❄️ Day 8: Brazilian Magic and the "Stoltz" Standard
Today was a day of firsts, record-breakers, and some seriously gritty performances in the middle of snow squalls and slush.
⛷️ Men’s Giant Slalom: Brazil’s Golden Debut!
The biggest shock of the Olympics happened on the slopes of Bormio. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, representing Brazil, didn't just win—he dominated.
The Performance: Braathen (who recently switched from Norway to represent his mother’s home country) put down a Run 1 that was nearly a full second faster than anyone else. He held his nerve in the second run to win Brazil’s first-ever Winter Olympic medal.
The Podium: 🥇 Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (Brazil), 🥈 Marco Odermatt (Switzerland), 🥉 Loïc Meillard (Switzerland).
⛷️ Women’s Dual Moguls: Gritty Under the Squalls
The debut of Dual Moguls was a wild ride. Heavy snow squalls made visibility a nightmare, leading to some heart-stopping crashes for Team USA.
USA Resilience: Both Jaelin Kauf and Elizabeth Lemley took hard falls during their heats but stayed in the course to finish. Their toughness paid off with a double-podium!
The Podium: 🥇 Jakara Anthony (Australia) – She was untouchable today. 🥈 Jaelin Kauf (USA), 🥉 Elizabeth Lemley (USA).
🎿 Women’s 4x7.5km Relay: Norway Reigns in the Slush
Mother Nature was not kind to the cross-country skiers today, dumping rain and slush on the course.
The Drama: Sweden had multiple falls that cost them the lead. Norway also went down once but recovered faster to take the gold.
Team USA: Our squad (Jessie Diggins, Rosie Brennan, Sophia Laukli, and Julia Kern) fought through the heavy snow to finish in 5th place.
The Podium: 🥇 Norway, 🥈 Sweden, 🥉 Finland.
🥌 Women’s Curling: Upsets on the Sheet
China vs. Italy: China pulled off a major upset, taking down the host nation Italy 7-4.
Great Britain vs. Canada: In a battle of the heavyweights, Great Britain edged out Canada 7-6, leaving the Canadians in a tough spot in the standings.
⛸️ Speed Skating: Stoltz is Unstoppable
Team USA’s Jordan Stoltz is having the Games of a lifetime.
The Record: After Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil broke the Olympic record early, Stoltz took the ice and smashed it again with a blistering 33.77.
The Podium: 🥇 Jordan Stoltz (USA) – Two races, two Golds, two Olympic Records. 🥈 Jenning de Boo (Netherlands), 🥉 Laurent Dubreuil (Canada).
🏃♀️ Women’s Team Pursuit Update: Team USA qualified in the 4th spot! They’ll face Canada in the semifinals. Mark your calendars: the Finals are on Tuesday, Feb 17.
🔫 Women’s 7.5km Biathlon Sprint: Norway’s Masterclass
France has been the team to beat, but Norway’s Maren Kirkeeide put on a shooting clinic today, going 10-for-10 to take the win.
🥇 Maren Kirkeeide (Norway), 🥈 Océane Michelon (France), 🥉 Lou Jeanmonnot (France).
🏒 Hockey Update: USA vs. Denmark
The Men’s game is wrapping up and it was a chippy one!
Final Score: USA 6, Denmark 3.
The Story: The physical play led to several scuffles, but the U.S. forward depth was too much for the Danes. In the women’s bracket, Canada cruised past Germany 5-1.
🦅 Men’s Large Hill Ski Jumping
The Slovenians continue to own the air!
🥇 Domen Prevc (Slovenia), 🥈 Ren Nikaido (Japan), 🥉 Kacper Tomasiak (Poland).
🛷 Women’s Skeleton: Flock Finally Wins Gold
After years of near-misses, Austria’s Janine Flock finally grabbed her Olympic Gold.
🥇 Janine Flock (Austria), 🥈 Susanne Kreher (Germany), 🥉 Jacqueline Pfeifer (Germany).
Team USA: Kelly Curtis finished 12th and Mystique Ro took 15th.
🥌 Men’s Curling: Team Casper Stays Calm
Final: USA 8, Germany 6
We didn't let the Swiss loss slow us down! Danny Casper and the crew came out swinging with a massive four-point first end that basically set the tone for the match.
