Olympics: Over the past few days
Let’s recap the last few days:
American Noelle Pikus-Pace claims silver in women’s skeleton, the sport where they basically sled face first at 80 miles per hour, and the other American, Katie Uhlaender, was just short as she was .04 from the bronze medal.
Russian figure skater, Evgeni Pushenko, quits right before the individual men’s free skate event due to a medical inability. Plushenko has a spinal implant that seems to have gone out of place during a warm-up jump just a few minutes prior to his performance time. Plushenko is 31 years old and was expected to win the gold during his last Olympic competition. Instead, Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu was able to clinch the Llympic gold at just 19 years old.
It seems that American Bode Miller has lost his touch. After competing in both the Downhill Alpine Skiing and the Super Combined (which consists of the downhill portion and a slalom course), Miller finished his Olympics without adding any medals to his potentially record-breaking career. Miller was just two medals short of breaking the American Olympic winter sports record, but was unable to complete that goal this year. So, as a country, I would say we wish the best to Miller and his wife as they (most likely) explore the next chapter of their marriage without the Olympics being a major chapter.
Men’s Curling has not been as strong as one would’ve hoped for the last few matches. Over the past few days they have beaten Germany 8-5 and then lost to Russia 7-6 and Great Britain 5-3. I’m not sure how the tournament goes past group play, but it doesn’t seem that our losing Olympic record will set us up to win much in the future.
The Women’s curling has been even more confusing having lost to Denmark 9-2 but beating Japan 8-6. Hopefully this means that there’s a bright light in their future, but I’m not completely sure. They struggled with their early competition, so I foresee that the road ahead is a tough one.
Men’s ski slopestyle took the podium with an all-American sweep. Joss Christensen, Gus Kenworthy, and Nick Goepper won Gold, silver and bronze, respectively, for the United States.
Live Schedule for tomorrow:
2:00am- Women’s Alpine Skiing- Super G
4:45am- Women’s Cross-Country 4x5km Relay
5:00am- Women’s Short Track- 1500m heats
5:45am- Men’s Short Track – 1000m Quarterfinals
6:15am- Women’s Short Track- 1500m Semifinals
6:45am- Men’s Short Track- 1000m Semifinals
7:15am- Men’s Short Track- 1000m Finals
7:15am- Women’s Short Track- 1500m Finals
7:30am- Men’s Hockey v. Russia
8:30am- Men’s Speed Skating- 1500m
9:45am- Men’s Skeleton- Run 3 of 4
10:00am- Women’s Curling v. Sweden
11:15am- Men’s Skeleton- Run 4 of 4
1:15pm- Men’s Individual Large Hill Final Round
To watch these on television at more convenient times, check out NBC affiliates starting at 2:30 and 8pm. You can also access the videos on the NBC Live Extra website and app. Enjoy the Olympic day.