Gangneung Ice Arena's Olympic ice turned into a dance floor when medal contenders from the United States competed in the ice dancing competition. The event includes Madison Chock, who is from Redondo Beach, and partner Evan Bates.
Southern California also was represented when the U.S. women’s hockey team took on Finland in the semifinals. Eastvale’s Cayla Barnes is part of a team looking to march into the gold medal game.
In snowboarding’s Big Air competition, SoCal’s Hailey Langland was one of the Olympic newcomers looking to upset a veteran from Austria. Langland is the 2017 X Games Big Air champ.
Here are four events to watch in Pyeongchang:
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1. Madison Chock, Top U.S. Ice Dance Teams Compete
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All three American teams are in position to contend for a medal in ice dance following the short dance portion of the competition Monday at Gangneung Ice Arena. The favorites entering the competition also asserted themselves, with Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir posting a world record-score for short dance.
The reigning United States champions, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, are in third place with a score of 77.75, two-hundredths of a point ahead of the brother-sister pair of Maia and Alex Shibutani. Madison Chock and Evan Bates are seventh, after receiving a season-high score of 75.45.
Virtue and Moir, who lead the field with 83.67 points, were Team Canada’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony and have a chance to become the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history. A trip to the podium in Pyeongchang would net them their fifth medal between ice dance and the team figure skating event. The short dance will be followed by the free dance Tuesday (Monday night in the United States).
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2. US Women’s Hockey Team Tops Finland
The United States women’s hockey team advanced to the gold medal game for a third straight Olympics after beating Finland 5-0 in the semifinal Monday (Sunday night in the U.S.).
Gigi Marvin opened the scoring just 2:25 into the opening period. Dani Cameranesi extended the USA’s advantage with two goals and an assist. Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Hilary Knight had a goal apiece as they turned a 5-on-3 into two goals 34 seconds apart in the second.
Maddie Rooney made 14 saves for the shutout.
The Americans will play the winner of the other semifinal between Canada and the Russians. That game is Monday night (Monday morning in the U.S.)
3. Canada, Germany Share Gold in Two-Man Bobsled
Canada’s Justin Kripps and Germany’s Francesco Friedrich entered the Olympics as the top two ranked bobsled drivers in the world. After the 2-man event, the debate over who is better remains unsettled.
Kripps and Friedrich finished in a dead tie, both sleds completing the four heats in 3:16.86. Their teams will share the gold medal, while Latvia took the bronze.
The tie capped a thrilling bobsled event, where the top five teams entered the final heat separated by just .12 seconds. America, though, was nowhere near that top five.
U.S. Bobsled is still coping with the loss of Steve Holcomb, who died in May. Holcomb won the bronze in Sochi, becoming the first American to win a bobsled medal in 62 years. Without him, the Americans have struggled.
Justin Olsen and Evan Weinstock led the Americans with a 14th place finish, finishing more than a second and a half behind the Germans and Canadians. Nick Cunningham and Hakeem Abdul-Saboor finished 21st for the U.S., and Codie Bascue and Sam McGuffie finished 25th.
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4. U.S. Among Medal Contenders in Big Air
Team USA members Jamie Anderson, Julia Marino and Jessika Jenson all survived the women’s big air qualification round Monday (Sunday night in the U.S.). Anderson rebounded with a strong second run and stumbling during her first attempt. Marino, 20, made her Pyeongchang debut during the women’s slopestyle, finishing 11th.
SoCal's Hailey Langland did not advance.
They’ll be strong medal contenders in the big air, but they’ll have to catch Austrian Anna Gasser, who’s known for pulling off tricky technical moves and who finished first in the qualifying round.
The women’s qualifying round was the debut of big air in the Olympics. It’s as much a spectacle as it is a sport — competitors perform complex moves down a hill after launching off large jumps, aiming for height, distance, style and a clean landing. The scores are out of 100 and the top scorers will go for gold Friday (Thursday night in the U.S.).
