Month: February 2018

Olympic Precap: The Games are Closed

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Via @NBCOlympics

The Olympics Precap is a daily post that will serve as a recap and preview of the action in PyeongChang.

Here’s What Happened: Sunday, February 25th

Cross-country skiing was the first sport to award medals at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. It was also the last.

In that first medal event of the Games, Marit Bjoergen of Norway won a medal, it was silver. In the final medal event of the Games, Marit Bjoergen won a medal, it was gold.

It is almost fitting that the Norwegian bookended these Games with medals. Her country dominated them and in the process, she became the most decorated athlete ever in Winter Olympics competition with 15 career medals spanning five Olympics.

Five of those fifteen career medals came in PyeongChang, the fifth coming early this morning in the women’s 30km mass start where she won gold. The race was never close, the 38 year old Norwegian just increased her lead the long the race went, eventually winning by well over a minute.

Bjoergen won a medal in every event she competed in during the 2018 Games. Her performance was a microcosm for her country as a whole.

Standing beside Bjoergen on the medal stand was Krista Parmakoski of Finland with the silver and Stina Nilsson of Sweden with the bronze. It was a Scandinavian sweep on the medal stand, just like the first medal event two weeks earlier.

With the final medals having been decided, it was time for the Games to officially come to a close at the Closing Ceremony back in the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium where they officially began just 16 days prior.

Olympic Closing Ceremonies are generally much more laid back and relaxed than the Opening Ceremony. It’s viewed as more of a celebration for what the athlete’s had accomplished over the previous two weeks of competition and it is a chance for the host nation to show off a little bit before everyone packs up and heads out.

South Korea brought their A game to the Closing Ceremony, coming in hot and heavy with one of their biggest cultural staples, K-Pop.

K-Pop is quite simply Korean pop music and it is absolutely massive in South Korea. You probably have never heard of most of the bands but back home they are absolute rock stars to their millions of adoring fans. The Opening Ceremony featured popular K-Pop music during the Parade of Nations but the Closing Ceremony was a full blown concert featuring some of the biggest names in the industry.

One area the Opening and Closing Ceremony do converge is the aforementioned Parade of Nations where athletes from all the countries march into the stadium to be honored. It is a little more toned down during the Closing Ceremony since some athletes have already left the Games when their competitions ended but it is still a big deal nonetheless.

The United States Olympic Committee caused major controversy surrounding the United States flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony when luger Erin Hamlin was selected over speed skater Shani Davis.

There was much less drama this time around when the USOC selected cross-country skier Jessica Diggins for the honor of carrying the flag during the Closing Ceremony. Just a few days prior, Diggins, along with teammate Kikkan Randall, won the United States’ cross-country gold medal in history.

One big winner coming out of PyeongChang was Olympic mascot Soohorang, a cute tiger-like creature who was plastered all over place during the Games. You may best remember the little creature from the stuffed animal replicas the medal winning athletes were given when they stepped on the podium. He made one last impression on the Games when drones flying above the Olympic Stadium formed to create a silhouette of Soohorang in the sky.

There are two moments always guaranteed to take place during a Closing Ceremony, marking the end of the current Games and passing the torch for those to come.

First, is the handing over the Olympic flag from the current host nation to the host nation of the next Olympic Games (this goes from winter host to winter host and summer host to summer host). In this case, the flag was handed from South Korea to the mayor of Beijing, China who are set to host the next Winter Olympic Games in 2022.

The second and most noteworthy tradition of the Closing Ceremony is the extinguishing of the Olympic Flame, declaring the official end to the Games. Two weeks earlier, South Korean gold medal figure skater Yuna Kim was given the honor of lighting the flame in her home country. Now, after 16 days of intense competition across a variety of disciplines, it was time to draw the 2018 Winter Olympics to a close.

You may feel a little sad that the Olympics have come to a close but all good things must come to an end. Before you know it, we’ll be heading to Tokyo, Japan for the 2020 Summer Olympics so don’t worry too much, the Olympics will be back. The wait between is what makes the Games so special.

PyeongChang provided many amazing memories and stories that will not soon be forgotten. From Ester Ledecka shocking the world in alpine skiing to the U.S. women’s ice hockey team winning a gold medal that eluded them for two decades.

These moments are what we will remember from these Winter Olympic Games because they are moments that will last a lifetime.

Thank you for everything, PyeongChang. For two weeks you welcomed the world and we could not be more grateful.

Here’s What’s Next: Looking Ahead

A quick look ahead at the Olympic Games to come in the next few years:

2020 Summer Olympics: Tokyo, Japan

(It’s actually 877 now. But seriously, who’s counting?)

