As today's primetime broadcast of the 2014 Winter Olympics started out, we were greeted by the visage of Matt Lauer. Yup, Bob Costas is out again. But never fear, Matt Lauer is here to hold things down till Costas gets back. Our first stop tonight is at the Iceberg, where it's time to wrap up the Pair Skating competition. The Russians were already on top after last night's Short Program, which made tonight's Free Skate the icing on the cake. And the Russians iced their cake with ease, as the superstar duo of Tatiana Volosozahr and Maxim Trankov came in and dominated the field, breaking their own records in both the Short Program and Free Skate. After that, another Russian pair took Silver, and a German pair won Bronze, even after turning in a performance where both partners fell down. One interesting feature of figure skating in Russia is how much it draws upon ballet, which was explained in a special NBC report last night. Essentially, since Russia is so ballet-mad, coupling the two disciplines works out quite well for all involved.
Leaving the Iceberg for Rosa Khutor, we're back for the Women's Halfpipe. 28 Women started out the day, dealing with ice that was in a much better condition than that which the men had to deal with, and eventually the field was narrowed down to just 12. Of those 12, 3 of them had won Olympic Gold in the previous 3 Games. Torah Bright won Gold in Vancouver, Hannah Teter won Gold in Turin, and Kelly Clark won it in Salt Lake City. And after all the scores had been calculated, it was a newcomer to the Games, 24-year old Kaitlyn Farrington who walked away with the Gold Medal. Bright took home Silver, and Clark took home Bronze, leaving Hannah Teter off of the podium.
Moving to the Adler Arena, it was time for the speedskating competition. Much like the Men's Halfpipe, there was a feeling of anticipation in the air, for this was the night that History could be made, with Shani Davis poised to win Gold in the same event for the 3rd straight time. However, History was not to be made, as Davis ended up in a disappointing 8th Place. Another American finished right behind Davis, keep an eye out for him in the future. As for the overall medal totals, the Dutch continued their dominance, taking home both Gold and Bronze(which was won by Michel Mulder, one of the twins party to the Dutch sweep earlier in the week).
Leaving the Arena for Rosa Khutor once again, it's time for the Women's Downhill competition. After several days of Alpine Skiing competition being held, the field had started to gain some recognition. You had Maria Hofl-Riesch, the German winner of the Super Combined; Lara Gut, the Swiss competitor; you had Tina Maze, the Slovenian skier/pop star; and of course you had Julia Mancuso, America's best shot at a medal and the one who grew up with the spirit of 1960 surrounding her. But once the competition got started, all bets and superlatives were off. Overall, the snow cover at the venues was better than the day before, so we didn't see as many falls this time. Hofl-Riesch turned a 12th place performance, well off of her time in the Super Combined. Julia Mancuso wound up getting into 8th Place. Dominique Gisin finished the 1.69 Mile course in a time of 1 Minute, 41.57 Seconds, a time that seemed like it would stand up, which it did. But then Tina Maze took the final run of the day, and gave it all she had. When she got to the finish line, the clock read 1:41:57. Maze had forced a TIE for the Gold, the first time that an Alpine event has ended in a tie for Gold. Not just that, but Maze's Gold was also the first EVER Gold for the nation of Slovenia. What a way to wrap up yet another historic day from Sochi.
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