On February 8, there were 10 gold medals handed out at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. That was the most ever. Here were 10 fascinating facts from the fifth day of the Olympics.
10) First penalty shot in Olympic women’s hockey history. According to Josh Wegman of The Score, Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored on the first penalty shot ever in women’s ice hockey at the Olympic Winter Games. Canada defeated the United States 4-2 to win their group. It was also a record-breaking performance by Canadian goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens, who made 51 saves, the most saves ever by a Canadian goalie (men’s or women’s) in Olympic hockey history.
9) United States wins two medals. The Americans came away with a silver and a bronze on Tuesday. Ryan Cochran-Seigle of Burlington, Vermont won silver in the men’s super giant slalom, and Jessica Diggins of Saint Paul, Minnesota won bronze in the women’s 1.1 kilometre individual sprint competition. The United States now have five medals (four silver and one bronze).
8) Slovenia continuing to do great. Slovenia, which has a population of only 2.1 million, has now won five medals in five days. On Tuesday, Tim Mastnak won silver in the men’s parallel snowboarding giant slalom, and Gloria Potnik won bronze in the women’s parallel giant slalom.
7) Ester Ledecka continues with multi-sport magic. Four years ago, the Czech Republic’s Ester Ledecka won the gold medal in the women’s parallel giant slalom (snowboarding), and the women’s super giant slalom (alpine skiing) at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. On Tuesday, Ledecka defended her snowboarding gold medal.
6) Matthias Mayer wins back-to-back-to-back Olympic gold–According to Simon Evans of Reuters, Matthias Mayer of Austria, became the first alpine skier ever to win a gold medal at three consecutive Olympic Winter Games. Prior to winning gold in the men’s Super G on Tuesday, Mayer won gold in the men’s downhill at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, and gold in the men’s super giant slalom at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
5) Nathalie Geisenberger ties record for most luge medals ever–The 34-year-old German sensation tied Armin Zoeggler of Italy for the most luge medals all-time with six when she won the gold medal in the women’s individual luge event. She posted a time of 3:53.45, to beat German teammate Anna Berreiter by .493 seconds.
4) Italy wins first ever medal in curling. For the first timer ever Italy won a medal in Olympic curling and the color was gold. The Italian team of Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini went through the round robin undefeated before they beat Sweden 8-1 in the semifinal, and Norway 8-5 in the final.
3) Remarkable comeback by Johannes Hosflot Klaebo. After a terrible performance in the men’s 30 kilometre skiathlon on Sunday, Norway’s Johannes Hosflot Klaebo stormed back to win the men’s cross country sprint, as predicted. It was his fourth career Olympic gold medal as at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Klaebo won gold in the sprint, team sprint, and 4×10 kilometre relay.
2) Olympic records in the men’s 1500 metre speed skating. In the men’s 1500 metre speed skating event, the Netherlands won gold and silver in Olympic record times. Kjeld Nuis placed first with a time of 1:43.21 and Thomas Kroll won silver with a time of 1:43.55. Derek Parra of the United States had the old Oympic record with a time of 1:43.95 at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
1) Nathan Chen has the best men’s figure skating short program ever. The United States have not won an Olympic gold medal yet at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, but they are on pace to win one in figure skating this week. That is because Nathan Chen of Salt Lake City is the leader in the short program after a world record time of 113.97 points. Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan had the old world record of 111.82 points at the 2020 Four Continents Championships in Seoul, South Korea.
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