mattias Mayer of Austria won the gold with a 2:06.23 time, and Christof Innerhofer of Italy got the silver with a 2:06.29 time, missing the gold by six hundredths of a second. Kjietil Jansrud added to Norway's medal count with a bronze thanks to his 2:06.33 time.

Sochi Olympics Day 4

In-depth coverage of all of Sunday's events, from speed skating to ski jumping.
The Netherlands dominated indoor with a 1-2-3 finish in the 5000m speed skating, including an Olympic record by Sven Kramer who won gold in the 2010 Vancouver games in the same event.

Norway diversified its medal tally across two sports, taking home gold and bronze in Ladies' Skiathlon while Staale Sandbrech won silver in the Men's Slopestyle event.

You can follow along with our medal tracker, updated live as events conclude. Here's a full standing of the medal winning countries at Sochi thus far.

Country     Gold  Silver Bronze Total
Norway       2 1    3          6
USA              2         0    1          3
Netherlands    1 1    1          3
Sweden       0 2    0          2
Switzerland     1 0    0          1

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IOC Executive Board Lifts Suspension of Indian Olympic Association

The IOC Executive Board (EB) reinstated the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of India, the Indian Olympic Association, during an ad-hoc meeting in Sochi today. The EB took this decision following a report about the IOA’s General Assembly and elections for a new Board, which were successfully held on 9 February 2014 and observed by an IOC delegation headed by IOC member Robin Mitchell.
The IOC observers told the EB members that the elections were held in full respect of the recently passed NOC constitution, which complies with all IOC requirements, including the clause that no person convicted or charge-framed can run for a position within the organisation.

It is the first time in Olympic history that a suspension of an NOC has been lifted during an Olympic Games, and the decision will have an immediate impact. Indian athletes entered the Sochi Games under the Olympic flag during the Opening Ceremony on 7 February 2014, and have competed as Independent Olympic Participants. The EB decision means they can now compete for the National Olympic Committee of India and will walk behind their national flag at the Closing Ceremony on 23 February.

To symbolically mark the lifting of the suspension and in recognition of the three Indian athletes competing in Sochi, the Indian flag will be raised in the Olympic Village.

Narayna Ramachandran, President of the World Squash Federation, has been elected as the new President and Rajeev Mehta and Anil Khanna chosen as the new Secretary General and Treasurer respectively.

Background information
The IOA was suspended in December 2012 due to its failure to comply with the Olympic Charter and its statutes, relating specifically to good governance. As a consequence, the IOA was no longer entitled to exercise any activity or right, including financial support, conferred upon it by the Olympic Charter or the IOC, since that date.

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Olympic Speedskating Schedule 2014: TV Info and Live-Stream Guide for Day 4

After Day 3 of the Sochi Games saw a flurry of activity on the ice rinks, Tuesday will not be as action-packed for the speedskaters.

In fact, the ladies will get the speedskating Olympic spotlight to themselves on Day 4. The only speedskating event on tap for Tuesday is the ladies' 500 meters.

This has to come to the dismay of the red-hot Netherlands team. The Dutch were fantastic on Monday. That was highlighted by a podium sweep in the men's 500-meter long-track race with Michel Mulder (gold), Jan Smeekens (silver) and Michel's twin Ronald Mulder (bronze).

Meanwhile, the Americans will be looking to get their speedskating hopes back on track. Legend Shani Davis missed out on the podium in his first event on Monday, and short-track star J.R. Celski just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the 1,500-meter short-track race.

Neither of those two highlighted stars will be on display on Tuesday.

Ladies’ 500-Meter Long-Trace Race (First of Two)

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 11

Time: 7:45 a.m. ET, 4:45 p.m. Sochi time and 12:45 p.m. GMT

TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Network at 7:45 a.m. ET, NBC at midnight (rebroadcast) and BBC at 12:45 p.m. GMT

Live Stream: NBCOlympics.com


Ladies’ 500-Meter Long-Track Race (Second of two)

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 11

Time: 8:45 a.m. ET, 5:45 p.m. Sochi time and 1:45 p.m. GMT

TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Network at 8:45 a.m. ET, NBC at midnight (rebroadcast) and BBC at 1:45 p.m. GMT

Live Stream: NBCOlympics.com


Previewing the 500 Meters

One of Team USA's brightest speedskating stars will be taking the ice for this event.

