The action is picking up as a lot more medals will be awarded daily as the Olympics are in full swing. That means lots of action, lots of stories and lots of medals.
The mixed doubles curling was completed, with Team Canada defeating team Switzerland for the gold. Now we have a week and a half of more curling.
In cross-country skiing, the men's individual.sprint final was held, with Norwegian 21 year old Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo winning the gold over Italy's Frederico Pellegrino and OAR's Alexander Bolshunov. Klaebo becomes the youngest cross-country gold medal winner ever. I have a feeling we will see/hear more from him not just in PyeongChang, but also in Beijing and wherever they decide 2026 will be held.
In one of the historically most exciting events - the 500m short track speed skating final - Italian Arianna Fontana wins gold. No truth to the rumor that she is the daughter of Detective Joe Fontana of Law and Order Fame.
In the men's combined (Alpine Skiiing), Austria's Marcel Hirscher wins gold over France's Alexis Pinturault and Victor Muffat-Jeandet, who earned silver and bronze respectively. Hirscher, who is widely respected as the best overall men's skier in the world, starts to cement that reputation with his first Olympic gold to go with the silver he won in slalom in Sochi.
The Netherlands continued their long-track speed skating dominance taking first and second in the men's 1500m speed skating behind Kjeld Nuis (gold) and Patrick Roest (silver). South Korea's Kim Min Seok took home the bronze.
And, Germany's Natalie Geisenberger continued her dominance by winning gold in the women's luge, followed by her teammate, Dajana Eitberger, after runs 3 and 4. Geissenberger is one of the most dominant athletes for her sport in all of the Olympics. She led after each of the 4 runs down the track, earning her third gold after having won both the women's and team relay in Sochi, following a bronze in women's luge in Vancouver.
But, the most impressive performance belongs to American snowboard legend Shaun White, who was in second place coming into his last run in the half-pipe. The started off with two consecutive 1440s, and put the stamp on another gold for him after missing the podium in Sochi. Anyone that saw his performance, and that of silver medalist Ayumo Hirano witnessed one of the best competitions of the Olympics. Congratulations Shaun, you are the Athlete of the Day.
For our American disappointment of the day, I have several choices. To pick on the American speed skating team for failing to medal (again) in the 1500m and leaving the entire speed skating team medal-less in Sochi and PyeongChang might be overkill. Luger Emily Sweeney suffered a wicked crash, in which she was taken to the hospital, but is apparently OK, but crashes happen in sports and Sweeney was only a dark-horse medal contender, so it was just great to see her go all out to try to medal. So, the Disappointment of the Day goes to luger Erin Hamlin, who failed to follow-up her Sochi medal with one in PyeongChang. Honestly, though, this is not a true disappointment as Hamlin consistently ranks third through eighth in World Cup events, so 6th is about right, but it would have been great to see her medal for the second time after the flag-bearer controversy started by Shani Davis.
Events Watched: Men's Snowboard, Women's Luge, Men's Alpine Skiing
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