Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Full of surprises
ABOVE: Chris Mazdzer of United States (left) celebrates his silver medal victory as David Gleirscher of Austria celebrates his gold medal victory during the men’s luge competition Sunday at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Gleirscher was the surprise first-run leader — and a bigger surprise as the leader when it was all over. Gleirscher finished his four runs at the Alpensia Sliding Center in 3 minutes, 10.702 seconds for the gold, Austria’s first in men’s luge in 50 years. Mazdzer made history for the U.S., giving the Americans their first men’s singles medal by finishing second in 3:10.728. Mazdzer’s medal was the second earned by the United States so far. On Saturday, Red Gerard, 17, of Silverthorne, Colo., won gold in snowboarding. RIGHT: Perrine Laffont, of France, runs the course during the women’s moguls finals at Phoenix Snow Park in Pyeongchang. Laffont gave France its first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Games, skiing through the bumps and the steadily falling snow to take the women’s moguls title Sunday night.
USA wins silver
Felix Loch’s reign came to a sudden and shocking end Sunday, with David Gleirscher a surprise men’s luge gold medalist and Chris Mazdzer giving USA Luge its first men’s singles medal. Germany’s Johannes Ludwig took third. Gleirscher, who had never medaled in a World Cup singles race, finished his four runs in 3:10.702 for the gold, Austria’s first in men’s luge in 50 years. Loch struggled in the final run and slipped all the way to fifth, ending his bid to become the second slider to win the event three consecutive times.
MEN’S BIATHLON
Top two lose out
The 10-kilometer biathlon, expected to be a two-man race between Martin Fourcade and Johannes Thingnes Boe, sent shockwaves through the biathlon world Sunday. Arnd Peiffer of Germany connected on all 10 of his targets to win gold, ahead of Michal Krcmar of the Czech Republic and Dominik Windisch of Italy. The top-ranked Fourcade missed three of five shots from the prone position, forcing him to do three penalty laps. The Frenchman finished eighth overall. Thingnes Boe, a Norwegian ranked No. 2, missed three from the prone position and one from the standing position to finish a distant 31st.
MEN’S SKIATHLON
Norwegians sweep
An early crash couldn’t keep Simen Hegstad Krueger from gold on Sunday. His Norwegian teammates then helped complete a sweep in the 30-kilometer cross-country ski race. Krueger slipped when the mass start began and his right ski came out from under him, causing him to fall. Russian athletes Andrey Larkov and Denis Spitsov toppled over Krueger and the three ended up at the rear of the field by the time they untangled. Krueger stormed back, though, and took the lead with 5 kilometers remaining and powered his way to gold. Norwegian teammates Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Hans Christer Holund completed the 1-2-3 finish.
WOMEN’S MOGULS
France wins first gold Perrine Laffont gave France its first women’s gold medal in the moguls in the 26-year history of the event, landing both her jumps without a bobble in the snow and cold on Sunday. The 19-year-old Laffont’s score of 79.72 was more than two points better than 2014 gold medalist Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Canada, who had to settle for silver. Yulia Galysheva of Kazakhstan won bronze.
MEN’S SPEEDSKATING
Third gold medal win
Dutch speedskater Sven Kramer broke his own Olympic record in the men’s 5,000 meters to win his third consecutive medal in the event on Sunday. Kramer won the 5,000 in 6:09.76, besting the mark of 6:10.76, which he set in 2014 in Sochi. He also became the first man to win three golds in the event, using a late kick to beat Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloemen. Kramer has a chance at winning two more golds in other events: the 10,000 next Thursday and the team pursuit.
WOMEN’S GIANT SLALOM
Shiffrin’s debut postponed
Mikaela Shiffrin’s 2018 Olympic debut won’t happen as scheduled today, and persistent high winds have thrown the Alpine skiing schedule at the Pyeongchang Games into upheaval. The women’s giant slalom, in which the American Shiffrin is among a small group of favorites, was postponed Sunday evening Central time just more than two hours before its scheduled start at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre. Officials from the International Ski Federation (FIS) were meeting to try to determine a new schedule for the week. The men’s downhill race, which was supposed to open Alpine competition Sunday, was also postponed, causing a shift in the schedule already. FIS officials moved the men’s super-G to Friday, with the downhill sliding into Thursday. There are two dates remaining with no scheduled competition — Feb. 19 and 20 — but those are reserved for important training runs in the women’s downhill. However, because the Alpine competition is held at two venues — Jeonseong Alpine Centre for the speed races and Yongpyong Alpine Centre for the technical events — officials could decide to hold two competitions on a single day. Shiffrin, 22, is scheduled to defend her gold medal in the women’s slalom on Wednesday. But she is also a strong contender for a medal in other disciplines. She sits third in the World Cup giant slalom standings behind Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg and France’s Tessa Worley, and she has two giant slalom victories this World Cup season. The Alpine schedule is due to resume Tuesday with the men’s combined, which consists of one run of downhill and one of slalom. But it’s possible that could be pushed back if FIS juggles the entire program.
ODDS AND ENDS
Coach: ‘Honor’ to compete
North Korea’s Alpine skiing coach said it’s an “honor” to compete at the Pyeongchang Olympics, though he doesn’t expect much from any of his three athletes. North Korea is sending 22 athletes, including the Alpine skiers, to Pyeongchang thanks to special entries given by the International Olympic Committee amid rare reconciliation mood between the rival Koreas. North Korea initially had no athletes entered after its Olympic committee missed a confirmation deadline for a pair of skaters who had qualified to compete in the games. “It’s our honor to take part in the Olympics. We surely have to win competitions but I mean attending the Olympics has a significant meaning,” the North’s Alpine coach, Pyon Yong Do, said after a meeting of coaches on Sunday. The other North Korean athletes participating in the games are three cross-country skiers, two short-track speed skaters, a pair of figure skaters and 12 female hockey players who helped form the Koreas’ first-ever joint Olympic team with South Korean players. The joint Korean hockey team lost 8-0 to Switzerland in its historic debut match on Saturday night. Pyon said he was happy to see the Korean hockey team competing with a “single-minded” unity, saying the two Koreas could also field a joint Alpine team in the future. “It was done in hockey, so why not with us?” he said. North Korea is weak in winter sports, and none of its 22 athletes at Pyeongchang is expected to bring home a medal. Pyon said he doesn’t have big expectations from his skiers. Kim Ryon Hyang starts her competition today and the men, Kang Song Il and Choe Myong Gwang, are on next week. The Olympics-inspired detente mood flared after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un abruptly expressed his willingness to send an Olympic delegation.
Norovirus outbreak grows
The norovirus outbreak among staff and volunteers at the Pyeongchang Olympics continues to grow. Organizers confirmed 19 new cases of the highly contagious illness Monday, upping the total cases to 177 since Feb. 1. Sixty-eight of the 177 cases, mainly among security personnel, have been released from quarantine and returned to work. The source of the outbreak remains unclear.