Olympics Report: US picks up Second Nordic Combined Medal

The United States Nordic combined team picked up it's second medal in the team event.  Austria laid claim to the gold medal, defending their gold from the Torino games, while Germany picked up the bronze.

Nordic Combined Team Large Hill-Cross Country Final Standings
1.  Austria (Bernard Gruber/David Kreiner/Felix Gottwald/Mario Stecher), G
2.  United States (Brett Camerota/Todd Lodwick/Johnny Spillane/Bill Demong), S
3.  Germany (Johannes Rydzek/Tino Edelmann/Eric Frenzel/Bjorn Kircheisen), B
4.  France (Maxime LaHeurte/Francois Braud/Sebastien LaCroix/Jason Lamy Chappuis)
5.  Norway (Jan Schmid/Espen Rian/Petter L. Tande/Magnus Moan)
6.  Japan (Taihei Kato/Daito Takahashi/Akito Watabe/Norihito Kobayashi)
7.  Finland (Janne Ryynaenen/Jaakko Tallus/Anssi Koivuranta/Hannu Manninen)
8.  Czech Republic (Ales Vodsedalek/Miroslav Dvorak/Tomas Slavik/Pavel Churavy)
9.  Switzerland (Seppi Hurschler/Tim Hug/Tommy Schmid/Ronny Heer)
10.  Italy (Alessandro Pittin/Giuseppe Michielli/Lukas Runggaldier/Armin Bauer)

Bode Miller, looking for his fourth Vancouver medal in the men's giant slalom, failed to finish after skiing out on the course.  Switzerland's Carlo Janka won the gold medal, with Norwegians Kjetil Jansgrud and Aksel Lund Svindal winning silver and bronze, respectively.

Men's Giant Slalom Final Standings (Top 15)
1.  Carlo Janka (SUI), G
2.  Kjetil Jansgrud (NOR), S
3.  Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR), B
4.  Marcel Hirscher (AUT)
5.  Romed Baumann (AUT)
6.  Benjamin Raich (AUT)
7.  Ivica Kostelic (CRO)
8.  Felix Neureuther (GER)
9.  Ted Ligety (USA)
10.  Ales Gorza (SLO)
11.  Massimiliano Blardonne (ITA)
12.  Philipp Schoerghoffer (AUT)
13.  Steve Missillier (FRA)
14.  Didier Cuche (SUI)
15.  Sandro Viletta (SUI)

It was the women's turn to hit the ski cross course, and the Canadians came up big, with Ashleigh McIvor winning the event's inaugural gold medal. 

Women's Ski Cross Final Standings (Top Eight)
1.  Ashleigh McIvor (CAN), G
2.  Hedda Berntsen (NOR), S
3.  Marion Jasserand (FRA), B
4.  Karin Huttary (AUT)
5.  Kelsey Surwa (CAN)
6.  Anna Holmund (SWE)
7.  Fanny Smith (SUI)
8.  Julie Brendengen Jensen (NOR)

The Dutch speed skating team suffered a heartbreak at the Richmond Oval when Sven Kramer, widely favored to win the gold medal in the men's 10,000m, made a lane change error and was disqualified.  Korean Lee Seung-Hoon ended up with the gold, while Ivan Skobrev of Russia won the silver and Kramer's teammate Bob De Jong won the bronze.

Men's Speed Skating 10,000m Final Standings (Top 8)
1.  Lee Seung-Hoon (KOR), G
2.  Ivan Skobrev (RUS), S
3.  Bob De Jong (NED), B
4.  Alexis Contin (FRA)
5.  Håvard Bøkko (NOR)
6.  Sverre Haugli (NOR)
7.  Henrik Christiansen (NOR)
8.  Jonathan Kuck (USA)

Olympics Report: Bodie Miller Takes Gold, US Bobsled Drought Continues

Bode Miller completed his comeback from his disastrous performance in the Torino games by completing his medal set with a gold medal win in the men's super combined with a total time (the times from the downhill and slalom portions are combined) of 2:44:92.  Croatia's Ivica Kostelic finished with the silver medal, and Swiss skier Silvan Zurbriggen claimed bronze.  Defending Torino gold medalist Ted Ligety finished fifth.

Men's Super Combined Final Standings (Top 15)
1.  Bode Miller (USA), G
2.  Ivica Kostelic (CRO), S
3.  Silvan Zurbriggen (SUI), B
4.  Carlo Janka (SUI)
5.  Ted Ligety (USA)
6.  Benjamin Raich (AUT)
7.  Ondrej Bank (CZE)
8.  Christof Innerhofer (ITA)
9.  Kjtetil Jansrud (NOR)
10.  Will Brandenburg (USA)
11.  Andrew Weibrecht (USA)
12.  Andrien Theaux (FRA)
13.  Dominik Paris (ITA)
15.  Sandro Viletta (SUI)
16.  Ryan Semple (CAN)

The US medal drought in the men's two-man bobsled event continued Sunday.  American driver Steve Holcomb, expected to be a contender for a medal, finished in fifth place with teammate Curt Tomasevicz.  Germany went one two with gold and silver medal wins, while Russia claimed the bronze.

Two-Man Bobsled Final Standings (Top 15)
1.  GER1 (Andre Lange/Kevin Cuske), G
2.  GER2 (Thomas Florschuetz/Richard Adjei), S
3.  RUS1 (Aleksandr Zoubkov/Alexey Voevoda), B
4.  SUI1 (Ivo Rueegg/Cedric Grand)
5.  CAN2 (Pierre Lueders/Jesse Lumsden)
6.  USA1 (Steve Holcomb/Curt Tomasevicz)
7.  RUS2 (Dmitry Abramovitch/Sergey Prudnikov)
8.  LAT1 (Edgars Maskalans/Daumants Dreiskens)
9.  GER3 (Karl Angerer/Gregor Bermbach)
10.  USA2 (John Napier/Steve Langton)
11.  ROU1 (Nicolae Istrate/Florin Cezar Craciun)
12.  USA3 (Mike Kohn/Nick Cunningham)
13.  CZE1 (Ivo Danilevic/Jan Stoklaska)
14.  NED1 (Edwin van Calker/Sybren Jansma)
15.  CAN1 (Lyndon Rush/David Bisset)

The inaugural ski cross event ended with the Swiss claiming the gold medal, followed by Austria with silver and Norway with bronze.

Men's Ski Cross Final Standings
1.  Michael Schmid (SUI), G
2.  Andreas Matt (AUT), S
3.  Audun Groenvold (NOR), B
4.  Christ del Bosco (CAN)
5.  Enak Gavaggio (FRA)
6.  Daven Barr (CAN)
7.  Scott Kneller (AUS)
8.  Filip Flisar (SLO)

In the women's 1500m speed skating, Dutch skater Ireen Wust claimed the gold medal, while Canadian Kristina Groves and Czech Martina Sablikova finished with silver and bronze, respectively.

Women's 1500m Speed Skating Final Standings (Top 15)
1.  Ireen Wust (NED), G
2.  Kristina Groves (CAN), S
3.  Martina Sablikova (CZE), B
4.  Margot Boer (NED)
5.  Nao Kodaira (JPN)
6.  Christine Nesbitt (CAN)
7.  Annette Gerritsen (NED)
8.  Yekaterina Shikhova (RUS)
9.  Anni Friesinger-Potsma (GER)
10.  Daniela Anscheutz-Tohms (GER)
11.  Yekaterina Lobysheva (RUS)
12.  Alla Shabanova (RUS)
13.  Monique Angermueller (GER)
14.  Hege Bokko (NOR)
15.  Katarzyna Bachleda-Curus (Wojcicka) (POL)