Month: February 2014

olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Figure skating, women’s free skate

Posted on by Beau Dure

It’s not fair to say Olympic figure skating is still the same mess it was in the past. The new scoring system does add a bit of transparency. But judges are human, particularly in a sport in which the athletes are also artists trying to connect with a crowd. And that’s why Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova is a gold medalist ahead of defending champion Yuna Kim.

Date: 20-Feb

Sport: Figure skating

Event: Women’s free program

Medalists: Adelina Sotnikova (Russia), Yuna Kim (South Korea), Carolina Kostner (Italy)

SportsMyriad projections: Mao Asada (Japan), Yuna Kim (South Korea), Ashley Wagner (USA)

How U.S. fared: Polina Edmunds, who’s not yet old enough to drive, had a graceful skate with a few difficult elements. She hit the combinations but fell on a triple — Johnny Weir pointed out it was the same error she had in the national championships. Everything else was solid, and Edmunds had a personal best 122.21 and a total of 183.25, just behind Japan’s Akiko Suzuki in third place with the top six to come.

Gracie Gold skated very well. She just had one costly fall on a triple flip. She also followed Russia’s Sotnikova, and the lack of energy in the arena may have deflated some of her component scores. She beat the personal best she set in the team program with a score of 136.90 and a total of 205.53.

Ashley Wagner had dazzling spins, and she didn’t fall or land too awkwardly. She pumped her fists as she finished. But Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski noticed a couple of small errors, including one underrotation. That was enough to limit her score to 127.99, just shy of her personal best.

The USA is officially in a medal drought in this event, but finishing fourth (Gold), seventh (Wagner) and ninth (Edmunds) isn’t too bad. Maybe the Olympics could add a team event with three women per team?

What happened: Japanese favorite Mao Asada rebounded from her dreadful short program by landing everything in her demanding free skate, including the fateful triple axel. She was marked down on two jumps but not much else, getting a career-high 142.71 points. Her total of 198.22 wouldn’t contend for a medal. Would it?

France’s Mae Berenice Meite, who skated to the same Prince tune as Jason Brown in the short program, did her free skate to the sounds of someone tuning his guitar. It segued into some slow blues, then Queen’s We Will Rock You, then ZZ Top’s La Grange. Sounds like an iPod for old guys like me, but the segues were awfully jarring. So was a fall on the triple loop. Everything else was solid.

The other highlights of the second-to-last group were Edmunds and Japan’s Akiko Suzuki, who was just clean enough to edge past Edmunds. Asada was well in front.

Russia’s Julia Lipnitskaia led off the final group. She was the darling of the country after the team event but fell badly in the short program. She did it again here. She eked ahead of Asada but knew the score wouldn’t stand.

Italy’s Carolina Kostner had an entertaining program to Ravel’s Bolero, with just one shaky landing. Everything else was terrific. She beat her personal best by more than 10 points, putting Olympic disappointments in the past.

Then came Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova, who flew through the heavens, solved Fermat’s last theorem, inspired soldiers to lay down their arms … or something like that. We really have no idea what the judges saw. She was good, surely. But she did miss a landing (which was indeed downgraded), and her program was simply not as good as Kostner’s. The judges said it was more than seven points better.

Gold and Wagner had the misfortune of following that. So did South Korea’s Yuna Kim, the defending champion. Kim was flawless. Beautiful. If only she were Russian.

“Any other night, it would’ve been hers,” said Johnny Weir. And it should’ve been.

The medalists deserved it. Just not in that order. Kim, Kostner, Sotnikova would’ve been just fine. Lipnitskaia probably deserved seventh rather than fifth ahead of Asada and Wagner.

Full results

2
olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Freestyle skiing, women’s halfpipe

Posted on by Beau Dure

Surely, somewhere, Sarah Burke is proud. She didn’t live to see it, but her sport made its Olympic debut with aplomb. The USA’s Maddie Bowman may have been overlooked while all this happened because figure skating and women’s hockey were going on, but watch for her on NBC tonight.

Date: 20-Feb

Sport: Freestyle skiing

Event: Women’s halfpipe

Medalists: Maddie Bowman (USA), Marie Martinod (France), Ayana Onozuka (Japan)

SportsMyriad projections: Virginie Faivre (Switzerland), Roz Groenewoud (Canada), Maddie Bowman (USA)

How U.S. fared: Annalisa Drew was first up for the Americans and landed a 1080, not a common trick here. Yet she only got a 66.40, seventh after the first run.