2022 Winter Olympics: Beijing, China

2024 Summer Olympics: Paris, France

2026 Winter Olympics: TBA; Host city will be selected in September 2019.

2028 Summer Olympics: Los Angeles, United States

Final Medal Table

The final medal standings from the 2018 Winter Olympics:

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Norway finished a dominant Olympics with 39 medals, the most ever by a single nation at a Winter Games. Germany is the only other nation to top the 30 mark. Canada comes in third with a new country best 29 medals won. The United States struggled at times but still finished comfortably in the top five with 23 medals. The Netherlands was fifth with 20, all of which came in speed-skating. Host nations usually get a medal bump and South Korea was the latest to benefit, winning 17 total medals, their most ever.

That’s a wrap on our daily coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading these daily posts as much as I enjoyed writing them. I wanted to bring our readers the best possible coverage from my desk at home, making it feel like you were there in person.

Over the course of the last two plus weeks, I poured a lot of time and energy into these daily precaps (yes, I made this word up) and I hope you took a lot out of them and I hope they helped you stay in touch with the action in PyeongChang. Working with a 14 hour time difference was not always the most conducive for producing up to date content but I managed the best I could.

While I’m sad the Games have ended and these daily posts will no longer be apart of my routine, I’m also happy that I will have more time to bring you different kinds of content going forward, beginning very soon.

One thing I can say, I hope to continue doing these precaps for large sporting events going forward, beginning with the 2018 FIFA World Cup beginning in June. I may tweak the style and format in the coming month but the general idea will be the same. If you enjoyed these daily posts for the Olympics, I hope you check back to see what I have in store for the World Cup (and other events) in the future.

Also, if you enjoyed this Olympic content I would love to hear from you, good or bad. Have an idea how I can improve this style going forward? I’m all ears for that as well. You can leave a comment on the post or find me on Twitter at @rjnaugle2.

Last but not least, thank you. Thank you to everyone who read my work over the past two weeks. Seeing our site traffic jump and seeing the views on my posts is what really kept me going. Writing about sports is a real passion of mine but knowing people are consuming my content and getting something out of it is what strives me to continue doing it and getting better in the process.

Stay tuned later this week for my full recap of the 2018 Winter Olympics where I will take a deep dive into what all went down in PyeongChang.

This was a crazy ride and I enjoyed every second of it. I hope you did as well.

Thank you.

Olympic Precap: Closing Time

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Via @NBCOlympics

(Note: Due to the time difference between South Korea and the United States, all events will be listed by the day they are being aired in the United States.)

The Olympics Precap is a daily post that will serve as a recap and preview of the action in PyeongChang.

Here’s What Happened: Saturday, February 24th

Saturday marked the final full day of competition of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Sunday will mark the final medal event and the closing ceremony but Saturday was still a day packed with action.

A week ago, it looked like the United States men’s curling team was headed for another disappointing exit in Olympic competition. Ever since winning bronze in 2006, the men’s team never made it out of the round robin stage for the next three Olympic Games. That all changed in PyeongChang, where the men’s team won their final three matches to advance to the medal rounds.

The winning streak continued in the semifinals with an upset victory over North American rival Canada to book a spot in the gold medal game. Guaranteed at minimum a silver medal, U.S. curling was assured of their best finish ever in Olympics competition.

Not satisfied with second place, the men took on medal favorite Sweden in the final match to determine the Olympic champion.

Both sides exchanged the lead back and forth as the match entered the eighth end tied at 5-5.

A few mistakes from the Swedish team gave the Americans an opening and much maligned skip John Shuster capitalized. Shuster threw the perfect rock that hit its mark, removed two Swedish stones and came to a stop to put five U.S. points on the board to push the Americans ahead 10-5 with two ends left.

Needing a miracle to come back, Sweden went all in on the ninth end but were able to come away with two points. Knowing the U.S. had the hammer in the final end, Sweden conceded the match, giving the U.S. a 10-7 victory and the country’s first ever curling gold medal.

Due to the time difference between South Korea and the United States, the match ended around 4:00 AM on the east coast but that did not stop many Americans from sacrificing sleep to watch Olympic history be made live instead of watching on tape delay once they woke up.

Cross-country wrapped up the men’s races early in the morning with the 50km mass start event, the longest individual race of the cross-country schedule.

Norway has dominated cross-country since the Games opened but they were shutout of the medals in the final men’s race.

Taking over two hours to complete, the 50km race is the longest race on the cross-country docket by almost double the second longest race. Skiers had put their bodies through relentless competition over the past two weeks but if they could survive 50km more, they could etch their name in Olympic history.

Two hours of racing was decided by less than 20 seconds at the finish line where Iivo Niskanen of Finland crossed the line first to win his second career gold medal and his first in an individual event.

Roughly 20 seconds behind Niskanen was Alexander Bolshunov of OAR to claim the silver and taking the bronze was Bolshunov’s OAR teammate Andrey Larkov.

Long-track speedskating completed all competition on Saturday with a new race making its debut in the Olympics, the men’s and women’s mass start race.

