Monday, February 12
Snowboarding (1 gold)
Two-time Olympian Jamie Anderson defended her slopestyle gold medal from Sochi to give Team USA its second snowboard gold in as many days. Battling tough wind conditions that delayed the start of the competition, Anderson came out of the gate with a strong showing on her first run, earning a score of 83.00 to enter the second and final run with a six-point advantage over the rest of the field. As the final competitor to tackle the course, she had her gold medal locked up before even starting her second run. Slopestyle snowboarding debuted at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, and Team USA has now claimed all four Olympic gold medals in the sport discipline. MORE
Jessika Jenson, Hailey Langland and Julia Marino also competed in the women’s slopestyle final for Team USA. Jenson scored 72.26 on her first run and held the third position in the standings for most of the competition before sliding to fifth as the final athletes took to the course. Langland was sixth with one of the few clean second runs, receiving 71.80 points, and Marino finished 11th, scoring 55.85 points on her first run. All athletes in the competition only completed two runs, though the original schedule called for five. The qualifying round scheduled for Feb. 11 was canceled due to weather conditions, and all athletes competed in the two-run finals as a result.
Figure Skating (1 bronze)
Team USA repeated its bronze medal performance in the figure skating team event, which concluded Monday with the men’s singles free skate, women’s singles free skate and the ice dance free dance. The team competition was added to the Olympic program in 2014, and with their third-place finish, the U.S. skaters continue their medal streak in the event.
The U.S. started the day in medal contention after the two previous days of competition, sitting comfortably in third position in the standings. The day’s on-ice competition began with the men’s free skate, where Adam Rippon made his Olympic debut with 172.98 points to finish third behind Canada’s Patrick Chan and the Olympic Athlete from Russia, Mikhail Kolyada. Mirai Nagasu then skated in the women’s singles free skate, where she became the first U.S. woman - and only the third woman ever - to land a triple axel in Olympic competition. Her strong skate earned her 137.53 points, besting Canadian Gabrielle Daleman by just .39 points to finish second behind the Olympic Athlete from Russia, Alina Zagitova. The sibling ice dance duo of Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani earned 112.01 points for second place behind Canada, securing the bronze medal for the U.S. MORE
Biathlon
In the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit, four-time Olympian Tim Burke led the Americans with a 17th-place finish for his best individual finish in an Olympic Winter Games. Burke climbed an incredible 30 spots to earn his top-20 finish, after starting 1:48 back from the leaders in 47th place. Lowell Bailey, who finished 33rd in the 10K sprint the day prior, improved one spot to finish 32nd overall, and Leif Nordgren finished 50th.
As the sole representative of Team USA in the women’s 10K pursuit, Emily Dreissigacker improved on her 51st-place start position to finish in 47th place.
Freestyle Skiing
Olympic rookie Casey Andringa placed fifth in men’s moguls to lead Team USA, scoring 75.50 points in his final run of five for the night. Andringa first competed in the qualification event to earn himself the opportunity to contend for a medal. He broke 80 points in two of his runs, scoring 80.73 and 80.80 to break into the six-man medal run. Troy Murphy and Bradley Wilson also competed in the finals, but finished the first run in 17th and 18th place, outside of qualification for the second run of the night. MORE
While Andringa and Wilson competed in the final runs of the evening based on their finishes in the qualification event, their teammate Emerson Smith missed the moguls finals by a mere 0.67 points, placing 13th with a score of 73.94.
Long Track Speedskating
Two-time Olympian Brittany Bowe led the American women in the 1,500-meter event, placing fifth with a time of 1:55.54 - a marked improvement upon her 14th place finish at Sochi 2014. Heather Bergsma, appearing in her third Olympics, also earned a top-10 finish, placing eighth with a time of 1:56.74. Mia Manganello also competed for the U.S., placing 22nd in her Olympic debut with a time of 1:59.93.
Luge
In the first night of women’s luge, Team USA’s Erin Hamlin found herself within striking distance of the podium. Hamlin, who won a historic bronze medal in Sochi, finished 0.236 seconds behind Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger for a fifth-place standing after the first two runs. In her first run, Hamlin briefly set a track record of 46.357 seconds. MORE
Two-time Olympian Summer Britcher currently stands in 9th, and first-time Olympian Emily Sweeney is in 15th. The three U.S. women will compete for a medal on Feb. 13.
Ski Jumping
In women’s normal hill, two-time Olympian Sarah Hendrickson improved two spots from her Sochi 2014 performance, landing 19th in the final jump. Abby Ringquist made her Olympic debut with a 29th place jump in the final.
Earlier in the evening, Nita Englund competed alongside Hendrickson and Ringquist in the qualification stage for the final. Englund finished 33rd, missing the final by one position.
Snowboarding
Chloe Kim dominated the women’s halfpipe qualification round, leading a contingent of four American snowboarders. As the third competitor to take on the pipe, Kim posted 91.50 on her first run to top the field, and solidified her top seed with 95.50 on her second run. She was the only rider to surpass the 90-point mark and scored 7.75 points better than the closest competition. MORE
Maddie Mastro also had a strong showing in the qualifier, landing 83.75 points on her first run to place fourth. Three-time Olympic medalist and five-time Olympian Kelly Clark and two-time Olympian Arielle Gold claimed the last two qualifying spots on their second runs, taking 11th (63.25) and 12th (62.75), respectively.
All four American boarders will compete in the finals on Feb. 13.