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)

Olympics Report: Bobsled Begins, US Medals in Women's Super-G, Short Track and Speed Skating

Women's Super-G Final Standings (Top Ten)
1.  Andrea Fischbacher (AUT), gold medalist
2.  Tina Maze (SLO), silver medalist
3.  Lindsey Vonn (USA), bronze medalist
4.  Johanna Schnarf (ITA)
5.  Elisabeth Gorgl (AUT)
6.  Nadia Styger (SUI)
7.  Lucia Recchia (ITA)
8.  Maria Riesch (GER)
9.  Julia Mancuso (USA)
10.  Ingrid Jacquemod (FRA)

Women's Short Track 1500m Final Standings (Top Ten)
1.  Zhou Yang (CHN), gold medalist
2.  Lee Eun-Byul (KOR), silver medalist
3.  Park Seung-Hi (KOR), bronze medalist
4.  Katherine Reutter (USA)
5.  Cho Hae-Ri (KOR)
6.  Erika Huszar (HUN)
7.  Evgeniya Radanova (BUL)
8.  Tania Vincent (CAN)
9.  Arianna Fontana (ITA)
10.  Sun Linlin (CHN)

Men's Short Track 1000m Final Standings
1.  Lee Jung-Su (KOR), gold medalist
2.  Lee Ho-Suk (KOR), silver medalist
3.  Apolo Ohno (USA), bronze medalist
4.  Charles Hamelin (CAN)
5.  Francois Hamelin (CAN)
6.  Han Jialing (CHN)
7.  Sung Si-Bak (KOR)

Ski Jumping Individual Large Hill Final Standings (Top Ten)
1.  Simon Amman (SUI), gold medalist
2.  Adam Malysz (POL), silver medalist
3.  Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT), bronze medalist
4.  Andreas Kofler (AUT)
5.  Thomas Morgenstern (AUT)
6.  Michael Neumeyer (GER)
7.  Antonin Hajek (CZE)
8.  Noriaki Kosai (JPN)
9.  Robert Kranjec (SLO)
10.  Wolfgang Loitzl (AUT)

Men's Speed Skating 1500m Final Standings (Top Ten)
1.  Mark Tuitert (NED), gold medalist
2.  Shani Davis (USA), silver medalist
3.  Håvard Bøkko (NOR), bronze medalist
4.  Ivan Skobrev (RUS)
5.  Mo Tae-Bum (KOR)
6.  Chad Hedrick (USA)
7.  Simon Kuipers (NED)
8.  Mikael Flygind Larsen (NOR)
9.  Denny Morrison (CAN)
10.  Enrico Fabris (ITA)

Two Man Bobsled Current Standings (Top 5)
1.  GER1 (Andre Lange, Kevin Kuske)
2.  GER2 (Thomas Florschuetz, Richard Adjei)
3.  RUS1 (Aleksandr Zoubkov, Alexey Voevoda)
4.  SUI1 (Ivo Rueegg, Cedric Grand)
5.  USA1 (Steve Holcomb, Curt Tomasevicz)

Olympics Report: Miller takes Bronze in Men's Downhill

The US men's skiers had a productive day on the slopes for the men's downhill, posting strong times.  Bode Miller capped it off with a bronze medal, after a disappointing Torino games.  Swiss skier Didier Defago took gold, Switzerland's first alpine gold since the 1988 Calgary games, and Norwegian Aksel Lung Svindal took the silver.

Men's Downhill Final Standings (Top Ten)
1.  Didier Defago (SUI), gold medalist
2.  Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR), silver medalist
3.  Bode Miller (USA), bronze medalist
4.  Mario Scheiber (AUT)
5.  Erik Guay (CAN)
6.  Didier Cuche (SUI)
7.  David Poisson
8.  Mario Büchel (LIE)
9.  Klaus Kroell (AUT)
10.  Michael Wolchhoffer (AUT)

The US snowboard team also came out on top, as defending gold medalist from Torino Seth Wescott claimed the gold again in Vancouver.  Canadian boarder Mike Robertson took the silver while French border Tony Ramoin took the bronze.

Men's Snowboard Cross Final Standings
1.  Seth Wescott (USA), gold medalist
2.  Mike Robertson (CAN), silver medalist
3.  Tony Ramoin (FRA), bronze medalist
4.  Nate Holland (USA)

Evens were also contested in cross-country skiing, figure skating, and speed skating.

Pairs Figure Skating Final Standings (Top Five)
1.  Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo (CHN), gold medalists
2.  Pang Qing & Tong Jian (CHN), silver medalists
3.  Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy (GER)
4.  Yuko Kavaguti & Aleksandr Smirnov (RUS)
5.  Zhang Dan & Zhang Hao (CHN)

Women's 10km Individual (Cross Country Skiing) Final Standings (Top Five)
1.  Charlotte Kalla (SWE), gold medalist
2.  Kristina Smigun (EST), silver medalist
3.  Marit Bjørgen (NOR), bronze medalist
4.  Anna Haag (SWE)
5.  Justyna Kowalczyk (POL)

Men's 15km Individual (Cross Country Skiing) Final Standings (Top Five)
1.  Dario Cologna (SUI), gold medalist
2.  Pietro Piller Cottrer (ITA), silver medalist
3.  Lukas Bauer (CZE), bronze medalist
4.  Marcus Hellner (SWE)
5.  Vincent Vittoz (FRA)

Men's 500m (Speed Skating) Final Standings (Top Five)
1.  Mo Tae-Bum (KOR), gold medalist
2.  Keiichiro Nagashima (JPN), silver medalist
3.  Joji Kato (JPN), bronze medalist
4.  Lee Kang-Seok (KOR)
5.  Mika Poutala (FIN)

Olympics Report: US Claims Historic Silver Medal in Nordic Combined

Day 3 of the Olympics was marked by two historic medal wins.  After never winning a medal of any color in Nordic combined, American Johnny Spillane crossed the finish line behind Frenchman Jason Lamy Chappuis for the silver medal.  Teammate Todd Lodwick finished fourth behind Italian Alessandro Pittin.