Two semifinals on both sides set the final field of 16 skaters to dole it out over the course of 16 laps in a truly unique event for the long-track discipline. Normally, long-track is two skaters racing head-to-head for the best time but mass start has all 16 skaters on the ice at the same time. First one across the finish line walks away the Olympic champion.

The women were the first race to go and Nana Takagi of Japan won the inaugural gold medal in the women’s mass start, giving her a second gold medal from the 2018 Games.

Host nation South Korea was sent into a frenzy when Kim Bo-Reum crossed the line in second place to win the silver medal and continue the country’s strong Games on their home soil.

It is hardly a long-track race if The Netherlands does not make a podium appearance and they claimed another speed skating medal with a bronze from Irene Schouten.

Following the women’s race was the men’s event and South Korea improved on its silver from the women’s race.

Lee Seung-Hoon made himself a national hero, winning the men’s mass start gold medal on his own soil to send the crowd into a frenzy as he came across the finish line.

Belgium broke into the medal table with little time to spare with a silver medal on the legs of Swings. Of course The Netherlands found themselves on the medal stand in the final long-track of PyeongChang with the bronze medal thanks to Koen Verweij.

Sliding sports have belonged to the Germans in Pyeongchang and they capped off the sliding schedule with two more medals in the men’s 4-man competition.

Drama has been a theme of all the bobsled events at these Games and the 4-man was no different. With one sled left to run, a German sled piloted by Nico Walther sat in gold medal position but they were not alone, tied with the South Korean sled driven by Won Yunjong. If the final German sled could not post a better time than those two, it would be the second tie for gold in men’s bobsled these Games.

Driven by Francesco Friedrich, the final German sled to make their run easily beat the top time and won the gold medal, making it a complete sweep for Germany in the bobsled events.

Germany also took home silver with the sled piloted by Walther, sharing the honor with the South Korean sled. Due to the tie for silver, no bronze was awarded. Switzerland finished in fourth place. The highest finishing American sled was in ninth.

Germany leaves PyeongChang with 11 total medals in sliding sports.

Before the big showdown for gold, the men’s ice hockey had to decide the bronze between Canada and the Czech Republic. It was a wild game back and forth affair between the two sides but in the end, Canada prevailed 6-4 to win the bronze and medal in their third straight Olympics.

One of the biggest draws every Winter Olympics is the men’s ice hockey gold medal game. Typically this is a game featuring the best hockey players in the world but since the NHL did not send players to PyeongChang, there was a little less hype.

Regardless who was playing, there was still excitement around the Olympic facility and the game delivered in every way imaginable.

OAR (ie: Russia) were expected to be here and carried the expectations of being the gold medal favorite. Even without NHL players, they still dressed the most talent in the tournament by being able to to pull from the KHL.

Their opponent, Germany, was not expected to be playing for a gold medal. They lost their first two games and many thought they were headed for an early exit. Whatever they changed from the beginning of the tournament worked as they knocked off Switzerland, Sweden, and Canada to reach the gold medal game.

Both teams exchanged leads and the game went deep into the third period tied at 2-2. With less than three minutes remaining, Germany scored to take a 3-2 lead. It looked as if the Germans were going to do the impossible, but with 55 second left, OAR find the tying goal to send it to overtime.

In the overtime period, the Germans were whisted for a high stick, sending OAR to the power play. Up four skaters to three on the ice, the talent on the OAR roster took over and capitalized on the man advantage to win the gold medal by a final of 4-3.

Germany was certainly heartbroken by the result, being so close to the gold only to have it snatched away. Even in defeat, the German team will be one of the great stories to come out of PyeongChang, going from 0-2 to winning a silver medal.

Much like men’s ice hockey, women’s curling had to award their bronze medal before the much anticipated gold medal match could get underway. Japan lost a heartbreaking semifinal match to host South Korea to miss out on the gold medal game but they recovered and defeated Great Britain 5-3 to win the bronze medal.

South Korea has produced many cinderella stories as the host throughout these Games but none surprised as much as their women’s curling team. With little to no curling tradition, South Korea rode the home crowd to an 8-1 record in round robin and qualified for the medal rounds as the top seeded team.

A victory over Japan in the semifinals sent the South Korea team to the gold medal match to face curling powerhouse Sweden. Leading 1-0 after the first two ends, South Korea looked like they might be on their way to a historic gold medal but in the end it wasn’t to be for the home side.

Sweden recorded a double in the third end and took control of the match from that point. It became apparent the reigning silver medalists from Sochi were on their game and they had no plans of relinquishing their lead. A point in the ninth end gave Sweden an 8-3 lead and the South Koreans conceded the match, giving Sweden the gold medal.

It did not end the way they hoped, but the South Korean team shocked the world simply by qualifying for the medal rounds and will leave PyeongChang with the silver medal.

