Sunday, February 18, 2018

Olympics - PyeongChang 2018 - Day 11

Day 11 - February 17


So the middle weekend of the games are upon us.  Lots of action, but only a few stories today.

Slovakian Anastasiya Kuzmina won her third medal of these games, but first gold, in the women's 12.5KM mass start biathlon.  This gold is her third gold and sixth medal in Olympic history.  Kuzmina defeating Darya Domracheva of Belarus and Norway's Tiril Echoff, who joined Kuzmina on the podium.


In freestyle skiing, Norway's Oystein Braaten wins gold, and American Nick Goepper wins silver, followed by Alex Beaulieu-Marchand of Canada.

The US finally wins a medal in short track, with John-Henry Krueger winning the bronze behind Canadian Samuel Girard and just ahead of home-crowd favorite Seo Yira.  South Korea was rewarded later when Choi Min Jeong won gold in the women's 1500m.  Choi's gold medal was well earned after she was disqualified from the 500m final earlier in the Olympics.


Norwegian Alpine skier Marcel Hirshcer won his second gold of these Olympic games in capturing the giant slalom, to go along with his super combined win.

However, the biggest story of the day comes from women's cross-country skiing, where Team Norway defeated Team Sweden in the 4x5Km relay.  This was important as Marjit Bjoergen skied the anchor leg for Norway, thus earning her 13th Olympic medal.  She is now tied with Ole Einar Bjoerndalen as the most decorated Winter Olympian ever.  For those of you that are American-centric - that makes her the Michael Phelps of the Winter Olympics.


The Disappointment of the Day could be one of two things.  First, Gus Kenworthy crashed out of the freestyle skiing slopestyle, finishing 12th of finalists, but crashing is a usual part of that event as the athletes constantly push the envelope of their tricks.  And, given that an American won silver in the event, this is not a major disappointment, especially for Kenworthy who is competing in his first Olympics as an openly gay man, and his coming out seems to have opened up his personality, as well as his skiing.  So, the Disappointment of the Day goes to giant slalom skier Ted Ligety, a medal favorite who nonetheless finished in a tie for 15th place.

Events Watched:  Men's Curling; Men's Freestyle Skiing; Women's Skeleton; Men's Alpine Skiing; Women's Cross-Country Skiing

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