Day 8 of the Winter Olympics 2018

Saturday, 2.17.18

It is nighttime in South Korea, but noon in Southern California. It is cold outside here, as I cuddle with blanket, electric throw, and throw pillows on my comfy cushions. But I am sure it is not as cold as the weather in South Korea. Anyway, I am cozy and relaxed, as I enjoy the Winter Olympics.

Women’s Biathlon, 12.5KM involves 30 athletes skiing 5 laps and stopping at shooting ranges along their ski trail. The top 4 athletes are from Slovakia, Germany, Finland, and Norway. After the first shooting range, Slovakia’s Kusmina is in the lead, followed by Sweden’s Oeberg and Italy’s Weier. Belarus’ Domracheva moves into second place. After the second shooting range, Kuzmina continues to be in first place, followed by Oeberg, Herrmann, and Weier. Norway’s Eckhoff is in fifth place. After the third shooting range, Italy’s Weier is in the lead, followed by Czech’s Vitroka. Italy’s Vitozzi is in fourth place. After the fourth shooting range, Kuzmina is in the lead, followed by Domracheva, Norway’s Eckhoff, Sweden’s Oeberg, Italy’s Vitozzi, and Italy’s Weier. As the cross the finish line, Slovakia’s Kuzmina wins Gold, Belarus’ Domracheva wins Silver, and Norway’s Eckhoff wins Bronze.

Men’s Aerials, Run 1 and Run 2:

During Run 1, USA’s Bohonnon falls, and he received 85.97 and USA’s Loughran received 86.28, which aren’t very good scores. USA’s Lillis received 127.44, China’s Jia ZongYang received 126.55, and China’s Qi Guangpu received 126.70. OAR’s Burov received 123.98 and Belarus’ Kushnir received 120.80. During Run 2, Switzerland’s Gasser received 121.72, Ukraine’s Abramenko received 123.08, Burov received 126.55, Lui Zhongqing received 123.08, AUS’s Morris received 124.89, Belarus’ Kushnir received 121.27, which puts him in 7th place. Bohonnon received 112.39 and Canada’s Irving received 78.73. The top 6 athletes go to the finals. Ukraine’s Oleksandr Abramenko wins Gold, China’s Jia Zongyang wins Silver, and OAR’s Ilia Burov wins Bronze.  The top 6 athletes move on to the finals, which include Lillis, Jia, Qi, Gasser and Abramenko.

Women’s Relay 4x5KM:

(While watching the Women’s Relay, I noticed that the time was 2:22 am). During the beginning of the relay, France broke her pole. OAR and Norway appear to be in the lead. The top athletes include Norway, OAR’s Nepryaeva, Sweden’s Ostberg, Slovenia’s Lampic, and Netherland’s Haag. By the middle of the race, OAR, Slovenia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany and Poland are the top ten women athletes. The top 5 are OAR’s Belorukova, Sweden’s Kalla, Slovenia’s Visnar, Finland, and Norway. Toward the end of the race, OAR, Sweden, and Finland are nearing the finish line. Norway appears to be in 4th place, followed by Switzerland. USA is in 8th place.  Sweden’s Andersson, Norway’s Haga, Finland’s Roponen, and OAR’s Sedova are now the top 4. Then, Norway’s Bjoergen and Sweden’s Nilsson are in the lead, followed by Finland’s Parmakoski and Nepryaeva, as they near the finish line. Norway’s Bjoergen, Haga, Jacobsen and Ostberg win Gold, Sweden’s Nilsson, Kalla, Haag and Andersson win Silver, and OAR’s Sedova, Nechaevskaya, Nepryaeva, and Belorukova win Bronze.  Finland finishes in 4th place with Parmakoski, Niskanen, Roponen, and Saarinen.

Women’s Skeleton:

Germany, Austria and Great Britain are the top 3. Germany’s Loelling is in third while Austria’s Flock is in first place. Germany’s Yarnold is in second place while Great Britain’s Deas is in 4th place.  In the final run, Great Britain’s Yarnold was the fastest, giving her a Gold Medal, Germany’s Loelling came in second place and received the Silver Medal, and Great Britain’s Deas received a Bronze Medal. Austria’s Flock comes in 4th place and Germany’s Hermann ends up being in 5th place.

Alpine Skiing—Men’s Giant Slalom:

During Run 1, Austria’s Hirscher is in first place, followed by France’s Pinturault in second and France’s Faivre in third. But Norway’s Nestvold-Haugen moves into third place. During Run 2, Norway’s Kristoffersen is in first place until Austria’s Hirscher moves into first place. Switzerland’s Meillard was in 2nd place, until Slovenia’s Kranjec moves into second place, and the France’s Pinturault takes over the second place position. So, when Austria’s Hirscher moved into first place, Norway’s Kristoffersen slid back to second place, and France’s Pinturault’s second place position got pushed back to third place. Austria’s Hirscher wins Gold, Norway’s Kristoffersen wins Silver, and France’s Pinturault’s wins Bronze.

Men’s SlopeStyle FreeStyle Skiing:  30 men from 12 countries compete in three runs.

As I watch this competition, I think that the men are better than the women in this sport.  USA’s Williams did better in Run 1 than Run 2, while USA’s Hall’s score put in in 11th place. USA’s Goepper, Switzerland’s Ragettli, USA’s Kenworthy, Great Britain’s James Woods, and Sweden’s Wester received high scores, but Austria’s Henshaw didn’t do very well. Norway’s Oystein Braaten receives a high score. Therefore, Norway’s Oystein Braaten wins Gold, USA’s Nick Goepper wins Silver, and Canada’s Alex Beaulieu-Marchand wins Bronze.

Men’s Ski Jump—Large Hill:  Poland’s Kamil Stoch wins Gold, Germany’s Andreas Wellinger wins Silver, and Norway’s Robert Johansson wins Bronze.

Men’s 1000M Short Track Semi-finals:

4 speed skaters—Korea’s Lim, Italy’s Confortola, OAR’s Elistratov, and Hungary’s Liu—race, and Korea’s Lim wins the race. Hungary’s Liu comes in second. Both men move on to the semifinals. The next race involves 5 men—USA’s Krueger, Canada’s Hamelin, Canada’s Girard, Korea’s Seo Y., and Japan’s Sakazume. USA’s Krueger, Korea’s Seo, and Canada’s Girard move on to the semifinals. Krueger, Seo, Girard, Lim, and Liu race in the semifinals. Canada’s Girard wins Gold, USA’s Krueger wins Silver, and Korea’s Seo wins Bronze.

Women’s Short Track 1500M Final:

Korea’s Choi, Korea’s Kim, Canada’s Boutin, Hungary’s Jasapati, China’s Li Jinyu, Netherland’s Ter Mors, and Italy’s Fontana speed race in 1500M track. Netherland is in the lead, followed by China and then Canada. Then, during the last lap, Korea is in the lead, followed by Canada and then Italy. Korea’s Choi Min-Jeong wins Gold, China’s Li Jinyu wins Silver, and Canada’s Kim Boutin wins Bronze.