Monday, February 19
Bobsled
Just two weeks after an emergency appendectomy, Justin Olsen led the Americans in the two-man final, finishing 14th with teammate Evan Weinstock with a four-run total time of 3:18.54.
Nick Cunningham and Hakeem Abdul-Saboor finished 21st after three runs, one spot outside of qualification for the final run, while Codie Bascue and Sam McGuffie finished in 25th place. MORE
Curling
The U.S. women secured a critical win over Denmark to keep their hopes of advancement alive, topping the Danes, 7-6. The Americans stole the fourth end to take a 3-1 lead, but the Danes picked up a pair of two-point ends to pull even at 5-5 by the seventh. After swapping points to enter the 10th tied at 6, Team USA used the last stone advantage to secure the win.
Later in the evening, Team USA continued their quest for the semifinals, topping China, 10-4. The Americans built a 7-1 cushion by completion of the third end, and China was unable to answer. With a 4-3 record, the team will face top-ranked Korea and Sweden in their final games of the tournament on Feb. 20 and Feb. 21, respectively.
Meanwhile, the men’s team earned a history victory over Canada today, winning 9-7 in 11 ends. The victory marks the first time an American men’s team has ever beaten Canada at an Olympic Winter Games. The match was closely contended throughout, with one team answering in kind when the other found an advantage. After the Americans scored two points in the ninth end to take a 7-5 lead, Canada answered with two in the 10th to force the extra end. Holding the final stone advantage, Team USA elected to parry away attempted blocks by the Canadians to keep clean access to the button, a strategy that paid off when John Shuster was able to use the last toss to take out Canada's scoring stone and record the winning points.
The win keeps the team’s hopes for advancement to the semifinal round alive. They will face Switzerland on Feb. 20 and Great Britain on Feb. 21 in their last two round-robin games.
Figure Skating
All three American ice dance pairs finished in the top seven of the short dance, advancing to the free dance portion of the competition. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue led the way with 77.75 points, holding the third-place position. Sibling duo Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani came in just behind Hubbell and Donohue with a score of 77.73, while Madison Chock and Evan Bates scored 75.45 to rank seventh. Team USA will take the ice on Feb. 20 to compete for a spot on the podium. MORE
Freestyle Skiing
The U.S. had a strong showing in women’s halfpipe qualifiers, with three Americans finishing in the top six to advance to the finals. Brita Sigourney finished third with two solid runs that earned her 90.60 points each. Annalisa Drew finished fourth (86.00 points) and 2014 gold medalist Maddie Bowman finished sixth (83.80 points). They will compete for a medal on Feb. 20.
Devin Logan, who competed earlier in the Games in slopestyle, also competed in halfpipe but finished 15th and did not qualify for the finals. MORE
Ice Hockey
The U.S. dominated Finland in the semifinals of the women’s tournament, topping the Finns 5-0 to advance to the finals. After outshooting Finland, 38-14, the Americans secured their fifth appearance in the Olympic gold medal match.
The Americans struck early as Gigi Marvin finished a behind the net pass from team captain Meghan Duggan in the first three minutes of the first. Dani Cameranesi found the back of the net just before the first intermission, intercepting a pass from the Finns and hammering home a slap shot to give Team USA a 2-0 lead.
After a slew of shots to start the second period, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson put in a one-touch shot off a pass from Kelly Pannek, marking her third goal of the tournament. Hilary Knight kept the momentum going, netting a goal 30 seconds later to increase the U.S. lead, 4-0.
In the first minutes of the final period, Cameranesi registered her second goal of the game and third goal of the tournament off an assist from Hannah Brandt, tallying the final goal of the game. Maddie Rooney secured her first shutout of the tournament with 14 saves.
The Americans will take on rival Canada in the gold medal final for the third-consecutive Games on Feb. 22. MORE
Long Track Speedskating
The American trio of Heather Bergsma, Brittany Bowe and Mia Manganello finished fourth in the women’s team pursuit quarterfinal, clocking 2:59.75. The team raced Poland in the fourth and final pair of the night. With their finish, Team USA qualified for the semifinals on Feb. 21, where they will race The Netherlands for a spot in either the gold medal or bronze medal race later that evening. MORE
In the men’s 500-meter final, three-time Olympian Mitch Whitmore finished 15th with a time of 35.13 seconds. The finished marks his personal best at the Olympics, jumping up 12 spots from his Sochi 2014 performance. Two-time Olympian Jonathan Garcia and Olympic rookie Kimani Griffin placed 23rd (35.31) and 26th (35.38).
Ski Jumping
Kevin Bickner, Michael Glasder, Casey Larson and Will Rhoads competed in the team event, placing ninth in the first round of competition, just one spot out of the final round. Bickner led the Americans, improving on his large hill individual performance to jump 131.0 meters for 124.7 points.
Snowboarding
Two-time Olympic champion Jamie Anderson led the Americans in the Olympic debut of the women’s big air event, placing sixth with 90.00 points in the qualification round to advance to the final. Julia Marino was ninth with an 85.25, while Jessika Jenson was 12th at 76.25. Hailey Langland just missed advancing, placing 14th with her score of 73.00. MORE