Here’s What’s Next: Sunday, February 25th

Over two weeks of competition comes to an end this evening following the Closing Ceremonies in PyeongChang. Before we get there however, there is still one final medal left to award.

Before we break down what to watch, here is Sunday’s schedule of events:

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Via CBS Sports

We’ve made it. The final day of the 2018 Winter Olympics has arrived. One more medal to hand out then the Games will come to a close.

Here’s what to keep an eye on:

  • Cross-country awards the last medals of PyeongChang in the women’s 30km mass start race.
  • If you enjoyed figure skating throughout the Olympics then do yourself a favor and tune into the skating exhibition to see the stars of PyeongChang on the ice one final time.
  • The Games officially come to an end at the Closing Ceremonies where the Olympic flame will be extinguished and the Olympic flag will be handed off to China, the hosts of the 2022 Winter Games.

You can catch any of these events live or on replay by tuning into the channels listed beside the event.

If you cannot get to a TV, head on over to NBCOlympics.com to stream live online or catch up on any replays you may have missed. You can also watch wirelessly on your smartphone by downloading the NBC Sports App.

Medal Table

A quick look at the medal table after Saturday’s action:

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Via NBCOlympics.com

Norway remains on top, where they have been since the Games began. Germany in second and the only other country to break 30 medals. North America claims the three and four spot, a respectable showing by both Canada and the U.S. A big final weekend pushes host South Korea into top six.

Keep up to date on everything Olympics right here on “The Bat Flip” where we will be posting our daily Precap to cover what all went down and what else is to come in PyeongChang.

Olympic Precap: Final Countdown

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Via @usskiteam

(Note: Due to the time difference between South Korea and the United States, all events will be listed by the day they are being aired in the United States.)

The Olympics Precap is a daily post that will serve as a recap and preview of the action in PyeongChang.

Here’s What Happened: Friday, February 23rd

We are officially in the final days of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and the final medals are being awarded.

Friday’s medal handout began in men’s biathlon with the 4X7.5km team relay where France’s Martin Fourcade was going for his fourth gold medal in PyeongChang.

Unfortunately it was not meant to be for Fourcade as he and his French teammates finished well off the podium. Instead it was your regular suspects adding on to their already successful medal hauls.

Sweden were the big winners and did so in dominating fashion. A strong performance across all four legs of the race gave Sweden the gold medal by almost a full minute over the second place finisher.

Norway and Germany sit a top of the medal table and they both added to their Pyeongchang totals with silver and bronze respectively in the biathlon team relay.

Short-track speed skating has wrapped up its competition but long-track still has a few events left on the schedule. Generally the men’s 1,000m race would be the end of competition but with the addition of the mass start races, it was pushed back.

Long-track has historically dominated by The Netherlands and these Game have been no different. That tradition was continued in the men’s 1,000m with superstart skater Kjeld Nuis taking the gold by 0.04 seconds.

Nuis was a part of the final pair to race and won with a strong push of the line to stop the clock just in the nick of time to win his second gold of the Games. Nuis is the only long-track skater to win multiple golds in PyeongChang.

Havard Lorentzen of Norway held the lead until Nuis crossed the finish line and had to settle for the silver, adding to his gold he previously won in the men’s 500m. Host nation South Korea continued its stellar Games with a bronze on the legs of Kim Tae-Yun.

After over a week of round robin play, curling was finally ready to award its first medal of the Olympics with the men’s bronze medal game between Switzerland and Canada.

These Games have been nothing short of disaster for Canada, who are typically the gold medal favorites, and they got even worse on Friday following a 7-5 defeat to Switzerland in the men’s bronze medal match.

Canada will leave PyeongChang without a curling medal in the men’s or women’s competition for the first time in history.

Making its Olympic debut, snowboarding Big Air already awarded medals in the women’s event and now it was ready to begin the final day of the snowboard schedule with the men’s final.

Boarders get three total runs, the lowest score is thrown out and your two best scores are added together to determine the champion.

It was an exceptionally strong field that included all three medalists from the men’s slopestyle event held at the beginning of the Games. That slopestyle pedigree did not carry over however and all three failed to medal in Big Air.

Sebastien Toutant of Canada made history as the first men’s Big Air Olympic champion in history with a combined score of 174.25 that propelled him to the gold medal.

Coming home with the silver was American Kyle Mack with a combined score 168.75, giving the U.S. a silver in both the men’s and women’s event.

History was made when Billy Morgan of Great Britain scored a combined 168.00 to win the bronze medal. With the medal, Great Britain set a new country record for the number of medals won in a single Winter Olympic Games.

Wrapping up the snowboard schedule was the men’s and women’s giant slalom races where European nations won five out of a possible six medals. On the men’s side, Nevin Galmarini of Switzerland ruined a great story when he defeated Lee Sangho of South Korea in the final to win the gold medal. Host nation South Korea still celebrated as Sangho took home silver.