Heather Richardson is the face of a resurgent women's long-track team for the Americans. She was recently the first American woman to win the world sprint crown since 2005.

She and teammate Brittany Bowe enter these games as expected medalists.


Those hopes, however, are more due to their domination in the 1,000 meters. Both Richardson and Bowe are converted in-line skaters. They both are also better at the 1,000 than the 500.

This is not to suggest that they are hopeless in the 500; chances are, one of them will pick up a bronze.

With South Korean defending champion Lee Sang Hwa and Russia’s Olga Fatkulina also in the mix in the 500, there isn't a lot of opportunity for any other skaters to sneak into the top two.

Lee is the world-record holder in the event, and she was first in the overall World Cup standings for the 500 meters in the 2012-13 season. She will have to slip up for someone else to snag a gold in this event.

Meanwhile, this will all prove to be valuable experience for Richardson in her second Olympics. This is key for her to achieve her lofty goals.

As passed along by John Powers of The Boston Globe, Richardson put far greater expectations on herself in Sochi than she did in Vancouver:

In Vancouver I was just happy to be there. Here, I actually want to put in some solid races, just go out, relax, and do my best, hopefully be on the podium. My goal is to be on the podium in at least one of my three individual events.

Richardson has a chance to take a step toward that goal on Tuesday.

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Olympic Snowboarding 2014: Schedule, TV Info, Team Medal Predictions for Day 4

Day 4 of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi brings one of the most exciting events of the Winter Games—men's halfpipe. This is one event in which the United States is certainly looking for a gold medal, as snowboard sensation Shaun White will be in action.

However, White will not be without stiff competition, as up-and-coming Japanese snowboarder Ayumu Hirano will look to give him a run for his money. Also, American Danny Davis will look to keep his hot streak alive, as he won the 2014 Winter X Games while White and Hirano missed the event.


This event is must-see TV, so let's break down when each round will be taking place on Tuesday to ensure that none of the action will be missed.



Viewing Information

What: Men's Halfpipe

When: Tuesday, Feb. 11

Where: Rosa Khutor Extreme Park


TV Times

Qualification Round: 5 a.m. ET

Semifinals: 10 a.m. ET

Finals: 12:30 p.m. ET

Channel: NBC

Live Stream: NBCOlympics.com


Medal Prediction

White of Team USA figures to be the name to watch during this event. White pulled out of the men's slopestyle event in Sochi so he could fully focus on the halfpipe.

He has found a great amount of success in this event in the past, as he won gold medals in the 2006 Olympics in Turin and again in 2010 in Vancouver. Despite being on the snowboard scene for over a decade, White continues to push himself with each contest, seemingly remaining one step ahead of his competition.

White will look to become the first American male to earn a gold medal in three consecutive Winter Games.

White will not only have to battle his competition, but the course conditions as well. During an interview with Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today, he explained that the conditions in Sochi weren't perfect:

The first day, the walls were a little over-[vertical], so everybody was doing airs, and then landing like pretty flat. Today, they made the walls better so everybody lands [correctly], but in the flat bottom, where they cut it, it's like a bump, so everyone is riding along and then hits the bump, and that's really not very good.

Hirano became the youngest medalist in the history of the Winter X Games earlier this year, when he took home the silver medal at the age of 14. Now at 15 years old, Hirano continues to nip at White's heels with some impressive air in this event.

In snowboard circles, Hirano is considered by many to be White's heir apparent. It will be interesting to see how close of a competition we will get from this youngster from Japan.

Of course, American Danny Davis cannot be counted out of this conversation. Davis has been on a hot streak lately, as he finished in first place earlier this year in the 2014 Winter X Games' superpipe event in Aspen.

