Olympic Round: U.S. women’s hockey improved 2-0 with a win over Russia

U.S. Hilary Knight congratulates the scorer when the Americans won 5-0 in the Russian Olympic Committee first-round match on Saturday in Beijing. Petr David Josek / Associated Press

BEIJING – Goalkeeper Nicole Hensley did well as the United States struggled to find their attack in two seasons before finally defeating the Russians 5-0 on Saturday night.

As long as Hensley stopped every shot, the result was not in jeopardy for the defending Olympic champion.

“They made it a really hard game, really frustrating for us,” said Hensley, who stopped 12 shots for his 2022 tournament debut at the Beijing Games.

“And I think a little adversity for us isn’t a bad thing in a tournament like this so we have to deal with it,” he added. “If anything, it just brings us closer together.”

The USA (2-0) will face Switzerland (0-2) next time on Sunday.

Hilary Knight scored and baited, and his non-looking backhand wrinkled, creating Savannah Harmon’s opening goal in the first set. Knight then scored a goal in the second round to give his team a little respite before the Americans opened the situation with three goals in five minutes in the third round.

Harmon scored and two passes, and Grace Zumwinkle, Jesse Compher and Alex Carpenter scored in front of a small but loud Russian-minded crowd.

The United States defeated the Russians 62-12, but she had difficulty reaching the finish line when top-line central player Brianna Decker watched with her crutches after breaking her ankle in the opening victory of the tournament from Finland.

Maria Sorokina was exceptional in stopping 37 of her first 39 shots and 38 in total before being pulled after Carpenter scored 5-0 with 11:16 left. Daria Gredzen stopped 19 shots for the Russians, who dropped 1-1.

SHORT SPEED SKATING: Darting through traffic, zipper in tight turns, avoiding potential catastrophes with every relay change. China won its first gold medal at the Beijing Games, winning its Olympic debut in the mixed teams post on the short track.

Asia is a breeding ground for sports known as roller derby on ice, although on Saturday night the typically rowdy atmosphere was greatly curbed by COVID-19 restrictions at the Olympic venues.

Yet a small number of Chinese who made it to the auditorium at the Capitol Indoor Arena celebrated the historic victory of the host country, shouting behind their masks and waving small flags.

Wu Dajing overtook the Italian Pietro Sighel by 0.016 seconds, half the edge of the skate to get gold. Hungary received a bronze medal.

Qu Chunyu, Fan Kexin and Ren Ziwei joined Wun in the victory.

“It was a huge relief,” Wu said. “Now we finally realized our dream on the first day.”

The results were delayed when the referee judged the competition. Canada was punished for pushing back and making contact with Hungary late in the competition.

This created a stage for China to build a big lead over Italy in the latter stage of the competition. But the Italians gathered and toured the trough after the home team. Sighel almost caught Wun, which would have been huge upset.

SPEED SKATING: Irene Schouten awarded the mighty Dutchman a gold medal in the first speed skating event of the Beijing Games, breaking the 20-year-old Olympic record in the women’s 3,000 meters.

Skating in the last 10 pairs, Schouten turned in a glowing final lap and achieved a winning time of 3 minutes, 56.93 seconds. This broke the previous Olympic mark of 3: 57.70 set by Claudia Pechstein of Germany at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

In a book suitable for the event, Pechstein skated in the opening pair to become the oldest female athlete in Olympic history at the age of 49. The German finished last, more than 20 seconds behind the winner.

LANDFILL: Therese Johaug won the first gold medal at the Beijing Olympics and placed first in the women’s 15km cross-country skiing.

The Norwegian fought against the wind and cold temperatures to ski from a four-person chase group, winning in 44 minutes, 13.7 seconds.

Skiathlon is a mass start race that started with 7.5 miles of skiing. After two laps around the 3.75-mile track, competitors came through the stadium and quickly changed skates before heading for two more laps.

Johaug led in the first round of skating, opened the opening in the second round and crossed the line with a nice lead.

Russian athlete Natalia Nepryaeva, the current overall leader of the World Cup, withdrew from the group on the final ascent to silver, 30.2 seconds behind Johaug. Neprjaeva competes in her second Olympics. He won bronze in the messaging competition at the Pyeongchang Games.

SKI JUMPING: Slovenia’s Ursa Bogataj won Olympic gold in the women’s hill jump by floating 328 feet with 121 points in the final jump.

Germany’s Katharina Althaus earned silver in the second consecutive Olympics and Bogataj’s Slovenian Nika Kriznar won bronze. Japan’s Sara Takanashi had signed up as one of her favorites, but finished fourth.

This was the third time women jumped for gold at the Winter Olympics.

MEN’S MOGULITES: Sweden’s Walter Wallberg shocked the “King” to take home a gold medal in the Beijing Olympics for men’s moguls.

Wallberg looked almost in shock as his score of 83.23 flashed on the board, ousting defending Olympic champion Mikael Kingsbury on a bitter Canadian cold Saturday night. Wallberg scored points for his speed in Kingsbury’s smooth and technical skiing style, nicknamed “King of Moguls”.

Now there is a new king of the hill.

Japan’s Ikuma Horishima won the bronze. As the athletes settled for post-race photos, Kingsbury looked almost confused as to where to stand and had to switch places with Horishima. It is clear that Kingsbury is not used to finishing second.

Wallberg’s surprise victory breaks the dominance of the male moguls in Team Canada, which had won the event in the final three winter games.

SNOWBOARDING: Three-time snowboarding gold medalist Shaun White made it clear on Saturday that the Beijing Games aren’t just his last Olympics, the 35-year-old American is set to retire from the sport he puts on the international map next after the halfpipe medal round. week.

“In my mind, I’ve decided this is my last race,” he said.

White has been the overwhelming force of snowboarding, its most recognizable face for nearly two decades – and not just because of his nickname inspired by the red hair mop.

These locks have since been cut, and White is now a senior statesman in the sport, jumping into his five Olympics for a more obtuse, COVID-19 match, a late unplanned trip to Switzerland to secure his Olympic place. and most recently a workout plan that was thrown out of schedule during his stay in Colorado in January.

“I’m kind of squeezing myself into how lucky I am to still be here at this age,” he said during a 45-minute press conference.

White won gold at his 2006 Olympic debut, only for the third time when halfpipe snowboarding was held at the Winter Games. The sport rose to popularity with him at the forefront, winning gold again in 2010 and 2018. He also has 15 X-Games golds – 13 in snowboarding and two as a skateboarder.

White is hardly a favorite in the fourth halfpipe for gold when the finals are held on Friday. Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, who finished second after White in 2018, was the first to get a triple cap in the race in December, and the three-turn trick is unlikely to be in White’s run.

“Previous

Next ”

Related stories