In the bronze medal race, Zan Kosir of Slovenia defeated his French opponent to win the bronze.

One of the best moments of these Games occured in the women’s Super-G race, when Ester Ledecka shocked the world to win perhaps the most unlikely gold medal in Olympics history. What made it so shocking, was the fact that Ledecka is primarily a snowboarder who was favored to win the women’s giant slalom.

Making history as the first person to compete in skiing and snowboarding in the same Olympics, Ledecka won her second gold in PyeongChang by defeating Selina Joerg in the final.

Joerg of Germany walked away with the silver. Germany claimed a second medal in the women’s event with a victory by Ramona Hofmeister in the bronze medal race.

Another event making its Olympic debut in PyeongChang was the team alpine event.

Men and women competed as one for their country in a bracket elimination format. Countries raced head-to-head and the winner advanced to the next round. The inaugural competition was dominated by the traditional alpine skiing powers as expected.

In the gold medal race, Switzerland won three of the four head-to-head races over rival Austria to claim the first team gold medal in Olympic competition.

Austria’s defeat still meant they took home the silver medal, ending a strong Games to the alpine power. Taking the bronze was Norway who defeated the French team by a combined 0.12 seconds.

This close to the end of the Game means there is not much non-medal competition on the schedule but there are still a few sports waiting to hand out their medals. Here’s what you may have missed:

  • Women’s curling began their medal rounds. Host nation South Korea continued their cinderella run with an 8-7 victory over Japan to book a spot in the gold medal match. Waiting for them will be Sweden who knocked off Great Britain 10-5. Japan and Great Britain will play for bronze.
  • Men’s ice hockey also opened their medal rounds with two semifinal matches. OAR took care of business against the Czech Republic with a 3-0 shutout and will play for gold. In the second game, Germany shocked two time defending Olympic champions Canada 4-3 to set up a date with OAR. Canada and Czech Republic will face-off for bronze.
  • The first two heats of the men’s 4-man bobsled competition were held. Germany currently holds the top two spots.

Here’s What’s Next: Saturday, February 24th

Two days remain in the 2018 Winter Olympics and we’re down to the final medals that will be awarded in PyeongChang. Hopefully you have time to tune in as the athletes give everything they have left to bring home a medal.

Before we break down what to watch, here is Saturday’s schedule of events:

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The final weekend of action is upon us, don’t miss a second as the Games come to a close.

Here’s what to keep an eye on:

  • Lots and lots of medal action.
  • Curling gives out gold, silver, and bronze in women’s curling. The U.S. men’s team goes for its first ever gold against Sweden.
  • Cross-country begins to wrap up with the men’s 50km mass start.
  • Men’s ice hockey crowns an Olympic champion when OAR takes on Germany in the gold medal game. Canada and the Czech Republic go for the bronze.
  • Long-track completes its schedule with the men’s and women’s mass start races. This is the first time the mass start was been run in the Olympics.
  • Sliding events come to a close with the final two men’s 4-man runs.

You can catch any of these events live or on replay by tuning into the channels listed beside the event.

If you cannot get to a TV, head on over to NBCOlympics.com to stream live online or catch up on any replays you may have missed. You can also watch wirelessly on your smartphone by downloading the NBC Sports App.

Medal Table

A quick look at the medal table after Friday’s action:

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Via NBCOlympics.com

Norway remains on top and sets a new record for medals won in a single Winter Olympic Games. Canada ties Germany at 28 but golds give Germans the tie breaker. United States remains in fourth with cushion over The Netherlands. Switzerland bolts up to sixth with strong day on the podium. Host nation South Korea remains in top ten.

Keep up to date on everything Olympics right here on “The Bat Flip” where we will be posting our daily Precap to cover what all went down and what else is to come in PyeongChang.

Olympic Precap: Russia Gets Gold

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Via @Olympics

(Note: Due to the time difference between South Korea and the United States, all events will be listed by the day they are being aired in the United States.)

The Olympics Precap is a daily post that will serve as a recap and preview of the action in PyeongChang.

Here’s What Happened: Thursday, February 22nd

Time is ticking down on the 2018 Olympic Games but that doesn’t mean the drama is slowing down anytime soon.

Thursday was an especially busy day for short-track competition, with medals being awarded in three separate events, beginning with the men’s 500m race.

China is not a typical Winter Olympic power but coming into Thursday, they had won a respectable eight medals and sat 14th in the overall medal count but they had no golds to their name so far in PyeongChang.

That all changed on Thursday with a victory in the men’s 500m event. In his quarterfinal race, Wu Dajing set an new world record for the 500m at a blistering 39.800 seconds. He one upped himself in the final, topping his own world record with a time of 39.584 seconds to win the gold medal.