Angeli VanLaanen was in the middle of a good first run but falling. Brita Sigourney was going even bigger when she slipped on her backside, recovered, did another trick and tumbled badly to the center of the pipe. After a few seconds, the medical crew raced out, as did teammate Maddie Bowman. But Sigourney got to her feet and went to the finish under her own power.

Bowman was simply the class of the first run, landing back-to-back 900s. She took the lead with 85.80 points.

In her second run, Drew tried to go even bigger with a 1260, but her skis smacked the lip of the pipe on her landing, and she fell. She smiled and whistled as her scores were read.

VanLaanen had some copious bandages on her nose at the start of her second run. She put together some nifty tricks and was building up to something big but slipped about midway through.

Bowman was assured at least a bronze when she took her second run, but she still went for it, bumping her score up to 89-flat.

Sigourney, badly banged up in her first run, took her time before dropping in for the second. She got the 900 on her second trick but slipped on her backside in nearly the same spot as her first run. Rather than repeat the rest of the painful opener, she pulled up a bit and finished with some conservative elements before embracing her friends at the bottom. A solid 76.00 got her sixth place.

What happened: After Drew, who skied early in the first run, the next four were rather conservative, getting about as much air out of the pipe as I get when I dunk on an 8-foot basketball hoop. A couple of scores were in the 70s somehow.

The North Americans kicked things up a notch. VanLaanen and Canada’s Roz Groenewoud went big but crashed. Japan’s Ayana Onozuka raised the bar with a big run for 79.00 points and the lead. Then came Bowman with the 85.80, Sigourney with the nasty crash, and France’s Marie Martinod with a sensational 84.80.

Again, the first few skiers were nothing spectacular in the second run. Swiss favorite Virginie Faivre, coming back from a back injury, was solid but gained little air.

Groenewoud went big with a 900 but landed far down in the pipe, losing momentum. She ended with 74.20.

Onozuka exulted when she finished a clean run with a 720 thrown in. She improved to 83.20, still in third place but setting a more difficult task for Sigourney, the only person who could bump her from the podium.

After Bowman and Sigourney, Martinod was the closer. Silver was assured, but could she bump Bowman off the top spot? She had some solid tricks through the program and closed with a 900. The score: 85.40. Slightly better than her first run, not enough to beat Bowman. No one seemed to care — everyone was thrilled. Martinod had retired to raise her daughter but came back to make a run at the Games, and it paid off.

Full results

0
olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Curling, women’s gold medal game

Posted on by Beau Dure

The women’s curling Olympic title has returned to Canada at last. The teams weren’t the same as the 2010 final, when Sweden rallied on Canada’s gruesome errors to win gold, and neither was the result. Jennifer Jones and company wrapped up a perfect sweep through the Games.

Date: 20-Feb

Sport: Curling

Event: Women’s gold medal game, Sweden vs. Canada

Medalists: Canada, Sweden, Britain

SportsMyriad projections: Sweden, Britain, Canada

What happened: Jennifer Jones, perfect so far in these Games, looked a little uncertain in the first end. She had the hammer and needed a takeout to score one and prevent a score of three. She did, but it nearly hit a guard and nearly rolled too far away. Disaster averted, but would Jones be able to get back in the form she had shown so far in Sochi?

Maria Prytz, not the Swedish skip but the curler tasked with throwing the last rocks, scored an impressive single in the second, knocking a guard into one of her own rocks and dislodging one of Canada’s from the rear.

After a blank third end, Prytz was only able to take out one Canadian rock when she wanted two, leaving Jones an easy draw for a 3-1 lead. But Prytz got it back with a double takeout in the fifth.

Canada wasn’t looking as solid as it had. Using curling’s scoring system — four points or 100% for a well-executed shot, then three, two, one or zero for those that fall short — vice-skip Kaitlyn Lawes was shooting less than 60%, well down from her tournament average of 81%. More than once, she strolled back along the ice and slammed the tip of her broom to the floor in frustration.

They blanked the next two ends, carrying a 3-3 tie into the eighth. But Lawes again struggled with her two shots. After Prytz’s last shot, each team had one rock in the four-foot. Canada couldn’t quite tell which was closer. Jones tried to draw to the center and perhaps nudge Sweden’s rock just a bit. She did neither. The measuring stick came out, and Canada was relieved to score one and take a 4-3 lead — still less than they wanted with two ends to play.

Lawes improved with her deliveries in the ninth end, the second taking out a Swedish rock and leaving four Canadian stones in scoring position. Then Sweden’s Christina Bertrup had a rare miss, sliding her stone between two Canadians stones and out the back of the four-foot. Three Canadian stones were still in scoring position. Jones made it four with a draw to the top of the button.