Davis is back in action after a brutal injury suffered back in 2010 which cost him a spot on the Olympic team in Vancouver. During an interview with Rachel Axon of USA Today, Davis is excited about his opportunity in this year's Olympics:

I wasn't ready to be done. Like I've always said, to have the chance to go to Russia, to have the chance to be on an Olympic team, I'm psyched. It wouldn't have killed me if I didn't make it, but I'm very happy that I did and I'm very excited for the opportunity.

Davis will look to continue to ride his hot hand in order to finally claim some Olympic glory of his own.

Gold: Shaun White

Silver: Ayumu Hirano

Bronze: Danny Davis

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Olympic Freestyle Skiing 2014: Women's Slopestyle Qualifying Results

The early action in Day 4 of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi included the women’s slope style qualifying runs for freestyle skiing.

American Keri Herman, who is on the short list of medal hopefuls, was definitely excited for the event to get underway.

Some bad news that came down the pipe before the event even started was the fact that Maggie Voisin and Tiril S. Christiansen had to pull out of the event.

At 15-years-old, Voison was set to be the youngest U.S. Olympian since 1972.

Unfortunately for the competitors, the injuries are par for the course.

The Cliff notes for the qualifying runs is that every competitor has the chance to ski two times, and the top 12 individual run scores advance to the final. The fact that there are two runs provides a bit of leeway in case of a poor run on the first attempt.

Herman was one such skier who struggled in her first try and stumbled on the landing of a jump, which put the pressure on for her second run in qualifying.

Julie Jacobson/Associated Press
Like the excellent Olympic athlete that she is, Herman came through in the clutch. Her second run was good enough to qualify for the finals, which is all she could ask for in the qualifying process.

Another skier who struggled on her first qualifying attempt was Lisa Zimmermann of Germany, who was the World Cup standings leader heading into the Olympics. She fell on her first run, which put one of the heavy favorites behind the proverbial eight-ball in the early going.

Unlike Herman, Zimmermann did not come through when it was most needed on the second run, failing to clinch a spot in the finals. It was certainly a disappointment for such a talented skier.

Elsewhere, Camilla Berra of Switzerland landed a double front flip in her first run, which gave her the early lead, but Dara Howell of Canada, who used to be a figure skater, became the first to receive a score better than 80 and showed her appreciation to the crowd.

Anna Segal of Australia proved that the Land Down Under can produce winter athletes as well as summer athletes by clinching a spot in the finals. She has a history of success under her belt.

eenager Julia Krass of the United States was fired up to have the chance to compete at the Olympic level and will also compete in the finals.

Perhaps most alarming in the qualifying runs was the nasty spill for Canadian Kaya Turski, which was made even worse because of her recent health issues.

She was certainly one of the favorites heading into the event and needed to come through in the second run to remain in the competition. With the knee clearly posing a problem, she was not able to do so, which eliminated another serious contender and making it anyone's game in the finals.

Here is what the top 12 looked like after the qualifying runs:

Olympic Freestyle Skiing: Women's Slopestyle Qualifying Leaderboard
Place Name                   Country                        Best Score
1 Dara Howell                   Canada                           88.8
2 Kim Lamarre                   Canada                           85.4
3 Katie Summerhayes           Great Britain                   84
4 Yuki Tsubota                   Canada                           81
5 Devin Logan                   United States                   80.4
6 Emma Dahlstrom           Sweden                           79.2
7 Anna Segal                   Australia                           78.8
8 Julia Krass                   United States                   78.4
9 Eveline Bhend                   Switzerland                   77.2
10 Camillia Berra                   Switzerland                   74.8
11 Keri Herman                   United States                   72.4
12 Silvia Bertagna                   Italy                           70.6
NBCOlympics.com



With the qualifying runs in the rear view mirror, it’s time for the freestyle skiing world to turn its attention to the finals. Here is a schedule for the event with broadcast information:

Women’s Ski Slopestyle Final
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 11
Time: 4 a.m. ET, 1 p.m. Sochi time and 9 a.m. GMT
Broadcast Information: Live stream at NBCOlympics.com at 4 a.m. ET, NBC at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET (rebroadcast) and BBC at 9 a.m. GMT

Who are the medal favorites? Let’s dig into a discussion on some names to watch in the finals.