Nordic Combined Final Standings (Top 25)
1.  Jason Lamy Chappuis (FRA)
2.  Johnny Spillane (USA)
3.  Alessandro Pittin (ITA)
4.  Todd Lodwick (USA)
5.  Mario Stecher (AUT)
6.  Bill Demong (USA)
7.  Norihito Kobayashi (JPN)
8.  Anssi Koivuranta (FIN)
9.  Magnus Moan (NOR)
10.  Eric Frenzel (GER)
11.  Ronny Heer (SUI)
12.  Pavel Churavy (CZE)
13.  Hannu Manninen (FIN)
14.  Felix Gottwald (AUT)
15.  David Kreiner (AUT)
16.  Lukas Runggaldier (ITA)
17.  Petter L. Tande (NOR)
18.  Tino Edelmann (GER)
19.  Sebastien LaCroix (FRA)
20.  Tomas Slavik (CZE)
21.  Akito Watabe (JPN)
22.  Björn Kircheisen (GER)
23.  Jan Schmid (NOR)
24.  Taihei Kato (JPN)
25.  Christoph Bieler (AUT)

Men's moguls was capped by another historic win.  Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau edged out defending gold medalist from Torino Dale Begg-Smith of Australia as well as American Bryon Wilson to claim Canada's first home gold medal (Canada had not won gold in either the 1976 Montreal Summer Games or the 1988 Calgary Winter Games).

Men's Moguls Final Standings
1.  Alexandre Bilodeau (CAN)
2.  Dale Begg-Smith (AUS)
3.  Bryon Wilson (USA)
4.  Vincent Marquis (CAN)
5.  Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau (CAN)
6.  Guilbaut Colas (FRA)
7.  Sho Endo (JPN)
8.  Jesper Bjoernlund (SWE)
9.  Nobuyuki Nishi (JPN)
10.  Alexandr Smyshlyaev (RUS)
11.  Maxime Gingras (CAN)
12.  Pierre Ochs (FRA)
13.  Denis Dolgodvorov (RUS)
14.  Mikko Ronkainen (FIN)
15.  Michael Morse (USA)
16.  Arttu Kiramo (FIN)
17.  Yugo Tsukita (JPN)
18.  Dmitriy Reiherd (KAZ), Patrick Deneen (USA), Nate Roberts (USA)*

*run not scored, tied for last

Additional events were run in biathlon, luge, and long track speed skating.

Men's 10km Sprint (Biathlon) Final Standings (Top Ten)
1.  Vincent Jay (FRA), Gold medalist
2.  Emile Hegle Svendsen (NOR), Silver medalist
3.  Jakov Fak (CRO), Bronze medalist
4.  Klemen Bauer (SLO)
5.  Andriy Deryzemlya (UKR)
6.  Jean Philippe Leguellec (CAN)
7.  Pavol Hurajt (SVK)
8.  Björn Ferry (SWE)
9.  Jeremy Teela (USA)
10.  Ivan Tcherezov (RUS)

Men's Singles (Luge) Final Standings (Top Ten)
1.  Felix Loch (GER), Gold medalist
2.  David Moeller (GER), Silver medalist
3.  Armin Zoeggeler (ITA), Bronze medalist
4.  Albert Demtschenko (RUS)
5.  Andi Langenhan (GER)
6.  Daniel Pfister (AUT)
7.  Samuel Edney (CAN)
8.  Tony Benshoof (USA)
9.  Wolfgang Kindl (AUT)
10.  Manuel Pfister (AUT)

Long Track Speed Skating:  Women's 3000m
1.  Martina Sablikova (CZE), Gold medalist
2.  Stephanie Beckert (GER), Silver medalist
3.  Kristina Groves (CAN), Bronze medalist
4.  Daniela Anschuetz-Thoms (GER)
5.  Clara Hughes (CAN)
6.  Masako Hozumi (JPN)
7.  Ireen Wust (NED)
8.  Maren Haugli (NOR)
9.  Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr. (USA)
10.  Renate Groenewold (NED)

Team USA Report: Disappointing Results for Speed Skating 5000m

I wasn't a good day for USA speed skating.  Defending gold medalist from Torino Chad Hendrik failed to make the podium, finishing a over ten seconds off the leader in the 5000m event.  Skater Shani Davis did not fare much better, failing to make the top 8.

Speed Skating 5000m Results
1.  Sven Kramer (NED)
2.  Seung-Hoon Lee (KOR)
3.  Ivan Skobrev (RUS)
4.  Håvard Bøkko (NOR)
5.  Bob de Jong (NED)
6.  Alexis Contin (FRA)
7.  Enrico Fabris (ITA)
8.  Henrik Christiansen (NOR)