Olympics 2022 recap: US women's hockey team dominates in final game before Canada showdown
After being shut out of Saturday's slate of events, the United States is finally on the medal board.
American Julia Marino took silver in women’s slopestyle snowboarding to win her first Olympic medal, four years after finishing 11th in the event at the Pyeongchang Olympics. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand took gold while Australian Tess Coady took bronze.
"We all kind of put down our best tricks linked together in a slope run, which isn’t easy to do at all. I just think it’s insanely huge for the progression of women’s snowboarding, because we’re just learning day by day what we’re capable of. And we’re capable of a lot," Marino, 24, said.
Later in the day, Jaelin Kauf won the silver medal in women's moguls to give Team U.S.A. its second medal of the Beijing Games.
Sunday's competition will feature one more medal event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics: Ski Jumping (men's normal hill individual).
Team USA women's hockey will also be back in action against Switzerland after winning their first two matchups against the Russia Olympic Committee and Finland.
There was good news on the COVID front, as well, as bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor was cleared to leave isolation after two negative tests.
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U.S. women's hockey now gets ready for Canada
The U.S. women’s hockey team moved to 3-0 through its first three games of the 2022 Winter Olympics tournament with an 8-0 blowout victory over Switzerland. The final game of Group A play will come against Canada on Tuesday in the biggest test yet for both teams.
— Chris Bumbaca
U.S. women's hockey dominating Switzerland through 2
The race for a hattrick is on.
Kelly Panek, Jesse Compher and Hilary Knight have two goals apiece entering the third period, as the U.S. women’s hockey team leads Switzerland 7-0. Compher and Pannek each netted their second scores after the team put together a five-goal first period.
The team had scored five goals in its previous two games.
Alex Cavallini, making her Olympic debut, has stopped all eight shots the Swiss have taken on net. The U.S. already has 46 shots on goal.
— Chris Bumbaca
Americans don't medal in men's luge, but Mazdzer finishes strong
BEIJING — It was a difficult and disappointing World Cup season for the American men in luge, but Chris Mazdzer salvaged something from it with a solid eighth-place finish Sunday at the Yanqing Sliding Center.
Though it didn’t match the surprising silver medal Mazdzer won in 2018, it was his best performance of the year and qualified him for the team relay event later this week. That was especially satisfying for Mazdzer, who failed to qualify for the doubles event with his partner Jayson Terdiman after crashing out of their qualifying race in January.
“After the season, no one was counting on me to even be close to this,” Mazdzer said. “I knew I could be in this range and I’m just happy to have performed well over four runs even though I had way less training runs than everybody else it was totally fine. I made it happen.”
Johannes Ludwig, the 35-year old German who won his first career World Cup overall championship in January, backed it up in Beijing with a near-flawless gold medal performance over his four runs to edge out Austria’s Wolfgang Kindl by 0.16 seconds. Those two separated themselves from the field going into the final run, leaving the bronze to Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller.
In ninth place at the halfway mark, Mazdzer came into Sunday needing a lot of help to be in contention for the podium. He didn’t get nearly enough. Though Mazdzer recorded his best time of 57.779 seconds, he only moved up one spot after the third run and remained more than 1.3 seconds out of medal position, leaving him too much ground to make up. He matched that time exactly on his fourth run and said afterward it was almost certainly his last Olympics.
“I just wanted to put down a great performance and I really felt like I did and that was pretty sweet,” he said. “It’s great to just go for it and finish off with good runs and it’s super emotional, absolutely, but I couldn’t be happier.”
Tucker West was second-best among the American contingent in 13th, followed by Johnny Gustafson, who secured last spot in the 20-sled cutoff for the final run and moved up to 19th. Mazdzer’s silver in PyeongChang remains the only U.S. medal in the history of men’s singles luge.
— Dan Wolken
U.S. women's hockey races out to commanding lead vs. Switzerland
Can the U.S. fast-forward the next 40 minutes to get to its game Tuesday against Canada?
The Americans lead 5-0 after the first period. Hilary Knight has two of the goals, and Jesse Compher, Kelly Panek and Amanda Kessel joined the scoring party. Knight’s second goal came nine seconds after Compher made it 2-0.