Who to Watch For in Finals:
Dara Howell, Canada
Keri Herman, United States


While the qualifying runs were certainly exciting, medals will be handed out in the finals, which is the ultimate goal for every Olympian.

One of the serious contenders for the gold is Howell of Canada, who finished second in the World Ski Championships in slopestyle and third at the 2013 Winter X Games.

What’s more, she finished in second place at the U.S. freestyle championships in Vermont and found the podium in slopestyle at the New Zealand Winter Games.

The Canadian freestyle skiing team has already seen gold and silver in the men’s moguls from Alex Bilodeau and Mikael Kingsbury respectively, so don’t be surprised if Howell adds to the success.

American Herman may represent Uncle Sam’s best shot at the podium in this event, thanks to her impressive resume that includes a silver medal in the 2010 Winter X Games, a silver medal in the 2010 Euro Winter X Games, the second overall spot in the 2010 AFP rankings, a silver medal in the 2011 Winter X Games and a victory in the opening Olympic qualifying period slopestyle World Cup in Argentina in 2013.

Herman also has a number of other top finishes under her belt and became the first woman from the United States to take home the World Cup slopestyle title.

One competitor that the North Americans won't have to worry about now is Zimmermann from Germany, who was on the short list of favorites for the podium.

She is notable because, at such a young age she became the first female to land a double-cork 1260 in any competition, which caught the eye of fellow skier Turski, whose quotes were relayed by Megan Michelson of ESPN.com:

It's very impressive. Lisa is probably the only [woman] that can do the dub 12, which is huge... It definitely makes all of us think a little bit about what we need to be doing. It pushes me to work on what I'm doing.

Unfortunately for freestyle fans, the double-cork 1260 will not make an appearance in the finals.

Whoever brings home the gold, it is certainly set to be an exciting final. Make sure to tune in.

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Cross Country Skiing Medal Results and Times from Olympic 2014 Men's Skiathlon

Switzerland's Dario Cologna overcame his bothersome ankle to take top spot in the standings, winning a gold medal ahead of second-placed Marcus Hellner of Sweden, and Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby.
Cologna finished after 1:08:15:4 after the 30km cross-country ski; pipping Hellner to the post by 0.4 of a second.

Moments after the race, the Olympic Games and FIS Cross Country tweeted photos of Cologna's victory as well as the medalists:


Sundby finished just 0.1 of a second ahead of fourth-placed Russian Maxim Vylegzhanin to take bronze for his country, as the chasing pack then fell by the wayside of the top-four.

However, controversy marred the finish, as Russia lodged an official protest, via R Sport, after claiming that Vylegzhanin was deliberately impeded on the final sprint, costing him the bronze medal.

International Ski Competition Rules forbid any racer from deviating from their racing line:

Rule 343.9 of its International Ski Competition Rules states that: "In all competitions obstruction is not allowed. This behavior is defined as deliberately impeding, blocking (by not following best line), charging or pushing any competitor with any part of the body or ski equipment."

2014 Winter Olympics Cross-Country Men's Skiathlon
Rank Competitor (Country) Time Behind
1 Dario COLOGNA (Switzerland) 1:08:15.4 0.0
2 Marcus HELLNER (Sweden) 1:08:15.8 +0.4
3 Martin Johnsrud SUNDBY (Norway) 1:08:16.8 +1.4
4 Maxim VYLEGZHANIN (Russia) 1:008:16.9 +1.5
5 Ilia CHERNOUSOV (Russia) 1:08:29.0 +13.6
6 Jean Marc GAILLARD (France) 1:08:29.8 +14.4
7 Daniel RICHARDSSON (Sweden) 1:08:31.7 +16.3
8 Johannes DUERR (Austria) 1:08:32.0 +16.6
9 Maurice MANIFICAT (France) 1:08:33.6 +18.2
10 Lars NELSON (Sweden) 1:08:37.7 +22.3
Sochi2014.com

The 68 riders started the cross-country ski at 2 p.m. in Sochi, in an event that sees long periods of distance skiing, while overcoming varied terrain as competitors race to the finish.