This was also a huge moment for the host nation South Korea, taking both silver and bronze behind Dajing. Hwang Daeheon and Lim Hyojun came across the line in second and third respectively to finish on the podium.

Next up on the short-track was the women’s 1,000m race and it was a familiar flag standing atop the podium when the dust settled.

Suzanne Schulting of The Netherlands channeled the spirit of her country’s long-track tradition onto the short-track for a gold medal in the 1,000m. Schulting came out on top of an exceptionally strong field of racers, including 1,500m Olympic champion Choi Minjeong of South Korea. This was the first gold medal ever for The Netherlands in short-track speed skating.

Canadian Kim Boutin, winner of two bronze medals in PyeongChang, crossed the line in second to win the silver medal. 500m gold medalist Arianna Fontana of Italy finished third for the bronze, her third medal of PyeongChang.

Short-track wrapped up its Olympic competition with the men’s 5,000m team relay where history was made.

Hungary had not won a Winter Olympicย  medal since Lake Placid in 1980 but that all changed in the team relay. In Olympic record time, the Hungarian team put together the race of their lives to win the gold medal, to give the country its first winter Olympic gold medal in history and their first medal of any color in 38 years.

Coming home second with the silver medal was China led by 500m gold medalist Wu Dajing and the Canadians led by 1,000m gold medalist Sam Girard rounded out the podium with the bronze.

Also wrapping up competition on Thursday was Nordic Combined with the team event. Germany already won gold in the two individual events, including a podium sweep in the large hill. They made it 3 for 3 in Nordic with one more gold in the team event and it was not particularly close, finishing over a minute ahead of the second place team.

It would not count as an Olympic day if Norway did not win at least one medal and they accomplished that with a silver in the Nordic team event. Coming across in third place were the Austrians to win the bronze medal.

Biathlon has been going since the Games opened but as we enter the final days in PyeongChang, they were down to their last two events on the schedule.

First up was the women’s 4x6km team relay and the result was not one one many expected.

To this point, Belarus has had a tough Olympic games, failing to medal in many events they are usually favored in. As a result, they were sitting on only two medals with time running out to win any more.

One of their remaining opportunities came in the women’s biathlon 4x6km event and they made it count in a big way. Pulling away on the final lap, Belarus was able to capture its second gold medal of the Games, crossing the line with a comfortable ten second advantage.

Pre-race favorites Sweden and France followed Belarus across the finish line to take home silver and bronze respectively.

Freestyle skiing was another discipline set to wrap up their 2018 competition on Thursday with the women’s ski cross event. Racers competed across several different runs to determine who would be taking part in the final for the gold medal.

It took roughly an hour to complete the entire competition and when the dust settled, Canada was sitting pretty with a clean sweep of the ski cross events.

After winning the gold in the men’s race, Canada added a second gold in the women’s race thanks to Kelsey Serwa who crossed the finish line in first to win her first career gold medal and her second Olympic medal overall to go with her silver from Sochi.

Canada also took home silver with a second place finish in the race fromย Brittany Phelanย  to add to their total medal haul in PyeongChang. Coming in third place was Fanny Smith of Switzerland with the bronze medal.

The highlight of Thursday’s action was going to be the women’s free skate, the final figure skating event to be held in PyeongChang. After the short program, it was clear the gold medal was going to be decided between OAR teammates Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva, as expected before the Games.

At 15 years old, Zagitova took the ice for her free skate and put down the top score and gave Medvedeva something to think about before she took the ice.

Skating last, Medvedeva knew what score she needed to win the gold medal and skated a program worth of an Olympic champion. Both skaters waited anxiously for the score to come down to see who would be standing atop the podium.

Medvedeva and Zagitova scored the exact same 156.65 on the free skate, meaning Zagitova won the gold thanks to her slight advantage from the short program. The final scores were 239.57 to 238.26 in favor of Zagitova. Medvedeva won the silver.

Zagitova’s win gave the OAR their first gold medal of the 2018 Games.

Kaetlyn Osmond of Canada was in third place after the short program and that’s where she remained following the free skate of her life to win the bronze medal.

At this point in the Olympics, there aren’t many non-medal events remaining but curling still has a few matches left before the medals are awarded. The United States men’s team made history by advancing to the gold medal match for the first time in history. Their 5-3 upset victory over Canada guarantees them at least a silver medal but they will surely be looking for gold. They will face Sweden on Saturday for all the marbles.

Canada will take on Switzerland in the bronze medal match.

Here’s What’s Next: Friday, February 23rd

It is Friday which means we are entering the final weekend of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. Most the remaining competition from here on out will be medal events so hopefully you have a way to watch wherever you are.

Before we break down what to watch, here is Friday’s schedule of events:

Screen Shot 2018-02-22 at 3.19.20 PM.png
Via CBS Sports

Only three days of competition left. Make sure you don’t miss a second.

