Today's competition took us back to the Iceberg(a venue which will see use throughout most of the Games) for the heats in Speed skating. The first heat saw the Netherlands sweep the podium, and in a style similar to Women's Moguls, two of the occupants on the podium were related by blood. This time around the Dutch had the family domination, with Michel Mulder winning gold, and his twin brother Ronald taking Bronze.
Speaking of family domination, let's go back to Rosa Khutor, the scene of the domination at the hands of the Dufour-Lapointe sisters the other day. The Men are up for their turn at the Moguls, and we're in for even more high-flying hi jinks, and more than a few falls. Starting off with the Prelims, there were a total of 30 entrants into the sport, with the field eventually being pared down to 6 for the medal round. That is where Alex Bilodeau comes in. The 26 year old Canadian had already made history in Vancouver when he became the first Canadian to win a Gold Medal on home soil. Not just that, but he is also renowned throughout Canada for his relationship with his brother, who has Cerebral Palsy. After the 2010 Games, his brother became almost as famous as he did. Going back to 2014, Bilodeau makes it into the Finals no problems. However, one of the American skiers attempts a flashy move on a jump and instead wipes out in the snow. In the Final round, Bilodeau pulls off a full 1080(that's completing 3 full rotations in the air), and winds up winning the Gold. Not just that, but one of his countrymen takes the Silver, meaning that 4 out of the 6 medals awarded so far for Moguls have gone to Canadians.
We then go back to the Iceberg once again for more speed skating. This time the pack is led by Victor Ahn of Russia. 4 years ago, Ahn competed for South Korea under a different name. This time, he's back with a new country and a new name. One other interesting incident from the speed skating heat was a moment of deja vu. You may or may not remember in 2010, the dramatic finish to one of the speed skating heats, where two South Koreans slid out and hit the wall right before the finish line. Well, that same thing happened this time in Sochi. Not just that, but the competitors who slipped were also South Korean.
Wrapping up the days competition, we journey back to Rosa Khutor(yet another venue which will see use all throughout these Games) for the Women's Combined skiing event. This event combined both downhill portions and slalom portions, with the scores from each heat being combined to give the final time. In the downhill portion, the title was ultimately taken by American Julia Mancuso, who blew everyone away by besting the best time by half a second. Afterwards, on the slalom she didn't do as well, but still pulled it out and won a Bronze, giving her a full set of Gold, Medal, and Bronze(Gold in Turin, Silver in Vancouver). Rounding out this day of competition, the USA Men's Hockey Team started off their pursuit of Gold with a 9-0 victory over Switzerland.
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