Swedish defending champion Hellner started the race alongside Cologna, who has missed part of the season with an ankle injury, with Britain's Callum Smith also on the starting grid.

And as the race wore on, it was clear that Cologna was the man to beat, as he went head-to-head with the Swede for the gold medal birth.

However, a moment of genius from the Swiss gave him breathing space from four fellow skiers at the top of the final uphill section, allowing him to pull clear of Hellner on the final straight to win just after an hour.

27-year-old Cologna was congraulated by Dr Boris Gojanovic, Head of Sports Medicine at the Swiss Olympic Medical Center after the race, tweeting:

Great Britain's Smith finished in 62nd place in the standings, with Australian Callum Watson just two places ahead of him.

Unfortunately for Team Korea, their competitor, Jun-Ho Hwang, was lapped during the race and finished last.

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The Formula to Beat the 2014 Canadian Olympic Hockey Team in Sochi

It is easy to look at the incredible quality of the Canadian roster and think that there is just no way that team should be able to lose. This is the team that boasts the best player in the world, the team that won gold the last time out and the team that just named last year’s leading NHL scorer as an injury replacement because there were 14 forwards the management group liked better than Martin St. Louis when it named the team.

Matt Slocum/Associated Press
It is certain, however, that Canada’s opponent harbor no such illusions about the team.

The Canadian entry in 2006 was blessed with similar amounts of talent and finished seventh in the Turin Olympics, shutout three times in a stretch of four games. And while the Canadians have been careful to try to avoid the mistakes of that tournament—even enlisting the aid of Ralph Krueger, who was behind the Swiss bench for one of those Canadian losses—Turin offers both hope to Canada’s rivals and a realistic approach to beating the favourite.

Ken Hitchcock, who was an assistant coach with the 2006 team and will be behind the bench again for Canada this year, explained to The Globe and Mail’s Eric Duhatschek that a big part of the problem was Canada’s inability to handle the passive defensive system deployed against it in Turin:

Three or four countries barely sent one guy in. Some countries sent nobody in. And so they made us skate through them in the neutral zone and we didn’t necessarily have the foot speed to get through. Teams basically backed off. It was hard slogging for us. I’d never seen that before—and you have to make a lot of plays to get through that type of check. It was a real eye-opener in how different the game was, from the small ice to the big ice. People got a 1-0 lead and they just played defence to win 1-0.

The Canadian coaches and management have made efforts to adjust to that style of game, relying heavily on speed and puck-moving ability in putting the roster together and pre-scouting the opposition so as to have a better idea of the tactics the team is likely to face.

There are two key lessons to take away from Hitchcock’s comment.

The first is that Canada, until it shows otherwise, may still be vulnerable to the passive defence popular in European leagues. The other is the extent to which the Canadians were neutralized by being caught by surprise.

For Canada’s opponents, both revelations are valuable in that they show the importance of having dynamic coaches capable of presenting Team Canada with strategies it has not anticipated and which are less popular in the NHL than overseas.


Another factor contributing to Canada’s loss in Turin was poor discipline, as players accustomed to the looser standard of officiating prevalent in the NHL struggled to adapt to stricter IIHF rules. In the deciding game in 2006, Russia’s winning goal came on the power play after Todd Bertuzzi took an interference penalty miles from the defensive zone.

In fact, encouraging the Canadian team to play as physical game as possible is likely to work in the favour of the opposition. Not only are hits more likely to result in penalties in the Olympic game, but because of the bigger ice there is generally plenty of time to get the puck away before a player from a team intent on finishing every check arrives.