Switzerland goaltender Saskia Maurer surrendered all five and actually plays for U.S. head coach Joel Johnson at the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota). Andrea Braendli replaced her to start the second frame.
This isn’t the first time the U.S. has put five goals on the Swiss in the first period of an Olympic contest — they also did it during the 2014 Sochi Games. The team’s Olympic record for goals in one period, set against Russia in 2010, is seven.
— Chris Bumbaca
Jaelin Kauf wins USA's second medal of Beijing Olympics
ZHANGJIAKOU – The daughter of two professional skiers, American Jaelin Kauf won the silver medal in women's moguls at the Beijing Olympics on Sunday.
The fifth skier in the super final at Genting Snow Park, Kauf scored 80.28 to earn her first Olympic medal.
Jakara Anthony of Australia scored 83.09 to win the gold, becoming the first Australian woman to win an Olympic medal in moguls. Anastasiia Smirnova of Russia took the bronze.
American Olivia Giaccio finished sixth.
Kauf's silver is the second medal won by an American at these Games after Team USA was shut out on Day 1.
Ranked No. 1 in the world heading into Pyeongchang, Kauf of Salt Lake City, Utah, finished seventh at the 2018 Olympics. This season she is ranked 17th overall in the world in moguls.
— Lori Nickel
U.S. women's hockey team to start 3rd different goaltender
In its third game of this Olympic tournament, the U.S. women’s hockey team is starting its third goaltender.
This time, it’s Alex Cavallini’s turn between the pipes. Maddie Rooney and Nicole Hensley started the first two games, respectively — wins over Finland and the Russia Olympic Committee. Neither were tested much, as the U.S. allowed 12 shots on goal in both contests. Rooney surrendered two goals against Finland, while Hensley posted a shutout.
Cavallini, 30, was a member of the 2018 gold-medal squad but did not appear in PyeongChang. In the past two world championships (2019 and 2021), she posted a 7-1-0-1 record (four shutouts).
“Like a lot of players that get to play at the next level, in the early part of it, there are some challenges,” her college coach at Wisconsin, Mark Johnson, told USA TODAY Sports. “You sort of dig down deep and figure out if you want to do this and what it’s going to take to get there. She stuck with things (and) obviously a very good goaltender.”
It’s clear that U.S. coach Joel Johnson saw an opportunity to give all three playing time against lesser opponents to open the tournament. But it begs the question: who will start against Canada on Tuesday?
That will provide a clearer picture of the goaltending situation for the rest of Beijing.
— Chris Bumbaca
Fourth American qualifies for women's moguls final
ZHANGJIAKOU, China – With a score of 69.92, American Kai Owens qualified for the final Sunday night in women’s moguls.
Owens joins U.S. teammates Hannah Soar, Olivia Giaccio and Jaelin Kauf as the 20 finalists who will vie for medals.
Owens, 17, did not compete in the opening qualifying round on Tuesday night because her eye was swollen shut from a crash during a practice run on the same day. Owens, who also had a concussion earlier in the season, was held out by coaches, but healed in time for the last-chance qualifying run on Sunday.
Owens went for a big run with a cork 720 on the top air on the icy course.
Owens will compete in the third slot out of 20 skiers in the field; Soar is 14th, Giacco is 17th and Kauf is 18th.
— Lori Nickel
3 Americans qualify for men's snowboard slopestyle final
ZHANGJIAKOU, China – By their nature, slopestyle courses require creativity. No two are the same, with the rail and jump sections varying with each contest.
But the Beijing Olympics course has delivered features requiring imaginativeness not seen since, well, the last Olympics. As the men’s snowboarders prepare for the final on Monday, it’s those unique features that could play a role in who stands atop the podium.
“That’s what’s cool about slopestyle,” said Sebastien Toutant. “There’s a lot of options, and you can use your creativity to pick different lines that people are not using.”
Toutant was among three Canadians and three Americans who combined to make up half of the 12-man field that advanced from qualifying at Genting Snow Park on Sunday.
Olympic newcomer Sean Fitzsimons qualified in third, while defending gold medalist Red Gerard qualified fifth. U.S. teammate Chris Corning finished 11th in qualifying. China’s Su Yiming took first after a big run that saw him be the only qualifier to land a 1620 in the competition.
