Day 17 and Closing Ceremony

Americans Jessica Diggins, Sadie Bjornsen, Rose Frankowski and Caitlin Patterson finished 7th, 17th, 21st and 26th respectively in women's Cross Country skiing - 30KM Mass Start.

Final Medal Count

Norway 14 gold, 14 silver, 11 bronze - 39 total
Germany 14 gold, 10 silver, 7 bronze - 31 total
Canada 11 gold, 8 silver, 10 bronze - 29 total
USA 9 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze - 23 total
Netherlands 8 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze - 20 total



Closing Ceremony summary:

Performances by K pop artists EXO, CL and appearances by DJ Raiden and Martin Garrix highlight the Closing Ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea. There was a performance by a 13 year old Korean guitarist Yang Tae Hwan who played from "Winter" from The Four Seasons and 11 year old Oh Yeon-joon sung the Olympic Hymn. CL sang The Baddest Female and EXO sang "Growl" with 43 dancers in the background. The ceremony reflected on South Korean dance, boundaries between life and death, remembrance and technological "snowflakes" that extinguished the Olympic Flame.

Also during the ceremony drones made the Pyeongchang mascot and a heart in the air above the stadium. There was a tribute to "Beijing 2022". At the end of the closing ceremony, all of the athletes were dancing on the floor of the stadium as NBC cut to Mike Tirico.

NBC started the ceremony at about 8:30 pm and ended at 10:30 pm, even though NBC's coverage started at 7:30 pm with "Olympic Gold" a review of the Pyeongchang Games.
This was the most technological opening and closing ceremonies I have ever seen. I love high tech ceremonies. It was hosted on NBC by Terry Gannon, Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir. They did a much better job of not talking over the ceremony.
Overall, a great ceremony and in my opinion, NBC did a better job broadcasting the closing ceremony than the opening ceremony. I was up at 6 am and streamed the closing ceremonies on NBCOlympics.com. The uncut version lasted 2 hours and 7 minutes. There was several commercial interruptions though and NBC's Terry Gannon admitted that the entire ceremony would not be shown but we could all watch the uncut version on Monday morning. My solution for NBC. Show it live at 6am, and then show it taped at 8pm. I will be reviewing the games over the next several days on my last Pyeongchang post.

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Day 16

The USA(Team Shuster- John Shuster, Matt Hamilton, Tyler George, John Landsteiner and Joe Polo) men's Curling team defeats Sweden(Niklas Edin, Oaskar Erikkson, Rasmus Wranaa, Christoffer Sundgren and Henrik Leek) 10-7 to win gold. The USA was behind 2-0, then tied it at 2-2, then took the lead 3-2, then behind 4-3, then ahead 5-4, then it was tied at 5 each, then ahead 10-5, then ahead for final margin 10-7. Sweden wins silver and Switzerland wins bronze.

At the conclusion of all 4 runs of the men's 4-man Bobsled, the USA team of Codie Bascue, Evan Weinstock, Steven Langton and Sam McGuffie finished in 9th place. The USA team of Nick Cunningham, Hakeem Abdul-Saboor, Chris Kinney and Sam Michener finished in 19th place and the USA team of Justin Olsen, Nathan Weber, Carlos Valdes and Chris Fogt finished in 20th place.

Americans Scott Patterson, Noah Hoffman and Tyler Kornfield finished 11th, 33rd and 48th respectively in men's Cross Country skiiing - Men's 50KM Mass Start.

Aaron Muss and Michael Trapp, both of the USA, finished 20th and 30th respectively in the men's Parallel Giant Slalom.

Americans Heather Bergsma and Mia Manganello finished 11th and 15th respectively in women's Speed Skating - Mass Start.

Joey Mantia of the USA finished 9th in men's Speed Skating - Mass Start.

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Medal Count at 10:30 pm Eastern Time - Day 16

Norway 13 gold, 14 silver, 11 bronze - 38 total
Germany 14 gold, 9 silver, 7 bronze - 30 total
Canada 11 gold, 8 silver, 10 bronze - 29 total
USA 9 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze - 23 total
Netherlands 8 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze - 20 total

Day 15

American Kyle Mack wins silver in men's Snowboard- Big Air with a total score of 168.75. Sebastien Toutant of Canada wins gold with a total score of 174.25. Billy Morgan of Great Britain wins bronze with a total score of 168.00. Americans Chris Corning(153.00) and Red Gerard(143.00) finished 4th and 5th, respectively.