Additionally, while North American hockey exalts dirty goals and just getting pucks on net—because that is what works on an NHL rink—the European tendency to "pass the puck into the net" is something Canada’s opponents should embrace. It is harder to get the puck back once surrendered on the bigger ice, so just blasting it from everywhere is a suboptimal strategy, and it's one Canadian players may default to.

There is a broader theme to all of these individual points.

Canada’s players have played the majority of their careers on NHL ice, under North American rules, and while hockey is hockey, the differences between the North American game and the European game are very real and very relevant. The job of Canada’s opponents is to play to the strengths in their games that make them better-suited to the big ice than Canada.

Those strengths include coaches who have spent the majority of their careers devising and defeating big ice systems, players who were schooled in a system that encourages east-west rather than north-south play and an overall philosophy that encourages puck possession and creativity over finishing checks and making the simple play.

Ultimately, the way to defeat Canada is not by embracing the things Canada does. The road to victory over the Canadians lies in executing a European game better than Canada can adapt their own game to Europe.

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Olympic Alpine Skiing 2014: Live Men's Downhill Medal Results and Analysis

The winner of the Olympic men's downhill race was not a favorite going in, but he became a household name afterward.

Austria's Matthias Mayer was the 11th racer on the course at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Center and he would prove to be the best of the 50 competitors with a time of 2:06.23.

Mayer, who has not finished higher than fifth in a World Cup downhill race, took the skiing world by surprise as the favorites slipped up in the middle of the course.

Mayer was close to being taken out of the lead by Italy's Christof Innerhofer, but the Austrian survived by six-hundredths of a second to keep the gold.

Innerhofer finished in second place with a time of 2:06.29, while Kjetil Jansrud of Norway earned the bronze by racing a 2:06.33.

Bode Miller of the United States came in as the gold-medal favorite, but he failed to place anywhere close to the podium in eighth after he lost plenty of time in the middle of the course.

The same section of the course caused problems for two other medal hopefuls, Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway and Didier Defago of Switzerland. Svindal finished fourth and Defago ended up in 14th.

The highest-placing American was Travis Ganong, who finished in fifth place with a time of 2:06.64.

Gold: Matthias Mayer (Austria): 2:06.23
Silver: Christof Innerhofer (Italy): 2:06.29
Bronze: Kjetil Jansrud (Norway): 2:06.33

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2014 Olympic Skiing: Preview and Predictions for Women's Ski Slopestyle

Get ready to witness history!
Freestyle skiing has gained quite a bit of traction in the last few Winter Games, and Sochi will be the first-ever Winter Olympics to award medals for the woman's slopestyle competition.

What is slopestyle?
It's a freestyle event, in both skiing and snowboarding, where the objective is to perform the most difficult aerial tricks while getting the most height off the course. The event rewards variety, rather than doing a single trick repeatedly, and has been a staple of—and one of the most popular events in—the X Games for years.

At Sochi 2014, the first women’s gold, silver and bronze medalists in these events will be crowned. This is your complete preview and predictions guide for the historic women's ski slopestyle competition.


You're going to need to be a night owl on the East Coast in order to catch the live action of the women's slopestyle qualification and medal rounds. The good news is that they are only separated by 95 minutes, and you'll get a chance to witness history if you do decide to stay up.


February 11
1 a.m. ET, Qualifying
4 a.m. ET, Medal Round
Live streams will be available at NBCOlympics.com.
Tape-delayed TV schedules can be found at NBCOlympics.com/TV-Listings.

Its been a long road.
The 2014 Sochi Games will be the first Winter Olympics to feature a women's slopestyle freestyle skiing event. That's right, a competition long-relegated to the X Games has finally become mainstream and burst onto the biggest of international stages.

This event is among the most thrilling you'll get to see in Sochi, combining speed, skill, athleticism and steely nerve in order to perform tricks that will oftentimes require you to pick your jaw up off the floor.