Prytz responded with a raise, displacing the rock Jones just threw at the top of the four-foot but leaving one Canadian rock closer. Then Jones’ last rock covered half the button, leaving Sweden virtually no chance to score a double.

swe-can 1

But Prytz still had a chance to score one. Instead, Prytz’s hammer was a disaster. Needing to get to the button and dislodge Jones’ stone, she instead knocked her own previous stone out of the four-foot. Canada stole two, taking a 6-3 lead into the 10th.

swe-can 2

The 10th was anticlimactic. Canada kept clearing rocks, making a Swedish triple impossible. Jones had tears of joy in her eyes as her teammates took their final shots, and her own takeout sealed the 6-3 win and the gold.

Full results | Recaps with diagrams

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olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Nordic combined, team event

Posted on by Beau Dure

Three Nordic combined powers raced together for the bulk of a 20-kilometer relay, with Norway’s Joergen Graabak continuing his breakout Games by holding out for gold. The USA wasn’t able to mount a challenge, rallying to finish sixth.

Date: 20-Feb

Sport: Nordic combined

Event: Team (four jumps determine start intervals for 4x5k cross-country relay)

Medalists: Norway, Germany, Austria

SportsMyriad projections: Germany, Norway, France

How U.S. fared: The USA took silver in this event in 2010, with its Golden Generation at its peak, and followed up with a third-place run at last year’s World Championships. But the team was not great on the large hill. Todd Lodwick was seventh in his group with 99.9 points. Taylor Fletcher also was seventh, continuing his struggles on the hill with 92.5. Bill Demong had a nice one at 108.0, also seventh in his group but keeping pace with the strong jumpers in his group. Bryan Fletcher got 97.2, ninth in the last group.

The team is full of solid cross-country skiers, but those jumps would give them a gap of 1 minute, 52 seconds behind the leaders.

Bryan Fletcher led off the cross-country relay and pulled the USA ahead of Russia into seventh place, but he lost five seconds to the leaders. Todd Lodwick, who sat out the cross-country phase of the individual races to rest his injured shoulder, lost nearly a minute and fell back to eighth.

The bright spot was Taylor Fletcher, who posted the fastest third leg of any of the competitors. He pulled back ahead of Italy into seventh.

Bill Demong, the only U.S. man to win Nordic combined gold, went hard in the final leg despite the great distance. He moved up into sixth and held off the Czech Republic.

What happened: Austria moved into the lead with the best jumps of the second and third rounds — Christoph Bieler and Mario Stecher. But a weaker fourth jump left them behind consistent Germany.

Norway had been back in the pack, but Haavard Klemetsen finished with the best jump of the day.

After the jumps, the time intervals were set: Germany first, Austria seven seconds back, Norway 0:25, France 0:35.

The fleet-footed Magnus Moan brought Norway back into the mix immediately, ailing normal hill champion Eric Frenzel held on for Germany, and the top three hit the first exchange within a second of each other.

That lead pack stayed within a second of each other through the second leg as well, and they put more distance on fourth-place France.

In the third leg, the leaders were still cozy with each other, at one point all standing up and looking like they were out for a nice stroll in the warm weather. They put the hammer down in the last kilometer, with Norway’s Magnus Krog trying to put some distance on the others. But the gap from first to third only grew to 1.7 seconds. France, though, was more than a minute back, far too much for Jason Lamy Chappuis to pull back.

The three contenders in the last leg — Joergen Graabak (Norway) was the large hill winner, Fabian Riessle (Germany) was the large hill bronze medalist, Mario Stecher (Austria) is a six-time Olympian. Through another four kilometers, no one attacked. Could Stecher keep up with the young guys on a final sprint?

Stecher started to make a move on the uphill but couldn’t get away, and the others left him on one of the last turns. Graabak was out front through the stadium, with Riessle on his tail. The German anchor picked the finish lane next to the Norwegian and flung himself at the line, but he was 0.3 seconds behind.

Full results

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olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Curling, women’s bronze medal game

Posted on by Beau Dure

Young British skip Eve Muirhead hit all the shots as she needed them, taking Olympic bronze in a well-played bronze medal game.

Date: 20-Feb

Sport: Curling

Event: Women’s bronze medal game, Britain vs. Switzerland

What happened: Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott had all the shots early. She was dialed in on her takeouts to take two in the second end. They traded singles in the next two ends. Eve Muirhead hit a double takeout and another takeout in the fifth to score two, leaving the teams tied 3-3 at the halfway point. Switzerland had the hammer and a slight advantage.

Ott went for the blank in the sixth end but left her rock in the house, scoring one. Muirhead successfully blanked the seventh.