Here’s what to keep an eye on:

  • Freestyle skiing wraps up its Olympic schedule with the women’s ski cross race.
  • Men’s ice hockey semifinals are set to go. OAR takes on Czech Republic and Canada faces Germany for a spot in the gold medal game.
  • Long-track speed skating is done to its final events beginning with the men’s 1,000m final.
  • Biathlon wraps up competition with the men’s 4×7.5km relay final.
  • Men’s curling bronze medal match between Canada and Switzerland.
  • Women’s curling holds their semifinal matches. Hosts South Korea look to continue their cinderella run against Japan. Sweden and Great Britain go head to head in the other match.
  • After a weather disrupted Olympics, alpine skiing awards its final medals in the team competition.
  • Men’s snowboarding Big Air hands out medals for the first time ever at the Olympic Games.
  • Four man bobsled holds the first two runs of competition.
  • Snowboarding concludes with the men’s and women’s parallel giant slalom races.

You can catch any of these events live or on replay by tuning into the channels listed beside the event.

If you cannot get to a TV, head on over to NBCOlympics.com to stream live online or catch up on any replays you may have missed. You can also watch wirelessly on your smartphone by downloading the NBC Sports App.

Medal Table

A quick look at the medal table after Thursday’s action:

Screen Shot 2018-02-23 at 12.21.45 AM.png
Via NBCOlympics.com

Norway comfortably remains on top of the medal table. Five medal day propels Canada past Germany for second. 27 medals is the best Olympic performance ever by a Canadian delegation, topping their 26 in 2010. United States remains in fourth place while The Netherlands rounds out top five. OAR wins their first gold of PyeongChang. Hosts South Korea jump into top ten.

Keep up to date on everything Olympics right here on “The Bat Flip” where we will be posting our daily Precap to cover what all went down and what else is to come in PyeongChang.

Olympic Precap: United States Takes Center Stage

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Via @TeamUSA

(Note: Due to the time difference between South Korea and the United States, all events will be listed by the day they are being aired in the United States.)

The Olympics Precap is a daily post that will serve as a recap and preview of the action in PyeongChang.

Here’s What Happened: Wednesday, February 21st

Cross-country has long been an event that the United States struggled in. It has been decades since the men won an Olympic medal in any cross-country even and for the women, they were still waiting on their first Olympic medal in the sport.

Early on Wednesday morning, that wait finally came crashing down in historic fashion. In the women’s team sprint final, the American team of Kikkan Randall and Jessica Diggins delivers the U.S. its first women’s cross-country medal in the color of gold.

Sitting in second place behind Sweden entering the final straightaway, Jessica Diggins emptied whatever she had left in her tank to pull ahead of the Swedish racer and beat her to the finish line for the gold medal.

Sweden had to settle for the silver after getting nicked at the line and Norway came across third to win the bronze and add to their leading medal total.

Norway’s bronze meant Marit Bjoergen becomes the most decorated winter Olympian of all time, man or woman.

Unfortunately, the U.S. men’s cross-country team was unable to replicate the feat their teammates had produced just minutes earlier in the men’s team sprint. Finishing in a respectable 6th place, the men were held off the medal stand and will likely have to wait until 2022 for a shot at ending their long medal drought.

Norway added to their bronze in the women’s final with a gold in the men’s final thanks in part to 21 year old phenom Johannes Klaebo. Klaebo has been a machine for the Norwegian team all Games long and remained true during the spring final where he and his teammate Martin Sundby won the gold medal, Klaebo’s third of the 2018 Olympics.

Rounding out the podium was OAR with the silver medal and France coming home with the bronze.

Bobsled competition traditionally dominates the final week of sliding events at the Olympics and this year is no different. After high drama in the men’s two person race, the women’s two person brought the drama as well.

Germany made it 2-for-2 in bobsled gold medals with a victory in the women’s two person race with the team of Lisa Buckwitz and Mariama Jamanka laying down the best time across all four runs.

In Sochi four years ago, a bad final run dropped the top American team of Elana Meyers Taylor to a disappointing silver. Now in PyeongChang, the American team had to settle for silver once again, but after leaving their four best runs on the track, it was a much happier celebration.

Placing third to winย  the bronze medal was the Canadian duo of Kaillie Humphries and Phylicia George, giving Canada medals in both the men’s and women’s two person events.

Ice hockey awarded its first medals of the 2018 Games with the bronze medal game in the women’s tournament between Finland and OAR. Finland defeated OAR 3-2 to win the bronze medal for the third consecutive Olympics.

Over on the long track, the Dutch continued racking up medals but none of them gold in the team pursuit events. Starting with the men, Norway and South Korea progressed to the final and it was Norway taking home gold over the host nation by a comfortable margin. South Korea settled for silver.