The short answer, then, is the way we got here wasn't easy, but for the athletes who will be attempting to become the first woman to wear that Olympic gold, the road was certainly worth it.


Will It Be a Hit?
Slopestyle has been around for a while now—it can be found in both freestyle skiing and snowboarding—but until it's inclusion in the Sochi Games, it was largely consigned to X Games competitions. For fans of the sport, the excitement, daredevil-like stunts and pure athleticism that will be showcased, making it a huge addition to the 2014 Games.

But the big question remains, will it be a hit with the masses, or will slopestyle remain a niche sport?

It's hard to see how people could help being awed by some of the stunts and tricks they'll see over the next few weeks, but in a spectacle built on tradition and pageantry, slopestyle might have a hard time breaking through.


Can Anyone Stop Kaya Turski?
If you've never seen Canadian Kaya Turski perform, drop what you're doing, find your nearest computer and get yourself onto YouTube. This girl can do some things on skis that will make your jaw drop, fall to the floor and scurry away with you chasing after it.

She's already a legend in the world of slopestyle and rarely loses a competition. But she'll be looking to break out in Sochi, capture that first-ever gold medal and become a star to more than just the audience she's been playing to for years.


Do the Americans Have Any Hope?
The United States team, and the event in general, received a huge blow this past week when it was announced that Maggie Voisin, the youngest U.S. Olympian in Sochi, would miss the Games due to an ankle injury, per The Associated Press (h/t The Huffington Post).

The 15-year-old from Whitefish, Mont. was injured during training runs on Friday, and her doctors determined that she would not sufficiently heal in time for Tuesday's event.

Without her, the American team is down to Keri Herman—a decorated slopestyle skier who has two silver, but no gold medals in X Games competition—Devin Logan, who captured silver at the 2012 X Games in Aspen and Julia Krass.

A medal is a possibility to the American ladies, but it won't be easy.


The only real answer to this question is, can anyone beat Kaya Turski? She's the overwhelming favorite to walk away from this event with the gold medal, and it'll take a special performance from one of the other women to deny her that historic medal.

Keri Herman
Herman is likely the American women's best shot to reach the podium in this event. She won the 2013 Copper Mountain Grand Prix and has four silver medals in X Games competitions to her name. Two of those came in the United States and two came in Europe, so she's definitely got some experience on an international stage.

Tiril Sjaastad Christiansen
Christiansen is one of the few women who have defeated Turski in a major competition. She unseated her in the slopestyle event at the 2013 X Games held in Aspen, Colo. That alone gives her a major edge over any of her competitors.

Dara Howell
Howell, like Turski, is a Canadian with an excellent shot at medaling in this event. She's captured three bronze medals in the X Games, and she came in just behind both Turski and Christiansen in Aspen last year.


Kaya Turski is the overwhelming favorite in this event, and with good reason.
The one hitch in her plans could turn out to be her left knee. The ACL in her knee was surgically repaired in late September 2013—the second reconstruction on her left knee and third overall—and it was only thanks to a revolutionary procedure that she was able to get back on skis as fast as she did.

She made her return in January at the U.S. Grand Prix of Freeskiing and placed third—narrowly behind Devin Logan and Dara Howell—showing that she still has what it takes to compete at a high-enough level to win gold in Sochi.

That was her first race back post-surgery, and if it's any indication, she remains the favorite to take home gold in Sochi. After all, she's only going to keep getting stronger and closer to the form that led her to dominate the sport these last several years.


This is Kaya Turski's moment. She's worked for it and she's earned it. After dominating the X Games for years, this will be her shining Olympic moment.

Expect her to be pushed, hard, by a talented field, and especially her by rival Tiril Sjaastad Christiansen and compatriot Dara Howell. They'll do enough to join her on the podium, but they'll have to settle for silver and bronze.

Gold: Kaya Turski (CAN)
Silver: Tiril Sjaastad Christiansen (NOR)
Bronze: Dara Howell (CAN)

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