U.S. Sochi Winter Olympic Medal Count Recap: Maddie Bowman Skis For Gold
Thursday had everything you can want in a Winter Olympics. Who knew that the 15th day of competition would be so full of grace, heartbreak, breakthroughs and more.
The day was mostly all about the female athlete's. They competed in four events: Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing and Ice Hockey. The men were featured in the last event of the day, the Nordic Combined Large Hill Ski jumping event. Sadly, the American women had a less-than-triumphant showing.
The American women finished dead last in the curling competition and thus were as far from the finals today as you could possibly get. Over the course of nine games, Team USA clinched one match. In its last game the Americans got shellacked by South Korea with a final score of 11-2. To be fair, these women are Olympic athletes for life. No one can deny their strength and talent. The results just didn't materialize against better competition. Team Canada won the event after a 16 year draught.
Meanwhile, Gracie Gold, Ashley Wagner and Polina Edmunds each failed to medal in figure skating. Despite coming into Thursday in fourth place, America's "Golden" child didn't budge from that spot. After the short program Wagner and Edmunds were frankly also-rans. They were more than 10 points behind short program leader (and silver medalist) Yuna Kim at sixth and seventh place. Being a few points behind in figure skating is akin to losing a basketball game by a dozen or so points. It's simply hard to regain momentum when you're behind that far. Still, they did their best and can take comfort in knowing that they are Olympic bronze medalists (in the team event). Russian Adelina Sotnikova won the event in front of her home crowd. She became the first Russian woman to win the solo figure skating titile.
The 2013 World Champion U.S. Women's Ice Hockey team really blew it. They were rolling against their arch-rivals, Team Canada. Lead by Julie Chu, Amanda Kessel and other talented skaters, Team USA seemed destined for the gold. The U.S. women unbelievably gave up a 2-0 lead and lost the game in overtime by a score of 3 goals to 2. In fact, Team USA led with 55 seconds remaining in the third period until they didn't. They'll just have to wait another four long years to get the Canadian monkey off of their back.
The lone bright spot for the U.S. Women came via Maddie Bowman's scintillating Ski Halfpipe performance. She led after run one. Even if she elected not to take her second run, she would have wound up being the Olympic champ thanks to her arsenal of tricks like the 900. This was the first year the Ski Halfpipe was in the Olympics and it was an exciting sport to watch.
In the Nordic Combined Team Large Hill event the American Men placed eigth.
The Americans currently have eight golds, six silvers, and eleven bronze medals to lead the field with 25 overall.
Which Team USA olympian were you rooting for the most? Let me know in the comments section below.
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