Thursday, February 15
Alpine Skiing (1 gold)
Two-time Olympian Mikaela Shiffrin was unphased by weather delays earlier in the week, winning gold in giant slalom. In second place after the first run by 0.2 seconds, Shiffrin improved by almost 0.4 seconds to finish her second run in 1:09.20, earning a combined time of 2:20.02 to best Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel by 0.39 seconds.
Shiffrin’s victory marks her second career Olympic gold medal. She won her first Olympic title in the slalom event at Sochi 2014, where she became the youngest athlete to win the event at age 18. She will defend her slalom gold medal on Feb. 16. MORE
Team USA’s Megan McJames and Resi Stiegler also competed, finishing 31st (2:28.39) and 36th (2:31.74). Tricia Mangan did not start the second run, having crashed in the first run of the day.
Team USA entered four men in the downhill competition, with Bryce Bennett leading the contingent in 16th place with a time of 1:42.22. Two-time Olympian Jared Goldberg, and first-time Olympians Ryan Cochran-Siegle and Wiley Maple also competed in the event, taking 20th (1:42.59), 23rd (1:42.96) and 30th (1:43.72), respectively.
Biathlon
Susan Dunklee gave Team USA a top-20 finish in the women's 15-kilometer individual race, the first top-20 effort for U.S. women in the event since 1994. Recording only two misses in the shooting phase, Dunklee ended with a time of 44:33.5 for 19th place. Joanne Reid took 22nd with a time of 44:41.3, while Clare Egan and Emily Dreissigacker were 62nd (48:00.8) and 67th (48:16.4).
Four-time Olympian Tim Burke led the American men as he finished 41st in the men’s 20K individual race with a time of 52:05.7. Two-time Olympian Sean Doherty finished 44th (52:25.6) and four-time Olympian Lowell Bailey finished 51st (52:56.8). In his second Olympic Winter Games, Leif Nordgren improved 16 spots from his Sochi 2014 performance to finish 66th (54:31.1).
Cross-Country Skiing
Jessie Diggins placed fifth in the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle event, picking up her third top-10 finish of the Games. The two-time Olympian battled back from the seventh position early in the race, skiing into the third spot at the final two checkpoints. In the last stretch on the race, Diggins slipped back into fifth as Norway’s Marit Bjoergen and Finland’s Krista Parmakoski tied for bronze. Diggins’ time of 25:35.7 missed the podium by 3.3 seconds. MORE
Two-time Olympian Sadie Bjornsen and five-time Olympian Kikkan Randall finished next for Team USA, coming in 15th and 16th respectively. Three-time Olympian Liz Stephen also competed in the event, finishing 30th.
Curling
Team USA’s Nina Roth rink defeated Great Britain, 7-4, in a tight back-and-forth game. The Americans trailed early, but pulled narrowly ahead in the sixth end, gaining two more points to bring the score to 4-3. The teams went into the tenth end with the U.S. leading, 5-4. In the final end, the Americans expanded their lead with two well-placed stones to win, 7-4.
In their second game of the day, the U.S. women battled back from a 5-1 deficit, but ultimately fell to Switzerland, 6-5. The Americans began their comeback in the sixth end, notching two points to cut the Swiss lead to 2. It was another near-even match, but Team USA was unable to take the lead, falling 6-5. The U.S. is now 1-2 in round robin play and will face the Olympic Athletes from Russia and Canada on Feb. 17.
A comeback from John Shuster’s rink fell short, as the Americans fell to Italy, 10-9. Facing a 6-1 deficit after three ends, the U.S. team came roaring back, picking up five points by the close of the fifth end to draw even at the halfway point. The two teams battled for the last three ends and closed the ninth tied at 9-9. The match came down to the final stone, which Italy threw to gain the deciding point. Team USA's men now stand 1-1 in round robin play, and face off against undefeated Sweden on Friday morning.
Figure Skating
Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim scored 120.27 in the pairs free skate, placing 15th for their performance. They also placed 15th overall with a total score of 185.82.
Freestyle Skiing
First-time Olympians Kiley McKinnon and Madison Olsen placed 5th and 6th in the second run of qualifiers for women’s aerials, advancing to the final. They will compete for a medal on Feb. 16.
Competing in her third Olympic Winter Games, Ashley Caldwell finished 11th on both qualification runs, missing a chance to compete in the finals. MORE
Ice Hockey
The U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team dropped its first game of the tournament against rival Canada, 2-1. With the loss, Team USA finished second in the preliminary round of play and will automatically advance to the semifinals.
After a scoreless first period, Canada was first on the board in the second with a power play goal, and again with five minutes to go in the period to extend their lead, 2-0. A minute later, the officials awarded the Americans a penalty shot after a pile up in front of the goal, and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson missed with a high shot over the goal. With less than two minutes to go, Brianna Decker rocketed a shot that pinged off the right pipe during a power play opportunity. Despite a 18-6 shots on goal differential favoring Team USA, the Canadians maintained their two-goal lead to close out the second period.
Kendall Coyne put the U.S. on the board less than a minute into the third period, powering through the Canadian defense to register her second goal of the tournament. The Americans had a slew of last-second shots after pulling their goalie, but ultimately fell to the Canadians, 2-1.
With a bye to the semifinals, Team U.S. will return to competition on Feb. 19. MORE
Luge
The American team of Summer Britcher, Olympic silver medalist Chris Mazdzer, and the duo of Matt Mortensen and Jayson Terdiman were on the cusp of a medal in the luge team relay, ultimately finishing fourth. The finish is an improvement on their sixth-place finish at Sochi 2014, where the event made its debut. The team briefly set a new track record, clocking 2:25.091 before being overtaken by the Canadian team in the very next run. MORE
Skeleton
The first two heats of men’s skeleton competition featured Sochi bronze medalist Matt Antoine and fellow two-time Olympian John Daly. After those two runs, Antoine is currently in 11th position, while Daly stands in 13th place. The two Americans will compete in the final two heats on Feb. 16. MORE
Snowboarding
Three-time Olympian Nick Baumgartner missed the podium in men’s snowboardcross with a fourth-place finish in the medal final, his best career finish in an Olympic Winter Games. Mick Dierdorff, in his Olympic debut, finished fifth.
Hagen Kearney also competed in the quarterfinals for the event, but did not qualify for the semifinals. Jonathan Cheever competed in the 1/8 finals, but placed one spot out of qualification and did not advance. MORE