Olympic Recap: February 12

On Day Eight of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, the United States picked up a solo gold medal, which came in mixed snowboard cross. The two oldest competitors in the field were the champions as 40-year-old Nick Baumgartner of Iron River, Michigan, and 36-year-old Lindsey Jacobellis of Danbury. Connecticut delivered. Jacobellis previously won the won the women’s snowboardcross on Wednesday. What we saw in the mixed event which made its Olympic debut in Beijing, was the fact that experience means a lot in the sport of snowboarding. The Americans seemed the most poised, and in the process won their fifth gold medal of the Olympic Winter Games so far.

The United States entered their game against Canada in men’s hockey on Saturday in Beijing (Friday evening/early Saturday morning  in North America), with uncertain expectations. The team was comprised of players primarily at the National Collegiate Athletic Association level, and was about a decade younger on average than their opponent.

Even after a slow start, where Canada took an early 1-0 lead, you simply did not know if this American squad had what it took from an experience standpoint to rebound. However the Americans were able to regroup, had the edge in goaltending for the final 59 minutes, and came away with a 4-2 win.

The United States were led in scoring by captain Andy Meile of Grosse Pointe Woods. Michigan, who had one goal and one assist for two points. However despite the multi-point game, Mille only won two of nine faceoffs. At 33 years of age, Meile currently plays for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.

Meanwhile in women’s hockey, we know who the United States will play in the semifinals. Their opponent will be Finland, in a battle of the 2019 gold medal game of the Women’s World Hockey Championship. Finland beat Japan easily 7-1 on Saturday. The other quarterfinal had Switzerland beat Russia 4-2, and they will next play Canada,

In ice dance, Madison Hubbell of Lansing, Michigan, and Zachary Donohue of Hartford, Connecticut are in third place in the rhythm dance. Remember, there is not a lot of movement in ice dancing traditionally when it comes to placement in the long program from the short program, so it might be tough for the Americans to get an upgrade from third.

In cross country skiing, there was a surprise as Norway did make the Olympic podium in the women’s 4×5 kilometre relay. In the early stages of the race, Tiril Udnes Weng fell, and put Norway in catchup mode for the rest of the event. The gold went to the Russian Olympic Commitee, with Germany winning silver and Sweden winning bronze. Other gold medalists on day eight were Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway (men’s 10 kilometre sprint biathlon), Hannah Neise of Germany (women’s skeleton), Marius Lindvik of Norway (men’s large hill ski jumping), and Tingyu Gao of China (men’s 500 metre speed skating).