2014 Winter Paralympics Recap

The USA Ice Sledge Hockey team celebrates winning gold
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An American Hockey Gold

Unlike at the Olympics last month, the USA won a gold medal in hockey at the Paralympics. The USA ice sledge hockey team defeated Russia in the gold medal game, 1-0 with the lone goal being scored by Joshua Sweeney. This after losing to Russia in the group stages, 2-1. The USA got to the gold medal game by playing Canada. The men's US team could not beat Canada in the same situation in the Olympics and the US women lost in OT to the Canadians in the gold medal game last month as well. This time around, it was a different result. The US won 3-0 to make the gold medal game. Canada won the bronze medal with a win over Norway. USA Goalie Steve Cash, the 2010 Paralympics Goaltender of the Tournament, was outstanding. He allowed only two goals on 45 shots. 16 year-old Declan Farmer scored three goals and had two assists and Nikko Landeros had five assists and a +/- rating of 7 for the Americans. 

Wheelchair Curling

Ten teams competed in the Wheelchair Curling competition. Only four made the playoffs, Canada, China, Great Britain  and Russia. In the first semifinal, Russia annihilated Great Britain, 13-4. The Russians scored seven points in the 4th end. Canada pulled out a 5-4 victory in the the second semi against China. Great Britain defeated China 7-3 in the bronze medal game. In the gold medal game, Canada took home the gold with a 8-3 win over the home country. With the win, the Canadian team completed a sweep of the curling events during the 2014 Winter Olympics/Paralympics. Skipper Jim Armstrong, a former able-body curler who competed in six Canadian national championships and won the Ross Harstone Trophy three times, led the the team to their second consecutive gold medal after having a difficult few years. 

Roman Petushkov

Roman Petushkov
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Roman Petushkov won the most medals of any competitor at the Paralympics with six and all of them were gold. Three of the medals were in biathlon events, while the other three were in cross-country skiing events. The biathlon events he won were the Men's 7.5k -Sitting, Men's 12.5k - Sitting, and the Men's 15k -Sitting. Men's 15k - Sitting, Men's 1k Sprint, and the 4x2.5k Open Relay were he cross-country events he won. He was one medal away from tying the most overall medals at a Winter Paralympics. However, he came in fourth in the Men's 10k - Sitting cross-country race. The Russian's six gold at the Games is the second most by a Winter Paralympian ever. 

Anna Schaffelhuber

German Anna Schaffelhuber won five gold medals in all five of the Women's Alpine Skiing - Sitting events. In the Slalom event, Schaffelhuber came in first. The Austrian Team appealed the win because Schaffelhuber's outriggers were not in the correct position at the start of the first run. The Austrian Team won the appeal, which resulted in her gold medal being taken away. The German Team then appealed to the International Paralympic Committee, who then overturned the appealed decision, saying she did not gain advantage. Schaffelhuber got her medal back.

Medalists

Bibian Mentel-Spee
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Russia dominated the Games, winning 30 gold, 28 silver, and 22 bronze medals for 80 overall. The next highest country in overall medals is the Ukraine with 25 medals. Germany has the second most gold medals with nine. Both the Netherlands and Switzerland won only one medal at the Games, but they were gold. For the Netherlands, Bibian Mentel-Spee won their only gold in the Women's Snowboard Cross - Standing. It was the first ever medal handed out for a snowboarding event at a Paralympic Winter Games. The one medalist from Switzerland was Christoph Kunz, who won gold in the Men's Giant Slalom - Sitting. Both Kunz and Mentel-Spee were the flag bearers for their respective countries at the Opening Ceremony.

2014 Winter Olympics Top Stories and Competitors Through One Week

Two Gold In One Event

Dominique Gisin and Tina Maze
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The women's downhill alpine skiing event had an unprecedented ending. The first time in an alpine skiing event ended two gold medals were awarded.  Four other times in Olympic history events ended in a tie for either silver or bronze. Switzerland's Dominique Gisin and Slovenia's Tina Maze tied for first, both with a time of 1:47.57. Both skiers have been involved in ties before in World Cup events. This is Maze's first gold medal. She won two silver medals in Vancouver in the giant slalom and Super-G. Maze finished 18th in the downhill. Gisin competed in the downhill in 2010, but did not finish. Lara Gut finished in third and got the bronze medal, giving Switzerland two medals in the event.

Skiathlon


The skiathlon is a really tough event. After the finish, the competitors drop like flies. For the first half of the event, the skiers ski on classic skis using classic technique and then for the second half switch for skating skis and use a free technique. The clock does not stop when the skiers switch skis. The men's biathlon was 30 km (15 km on classic skis and 15 on skating skis) and the women's is for 15 km (7.5 on classic and 7.5 on skating). For the women's skiathlon, the defending gold medalist Marit Bjoergen of Norway repeated as champion. Sweden's Charlotte Kalla and Norway's Heidi Weng finished with the silver and bronze medals respectively. Six of the top seven skiers were from Scandinavian countries. The men's skiathlon went down to the wire. Switzerland's Dario Cologna edged Sweden's Marcus Hellner for gold. Cologna finished just a four tenths of a second ahead of Hellner. Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway captured bronze and finished a tenth ahead of Russia's Maxim Vylegzhanin. Russia, however, protested the result, saying that when Sundby crossed into Vylegzhanin's lane a few meters before the finish line and that affected the finish. A race jury ruled that crossing had no effect on the finish. Russia planned on appealing to the Court of Arbitration of Sport, but has decided not to.

