Olympics - PyeongChang 2018 - Day 19

Day 19 - February 25

So, we have reached the final day of the Olympics.  Besides the Closing Ceremonies, there is only 1 event remaining, that being the women's 30km mass start.  Norway's Marit Bjoergen won gold after leading an early break, extending the lead to over 2 minutes halfway through the race, and cruising to victory over Finland's Krista Parmakoski and Sweden's Stina Nilsoon, whom captured silver and bronze respectively.  Bjergen, who had earlier in PyeongChang made history by becoming the most decorated Winter Olympian ever, extended that record with her 13th and 14th medals, made more history with this gold.  With her 15th medal, shhe extended her lead among Winter Olympians to 2 over countryman Ole Einar Bjorndaelen.  Bjoergen also won her 8th overall gold medal, which ties the winter record of Bjorndaelen and Bjorn Dahlie.with 8, and she also ties the record of 5 medals in a single games, a feat that has been done 10 times, including by herself in 2010. She also rises into a tie for third of all-time medalists with Soviet gymnast Nikolai Andrianov, who won his 15 medals (7 golds, 5 silver, 3 bronze) from 1972-1980 and just behind Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina, who won 18 medals (9 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze from 1956-1964.  (Michael Phelps, of course, is the all-time leader with 28 medals  For her gold-medal winning, PyeongChang capping, record setting appearance, Marit Bjoergen is the Performer of the Day, and here she is as she approaches the finish line!

 

I honestly did not watch much of the closing ceremonies, but I was pleased that cross-country skier Jessie Diggins, who had two 5th place finishes to go with the first ever cross-country gold awarded to am American.  I didn't see who the other nominees were, but she was, and is, a fantastic choice.  As a reminder of how close Diggins race finished, after a blistering Diggins sprint brought her into contention for the gold.

The biggest U.S. disappointment is the total medal count, with American athletes winning 23 total medals (9 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze), well behind Norway's 39 medals (14 golds) and Germany's 31 medals (14 gold).  Canada with 29 medals (11 gold) also bested the United States.  For a USOC that had posted a goal of 37 medals, this was a widely disappointing Olympics.  For those not U.S. centric folks, this was an amazing Olympics with hardly any problems or true controversies, and some amazing athletes, events, games, matches, races and finishes.  On to Tokyo in 2020 (summer) and Beijing in 2022 (winter).

Events Watched:  Women's Cross-Country Skiing; Men's Hockey (replay); Closing Ceremonies (hardly any).

Olympics - PyeongChang 2018 - Day 5

Day 5 - February 11

Another day, another sweep, this time in the Men's 30KM skiathlon, as Norwegians Simen Hegstad Krueger, Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Christer Holund captured gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

Sven Kramer put on a dominating performance in the men's 5000m speed skating event, giving the Netherlands another gold in speed skating, and giving him a third straight gold at the distance.

In team figure skating, the three favorites won the medals as Canada, OAR and the United States finished first, second, and third - exactly as expected before the event.  More on this later.

Jamie Anderson, won her second consecutive gold medal in the Women's Snowboarding Slopestyle.  The course was hampered by excessive wind, and the competitors were only allowed two, rather than their usual three runs.  41 of the 50 competitors either fell or pulled up on their runs, and even Anderson pulled out of one of her tricks on a jump.  But, Anderson was otherwise flawless the rest of the way to secure gold on her first run.

Anderson was comparatively spectacular, however, the Moment of the Day goes to the group of David Gleirscher of Austria, Chris Mazdzer of the United States and Johannes Ludwig of Germany, who finished first, second and third respectively in the luge.  Mazdzer, who was the penultimate sledder, was in second place after his run, securing no worse than a bronze, and no worse than a silver for Gleirscher, with only world champion Felix Loch remaining.  As the sledders finish their runs - competing in ascending order of their current placement, luge has the sledder which is currently in first place stand in front of a step-and-repeat at the finish line.  Fleirscher had Mazdzer and Ludwig join him after their runs.  And, the sheer joy that this group collectively experienced as Loch's disappointing fourth run put him in 5th place for the Olympics was amazing.  The three jumped, hugged, screamed altogether.  The scene was delightful, and truly captured the Olympic spirit.

The American Disappointment of the Day is only a disappointment in theory.  The award goes to American figure skater Adam Rippon, inserted for the men's free skate portion in place of Nathan Chen - who fell on several occasions in the men's short program.  Rippon skated a flawless performance, albeit without any quads.  However, he finished third in the men's free skate portion of the team event to Canada's Patrick Chen and the OAR's Mikhail Kolyada, who both attempted quads in their performance, but who both fell, and with Kolyada stumbling on another jump.  I understand that we want to award difficulty, but it would seem to me that the difficult maneuvers should be successful to earn the additional points.  That is the disappointment.

In the same vein, Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman - and only third woman ever - to successfully land a triple axel in the Olmpics.  Yet, she finished second to OAR's Alina Zagitova.

Although we are disappointed in Rippon's scoring, one of the best pictures in sports was taken during his performance by Dean Mouhtaropolous of Getty Images.  See for yourself!

Events Watched:  Men's Luge, Women's Hockey, Men's Speed Skating, Men's Cross-Country Skiing, Men's Biathlon, Women's Freestyle Skiiing Moguls, Women's Snowboarding Slopestyle, Team Figure Skating