Medal for U.S. in Short Track
The United States won an unexpected medal in short-track speedskating, its first in the sport at these games.
John-Henry Krueger placed second in the men’s 1,000 meters, behind Samuel Girard of Canada, as the rest of the field crashed.
In the women’s 1,500-meter race, Choi Min-jeong of South Korea won the gold medal.
Norway Gains Redemption
No event is a bigger deal in Norway than the cross-country relay. So when the women’s team was fifth four years ago, it was a disaster.
The good news was that Norway was heavily favored to claim this year’s race. They did, but it was a hard-fought effort.
Norway fell 29 seconds behind, in fourth place after the first two legs. Luckily their skiers for Legs 3 and 4 were Ragnhild Haga, winner of the 10-kilometer individual event, and legendary six-time gold medalist, the 37-year-old Marit Bjoergen.
Haga cut the gap behind Russia and Sweden to 20 seconds, then 10 and finally 3. Then Bjoergen took over. She seized the lead over Stina Nilsson of Sweden, the sprint race gold medalist, and refused to let her pass, finally crossing the line 2 seconds ahead to win the gold that Norway covets most.
Repeat in Skeleton
Lizzy Yarnold of Britain defended her skeleton title, overcoming a poor second run in which she had only the ninth best time.
Slovakia Wins in Biathlon
Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia ran away with the mass start biathlon race. She made her first 19 shots, but gasped with disappointment when she missed No. 20. But she had built a big enough lead that the resulting penalty lap was not enough to drop her out of first, and she won by 18 seconds.
Swiss Finish 1-2 in Slopestyle
Sarah Hoefflin led a Swiss gold and silver effort in the women’s freestyle skiing slopestyle. She scored a 91.20 on her last run to take the gold from her countrywoman, Mathilde Gremaud. Maggie Voisin of the United States was fourth.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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