She had to wait a while, but Mikaela Shiffrin finally was able to ski in PyeongChang. With the women’s alpine skiing competition behind set increasingly back, the American was able to maintain her composure to win her first Olympic gold medal of these Games.
Shiffrin wasn’t the only American in action tonight. The U.S. women’s hockey team fell to Canada in a tense encounter. In a game that featured plenty of momentum swings, Canada scored two in the second period to seal the deal. The U.S. continued to put increasing pressure on the Canadians, but couldn’t get the job done.
In other news from the evening, Marit Bjoergen won her 12th overall Olympic medal and Pierre Vaultier won his second straight boardercross gold medal.
Alpine Skiing: Shiffrin wins gold in giant slalom
Mikaela Shiffrin sat in second position after her first run in the giant slalom, behind Italian Manuela Moelgg. The American, though, unlike her Italian counterpart, put on a masterful second run of 1:09.20, launching her into the gold medal position ahead of Moelgg, whose second run pushed her all the way down to eighth.
The Olympics could not have gone off to a better start for Shiffrin, who could leave PyeongChang with multiple medals.
Watch Shiffrin’s gold medal run
Hockey: CAN def. USA 2-1
Women’s Tournament
If that was a preview of what the gold medal game could look like, then it’s bound to be another classic between these two rivals. From the first puck drop until the final whistle, these two teams battled it out in a cagey affair that certainly lived up to expectations. Meghan Acosta and Sarah Nurse both scored for Canada.
CAN def. USA 2-1
FIN def. OAR 5-1
To read a full recap and to watch highlights, click here
Men’s Tournament
Finland’ s 18-year old young star Eeli Tolvanen stole the show on Wednesday night as the Finns eased to victory. Voltanen had a hand in four of five goals for his nation, scoring once and claiming three assists. With some traditional powerhouse teams looking a bit shaky at the start, he could become a huge difference for Finland as the tournament progresses into the knockout phase.
FIN def. GER 5-2
SWE def. NOR 4-0
Cross-Country Skiing: Haga dominates women’s 10km
Jessie Diggins again just finished outside the podium places in the women’s 10km free, finishing four seconds behind joint-third place finisher Marit Bjoergen and Krista Parmakowski.
Bjoergen, who has now won 12 overall Olympic medals in her career, is joined by countrywoman Ragnhild Haga. The Norwegian got off to a lightning-quick start, and eased to a 20.3 second margin of victory over second-placed Charlotte Kalla.
Snowboard Cross: Vaultier repeats as Olympic champ
Pierre Vaultier was one of the few man to remain standing upright on the boardercross course. This event usually sees its fair share of athletes colliding or stumbling, and in the finals those two athletes were Team USA’s Nick Baumgartner and Mick Dierdorff.
Vaultier himself was part of a collision in his respective semifinal, but was able to recover well enough to advance to the final. This is his second Olympic gold medal in boardercross, mirroring his performance in Sochi.
Full curling recap available here
Curling: USA fall to Italy 9-10
The U.S. men’s curling team put on a display as they sought to come back from a 6-9 deficit, but Italy stole the final end to take the narrow victory that sees the USA fall to 1-1 in group play.
Elsewhere, Canada defeated another medal contender in a 7-4 victory over Norway.
ITA def. USA 10-9
CAN def. NOR 7-4
GBR def. JPN 6-5
SUI def. DEN 9-7
Full curling recap available here
Biathlon: Dahlmeier’s streak ends
Laura Dahlmeier missed just one shot in the women’s 15km individual, but it was enough to see her gold medal hopes slip away. Instead, it was 22-year old Hanna Oeberg who completed the race of her life to win the event. Oeberg was just one of two competitors to shoot clear in all of her targets
