Today is our final day of live competition. I always love the final weekend but it’s certainly tinged with a bittersweet feeling. I’ll be offline today trying to avoid spoilers for the Pairs’ Figure Skating Free Skate and Two-Woman Bobsled.
Those two competitions did start last night, with Elana Meyers-Taylor sitting in third place at the end of the first two runs. Canada and Germany, along with the other American sled piloted by Kaillie Humphries, pose the greatest threat to a podium finish with two more runs to go.
Figure skating delivered much of what was expected, with ROC and China battling it out at the top. Team USA exceeded the expectations of most thanks to really solid work in their short programs. Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier earned 74.23 points for sixth place, while Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc (who made their debut as the first non-binary athlete to ever compete at the Olympics!) sit seventh with 74.13.
Freestyle Skiing wrapped up with the Men’s Halfpipe. It was a doozy of a competition, with high winds cross-cutting the field of play and gusts swirling within the pipe itself. Nearly every athlete was affected, with Gus Kenworthy getting walloped on his second run. He finished his career with a solid third run. New Zealand’s Nico Porteous scored the gold medal with Americans David Wise (the two-time reigning Olympic champion in this event) and Alex Ferreira getting silver and bronze, respectively.
Wrapping up the evening was the start of the Four-Man Bobsled. For Team USA, Hunter Church’s sled is in 13th place after two runs while Frank DelDuca is in 15th. They have the potential for a top 10 finish, but it’s unlikely they’ll catch up to the triple-threat of Germany, Canada, and Latvia. It was a light-hearted affair for the Brazilians and Jamaicans, who kicked off the competition with smiles and pride for being able to represent their warm-weather nations at the Winter Games.
While you were sleeping, the Men’s Curling gold medal match between Sweden and Great Britain ended in a nail-biting tiebreaker. Watch it if you can!
Tonight, we’ll have the conclusion of Figure Skating and Bobsled, along with the Alpine Skiing Team Event. That latter competition was delayed yesterday due to wind, so fingers crossed Mikaela Shiffrin and Team USA will be able to shoot for one last medal on the mountain. Also, Finland will try to hold off a repeat gold medal by ROC in the Men's Hockey Final.
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