Britain got two to take the lead in the eighth. Switzerland’s Carmen Schaefer missed everything in the house with her second shot, Ott missed a double takeout, and Muirhead drew carefully for the double.

Muirhead’s team was simply superb in the ninth end. They called time out to talk with coach David Hay to figure out how to limit Switzerland to one. Anna Sloan bumped a Swiss rock out of potential scoring position. Muirhead took both Swiss rocks out of the house. Ott put one back, but Muirhead carefully bumped it through two British rocks out of the four-foot. Britain had three in scoring position, and Ott had to play a careful draw just to get one, tying the game 5-5 but handing the hammer back to Britain for the 10th end.

Switzerland wasn’t able to introduce many complications in the final end. Ott put her last stone in scoring position just inside the eight-foot. Muirhead, the world champion, had the relatively easy but high-pressure draw for the win. She put it right on the button.

Full results | Recaps with diagrams

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olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Freestyle skiing, men’s skicross

Posted on by Beau Dure

The wildest event of the Olympics — think snowboardcross but with more moving parts that can get tangled — lived up to that distinction. When all was done, France had the sweep.

Date: 20-Feb

Sport: Freestyle skiing

Event: Men’s skicross

Medalists: Jean Frederic Chapuis (France), Arnaud Bovolenta (France), Jonathan Midol (France)

SportsMyriad projections: Alex Fiva (Switzerland), Dave Duncan (Canada), Andreas Matt (Austria)

How U.S. fared: John Teller was 20th in the seeding run (like qualifying, except that everyone qualifies) and got drawn into a tough heat in the first elimination round. He was fourth out of the start but picked his way into third, keeping pace with the two French riders. He came up to battle with Jonathan Midol, and Midol questionably bumped him aside on one turn. On the next, Teller tried to take the inside line, tangled with Midol again and skidded wide. That was it.

What happened: Favorite Alex Fiva had an eventful day. He didn’t finish his seeding run, leaving him seeded 30th. He raced out into the lead of his first heat but was slow off a jump. Canadian Brady Leman was behind him and couldn’t slow down. Leman basically ran over Fiva and kept going. Leman won the heat; Fiva was out.

Canada’s David Duncan was the next to crash out, getting the worst of a four-way collision. All four finished, but Duncan was the slowest.

The big Canadian story coming in was Chris Del Bosco, who overcame troubles with alcohol and switched from the USA to Canada on his way to becoming a world champion in 2011. He was in bronze medal position in 2010 but fell trying to move up. He was second in the seeding race and in good position in his heat, but he took a couple of jumps badly and lost momentum. He threw out his arms in frustration as he finished third and didn’t advance.

The first quarterfinal was as crazy as this crazy sport gets. Flying off the final jump, three of the four skiers fell and slid across the line behind Switzerland’s Armin Niederer, who steered himself around the tangled bodies to finish upright and first. A photo finish had to separate the three who had fallen. Russia’s Egor Korotkov got his left arm across the line first, eliminating Swedish favorite and top seed Victor Oehling Norberg, who had been leading before going astray off the jump.

Austria’s Andreas Matt, the 2010 silver medalist, was eliminated in less spectacular fashion, simply lacking the speed in the second quarterfinal.

Into the semifinals, a couple of favorites looked strong. World champion Jean Frederic Chapuis (France) won his first two runs. So did Canada’s Brady Leman and Slovenia’s Filip Flisar, the 2012 World Cup winner and proud wearer of the best mustache in the Olympics.

Chapuis and Midol, whose tangling with John Teller had sent the American out of the first round, finished 1-2 for France in the first semifinal. Russia’s Egor Korotkov nearly crashed once again and couldn’t advance this time.

A third Frenchman, Arnaud Bovolenta, was in the second semifinal. Flisar looked like the favorite, but he hit the snow early, giving a yell of pain and/or frustration. Brady Leman sailed through to first, and Bovolenta made it three in the final for France.

Leman, the only non-Frenchman in the final, is a classic story of perseverance. He has had multiple leg breaks, including one the day before he was supposed to race in the 2010 Olympics.

Korotkov saved his smoothest run for the small final, shaking off a couple of bumps to go clear into first. Flisar stayed at the back and stayed out of trouble before moving up to second.

Off to the big final, where Leman may have felt outnumbered by the large French contingent. He picked his way from fourth to third but couldn’t hang on. Desperately trying to pass late, he skidded and fell.

Up front, it was Chappuis staying smooth, with Bovolenta behind him. Midol had a spectacular crash off the final jump but slid across the line, the medal surely numbing his pain.