Great Britain(2) beats the USA(2)on time to move on in Alpine skiing - Alpine Team Event. USA's Megan McJames beats Charlie Guest of Great Britain by .03 of a second. David Rydinng of Great Britain beats Nolan Kasper of the USA by.18 of a second. Alex Tilley of Great Britain beat Patricia Mangan of the USA by .06 of a second. David Chodounsky of the USA beat Laurie Taylor of Great Britain by .36 of a second.

American Joey Mantia finished 4th in men's 1000M Speed Skating. Americans Shani Davis and Mitch Whitmore finished 7th and 10th respectively.

After 2 runs of the men's 4-man Bobsled, the USA team of Codie Bascue, Evan Weinstock, Steven Langton and Sam McGuffie are in 9th place. The USA team of Nick Cunningham, Hakeem Abdul-Saboor, Chris Kinney and Sam Michener are in 20th place and the USA team of Justin Olsen, Nathan Weber, Carlos Valdes and Chris Fogt are in 21st place.

The USA team of Lowell Bailey, Sean Doherty, Leif Nordgren and Tim Burke finished 6th in men's Biathlon - 4 by 7.5KM Relay.

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Medal Count as of 11:30 pm Eastern Time- Day 15

Norway 13 gold, 14 silver, 11 bronze - 38 total
Canada 11 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze - 28 total
Germany 13 gold, 7 silver, 6 bronze - 26 total
USA 8 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze - 22 total
Netherlands 8 gold. 6 silver, 4 bronze - 18 total

Day 14

In men's semifinal Curling, the USA(Team Schuster) beat Canada 5-3 and will face Sweden for the gold medal.

The USA team of Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, Joanne Firesteel Reid and Emily Dreissigacker finished 13th in women's Biathlon- 4 by 6KM Relay.

The USA team of Taylor Fletcher, Ben Berend, Ben Loomis and Bryan Fletcher finished 10th in men's Nordic Combined - Team Gundersen LH/4 by 5KM.

The USA team of JR Celski, John Henry Krueger, Thomas Hong and Aaron Tran finished 1st in men's Short Track Speed Skating - 5000M Relay Final B. Kazakhstan finished 2nd and Japan finished 3rd.

Americans Bradie Tennell, Mirai Nagasu and Karen Chen finished 9th, 10th and 11th respectively at the conclusion of the women's Figure Skating - Free Skate. Bradie Tennell scored a 128.34 Free Skate and 192.35 total score. Mirai Nagasu scored a 119.61 Free Skate and 186.54 total score and Karen Chen scored a 119.75 Free Skate and 185.65 total score. Alina Zagitova of OAR wins gold with a Free Kate score of 156.65 and total score of 239.57. Evgenia Medvedeva of OAR wins silver with a Free Skate score of 156.65 and total score of 238.26. Kaetlyn Osmond of Canada wins bronze with a Free Skate score of 152.15 and total score of 231.02.


Medal Count at 11:55 pm Eastern Time - Day 14

Norway 13 gold, 12 silver, 10 bronze - 35 total
Canada 10 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze - 27 total
Germany 13 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze - 25 total
USA 8 gold, 7 silver, 6 bronze - 21 total
Netherlands 7 gold, 6 silver, 4 bronze - 17 total

Day 13

David Wise of the USA wins gold(97.20) in men's Freestyle skiing- Halfpipe. American Alex Ferreira wins silver with a score of 96.40 and Nico Porteous of New Zealand wins bronze with a score of 94.80. Americans Aaron Blunck(84.80) and Tornin Yater-Wallace(65.20) finish 7th and 9th respectively. Wise had his best run on his 3rd run to win gold.

The USA women's Ice Hockey team beat Canada 3-2 in a shootout to win gold. Canada wins silver. Finland wins bronze USA goals were scored by Hilary Knight and Monique Lamoureux-Morando. The USA led 1-0, then was behind 2-1 only to tie it in the 3rd period. The USA won the shootout 3-2. USA goals in the shootout were scored by Gigi Marvin, Amanda Kessel and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson. Last goal attempted by Canada saved by USA goalie Maddie Rooney. It was the first USA win in the winter games against Canada since 1998. Canada had won the last 4 gold medals vs the USA.

