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 Wrap-Up

The Most Decorated 

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen
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Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen became the most decorated Winter Olympian by winning two gold medals during his final Olympics. The biathlete came in first in the Men's 10 km Sprint and the Mixed Relay. The gold medal in the Sprint tied him with Bjorn Daehile (also of Norway) for most medals by a Winter Olympian with 12. The win in the mixed relay gave him the record with 13. Of Bjoerndalen's 13 medals, eight have been gold, four have been silver, and only one has been bronze. On the combined Summer/Winter Olympics medalist chart, Bjoerndalen is now fourth. Fellow Norwegian Marit Bjoergen, a Cross-Country skier, is now the most decorated female Winter Olympian with ten medals. Bjoergen won three gold medals in Sochi, the Ladies' 30 km Mass Start Sprint, Ladies' Skiathlon, and the Ladies' Team Sprint Classic. Six of her ten overall medals are gold, with the others being three silvers and one bronze. 

Netherlands and Speed Skating

The Netherlands dominated all the Speed Skating events. The Dutch won 23 of the 36 medals given out in the 12 events. Overall, the medals are broken down into eight golds, seven silvers, and eight bronze medals. Ireen Wust won five medals, the most by one Olympian at this year's Olympics. Wust medals were two gold and three silver. Sven Kramer won two golds and a silver medal. Three of the events were a Dutch sweep, while five Olympics records were set by a member of Team Netherlands. The 23 medals won by Dutch skaters is more then every country competing but four. The Netherlands ended up with 24 medals. The one medal not won by a speed skater was won by a short track skater.

Bobsleigh 

Alexander Zubkov
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The two-women bobsled competition was close. Canada 1 (Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse) defeated United States 1 (Elana Meyers and Lauryn Williams) by a tenth of a second to win gold. The bronze medalist were United States 2 (Aja Evans and Jamie Greubel). The two-men competition was won by Russia 1 (Alexey Voevoda and Alexander Zubkov), with Switzerland 1 (Alex Baumann and Beat Hefti) winning silver and United States 1 (Steve Holcomb and Steven Langton). Pilot Zubkov, the flag bearer for Canada at the Opening Ceremonies, won his first ever gold medal. But he was not done winning gold. Russia won the four-man competition as well. The United States came in third, unable to repeat as gold medalists. 

Russian Athletes' Success and Failure

The host country's athletes represented their homeland well. They were the leaders in overall medals with 33 and gold medals with 13. Of the the 15 sports, Russia medaled in ten of them. Viktor Ahn, a South Korean born Short Track Skater who moved and became a citizen of Russia to continue his skating career, won three golds and one bronze. The figure skating team of Maxim Trankov and Tatiana Volosozhar won two gold medals. 
However, not every story had a happy ending. Famous figure skater Evgeny Plyushchenko won a gold in the team event, but withdrew from the men's short program. The Russian men's hockey team had the weight of the world on their shoulders. Before and during the Games, it was said the success of the Team Russia would be dependent on the hockey team. The only thing that mattered for many fans was a gold medal. The hockey team disappointed many fans. They lost to the US in a shootout in the group stage and then lost 3-1 to Finland in a lackluster performance. There were more successes then failures for the Russians, but the failures almost outweighed the successes.  

The Failure of the United States' Stars

Meryl Davis and Charlie White
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The high-profile athletes for the US did not live up to expectations. Snowboarder Shawn White dropped out of the slopestyle event and then finished fourth in the halfpipe, which he was the two-time defending gold medalist. Alpine skiers Ted Ligety and Bode Miller won only one medal each. No American won a medal in a Speed Skating event, while the only one Short Track Skating medal was won. Figure skater Gracie Gold finished fourth in the women's free skating event. The men's hockey team were great going into the semi-finals, headlined by the heroics of TJ Oshie in a shootout win vs. Russia, but then lost 1-0 to Canada and then 5-0 to Finland in the bronze medal game. Meryl Davis and Charlie White were one of the few stars that lived up to the billing. They won gold in the ice dance and helped the US win third in the team figure skating event. 

One Medal Countries

Only two counties won only one medal in Sochi. They were Croatia and Kazakhstan. Croatia's Alpine Skier Ivica Kostelic won the countries only medal, silver, in men's super combined. In Vanocuver, Kostelic also won the silver in the men's super combined, as well as silver in the slalom. Figurer Skater Denis Ten of Kazakhstan won bronze in the men free program.

Looking Ahead to 2018

2018 Winter Olympics Logo
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The 2018 Winter Olympics are gong to be in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Pyeongchang is 14 hours ahead of EST, which is going to make watching events live just as difficult as this Olympics. The main events occurring during prime-time Pyeongchang time at about 8pm will be on 6am. The event that start at noon Pyeongchang time is going to start at and events 10pm EST. 

The biggest question heading into the 2018 Winter Olympics is whether NHL players will participate in the Games. Since 1998, the NHL has taken a three-week hiatus to allow their top players to play for their countries at the Games. The NHL was been non committal to allowing their players to go to South Korea. The NHL has legitimate reasons for not going, which include injured players, NHL teams not getting compensated for their injuries, and the loss of revenue during the hiatus. I hope that the NHL allows its players to continue to compete in the Olympics. Hockey during the Olympics is on par or above any NHL event, including the Stanley Cup. With that being said, I don't have high hopes for NHL players to be making an appearance in Pyeongchang. 

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.