Quote: “How have we still got four skiers on their feet?” – international feed commentator after one of many wild moments

Full results

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medal projections, olympic sports, winter sports

Best/worst, Sochi medal projections vs. reality: Feb. 19

Posted on by Beau Dure

All in the family today, with unique pairs of siblings and spouses in action:

– Siblings Anatasiya Kuzmina (Slovakia) and Anton Shipulin (Russia) competed against each other in the first Olympic biathlon mixed relay, and their teams finished 0.3 seconds apart — Russia fifth, Slovakia sixth.

– American-born snowboarder Vic Wild won parallel giant slalom gold for Russia. He gained Russian citizenship after marrying Alena Zavarzina — who won bronze in her event just a few minutes earlier.

So if you took Wild’s medal and reclassified it for the USA, the Americans and Russians would be tied on the current medal projection pace. But after today’s hockey quarterfinals, Russia could use a nice feel-good story like the Wild-Zavarzina family.

CURRENT PACE

Original projections: Norway 39, USA 35, Canada 30, Russia 26, Germany 23, Austria 22, South Korea 15, Netherlands 14, France 12, Switzerland 11, Sweden 10, Japan 7, Italy 7

If the rest of the projections were to come true, like they did in speedskating today, the medal count would be: Russia 31, USA 29, Norway 27, Canada 27, Netherlands 24, Germany 19, Austria 15, Sweden 15, France 14, Switzerland 14, South Korea 9, Japan 9, Italy 9

UP

Switzerland (+2 today, +3 overall): Parallel giant slalom snowboarding was very good to the Alpine country.

USA (+1 today, -6 overall): One more medal than expected in women’s bobsled, but also a bonus for someone who was under tremendous expectations and delivered — Ted Ligety.

DOWN

Austria (-4 today, -7 overall): It’s not as bad as it seems. Three of those medals were in the wild and wacky world of parallel giant slalom snowboarding. The other was in men’s giant slalom — the original Alpine skiing variety.

Germany (-2 today, -4 overall): Bobsledders aren’t getting it done.

FULL TABLE

[gview file=”https://duresport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2014-medal-projections-feb19.pdf”%5D

HIGHLIGHTS

Best legacy to keep alive: Once again, freestyle skiing pioneer Sarah Burke. Everyone wishes she was in these Olympics, but everyone is thinking of her.

Best reminder that Americans also complain about figure skating judges: Frank Carroll, speaking before the short program, dismissed Julia Lipnitskaia as a “little girl.”

Best reminder that Americans sometimes have a good point when they complain about figure skating judges: “How in the world Sotnikova ended up ahead of Kostner, whose poise and lyricism is light years ahead of the Russian’s, is anyone’s guess.” – Christine Brennan

Best stats

Most important thing to remember about Lolo Jones: She recruited Lauryn Williams, who beat her out for a spot in the top USA sled.

Most arcane conspiracy theory: Norwegian cross-county ski team wax technician Knut Nystad – “I wish I had the best products, preferably the stuff the Swedes have. There are rumors that certain producers favor certain countries. We’ve heard that rumor from two distributors.”

Most intriguing conspiracy theory: Playing time and line combinations on Russia’s hockey team were bizarre. “Why? Because the KHL and Russian hockey hoped to use the world’s biggest hockey games as a propaganda tool for the Russian professional league that vies to rival the NHL. Well, that was a complete and utter disaster.” – Pierre LeBrun, ESPN

Best impression of a boxer’s career indecision: Yevgeny Plushenko’s latest retirement hasn’t lasted long.

Best bear moment:

Worst bear moment:

Most frightening quote:

Worst teammate: Take it away, @ChuckBerkeley, and good luck finding any evidence that the third U.S. sled would’ve done any better without Lolo Jones.

Least effective drug test: Japanese skier Akira Lenting only had one event on his agenda — the men’s relay. But his teammates were lapped, which meant he wouldn’t get to ski his anchor leg. Then his name was drawn for a drug test. Gee, it’d be a shame if Japan had to vacate that result.

THURSDAY’S PROJECTIONS

Curling, women’s bronze and gold medal games: Sweden, Britain, Canada

Sweden-Canada for gold, Britain-Switzerland for bronze. Based on today’s semifinals, pick Canada, Sweden, Britain.

Figure skating, women’s free skate: Mao Asada (Japan), Yuna Kim (South Korea), Ashley Wagner (USA). Also considered: Gracie Gold (USA), Julia Lipnitskaia (Russia), Carolina Kostner (Italy), Adelina Sotnikova (Russia)

Actual top 6 through the short program: Kim, Sotnikova, Kostner, Gold, Lipnitskaia, Wagner. Let’s not talk about Asada.