“The course is really hard. It’s definitely one of the hardest courses we’ve done and then with the wing jumps they got, we haven’t done that for four years,” Corning said. “So they throw us into the fire again.”
Canada's Mark McMorris, a two-time Olympic bronze medalist, is coming off gold in slopestyle at the X Games in January, and he has 21 X Games medals.
He’ll be favored to contend for gold in the final, where he thinks riders will need a 1440 and two 1620s. If not that, some other combination of high-rotation tricks executed well is the key.
But the Olympic course and all its unique features might still have its say.
— Rachel Axon
U.S. women's hockey team back in action
Before the marquee women’s hockey matchup between the United States and Canada on Tuesday, the Americans will face Switzerland (8:10 a.m.) in their third game of Group A play on Sunday.
The Swiss squad started its tournament on a rough note against the Canadians, who blew them out 12-1 on Thursday. The Swiss followed that with a 5-2 loss against the Russia Olympic Committee the next night.
The U.S. – 2-0 thus far – has scored five goals in each of its first two games, while allowing a combined 24 shots on goal (12 in each game). The Americans' opening victory against Finland highlighted the team’s speed and finesse. But the ROC’s physical style and “pack it in” defensive mentality forced the U.S. to grind out a 5-0 win, as the Americans posted three goals early in the third period to pull away.
Defender Savannah Harmon leads the team in points with five (four assists, one goal) and forward Alex Carpenter has three goals to lead Team USA.
— Chris Bumbaca
Swede sets Olympic record in men's 5,000 speed skating
Two months ago, Nils van der Poel set the world record in the men’s 5,000-meter speed skating event at the 2021 world championships in Salt Lake City, Utah.
On Sunday, the heavy-favorite Swede skated his way to Olympic gold – and an Olympic record of 6:08.84.
Dutchman Patrick Roest, starting in the outside position of the fifth heat, initially set a new Games mark with a time of 6:09.31. But van der Poel skated a 28.97-second final lap to end the competition on top. Roest could only look on as he took silver, while Norway’s Hallgeir Engebraaten won bronze (6:10.27).
Three-time defending Olympic champion Sven Kramer (Netherlands) saw his reign end. The 35-year-old -- who previously held the Olympic record -- finished ninth (6:17.04).
Americans Emery Lehman (6:21.80) and Ethan Cepuran (6:25.97) finished in 16th and 17th, respectively, out of 20.
— Chris Bumbaca
ROC takes medals lead, wins gold and silver in cross-country skiing
There's a new medals leader as of Sunday evening, as the Russian Olympic Committee added gold and silver medals in the men's 15km + 15km skiathlon.
Alexander Bolshunov, took home gold with a time of 1:16:09. Four years after falling short of winning a medal in the event in Pyeongchang, Denis Spitsov redeemed himself by finishing in second at 1:17:20, embraced by Bolshunov as he crossed the finish line. Iivo Niskanen of Finland took bronze with a time of 1:18:10.
Team USA's Scott Patterson finished in 11th with a time of 1:20:10 and Gus Schumacher finished 39th in 1:25:14.
With the two medals, the ROC now has the most medals of this year's Games so far, with a total of four (one gold, two silvers and one bronze). Norway still has the most gold medals with two.
— Jordan Mendoza
Men's downhill postponed after multiple delays due to high winds
BEIJING — The weather wasted no time wreaking havoc with the Alpine skiing schedule at the Beijing Olympics.
The men’s downhill was postponed Sunday because of high winds, which add an unacceptable level of risk to a race in which skiers are already navigating jumps, turns and uneven terrain at speeds of up to 90 mph. A make-up date was not immediately given.
“We want the race to be fair. We want the best ski racer to be able to win on race day. I’m glad the organizing committee recognizes that,” said Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who would have been the 10th skier, and second American, on the course.
With the Olympics already running on a tight schedule, weather issues can be particularly ruinous in Alpine skiing. There are other races each of the next five days, beginning with the women’s giant slalom Monday, and officials will have to decide whether to double up or wait for a break in the schedule later in the Games.
