I can’t believe that we are entering the final weekend of competition. Day 15 featured the women’s slalom, the men’s cross country 4×10 km relay, the completion of women’s curling, men’s ice hockey semifinals, women’s parallel giant slalom, and the final night of short track speed skating.
In the women’s giant slalom, Lindsey Vonn skied with her broken pinky, but she ended up straddling a gate and was knocked out of the first round. Maria Reisch ends up winning the second gold medal of her Olympic games for Germany, while Marlies Schild takes the silver for Austria. The Czech Republic’s Šárka Záhrobská took bronze. Sarah Schleper, in what might be her final Olympic event, came in 16th.
It was a likely day for final races for Apolo Ohno as well. Ohno made it to the finals of the 500 m men’s race, but came in fourth. To get to the finals, he had to jump over a pair of fallen skaters. Ohno’s excellent career ended on a high note, with a bronze medal for team USA. It was Ohno’s 8th career medal. Charles Hamelin of Canada won the gold medal in the 500 m race that Ohno came in fourth in. The 5000 m relay was won by Canada, with South Korea winning the bronze.
The men’s 4×7.5 km relay took place in biathlon. The gold, silver, and bronze teams were Norway, Austria, and Russia, respectively. The United States came in 13th.
The United Stated did well in the first two runs of four-man bobsled, coming in first place. Canada and Germany were close behind. The event will conclude tomorrow.
Women’s curling concluded today, with Sweden winning the gold medal game against Canada, who took the silver medal. China beat Switzerland for the bronze.
Men’s hockey continued with the semifinals. As many people hoped for, the final game will be a showdown between the United States and Canada. Tomorrow, Finland will play Slovakia for the bronze.
The women competed in Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS) today. One American, Michelle Gorgone, competed in the event, qualified for the round of 16, and was knocked out before the quarterfinals. Nicolien Sauerbreij of the Netherlands wound up with the gold, while Ekaterina Ilyukhina of Russia took the silver.
Men’s and women’s team pursuit qualifications occurred today. The United States will face Canada tomorrow for gold and silver. The ladies advanced to the semifinals today (in a very close finish); they will race Germany tomorrow, in what may be Jennifer Rodriguez’s final Olympics.
The United States has currently won the most medals, at 34, but Canada, who had never won a gold medal on home turf before these games, currently has 10 gold medals (the US has eight). The Germans also have more gold medals than the US, with nine.