Freestyle skiing, men’s skicross: Alex Fiva (Switzerland), Dave Duncan (Canada), Andreas Matt (Austria), Jean Frederic Chapuis (France), Chris Del Bosco (Canada), Filip Flisar (Slovenia), Victor Oehling Norberg (Sweden)

Confidence level: Maybe a 2 on a scale of 1 to 5. Not the most predictable event.

Freestyle skiing, women’s halfpipe: Virginie Faivre (Switzerland), Roz Groenewoud (Canada), Maddie Bowman (USA). Also considered: Marie Martinod (France), Ayana Onozuka (Japan)

Should be a terrific competition.

Ice hockey, women’s bronze and gold medal games: USA, Canada, Finland. Also considered: Russia

USA-Canada for gold, Sweden-Switzerland for bronze.

Nordic combined, team: Germany, Norway, France. Also considered: Austria, Japan, USA

Individual large hill results:

  • Norway: 1, 2, 9, 12
  • Germany: 3, 4, 8, 10 (#10, normal hill winner Eric Frenzel, was sick)
  • Austria: 5, 15, 17, 19
  • France: 7, 13, 21, 27
  • Japan: 6, 26, 35, dns
  • Italy: 18, 23, 28, 41
  • Czech Republic: 11, 25, 29, 32
  • USA: 20, 22, 31, dns
  • Finland: 14, 38, 42, 44
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olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Figure skating, women’s short program

Posted on by Beau Dure

Defending champion Yuna Kim has the flawless jumps. Italy’s Carolina Kostner, shedding Olympic disappointments of the past, has the artistry. Adelina Sotnikova remains upright and is Russian. And that’s why the three of them will battle for gold in the free skate.

To be fair, Sotnikova skated very well. But she seemed a couple of points too high, and the USA’s Ashley Wagner once again seemed a couple of points too low. Maybe the judges don’t like Pink Floyd.

But the Americans didn’t fare badly at all. Gracie Gold could still medal, and Wagner and Polina Edmunds acquitted themselves quite well.

Date: 19-Feb

Sport: Figure skating

Event: Women’s short program

How U.S. fared: First up was 15-year-old Polina Edmunds, a Californian whose mother was born in Russia. Terry Gannon reminded everyone that she was born after Tara Lipinski won gold, and Lipinski reminded everyone that she was struggling in practice and in the warmup. (That sounds far more petty in print that it was on the broadcast.) Edmunds was solid on her triple-triple combo, though a replay showed she slightly underrotated the second, then easily hit the triple flip that Johnny Weir said was problematic in practice. She followed with a dazzling spin and a solid double axel.

Lipinski, Weir and Gannon were all impressed. The judges did ding her on the underrotated combo but not much else, and she got a season-best 61.04 points, first through the first 12 skaters.

Gracie Gold had pushed her way into talk of a potential medal in recent months. But her jumps weren’t quite there. Her double axel got a negative Grade of Execution, and her transition grade was only 7.71. Still, she earned a 68.63.

Ashley Wagner was in the last group, and she carried a look of confidence and determination, far from the scrunched-up look of disbelief of the popular meme from the team event. Her first triple-triple wasn’t perfect, but everything else seemed solid, especially the big jump she throws just as the full band comes in on Shine On You Crazy Diamond. The judges killed her on that first combo, though, and she got a 65.21.

Gold is fourth, within six points of the podium. Wagner is sixth, just 0.02 points ahead of Russian darling Julia Lipnitskaia. Edmunds is a solid seventh.

What happened: Defending champion Yuna Kim of South Korea was dominant in 2010. She had competed in only five international events since then, winning the 2013 World Championship. That’s why she skated so early in the evening, well before the “favorites” as ordained by recent results. She seemed a little nervous when she started. Not when she hit her triple-triple, skating to a lush orchestral version of Send in the Clowns. Everything else was just as flawless and graceful.

Going into the final group of six, the leaders were Kim, Gold and Edmunds.

Up first: Newly minted Russian sweetheart Julia Lipnitskaya. Her opening was clever, tracing a finger on the ice when the music started, then reacting to a loud moment in the music. She ended the same way. In between, she had a few flawless jumps, some spins in which her legs seemed to bend at unnatural angles, and …

… a fall. An ugly fall, tumbling onto both knees. Tara Lipinski, in the middle of describing her outlandish spinning ability, was stunned. Her score: 65.23, third behind Kim and Gold.

