Poland’s Kamil Stoch victorious in men’s normal hill ski jumping

By Chris EstradaFeb 9, 2014, 2:50 PM EST

In his third Winter Olympics, FIS World Cup ski jumping leader Kamil Stoch has won his first Olympic medal – and it’s the best one of all.

On the last jump of tonight’s normal hill final, Stoch soared 103.5 meters and pulled down a score of 136.0 to claim the gold medal with a combined score over two jumps of 278.0.

Before tonight, Stoch’s previous best individual finish in an Olympics was a 14th-place showing on the large hill four years ago in Vancouver.

MORE: NBCOlympics.com slideshow – Men’s normal hill final

Slovenia’s Peter Prevc, another of the top World Cup jumpers, wound up with silver after going into first place on his own final jump. His combined score of 265.3 was able to stand up against the next-to-last jumper of the night, Norway’s Anders Bardal (264.1), who eventually settled for the bronze.

None of the three Americans that advanced out of qualifying to tonight’s final – Nick Alexander, Peter Frenette and Anders Johnson – were able to earn a second jump. In the final, only the Top 30 competitors after the first jump get to take part in the second round.

Notables include Gregor Schlierenzauer in 11th (253.3), Thomas Morgenstern in 14th (251.6), and 2010 Olympic normal hill champion Simon Ammann in 17th (246.6).

MEN’S SKI JUMPING – NORMAL HILL FINAL
Combined score across two jumps
1. Kamil Stoch (POL) – 278.0
2. Peter Prevc (SLO) – 265.3
3. Anders Bardal (NOR) – 264.1
—
34. Nick Alexander (USA) – 116.0 (one jump)
45. Peter Frenette (USA) – 107.2 (one jump)
47. Anders Johnson (USA) – 104.2 (one jump)

Coco Gauff into French Open quarterfinals, where Iga Swiatek may await

By OlympicTalkJun 5, 2023, 11:52 AM EDT

Getty

Coco Gauff swept into the French Open quarterfinals, where she could play Iga Swiatek in a rematch of last year’s final.

Gauff, the sixth seed, beat 100th-ranked Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5, 6-2 in the fourth round. She next plays Swiatek or 66th-ranked Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko, who meet later Monday.

Gauff earned a 37th consecutive win over a player ranked outside the top 50, dating to February 2022. She hasn’t faced a player in the world top 60 in four matches at Roland Garros, but the degree of difficulty is likely to ratchet up in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Swiatek won all 12 sets she’s played against Gauff, who at 19 is the only teenager in the top 49 in the world.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

Also Monday, No. 7 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia dispatched 36th-ranked American Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-1, breaking all eight of Pera’s service games.

Jabeur, runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, has now reached the quarterfinals of all four majors.

Jabeur next faces 14th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia, who won 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5 over Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo, who played on a protected ranking of 68. Haddad Maia became the second Brazilian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open Era (since 1968) after Maria Bueno, who won seven majors from 1959-1966.

Pera, a 28 year-old born in Croatia, was the oldest U.S. singles player to make the fourth round of a major for the first time since Jill Craybas at 2005 Wimbledon. Her defeat left Gauff as the lone American singles player remaining out of the 35 entered in the main draws.

The last American to win a major singles title was Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought matches the longest in history (since 1877) for American men and women combined.

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U.S. earns first three-peat in Para hockey world championship history

By OlympicTalkJun 5, 2023, 8:49 AM EDT

International Paralympic Committee

The U.S. trounced rival Canada 6-1 to become the first nation to three-peat in world Para hockey championship history.

Tournament MVP Declan Farmer scored twice, and Josh Misiewicz, David Eustace, Jack Wallace and Kevin McKee added goals. Jen Lee made eight saves in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, on Sunday.

Farmer, who had nine goals in five games for the tournament, also scored twice in Paralympic final wins over Canada in 2018 and 2022 and the last world championship final against Canada in 2021. Farmer, 25, already owns the career national team record of more than 250 points.

The U.S. beat Canada in a third consecutive world final dating to 2019, but this was the most lopsided gold-medal game in championship history. The U.S. also won the last four Paralympic titles dating to 2010.

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