Here are our "7 to Watch" in Pyeongchang for Sunday:
1. Top Three U.S. Ice Dance Teams Advance
All three American teams are in a 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. U.S.’s Maddie Bowman Defends Halfpipe Gold
Defending U.S. Olympic champion Maddie Bowman is looking to repeat her Sochi result in the women’s freestyle skiing halfpipe. She heads a strong contingent of American contenders, which includes Brita Sigourney, the first women to land a 1080 in a competition halfpipe, and Annalisa Drew, who finished fourth in qualifying. Sigourney finished third in qualifying, Drew finished fourth and Bowman finished sixth.
American Devin Logan, a silver medal winner in Sochi for slopestyle, finished 15th in the qualifying run and failed to advance to the final.
Tough competition is expected from Canada’s Cassie Sharpe, known for her bold tricks, and France’s Marie Martinod, a silver medal winner in Sochi.
Watch as part of NBC 7’s primetime coverage beginning at 5 p.m. PT Monday or on digital platforms at this link.
3. US Women’s Hockey Team Tops Finland, Advances to Gold Medal Game
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.).
4. U.S. Men’s Bobsled Struggles as Canada, Germany Share Gold
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.
Watch as part of NBC’s prime time coverage beginning at 5 p.m. PT Monday.
See Olsen/Weinstock’s final Bobsled run at this link.
5. Three American Snowboarders Advance Through Qualifying Round in Women’s 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.
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.).
6. The Great Hope of Poland' Delivers Country's First Medal
Kamil Stoch, who the Polish prime minister called "the great hope of Poland" delivered the country's first medal in the PyeongChang Olympics, winning the large hill gold medal.
The Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre looked like a scene from the movie "Rudy" Saturday.
Poland’s Kamil Stoch had just won the gold medal and was being paraded around on his teammates’ shoulders after his moment of glory.
The favorite heading into the individual large hill event, Stoch delivered, edging out Germany’s Andreas Wellinger on the final jump to defend his crown Saturday, becoming the first man to repeat in the event since 1988.
Watch the reaction to his win at this link.
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7. Must Watch Olympics: Thrilling Photo Finish
France’s Martin Fourcade overcame two missed targets and a tumble after his first penalty loop to beat German’s Simon Schempp in a dramatic photo finish to win the men’s 15km mass start Sunday at the Alpensia Biathlon Centre in Pyeongchang.
The Frenchman captured his first gold medal in the mass start after grabbing silver in each of the past two Winter Olympics.
Most Americans haven’t heard of him, but Fourcade is one of the most decorated athletes in French history. His win in Sunday’s mass start makes him France’s first four-time Olympic gold medalist.
Fourcade won the 12.5km pursuit event earlier this week. He also won two gold medals at the Sochi games in 2014.
See the final seconds of the battle at this link.