Italy’s Carolina Kostner was overlooked a bit coming into the Olympics. She won the world title in 2012 and was second in 2013, but she failed to qualify for the Grand Prix final this season. And her Olympic track record was bad — ninth at home in Torino, a woeful 16th in Vancouver. But she was flawless here, getting solid Grades of Execution and terrific component scores. They apparently didn’t mark her down for her awful makeup, and so she moved into second at 74.92 points, just behind Kim.

The difference between Kostner and Wagner can be calculated quite easily. Kostner and Wagner attempted the same opening combination — a triple flip and triple toe loop. Kostner got a 9.40 base value with a 1.50 Grade of Execution for 10.90 points. Wagner’s base value was knocked down to 6.60 for the underrotation, and her Grade of Execution was -1.70, for a total of 4.90 points. That accounts for six points of the 8.91-point gap between them. Component scores, all affected by a mistake on the ice, accounted for the rest.

France’s Mae Berenice Meite was stuck in between the big names in the last group. The 19-year-old skated to the same music as the USA’s Jason Brown, the dreary Prince selection The Question of U. She finished no higher than fifth in Grand Prix events this year. She put two hands down on a jump but was otherwise solid. She scored 58.63, and we’ll see where she stands in four years.

Next up was Adelina Sotnikova, the 17-year-old Russian and Grand Prix finalist who was surely sick of being upstaged by Lipnitskaia. She hit everything, getting positive Grades of Execution on every element. And probably a few points for being Russian. She moved into second between Kim and Gold, all separated by 0.80 points.

Up last: Japan’s Mao Asada. Her season best is 73.18, just behind the three contenders in the 74-point range. Her career best is 75.84. The silver medalist in 2010, also a two-time world champion, attempts the most difficult jump in the women’s program, a triple axel. A few seconds into her program, she launched herself up, spun, landed … ye- … no. She almost had it, but she just couldn’t hold the landing. Her skating to a nice Chopin piece was pretty, but she had errors on all three of her jumps.

Asada wound up with only 23.88 points on the technical elements, sinking all the way to 16th. I’d hate to be the guy who did an interview on Fuji TV explaining why he picked Asada to beat Kim … oh, wait … I am that guy.

So it’s Kim, Sotnikova and Kostner clumped together, with Gold, Lipnitskaia and Wagner not too far behind.

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olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Curling, men’s semifinals

Posted on by Beau Dure

Canada’s men and women will be playing for gold, as Canada’s Brad Jacobs put on a clinic against China. Sweden and Britain went down to the wire, with Britain taking advantage of one small miss to move into the final.

Date: 19-Feb

Sport: Curling

Event: Men’s semifinals – China-Canada, Sweden-Britain

What happened:

China-Canada: World runner-up Brad Jacobs vs. the ever-improving Chinese team.

Liu Rui must have thought he had a good chance to steal in the third end, wedging his last shot between two Canadian rocks in the four-foot. But Jacobs knocked one of his guards into the four-foot and managed to eject Liu’s without knocking off his own, scoring two.

Each team kept scoring with the hammer, and Liu leveled the game with a good draw in the sixth.

Tied 4-4 in the seventh, Jacobs piled on the pressure with a deft double takeout on his first shot, leaving Britain with two in scoring position and a guard in front. Liu couldn’t get past the guard, and Jacobs drew for three and a 7-4 lead.

Liu answered with two in the eighth, with neither side making a serious error or spectacular shot. But Canada removed rocks with reckless abandon through the ninth, leaving Jacobs an easy takeout for three and a 10-6 lead. Canadian vice-skip Ryan Fry clinched the game with a double takeout, clearing the house with only three rocks left.

Sweden-Britain: Current world champion Niklas Edin vs. two-time world champion
David Murdoch.

After a blank first end, Murdoch stole one in the second as Edin struggled on takeouts. But Murdoch struggled with his own takeouts in the third to let Edin draw for two, and Edin hit a terrific triple takeout in the fifth to reduce complications and limit Murdoch to one. That gave us a 2-2 tie at the halfway point.

The sixth end was one of those cases in which a couple of inches can swing several points. After Murdoch failed to clear Sweden’s rocks from the house, Edin had a takeout that could’ve scored two (if Edin’s shooter also rolled out) or three (if it didn’t). The shooter stayed, but Britain’s rock didn’t roll far enough. It wound up a couple of inches closer than Sweden’s best rock and maybe a foot closer than two others. Instead of scoring three, Sweden gave up one.

Edin converted a simple draw for one in the seventh to tie the game 3-3. Each side made takeouts through the eighth, leaving Murdoch a classic curling dilemma — make a simple shot for one or clear out for a blank, keeping the hammer for the ninth? He made the shot for one, leading 4-3 after eight.