But that carries its own risk because there’s no guarantee there won’t be delays in other events. The postponement of the downhill race followed the cancellation Saturday of the third and final training run, also because of high winds in the middle section of the course.
There is an added complication in Beijing in that both the speed and technical events are being held at the same venue. So if winds make it impossible to race on one course, it’s a good bet conditions will be similar on the other.
In Pyeongchang, the speed and technical events took place at different resorts about 30 minutes apart.
“We want to race, but it is what it is,” Cochran-Siegle said. “You can’t control the wind.”
— Nancy Armour
Slip-ups drop USA to second in team figure skating
BEIJING — Team USA is now all but certain to earn a medal in the team figure skating competition, but its slim hopes of winning gold likely died Sunday.
After Karen Chen fell in the women's short program, Vincent Zhou had a shaky showing of his own in the men's free skate, an event he was favored to win. Zhou bailed on a planned quad flip attempt and finished third behind Japan and Russia with a score of 171.44.
Together, the slip-ups by Chen and Zhou leave the U.S. in second place in the standings with 42 points, sandwiched between the Russian Olympic Committee (45) and Japan (39). They entered Sunday in first.
The other two teams remaining in the competition are Canada and China, though it appears neither would be able to climb back into podium position, even with wins in all of the remaining events.
The team competition will conclude Monday with the free dance, pairs' free skate and women's free skate.
— Tom Schad
Marino wins USA's first medal in Beijing
ZHANGJIAKOU, China — America is on the board with its first medal of the Beijing Olympics.
Julia Marino used a huge second run Sunday to win silver in women's snowboard slopestyle, giving the United States its first medal overall of these 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Zoi Sadowski Synnott of New Zealand won the gold and Tess Coady of Australia took the bronze.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Jamie Anderson crashed in training and qualified fifth. She finished ninth overall Sunday.
— Rachel Axon
Russians overtake USA for lead in team figure skating
BEIJING — The U.S. slipped to second place in the team figure skating event after the women's short program when Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee dazzled and American Karen Chen took a hard fall.
Chen, 22, skated a clean first part of her short program but slammed into the ice on a planned triple loop jump toward the end. She ended up fifth with a score of 65.20, easing ROC's path to the top of the standings.
The Russians entered the week as the heavy favorites to win team gold, and they are in position to do so at the midway point of the competition. ROC is first with 36 team points, followed by the U.S. (34), Japan (29), Canada (24) and China (22).
The competition will now shift to the long programs, starting with the men's free skate later Sunday. Vincent Zhou is slated to skate for the U.S.
— Tom Schad
Ratings for opening ceremony plummet
NBC’s broadcast of the opening ceremony from Beijing drew an all-time low Friday, averaging just 16 million viewers from the U.S. audience, according to the network. The number includes viewership on its entire menu of networks and streaming services, per the early projections.
That’s a massive 43% ratings drop from the 2018 opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea, which drew 28.3 million viewers.
There are several reasons that could explain the weak numbers to start these Olympics.
Excitement around these Games has been muted in the U.S. due to the controversy surrounding host country China. The U.S. is one of several governments to stage a diplomatic boycott over human rights issues, including what they have called a genocide occurring against the Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities in the Xianjing region.
Another potential factor working against NBC is viewer fatigue. Because the Tokyo Games scheduled for 2020 were delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the second Olympics within six months.
It’s also likely that time zone issues have played a role. This is the third straight Olympics in Asia, which means live coverage mostly occurs either early in the morning or overnight for American audiences. The smaller audience for the Beijing opening ceremony was foreshadowed by what occurred in Tokyo, when NBC’s preliminary figures showed an audience of 17 million.
These are still large television audiences for Friday night primetime viewing windows in the U.S. but disappointing compared to previous Games. NBC paid $7.75 billion in 2014 to extend its exclusive broadcast rights of the Olympics until 2032.
— Dan Wolken
US tabs veterans on Day 2 of team figure skating
BEIJING — The U.S. entered Day 2 of the figure skating team event in first place. And it turned to a pair of experienced skaters in hopes that they'll keep pace.
Veteran Karen Chen was selected to skate the women's short program over first-time Olympians Mariah Bell and Alysa Liu. Chen, 22, placed 11th at the 2018 Olympics and fourth at the 2017 and 2021 world championships.
