Brian Hamacher

6 to Watch Recap: Vonn Wins Bronze, US Men's Hockey Eliminated

Florida speedskaters Brittany Bowe, Mia Manganello face defending champs

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Lindsey Vonn got another crack at winning her first Olympic medal since 2010, when she became the face of Team USA at the Vancouver Olympics. Elana Meyers Taylor went after the gold medal that just eluded her four years ago. The United States hoped to win its first-ever medal in women’s cross country, and to inch closer to its first-ever medal in women’s curling.

These are the six stories you may have missed in Pyeongchang over the past 24 hours:

Italy’s Goggia Wins Gold, Vonn Takes Bronze in Women’s Downhill

Italy’s Sofia Goggia held off a strong field to win gold in the women’s downhill, while Team USA’s Lindsey Vonn took bronze, finishing 0.47 seconds behind her rival.

"I gave it my best shot," Vonn said through tears after the race. "And I’m so proud to have competed with so many amazing girls."

Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway won silver, finishing 0.09 seconds behind Goggia.

Vonn’s bronze-medal finish makes history: At 33, she is the oldest female medalist in Alpine skiing at the Winter Games. She will ski again in the combined on Thursday (Wednesday night in the U.S.), going up against teammate Mikaela Shiffrin, who won gold in these Games in the giant slalom.

Team USA’s Alice McKennis finished fifth, Breezy Johnson finished seventh and Laurenne Ross finished 15th.

Check out the full recap here.

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Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
Bradie Tennell of the United States competes during the Figure Skating- Team Event-Ladies Short Program on day two of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Ice Arena on Feb. 11, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea.

Russian Skaters Deliver in Women’s Short Program

Women’s figure skating at the Pyeongchang Olympics was billed as a showdown between Olympic Athletes from Russia Evgenia Medvedeva and Aliona Zagitova, and they delivered Wednesday at Gangneung Ice Arena.

Zagitova set a new short program record with her score of 82.92 to slide into first place, ahead of Medvedeva by 1.31 points. If the 15-year-old Zagitova holds on to the top spot through Friday’s free skate, she would become the second youngest women’s figure skating gold medalist behind Tara Lipinski, the 1998 Olympic champion.

Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond was in third place after the short program with 78.87 points.

All three Americans to skate in the short program planned to open their routine with triple jumps, and all three stumbled. Bradie Tennell and Mirai Nagasu each fell all the way to the ice — Tennell on a triple lutz to triple toeloop combination, and Nagasu on a her trademark triple axel — while teammate Karen Chen placed a hand on the ice to brace herself coming out of a triple lutz.

Check out the full recap here.

US Men’s Hockey Eliminated After Shootout Loss

The U.S. Men’s Hockey Team’s dreams of an Olympic medal were crushed in a shootout loss to the Czech Republic.

Petr Kouka was the only player to score for either team in the 10-player shootout as the Czech Republic eliminated the Americans with a 3-2 victory in the quarterfinals at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

USA’s Chris Bourque, Mark Arcobello, Ryan Donato, Troy Terry and Bobby Butler were all stopped in the shootout.

Donato and Slater scored in regulation for the U.S., which again was led by its youngest players, including speedster Terry. U.S. goaltender Ryan Zapolski allowed three goals on 29 shots and one in the shootout.

The Czechs move on to face the winner of the Olympic athletes from Russia against Norway.

US Women Win 1st Long Track Speedskating Medals in 16 Years

The long wait is over for an American woman to stand on the podium in long track speedskating.

Team USA beat Canada in the women’s pursuit on Wednesday, becoming the first American women to win an Olympic medal in long track speedskating since 2002. No American had won a long track medal since the 2010 Games.

For most of the match, the U.S. skaters looked like they had the medal in the bag. They leapt out to a huge lead, more than two-and-a-half seconds after two laps, and then ratcheted it up. But the high speeds wore on Mia Manganello, who began clutching her knee and nearly fell in the final stretch. Nevertheless, she, Heather Bergsma and Brittany Bowe held on.

The Netherlands, so dominant in speedskating in Pyeongchang, were upset in the team pursuit. The men lost to eventual gold medalists Norway in the semifinals, while the women, who had cruised to victory over the U.S. in the semifinals, lost to Japan in their final.

USA Clinches Silver in Women's Bobsled

Elana Meyers Taylor and Lauren Gibbs of the U.S. finished second in women's bobsled in Pyeongchang. Their time of 3:22.52 was just 0.07 seconds back from the gold-medal German sled — the closest margin between first and second in any Olympic bobsled race.

Germany's Mariama Jamanka — a winner of exactly zero major international races in her life until now — drove to gold in the event, adding to her country's dominant showing at the sliding track in these Olympics.

Canada's Kaillie Humphries teamed with Phylicia George to get third in 3:22.89.

It was the third consecutive medal for both Meyers Taylor and Humphries. Meyers Taylor won bronze as a push athlete in 2010 and silver as a driver in 2014; Humphries won gold in each of those Olympic races.

The American sled piloted by Jamie Greubel Poser with brakeman Aja Evans finished fifth, 0.13 seconds off the podium. Greubel Poser won bronze in Sochi.

Outside the medal race, teams from Jamaica and Nigeria made history in Pyeongchang. The Jamaican sled became the first women’s sled from the country to compete in the games, while the Nigerian women became the first African nation to participate in women’s bobsled. Jamaica finished the competition in 19th. Nigeria finished 20th.

After 42 Years, US Wins Gold in Women's Cross-Country Skiing

Team USA ended their 42-year Olympic medal drought in cross-country skiing Wednesday and they made American cross-country history in the process.

Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall became the first American cross-country skiers to capture a gold medal by winning the women’s team sprint at the Alpensia Cross-Country Centre in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Sweden captured silver and Norway took home bronze.

Diggins and Randall are the first American women to win an Olympic medal and join Bill Koch as the only American cross-country skiers to earn an Olympic medal.

Koch picked up the silver medal in the men's 30km in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1976.

Going into the team event, Diggins had three fifth-place finishes and a sixth-place finish in these Olympics.

Diggins’ other high finishes have come in the 4x5-kilometer relay (fifth), the skiathlon (fifth), the 10-kilometer freestyle (fifth) and the classic sprint (sixth). But throughout her career, she’s shined in the team sprint, winning gold at the world championship in 2013 and bronze at the world championship in 2017.

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