The First Gold, the Team Semis, and a Sister Act: Sochi Day 3

     So, we’re back to Sochi for a third day, and we’ve got plenty to talk about.  After the pageant and spectacle of the Opening Ceremony(and a bit of getting lucky) we returned to the slopes and the ice to continue the events we started on Thursday.  First up, Men’s Slopestyle.  After automatically qualifying 8 people directly into the finals, there were still 4 spots up for grabs in the semis.  Early favorite Mark McMorris actually had to go through the semis in order to qualify for the finals, which was quite the surprise to everybody.  Eventually, the Finals were held, in which Team USA pushed through and emerged victorious, with Sage Kostenburg winning the very first medal awarded in these Sochi games.

     After that, competition moved over to the Iceberg, where the Team Figure Skating event continued.  After having completed the Men's short program and the Pair short program, today saw the Ice Dance, Ladies, and Pair free competitions.  And that brings up Meryl Davis and Charlie White, the pair who have won 23 Gold Medals in International Competition(there are waaaaaay more International Ice Skating events than just the Olympics) since 2008.  This was the pair that the United States needed after finishing in 7th place and 5th place on the first day of competition.  And things panned out quite nicely for them, as the pair took 1st place in the Ice Dance.  Then came the Ladies short program.  As if the Sochi games didn't already have enough controversy attached to them, the US Figure Skating team was ready and willing to provide more.  In the National Championships, Ashley Wagner had finished in 4th Place, but was sent to Sochi anyway based on her apparent experience internationally.  Needless to say, this ruffled a few feathers.  But once Wagner got onto the ice, she skated her program, and represented the team well.  But the real spectacle of the Ladies heat came when Julia Lipnitskaia stepped onto the ice.  The 15 year old skater from Russia wowed the crowd with her precision and skills(kind of like how Yuzuru Hanyu did the day before).  Afterwards, the Pairs free program wrapped up the 2nd day of Team competition, with Team USA finishing 4th, and Russia taking first in that heat.

     Moving back to Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, it's time to finish up Women's Moguls.  After Thursday's Prelims, the Finals competitions started out.  The Finals were broken up into 3 rounds, with the final heat giving out Medals.  Hannah Kearney made it through into the Medal Round, as did 2 of the Dufour-Lapointe sisters(Justine and Chloe).  In the Medal Round, the 2 Canadian sisters finished with Gold(Justine) and Silver(Chloe) while Kearney finished with Bronze.  And with that, competition was over for another day.