American Mikaela Shiffrin wins silver(2 minutes 21.87 seconds) in Alpine Skiing Combined. Michelle Gisin of Switzerland wins gold in 2 minutes 20.90 seconds and Wendy Holdener of Switzerland wins bronze in 2 minutes 22.34 seconds. Lindsey Vonn of the USA finished first in the Downhill but did not finish the Slalom.

The USA team of Kikkan Randall/Jessica Diggins win gold(15 minutes 56.47 seconds) in women's Cross Country skiing - Team Sprint Free. Charlotte Kalla/Stina Nilsson of Sweden win silver in 15 minutes 56.66 seconds and Marit Bjoergen/Maiken Casperson Falla of Norway win bronze in 15 minutes 59.44 seconds.

American Jamie Anderson wins silver(total score 177.25) in women's Snowboard - Big Air. Anna Gasser of Austria wins gold in a total score of 185.00 and Zoi Sadowski Synnott of New Zealand wins bronze with a total score of 157.50. Julia Marino of the USA finished 10th with a total score of 93.25 and Jessika Jenson of the USA finished 11th with a total score of 40.50. Gasser wins gold on her last run as Jamie Anderson didn't land her last run.

The USA team of Heather Bergsma, Brittany Bowe and Mia Manganello wins bronze(2 minutes 59.27 seconds) in women's Speed Skating Team Pursuit- Final B by beating Ivanie Blondin, Josie Morrison and Isabelle Weidemann of Canada(2 minutes 59.72 seconds). Canada finished 4th. Japan wins gold and the Netherlands wins silver.

Americans Elana Meyers Taylor/Lauren Gibbs win silver(3 minutes 22.52 seconds) in women's 2-man Bobsled. Mariama Jamanka/Lisa Buckwitz of Germany win gold in 3 minutes 22.45 seconds. Kallie Humphries and Phylicia George of Canada win bronze in 3 minutes 22.89 seconds. Jamie Greubel Poser/Aja Evans finished 5th in 3 minutes 23.02 seconds. Germany beat USA by.007 seconds on final run to win gold.

Americans Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Schiffrin are in 1st and 6th place respectively at the conclusion of the women's Alpine skiing - Combined Downhill.

The USA team of Erik Bjornsen/Simeon Hamilton finished 6th in men's Cross Country skiing - Team Sprint Free.

The USA beat Great Britain 10-4 in men's round robin Curling.

Sweden beat the USA 9-6 in women's round robin Curling.

The USA team of Jonathan Garcia, Brian Hansen and Emery Lehman(3 minutes 50.77 seconds) lost to Ted-Jan Bloemen, Benjamin Donnelly and Denny Morrison of Canada(3 minutes 42.16 seconds) in men's Speed Skating- Team Pursuit- Final B.

Americans David Chodounsky and Mark Engel finished 18th and 31st respectively in men's Alpine skiing Slalom. American Nolan Kasper did not finish.

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Medal Count as of 2:00 am Eastern Time- February 22

Norway 13 gold, 11 silver, 9 bronze - 33 total
Germany 12 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze - 24 total
Canada 9 gold, 6 silver, 7 bronze - 22 total
USA 8 gold, 7 silver, 6 bronze - 21 total
Netherlands 6 gold, 6 silver, 4 bronze - 16 total

Day 12

American Lindsey Vonn wins bronze in women's Alpine skiing - Downhill in 1 minute 39.69 seconds. Sofia Goggia of Italy wins gold in 1 minute 39.22 seconds. Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway wins silver in 1 minute 39.31 seconds.

The USA team of Susan Dunklee, Joanne Firesteel Reid, Tim Burke and Lowell Bailey finish 15th in the Biathlon- LTS 2 by 6KM women and 2 by 7.5KM men mixed relay.

After 2 runs of the women's 2-man Bobsled, Americans Elena Meyers Taylor/Lauren Gibbs are in 2nd place and Americans Jamie Greubel Poser/Aja Evans are in 4th place.