The ninth end was complicated. Murdoch left a narrow window for Edin to take out both of his stones in the four-foot. He did. Sweden took a 5-4 lead after nine, giving the hammer back to Britain for the 10th.

The pressure-packed 10th end had a few small misses, and Edin had the biggest. He attempted a promotion takeout, slamming one of his guards into the British rock in the four-foot. The guard went a few inches closer to the center, removing his own rock instead of Britain’s. Murdoch just needed to get his last shot on the button, either a draw or takeout, to score two and win. No problem.

Canada-China | Sweden-Britain | Scores and diagrams

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olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Biathlon, mixed relay

Posted on by Beau Dure

Norway’s Ole Einar Bjoerndalen is officially the Olympic record-holder for most medals in winter. He shot cleanly and put Norway well out in front of a new event, biathlon’s mixed relay, to claim his 13th medal.

Relay format: Shooters carry spare bullets in addition to the usual clips of five. They can use three spares per shooting stage, but it takes time to load them individually. Miss more than three, and they’re off to the penalty loop for each target that’s still standing.

Date: 19-Feb

Sport: Biathlon

Event: Mixed relay

Medalists: Norway, Czech Republic, Italy

SportsMyriad projections: Norway, Russia, Czech Republic

How U.S. fared: Susan Dunklee has been aggressive throughout the Games, and she went out hard again this time. She missed once at the first stage and lost some time, sliding to 10th, but she charged back to fifth by the next stage. Another miss, but she still left the range just behind Norwegian great Tora Berger. They picked off a couple of skiers in the last lap, and Dunklee was a close fourth at the handoff.

That left Hannah Dreissigacker in lofty company, just behind medalists Gabriela Soukalova (Czech Republic) and Tiril Eckhoff (Norway). But it all went wrong at the first shooting stage, where Dreissigacker missed four shots, costing her not just the time of reloading three bullets but one trip to the penalty loop. She missed just once at the standing shoot and was 10th at the handoff.

Tim Burke missed three in prone and dropped to 12th place, but he missed only once in standing while others misfired. He handed off to Lowell Bailey in ninth place.

Bailey was clean through the first stage but missed three in the standing. His shooting sewed up a top-10 finish for the USA, with Austria in sight in ninth. Bailey pulled away, getting some screen time as he finished with exhaustion all over his face.

What happened: Tora Berger had issues (two misses) on the standing shoot, letting a group of four get 15 seconds ahead of her. No matter — she quickly hauled them back in and handed off in first place. Then Italy, the Czech Republic and the USA.

Next, it was Soukalova’s turn to struggle with the rifle, missing three shots. Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff hit all five to head out quickly, with Italy’s Karin Oberhofer just behind. The Czech athlete earned it back on the second lap, though, racing past Oberhofer. Then Soukalova atoned on the range, going five-for-five. So did Eckhoff, who left the range five seconds ahead of Soukalova.

As they handed off to the men, Soukalova forged ahead of Eckhoff. The Czech Republic’s Jaroslav Soukup took off with The Man Himself, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, right on his tail. Italy was nearly 20 seconds back, Poland near 50 seconds back. Biathlon powers Germany, Russia and France were well back.

And Bjoerndalen, as he so often does, ripped through the first shooting stage quickly. This time, he hit all five. Soukup took his time and left 11.7 seconds later. Then Italy’s Dominik Windisch and Slovakia’s Pavol Hurajt, who shot cleanly.

Bjoerndalen once again opted for speed in the standing stage,and he once again took down all five. Soukup’s deficit grew to 36.7.

So the anchor legs were cast into their positions with big gaps. Emil Hegle Svendsen, who held onto gold in the mass start despite celebrating too soon, would take the last lap for Norway. The Czech Republic’s Ondrej Moravec was 43.1 seconds back. Italy’s Lukas Hofer was 1:14.1 back. Then another 30 seconds to Germany’s Simon Schempp. France had the great Martin Fourcade on the anchor leg, but he was 2:09.7 out of gold and more than a minute off the podium.

The top seven anchor skiers shot cleanly at the prone stage. Fourcade had reeled in Slovakia to stand fifth, but nothing else had changed.

Svendsen made sure nothing would change at the top. He shot quickly, a daring move, but he hit all five. He turned to salute the crowd and left the range just as Moravec came in. The Czech athlete missed one but kept a solid lead over Italy’s Hofer. Then the Italian shot cleanly, and the medals were pretty well set.

Norway had dominated in every sense. They missed only twice on the range, both on Berger’s second shoot. Svendsen had plenty of time to celebrate as he crossed the line, setting off the first mixed-gender celebration in an Olympic biathlon relay.

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