Women's Hockey Playoffs

The women's hockey playoffs start on Saturday with Switzerland facing Russia and Finland taking on rivals Sweden. The United States and Canada both have byes into the semi-finals.  Both quarter-final match-ups look to be very good. Russia is ranked fourth in the world, while Switzerland is right behind them at fifth. The player to watch in this game is Russian Olga Sosina. The 21 year-old is already in her second Olympics and has scored two goals and has also had an assist so far. The most interesting fact about Sosina is she was once a member of the Russian women's national floorball team. 

Sweden-Finland should be a great match-up. The two have been rivals forever due to being neighbors and the history of Finland being apart of Sweden. Finland is led by Captain Jenni Hiirikoski, a defensewomen. Hiirikoski was a part of the bronze medal team in 2010. She won Best Defender at the 2009, 2012, and 2013 IIHF World Championships. The 2010 Player of the Year in Finland and 2012-13 were also awarded to Hiirikoski. So far, she has two goals and an assist in the tournament. One of those goals was an overtime game-winner. She will be a game changer on Saturday.

Germany's Domination of Luge

Geisenberger, Loch, Arlt, and Wendt celebrate winning
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Luge this year has been dominated by Germany. They won the gold medal in all four events, men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, and the team relay, and also won a silver medal in women's singles. Felix Loch, 24, won his second career gold medal in the men's singles. His total time of 3:27.526 was almost half a second better then runner-up Albert Demchenko of Russia. He also set a men's singles track record with a run of 51.613. Natalie Geisenberger won the gold in the women's singles with a time of 3:19.768, more then a second better then fellow countrywomen and silver medalist Tatjana Hufner. Tobias Arlt and Tobias Wendl, born fourteen days apart, took home the gold medal in the doubles. Then in the team competition, the Artl, Geisenberger, Loch, and Wendl dominated the event, winning by over a second. It was truly a wonderful showing for the Germans.

Favorite Quote So Far

"He will make a fool of himself. He has played so poorly," Niklas Backstorm's grandmother when asked about her grandson, a hockey player for Sweden. 

2012 Youth Winter Olympics

2012 Youth Winter Olympics Logo
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The 1st ever Youth Winter Olympic Games just finished up in Innsbruck, Austria, 88 years after the 1st Winter Olympics. The first Youth Summer Olympics was held in 2010 in Singapore. The Youth Winter Games occur the same year as the Summer Games, while the Youth Summer Games and the Winter Games also occur during the same year. Athletes must be 15-18 years old, depending on each sport. The Games took place from January 13th to the 22nd. It is almost like a regular Olympics, same sports, Torch Relay, mascots, and an Opening and Closing Ceremony. 


There were 15 sports at this year's Youth Winter Olympics, Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Cross-Country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combine, Skeleton, Short Track Speed Skating, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding, and Speed Skating. Here is my report on a few of them.



Alpine Skiing 


Alpine Skiing had the most competitions of any sport at 9. They were Men's and Women's Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combine, and the Mixed Parallel Team Event. Switzerland's Sandro Simonet was victorious in the Men's Slalom. Marco Schwartz of Austria won the Men's Giant Slalom and the Super Combine. Morocco's Adam Lamhamedi got Gold in the Men's Super-G. The winner of Gold for the Women's Slalom was Slovakia's Petra Vlhova. France's Clara Direz won a gold medal in the Giant Slalom. Estelle Alphand, also of France, won the Women's Super-G. Magdalena Fjaellstroem of Sweden won the Women's Super Combine. Austria won the Mixed Parallel Team Event.


Ice Hockey


Ice Hockey had two tournaments and two Skills Competitions, one for Men and one for Women. In the Men's tournament, Finland defeated Russia 2-1 to win Gold. The game was tied at 1 and  went in to game winning shots (penalty shootout). In the shootout, Finland scored on it's 1st two tries while Russia scored none, giving the Finnish the win. Canada beat the US 7-5 in the Bronze medal game. Latvia's Augusts Valdis Vasilonoks got Gold in the Skills Competition, who won the Fastest Shot competition. 


For the girls, Sweden won it all in a 3-0 victory over Austria in the Gold Medal Game. Sweden did not lose a game all tournament, with it's biggest victory a 17-0 blowout of Kazakhstan. In the Bronze Medal Game, Germany won 7-4 against Kazakhstan. The winner of the Skills Challenge was Julie Zwarthoed of the Netherlands. She won the Fastest Shot and Puck Control contests.


Luge

The USA's Gold Winning Mixed Team Relay for Luge
IOC Young Reporter Photo by Raitis Purins

Luge in Innsbruck was very exciting. In the Men's singles competion, Germany's Christian Paffe edged out Riks Kristens Rozitis of Lativa by about 2 milliseconds. Mirian-Stefanie Kastlunger from Austia beat Saskia Langer by about 2 milliseconds for Gold in Woman's singles. Italy's Florian Gruber and Simon Kainzwaldner won the doubles Gold. USA won the Mixed Team Relay with lugers Summer Britcher, Tucker West, Ty Andersen, and Pat Edmunds. The medal leader for Luge was Germany with 1 Gold, 3 Silvers, and 1 Bronze.


Snowboarding


Ben Ferguson of the USA won the Men's Halfpipe with a best score of 93.25. Micheal Ciccarelli of Canada received Gold in the Men's Slopestyle with a score of 94.25. Hikaru Ohe of Japan won the Women's Halfpipe with a score of 96.25. Canada's Audrey McManiman won the Women's Slopestyle with a score of 84.25.


All in all, Germany had the most medals of the Games with 17 and the 8 Gold medals, most in that category. Japan and Russia both had 16 total medals. The host country Austria had 13 medals, including 6 Gold medals. The USA had 8 medals in all. Morocco and Slovakia both have 1 medal in total. Those medals is a Gold medal.