On the men's side, Vincent Zhou was tapped to skate the long program and attempt to build on the performance of Nathan Chen, who set a personal best with his short program Friday morning. Zhou's long program is set to music from the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
The team competition will conclude Monday.
— Tom Schad
US counting on Chen to stay close with Russia
BEIJING — Karen Chen doesn’t need to be spectacular when she skates in the figure skating team competition Sunday morning, she just needs to be steady. But spectacular wouldn’t be bad.
With the United States holding a surprising lead after the first day of the figure skating team competition, Chen will be the first American on the ice Day 2, competing in the women’s short program. Her goal is to stay as close as she possibly can to Russia’s Kamila Valieva in the team short program. Valieva will be expected to win this portion of the competition. How good are the Russians? Their three women are expected to sweep the medals in the individual competition later in the Olympics.
With the United States ahead of Russia, 28-26, if Chen were to finish in the top three, she would ensure that Team USA would still be at least tied with Russia. (First place is worth 10 points, second place 9, and so on.) A second-place finish and the USA would still be ahead going into the men’s long program, the other event Sunday.
The competition ends Monday with the pairs and women’s long programs and the free dance.
— Christine Brennan
White soaking up every moment of final Olympics
ZHANGJIAKOU, China — Shaun White has been relishing the small parts — the last opening ceremony, the last time checking out the halfpipe and, soon, his last Olympic runs.
White affirmed what seemed likely: his fifth Winter Games will be his last snowboarding competition entirely, the last time anyone could see the three-time gold medalist on the stage that he had used to help grow his sport.
"For me, this has all had this amazing glow to every single decision, every single competition because this will be my last Olympics," White said Saturday. "I’m just so excited about everything. Opening ceremony was incredible. The venue looks incredible. Just enjoying every single moment."
White said the decision became evident while training in Austria in the lead-up to these Games. He had called off training because of a lingering ankle injury, had pain in his knee despite surgery to repair it and had tweaked his back working out.
— Rachel Axon
Olympic teams raise concerns over quarantine hotels
BEIJING — Not enough food. Inedible meals. No training equipment. Some Olympic athletes unlucky enough to test positive for the coronavirus at the Beijing Olympics feel their quarantine conditions are making a bad situation much worse.
“My stomach hurts, I’m very pale and I have huge black circles around my eyes. I want all this to end. I cry every day. I’m very tired,” Russian biathlon competitor Valeria Vasnetsova posted on Instagram from one of Beijing’s so-called quarantine hotels.
Her problem wasn’t with any symptoms of the virus. It was the food.
— Associated Press
Anderson seeks third consecutive gold in slopestyle snowboarding, two other Americans try for medals
BEIJING — Snowboarder Jamie Anderson is in fifth place after the snowboard slopestyle qualification, leading the way for the U.S. women. The two-time reigning and defending gold medalist scored a 74.35 on her first run, good for a second-place ranking. Her next run was clean until the final moments when she fell.
“I definitely was hoping to get that second run, but I’ll take what I can get,” Anderson told NBC. “I’m excited for tomorrow.”
Fellow American Julia Marino redeemed herself on her second run with a score of 71.78 and sixth place. Rounding out the Americans competing in the final is Hailey Langland in ninth after a clean second run that scored a 68.71. The top 12 advance.
Team USA’s Courtney Rummel finished 18th with a best score of 48.30 and will miss the final.
The final is scheduled to begin Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
— Alex Ptachick
US beats China in mixed doubles curling; Czech Republic and Switzerland up next
BEIJING — The U.S. mixed doubles curling team picked up another key win Saturday, defeating host China 7-5, roughly 24 hours after squeaking out a win over Sweden.
With those two victories, the team of Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys moved to 3-2 at the midway point of round-robin play. They are now sitting in a tie for fourth place out of 10 teams, with four matches to go.
The top four teams advance to the semifinal round.
Persinger and Plys' next match against Canada at 7:05 a.m. ET will be particularly pivotal, with the neighboring countries now tied for that fourth and final spot. The U.S. will then face the Czech Republic and Switzerland on Sunday, and Great Britain on Monday.
— Tom Schad