In women's round robin Curling, Korea beat the USA 9-6.

The USA beat Switzerland 8-4 in men's round robin Curling.

Americans Bryan Fletcher, Ben Berend and Ben Loomis finished 17th, 39th and 40th respectively in Nordic Combined- Individual Gundsersen LH/10KM.

Jessica Koorman and Lana Gehring, both of the USA, did not qualify for the quarterfinals of the women's 1000M Short Track Speed Skating competition. Gehring was disqualified by penalty.

Americans Aaron Tran, Thomas Hong and John-Henry Krueger did not qualify for the quarterfinals of the men's 500M Short Track Speed Skating competition. Tran was disqualified by penalty.

Kyle Mack, Chris Corning and Red Gerard, all of the USA, qualified for the finals of men's Snowboard- Big Air.

At the conclusion of the women's Figure Skating Short Program, Americans Mirai Nagasu is in 9th place with a score of 66.93, Karen Chen is in 10th place with a score of 65.90 and Bradie Tennell is in 11th place with a score of 64.01.

The USA men's Ice hockey team lost to the Czech Republic 3-2, in a shootout. USA goals were scored by Ryan Donato and Jim Slater. The USA lost the shootout 1-0. The USA is eliminated from the tournament while the Czech Republic goes on to the medal round.

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Medal Count at 11:50 pm Eastern Time - Day 12

Norway 11 gold, 11 silver, 8 bronze - 30 total
Germany 11 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze - 23 total
Canada 8 gold, 5 silver, 6 bronze - 19 total
Netherlands 6 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze - 14 total
USA 5 gold. 3 silver, 5 bronze - 13 total
France 5 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze - 13 total

Day 11

Americans Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani win bronze in figure skating Ice Dance with a free skate score of 114.86 and a total score of 192.59. Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir of Canada win gold with a free skate score of 122.40 and total score of 206.07. Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France win silver with a free skate score of 123.35 and a total score of 205.28. Madison Hubbell/Zack Donohue of the USA finished 4th with a free skate score of 109.94 and a total score of 187.69. Madison Chock/Evan Bates finished 9th with a free skate score of 100.13 and a total score of 175.58. Chock/Bates had a fall and that affected their technical score.

Brita Sigourney of the USA wins bronze with a score of 91.60 in women's ski Halfpipe. Cassie Sharp of Canada wins gold with a score of 95.80. Marie Martinod of France wins silver with a score of 92.60. Annalisa Drew of the USA finished 4th with a score of 90.80. Maddie Bowman, the USA gold medalist from Sochi, crashed on all 3 runs and finished 11th with a score of 27.00.

At the conclusion of the 4th and final run in men's 2-man Bobsled, the USA team of Justin Olsen/Evan Weinstock finished in 14th place. Americans Nick Cummingham/Hakeem Abdul-Saboor finished in 21th Place and Americans Codie Bascue/Sam McGuffie finished in 25th place. Germany and Canada tie for gold.

The USA beat Canada 9-7 in men's round robin Curling.

In women's round robin Curling, the USA beat China 10-4.

The USA team of Brittany Bowe, Heather Bergsma and Mia Manganello finished 4th and qualified for the semifinals of women's Speed Skating Team Pursuit. The USA will face the Netherlands in the semifinals.

Mitch Whitmore, Jonathan Garcia, and Kimani Griffin, all of the USA, finished 15th, 23rd and 26th respectively in men's Speed Skating 500M.

The USA men's Ice Hockey team beat Slovakia 5-1. USA Goals were scored by Ryan Donato(2) James Wisniewski, Mark Arcobello and Garrett Roe. The USA plays the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb.20.

Americans Aaron Blunck, Alex Ferreira, Torin Yater-Wallace and David Wise qualified for the finals of the men's ski Halfpipe.

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Medal Count as of 11:45 PM Eastern Time - Day 11

Norway 11 gold, 9 silver, 8 bronze - 28 total
Germany 10 gold, 6 silver, 4 bronze - 20 total
Canada 8 gold, 5 silver, 6 bronze - 19 total
Netherlands 6 gold, 5 silver, 2 bronze - 13 total
USA 5 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze - 12 total
France 4 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze - 12 total