The Highlights: Germany tried to claw their way back, but the Americans played a masterful defensive game in the final ends. This second win keeps Team USA right in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Drama on the ice: Team Canada was accused of touching the stones on the granite after releasing the stone by Team Sweden. Some heated language was exchanged but no wrong doing has been recorded.
🚀 Women’s Freeski Big Air: The Gu "Disaster" That Wasn't
If you thought the slush and squalls were the only drama today, you weren't watching the Big Air jump. Eileen Gu (representing China) had a terrifying start to her qualifying session that had everyone holding their breath.
The Crash: After a solid first jump (86.00), Gu had a nasty faceplant in the powder on her second run. She actually broke her ski pole in the fall and looked shaken.
The Clutch Moment: Sitting in 17th place and facing elimination, she had to go for it on Run 3. With a spare pole in hand and zero room for error, she stomped a massive left double cork 1080 (84.75). She let out a huge laugh of relief in the corral—she’s into the finals!
The Top Qualifiers:
- Mathilde Gremaud (Switzerland) – 169.00 (The Slopestyle Gold medalist is hunting for another).
- Eileen Gu (China) – 170.75 (Talk about a comeback!).
- Megan Oldham (Canada) – 171.75 (She was the star of the night with a switch left double 1260).
Team USA Update: * Grace Henderson was our best performer, but it was a heartbreaker—she finished 14th, just missing the top-12 cutoff for the final.
Marin Hamill (19th), Avery Krumme (22nd), and Rell Harwood (23rd) also missed out. Harwood deserves a huge shout-out, though—she was competing on a torn ACL!
⛸️ Short Track: The "Fighter Jet" Soars in a 9-Man Final
Typically, these finals only have about five or six skaters, but because of a series of crashes and "advancements" (where a skater is moved forward after being fouled), nine men took the line. It was like rush hour traffic on ice skates.
The Results (Final A)
🥇 Gold: Jens van 't Wout (Netherlands) – He is officially the king of Milan! This is his second individual Gold of the Games (he also won the 1000m). He managed to stay clear of the limbs and blades flying behind him to finish in 2:12.219.
🥈 Silver: Hwang Dae-heon (South Korea) – The defending champion from Beijing proved he's still a titan, grabbing silver just 0.08 seconds behind the lead.
🥉 Bronze: Roberts Krūzbergs (Latvia) – This is a massive moment! This is Latvia’s first-ever Olympic medal in any speed skating discipline.
Team Canada: A Heartbreaker
Canada had the heavy favorites in the building, but the "nine-man traffic jam" was their undoing.
William Dandjinou, the reigning world champ, was sitting in 2nd with just two laps to go but got bumped and lost his momentum, finishing 5th.
Steven Dubois, the silver medalist from 2022, fell early in the race and ended up in 6th.
Team USA: The B-Final Battle
Our boys didn't make the "A" medal round, but they put up a hell of a fight in the consolation round.
Andrew Heo finished 2nd in the B-Final (11th overall).
Brandon Kim finished 6th in the B-Final (15th overall).
Clayton DeClemente was eliminated earlier in the quarterfinals.
📺 Tonight on NBC Primetime (8:00 PM ET)
NBC is leaning hard into the "Stoltz Sprint" tonight. Here’s the lineup:
The Speed Demon: Full coverage of Jordan Stoltz’s 500m Gold and his record-breaking run.
The Brazilian Miracle: A feature on Lucas Braathen and how he brought gold to the beach nation.
Dual Moguls Chaos: Watch the "Snow Squall" finals where the US women grabbed two medals.
Skeleton Finals: The conclusion of the women's event and Janine Flock’s emotional gold.
🗓️ Looking Ahead: Day 9 (Sunday, Feb 15)
Morning Session (Starting 3:00 AM ET):
Men’s Curling: USA vs. Sweden — This is the "Big One." We face the defending gold medalists.
Alpine Skiing: Women’s Giant Slalom (Run 1 & 2) — Mikaela Shiffrin is back! She’s looking for redemption and her first medal of these Games.
Cross-Country: Men’s 4x7.5km Relay — Can the US men pull an upset in the slush?
Afternoon Session (Starting 1:00 PM ET):
Pairs Figure Skating: The short program begins. Keep an eye on the US pairs!
Men’s Hockey: USA vs. Germany — The final Group C game. If we win, we likely clinch a bye to the quarterfinals.
Biathlon Pursuit: Campbell Wright starts just 70 seconds back. He has a real shot at a medal if he shoots clean!
Comments
Post a Comment