Olympic Precap: Final Countdown

Rob N.
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Via @usskiteam

(Note: Due to the time difference between South Korea and the United States, all events will be listed by the day they are being aired in the United States.)

The Olympics Precap is a daily post that will serve as a recap and preview of the action in PyeongChang.

Here’s What Happened: Friday, February 23rd

We are officially in the final days of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and the final medals are being awarded.

Friday’s medal handout began in men’s biathlon with the 4X7.5km team relay where France’s Martin Fourcade was going for his fourth gold medal in PyeongChang.

Unfortunately it was not meant to be for Fourcade as he and his French teammates finished well off the podium. Instead it was your regular suspects adding on to their already successful medal hauls.

Sweden were the big winners and did so in dominating fashion. A strong performance across all four legs of the race gave Sweden the gold medal by almost a full minute over the second place finisher.

Norway and Germany sit a top of the medal table and they both added to their Pyeongchang totals with silver and bronze respectively in the biathlon team relay.

Short-track speed skating has wrapped up its competition but long-track still has a few events left on the schedule. Generally the men’s 1,000m race would be the end of competition but with the addition of the mass start races, it was pushed back.

Long-track has historically dominated by The Netherlands and these Game have been no different. That tradition was continued in the men’s 1,000m with superstart skater Kjeld Nuis taking the gold by 0.04 seconds.

Nuis was a part of the final pair to race and won with a strong push of the line to stop the clock just in the nick of time to win his second gold of the Games. Nuis is the only long-track skater to win multiple golds in PyeongChang.

Havard Lorentzen of Norway held the lead until Nuis crossed the finish line and had to settle for the silver, adding to his gold he previously won in the men’s 500m. Host nation South Korea continued its stellar Games with a bronze on the legs of Kim Tae-Yun.

After over a week of round robin play, curling was finally ready to award its first medal of the Olympics with the men’s bronze medal game between Switzerland and Canada.

These Games have been nothing short of disaster for Canada, who are typically the gold medal favorites, and they got even worse on Friday following a 7-5 defeat to Switzerland in the men’s bronze medal match.

Canada will leave PyeongChang without a curling medal in the men’s or women’s competition for the first time in history.

Making its Olympic debut, snowboarding Big Air already awarded medals in the women’s event and now it was ready to begin the final day of the snowboard schedule with the men’s final.

Boarders get three total runs, the lowest score is thrown out and your two best scores are added together to determine the champion.

It was an exceptionally strong field that included all three medalists from the men’s slopestyle event held at the beginning of the Games. That slopestyle pedigree did not carry over however and all three failed to medal in Big Air.

Sebastien Toutant of Canada made history as the first men’s Big Air Olympic champion in history with a combined score of 174.25 that propelled him to the gold medal.

Coming home with the silver was American Kyle Mack with a combined score 168.75, giving the U.S. a silver in both the men’s and women’s event.

History was made when Billy Morgan of Great Britain scored a combined 168.00 to win the bronze medal. With the medal, Great Britain set a new country record for the number of medals won in a single Winter Olympic Games.

Wrapping up the snowboard schedule was the men’s and women’s giant slalom races where European nations won five out of a possible six medals. On the men’s side, Nevin Galmarini of Switzerland ruined a great story when he defeated Lee Sangho of South Korea in the final to win the gold medal. Host nation South Korea still celebrated as Sangho took home silver.

In the bronze medal race, Zan Kosir of Slovenia defeated his French opponent to win the bronze.

One of the best moments of these Games occured in the women’s Super-G race, when Ester Ledecka shocked the world to win perhaps the most unlikely gold medal in Olympics history. What made it so shocking, was the fact that Ledecka is primarily a snowboarder who was favored to win the women’s giant slalom.

Making history as the first person to compete in skiing and snowboarding in the same Olympics, Ledecka won her second gold in PyeongChang by defeating Selina Joerg in the final.

Joerg of Germany walked away with the silver. Germany claimed a second medal in the women’s event with a victory by Ramona Hofmeister in the bronze medal race.

Another event making its Olympic debut in PyeongChang was the team alpine event.

Men and women competed as one for their country in a bracket elimination format. Countries raced head-to-head and the winner advanced to the next round. The inaugural competition was dominated by the traditional alpine skiing powers as expected.

In the gold medal race, Switzerland won three of the four head-to-head races over rival Austria to claim the first team gold medal in Olympic competition.

Austria’s defeat still meant they took home the silver medal, ending a strong Games to the alpine power. Taking the bronze was Norway who defeated the French team by a combined 0.12 seconds.

This close to the end of the Game means there is not much non-medal competition on the schedule but there are still a few sports waiting to hand out their medals. Here’s what you may have missed:

  • Women’s curling began their medal rounds. Host nation South Korea continued their cinderella run with an 8-7 victory over Japan to book a spot in the gold medal match. Waiting for them will be Sweden who knocked off Great Britain 10-5. Japan and Great Britain will play for bronze.
  • Men’s ice hockey also opened their medal rounds with two semifinal matches. OAR took care of business against the Czech Republic with a 3-0 shutout and will play for gold. In the second game, Germany shocked two time defending Olympic champions Canada 4-3 to set up a date with OAR. Canada and Czech Republic will face-off for bronze.
  • The first two heats of the men’s 4-man bobsled competition were held. Germany currently holds the top two spots.

Here’s What’s Next: Saturday, February 24th

Two days remain in the 2018 Winter Olympics and we’re down to the final medals that will be awarded in PyeongChang. Hopefully you have time to tune in as the athletes give everything they have left to bring home a medal.

Before we break down what to watch, here is Saturday’s schedule of events:

Screen Shot 2018-02-23 at 1.42.44 PM

The final weekend of action is upon us, don’t miss a second as the Games come to a close.

Here’s what to keep an eye on:

  • Lots and lots of medal action.
  • Curling gives out gold, silver, and bronze in women’s curling. The U.S. men’s team goes for its first ever gold against Sweden.
  • Cross-country begins to wrap up with the men’s 50km mass start.
  • Men’s ice hockey crowns an Olympic champion when OAR takes on Germany in the gold medal game. Canada and the Czech Republic go for the bronze.
  • Long-track completes its schedule with the men’s and women’s mass start races. This is the first time the mass start was been run in the Olympics.
  • Sliding events come to a close with the final two men’s 4-man runs.

You can catch any of these events live or on replay by tuning into the channels listed beside the event.

If you cannot get to a TV, head on over to NBCOlympics.com to stream live online or catch up on any replays you may have missed. You can also watch wirelessly on your smartphone by downloading the NBC Sports App.

Medal Table

A quick look at the medal table after Friday’s action:

Screen Shot 2018-02-24 at 1.28.24 AM.png
Via NBCOlympics.com

Norway remains on top and sets a new record for medals won in a single Winter Olympic Games. Canada ties Germany at 28 but golds give Germans the tie breaker. United States remains in fourth with cushion over The Netherlands. Switzerland bolts up to sixth with strong day on the podium. Host nation South Korea remains in top ten.

Keep up to date on everything Olympics right here on “The Bat Flip” where we will be posting our daily Precap to cover what all went down and what else is to come in PyeongChang.

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