The World Competes

The Olympics have already completed day 6. In the fifth day of competition, the women’s downhill event was completed, as was doubles luge, cross country sprint, the men’s halfpipe event for snowboarding, the 500 m women’s short track speed skating, and the 1000 m men’s speed skating event.

The big news of the day, as far as the US is concerned, is that Lindsey Vonn won gold in the ladies’ downhill event. A few weeks ago, she badly bruised her shins, and we were all hoping that she’d recover enough to compete and do well. Julia Mancuso took the silver.

The United States did well in halfpipe too. Shaun White won the gold medal, and Scott Lago won the bronze. Unfortunately, I won’t have the chance to see this until tomorrow.

The United States made its mark in speed skating today. Shani Davis won the 1000 m gold, while Chad Hedrick won the bronze. Mo Tae-Bum of South Korea, who won the 500 m race, came in with the silver.

The Austrian pair of Andreas and Wolfgang Linger took gold in double’s luge; Latvia and Germany took silver and bronze. The US team of Dan Joye and Christian Niccum came in sixth, while veterans Grimmette and Martin came in thirteenth. Technically, double’s luge is a coed event; however, so far, no ladies have competed in doubles in the Olympics.

The Russians dominated the men’s cross-country sprint, taking the gold and silver medals. Marit Bjørgen of Norway won the women’s gold; a couple of days ago she earned the bronze in the 10 km individual event. American Kikkan Randall made it to the semifinals. Petra Majdic, who won the bronze medal, had a freak accident during the warm-up: she slid off the course and into a ditch. She needed medical attention, but she was able to recover and win a medal.

Wang Meng of China won gold for ladies’ short track. Men’s figure skating will complete tomorrow with the long program.

My medal count chart has been updated through today. The United States now has 14 medals, including 5 gold. Germany has 10, France has 7, Canada has 6.