After going through so much both on and off the ice, U.S. skeleton racer Noelle Pikus-Pace finally has her Olympic medal.
The U.S. skeleton racer won the silver today in the women’s skeleton behind gold medal winner Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain. Pikus-Pace, a former world champion, has battled through injuries from a bobsled crash, a fourth-place finish in Vancouver and a miscarriage two years ago. But today, her Olympic dream was realized.
“This is everything I could have imagined and more, just to have my family here with me and all of the love and support and cheers we’ve had, and all of the trials we’ve had to overcome to come to this moment,” she said afterwards. “This is as good as gold.”
VIDEO: Complete Team USA recap for Day 7
Her emotional breakthrough shared top billing today with a men’s figure skating final that was supposed to feature a sizzling battle between Yuzuru Hanyu and Patrick Chan for the gold medal.
But while those two did indeed duel for victory, they were both far from flawless in their free skates. In the end, Hanyu emerged victorious while Jason Brown of the U.S., after being in medal contention to start the day, wound up finishing ninth...
The men’s Alpine skiing super combined was not a good day for Bode Miller and Ted Ligety. Both Americans finished outside the Top 10 in the downhill section, and were unable to make up ground in the slalom and finished out of the medals. Miller shared his frustration over his result on Twitter but did congratulate the podium finishers, led by gold medalist Sandro Villeta of Switzerland...
Here’s a quick rundown of the other medal events this afternoon in Sochi:
- Biathlon: Darya Domracheva of Belarus got her second Sochi gold in the women’s 15km individual...
- Cross-Country: Switzerland’s Dario Cologna was “Super Dario” once more, claiming the men’s 15km classic...
- Freestyle Skiing: Another member of Team Belarus, Alla Tsuper, scored the upset gold in women’s aerials...
In hockey, the women had the day off while the men’s side featured four contests, including Team Canada taking a 6-0 win over Austria. Here were the other contests:
- Finland topped Norway, 6-1...
- Sweden turned back the Swiss, 1-0...
- And the Czechs beat Latvia, 4-2...
Out of competition, U.S. Speedskating has reportedly asked for the option to switch out of their current suits after a tough series of opening races...
An Irish skeleton racer went for a jaw-dropping ride in men’s skeleton...
Vladimir Putin stopped by Team USA’s headquarters...
Team USA athletes celebrated Valentine’s Day...
There was a bit of monkey business going on at the men’s super combined...
TODAY’s Meredith Vieira is the next one to step in for Bob Costas as NBC Olympics host...
And snowboard slopestyle gold medalist Sage Kotsenburg palled around with Jimmy Fallon.
MEDAL COUNT – Feb. 14
(Country – Gold/Silver/Bronze – Total Medals)
1. Germany – 7/2/1 – 10
2. Switzerland – 5/1/1 – 7
3. Canada – 4/5/2 – 11
T-4. Norway – 4/3/6 – 13
T-4. United States – 4/3/6 – 13
6. Netherlands – 4/3/5 – 12
7. Belarus – 3/0/1 – 4
8. Russia – 2/5/5 – 12
9. China – 2/2/0 – 4
10. France – 2/0/2 – 4
11. Poland – 2/0/0 – 2
12. Austria – 1/4/0 – 5
13. Japan – 1/2/1 – 4
14. Slovenia – 1/1/2 – 4
T-15. Great Britain – 1/0/1 – 2
T-15. Korea – 1/0/1 – 2
17. Slovakia – 1/0/0 – 1
18. Sweden – 0/5/2 – 7
19. Italy – 0/2/2 – 4
20. Czech Republic – 0/2/1 – 3
21. Australia – 0/1/1 – 2
T-22. Croatia - 0/1/0 - 1
T-22. Finland – 0/1/0 – 1
24. Latvia – 0/0/2 – 2
T-25. Kazakhstan - 0/0/1 - 1
T-25. Ukraine – 0/0/1 – 1