Here is your Olympics report for Tuesday. In the medal count, Canada, Norway and the Netherlands all lead with 7 medals, while the United States 5th with 5 medals as of Monday’s events.
Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany won another Olympic gold in the super-combined. Just as she did four years ago at the Vancouver Games, Hoefl-Riesch found herself trailing an American after the downhill leg before using her slalom skills to vault into first place and successfully defend her Olympic title in the dual-run event. The German finished less than a second ahead of both silver medalist Nicole Hosp of Austria and Julia Mancuso of the United States, who won the bronze. Mancuso won silver in the event in Vancouver.
Charles Hamelin of Canada won the 1,500-meter Olympic short track gold medal. He raised his arms in triumph after crossing the finish line Monday at the Iceberg Skating Palace. Han Tianyu of China took silver. Viktor Ahn earned the bronze, giving Russia its first-ever short track medal. J.R. Celsi, the 2010 bronze medalist from Federal Way, Washington, finished fourth.
In women’s hockey, the United State shutout Switzerland 9 to nothing. Kendell Coyne of Illinois scored 2 goals and had 2 assists. Monique Lamoureux, Brianna Decker and Amanda Kessel all scored within 55 seconds in the first period as well to all-but clinch a spot in the Olympic women’s hockey semifinals. It was the quickest three-goal sequence in Olympic history, with the latter two coming just eight seconds apart. Kessel and Lamoureux also scored twice for the Americans, and Molly Schaus made 10 saves in her Sochi debut. At 2 and oh, the U.S. is in position for a spot in the medal round regardless of what happens on Wednesday in the game against Canada, the marquee matchup of the round-robin. Meanwhile, Canada beat Finland 3 to nothing.
In men’s curling, the United States lost 7 to 4 to Norway, while the U.S. women’s curling team lost 7 to 4 to Switzerland.
History. It’s what German lugers always seem to be making. And it’s what Erin Hamlin is chasing. Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger closed in on what appears to be an inevitable Olympic gold medal Monday night, by being 0.766 seconds better than her countrywoman Tatjana Huefner, who took the title at the Vancouver Games. That’s no surprise. Instead, the surprise is who’s on their heels in third. Hamlin, who is vying to be the first American to win a singles luge medal at the Olympics, was second after the first heat, then slipped to third at the midway point after losing about a tenth of a second to Huefner in her second trip down the Sanki Sliding Center track. The final two runs are tonight.