Saturday, February 24
Curling (1 gold)
Already assured an historic result with no less than a silver medal, Team USA's John Shuster rink went one better, downing Sweden 10-7 to earn the first American curling Olympic gold medal. The gold is only the second Olympic curling medal won by the United States, joining the bronze medal won at the Olympic Winter Games Torino 2006 by Pete Fenson rink.
A back and forth battle with the Swedes led to a 5-5 tie in the seventh end, but Shuster mastered a rare five-point end in the eighth to set the team up for victory. Sweden played a hit and roll to slip inside the cluster of American stones, but Shuster countered with a solid double takeout to leave five American stones in the house. With a five-point lead, Shuster and teammates Tyler George, Matt Hamilton and John Landsteiner allowed two points to Sweden in favor of securing the hammer in the 10th. The team worked together to clear every stone played by the Swedes until they finally conceded the match. MORE
The Americans completed a comeback from a 2-4 record in pool play to win five straight matches en route to gold. Along the way they defeated the world No. 1 Canada for the first time in Olympic history. They defeated the team again in the semifinal before taking down No. 2 Sweden in the final.
Snowboarding (1 silver)
First-time Olympian Kyle Mack earned the silver medal in the Olympic debut of men’s big air snowboarding. Landing a never-before-seen trick of his own creation on the second run, the 20-year-old secured the second position with a combined score of 168.75. With his silver-medal performance Mack became the youngest man to earn an Olympic medal in big air snowboarding.
Reigning world silver medalist Chris Corning and Olympic slopestyle gold medalist Red Gerard also competed in the finals. World No. 1 Corning finished fourth with a combined score of 153.00, while 17-year-old Gerard placed fifth with 143.00 points. MORE
Alpine Skiing
The alpine skiing team event debuted on Saturday, with three-time Olympians Megan McJames and Nolan Kasper, joined by first time Olympian Tricia Mangan and two-time Olympian David Chodounsky earning a time of 41.90 seconds. They did not advance to the quarterfinals. MORE
Bobsled
First-time Olympian Codie Bascue piloted his Team USA sled to a ninth-place standing after the first two runs in four-man bobsled competition. Bascue and teammates Evan Weinstock, Steve Langton and Sam McGuffie posted a two-run time of 1:38.43, 0.88 seconds off the top time, held by a German sled.
The two other American sleds are ranked 20th and 21st after two runs. Pilot Nick Cunningham, along with Hakeem Abdul-Saboor, Chris Kinney and Sam Michener, recorded a time of 1:39.10. Pilot Justin Olsen clocked a time of 1:39.33 with teammates Nathan Weber, Carlo Valdes and Chris Fogt.
The three American sleds will compete for medals on Feb. 25, when the teams race in the final two heats.
Cross-Country Skiing
First-time Olympian Scott Patterson finished 11th in the men’s 50-kilometer mass start classic final, which is the best American finish in the event in Olympic history. The previous best was held by Bill Koch, who was 13th at both Innsbruck 1976 and Lake Placid 1980. MORE
Patterson grew stronger and faster as the race wore on, jumping from 34th place at the 5K mark to 14th at 40K. He finished the course in 2:13:14.2, marking his best career Olympic finish.
Noah Hoffman and Tyler Kornfield also competed in the event, finishing 33rd and 48th, respectively.
Long Track Speedskating
Fresh off his fourth-place finish in the 1,000-meter event, two-time Olympian Joey Mantia placed ninth in the Olympic debut of men’s mass start speedskating with a final time of 7:45.21. Brian Hansen competed in the semifinals of the event, but was unable to advance after finishing 10th in his heat.
Olympic bronze medalists Heather Bergsma and Mia Manganello both advanced to the finals of the debut of the women’s mass start, finishing 11th and 15th in the marquee event.
Snowboarding
Americans AJ Muss and Mike Trapp made their Olympic debuts, competing in parallel giant slalom qualifiers. Muss finished 20th with a time of 1:26.10, while Trapp was 30th with a time of 1:28.14; neither advanced to the final.