In the bronze medal race, The Netherlands took on New Zealand and did what they have done all Olympics long, beating the competition and walked away with a bronze medal.

Unlike the men’s race, the women’s race featured the Dutch in the final but they were unable to bring home another gold medal in a sport they have dominated at these Games and throughout history.

Instead, it was the Japanese team skating away from the Dutch in the final to win the gold medal by almost two seconds. All was not lost for The Netherlands however, they still walked away with a silver medal.

In the bronze medal race it was North American rivals Canada and the United States facing off for the last podium spot. History awaited the U.S. team if they could win to claim the country’s first medal in the team pursuit event and the first medal in long track for the women in 16 years.

Skating hard out of the gate, the United States team of Heather Bergsma, Brittany Bowe, and Mia Manganello raced out to over a three second lead with just two laps remaining but the Canadians turned on the pressure down the stretch and the American team had to hang on by less than half a second to make history and win the bronze.

Snowboarding still has a loaded schedule to complete in these final days of the Games and they got back to awarding medals with the women’s Big Air event, this first time medals will be awarded in a Big Air event at the Olympic Games.

Taking the athlete’s two best score an adding them together for a total, it came down to the very last run by the very last snowboarder of the competition.

Anna Gasser of Austria was the gold medal favorite coming into PyeongChang and had the best overall score in qualifying. On her final run, Gasser scored a 96.00 to go with her other high score of 89.00 to win gold with an overall score of 185.00.

To win gold, Gasser had to knock American Jamie Anderson out of the top spot. Anderson posted a combined total of 177.25 to win silver and add to her gold medal in slopestyle. This was Anderson’s third career Olympic medal and she became the first snowboarder in history to medal in two different events at the same Games.

Zoi Sadowski Synnott of New Zealand came in third to win the bronze medal, her country’s first of the 2018 Games.

Halfpipe competition wrapped up on Wednesday evening with the men’s freestyle skiing event. The United States had the three top qualifiers and there was serious talk about a possible U.S.A. sweep on the podium.

It did not work out perfectly for the United States for them to sweep the podium but they still walked away with gold and silver to boost the overall medal count.

Defending Olympic champion David Wise crashed on his first two runs after losing a ski during a trick. Some slight modifications before his final run made all the difference and Wise was able to defend his gold medal with a 97.20.

Wise was joined on the podium by teammate Alex Ferreira who nailed all three runs but was unable to post one as high as Wise. His best score came on his last run with a 96.40, more than good enough for silver.

Between Wise’s skiing halfpipe gold combined with the gold won by Shaun White in snowboarding, the United States swept the men’s halfpipe events in PyeongChang.

Sixteen year old Nico Porteous briefly jumped into first place with a 94.80 on his second run. When all the snow settled, Porteous claimed the bronze to give New Zealand its second medal of the day.

A condensed schedule due to weather meant alpin had a busy day as organizers ensure all the events are run before Sunday.

First up today was the men’s slalom race where Marcel Hirscher was the odds on favorite to win his third gold medal of the Games. About halfway through his first run, Hirscher stumbled and failed to complete his run, taking the Austria out of medal contention.

With Hirscher our, the field was wide open and Andre Myhrer of Sweden took advantage. Myhrer went ahead on the second run, overtaking Swiss skier Ramon Zenhaeusern. No one could get close to Myhrer after he went in front and he hung on to win his first career gold medal.

Zenhaeusern remained in second for the silver medal and Austrian skier Michael Matt made up for his fellow countrymen’s error and won the bronze.

After the men completed their runs, it was time for the women to take on the super combined event. One downhill run and one slalom run. Lowest combined time takes home the gold.

American Mikaela Shiffrin was the favorite but it was Lindsey Vonn leading the field after the downhill portion, meaning she would ski last in the slalom.

Everything went pretty much as planned during the slalom portion, with Shiffrin putting down the run everyone expected to move into the lead. Just a few skiers later however, Michelle Gisin of Switzerland posted an even better run to take over gold medal position from Shiffrin by almost a second.

Gisin held on to that top spot and the only person left to unseat her was Vonn but early into her run, she clipped a gate and was disqualified from the race, meaning Gisin was the Olympic champion.

Mikaela Shiffrin added to her earlier gold medal with the silver, her third career Olympic medal.

Rounding out the podium was Wendy Holdener of Switzerland with the bronze.

We will have more in this later today, but the United States big day was capped off on the rink, where the United States and Canada renewed their rivalry in the gold medal game.

It was an expected matchup that lived up to the billing in every way. The United States controlled most of the game but trailed 2-1 after two periods. With around six minutes the U.S. found the tying goal to send it to overtime.

Throughout the course of the overtime period, the U.S. came within inches of ending the game but were denied at each turn and the game went to a shootout.

Still tied after five rounds the teams kept going. In the sixth round, Jocelyne Lamoureux scored on her attempt and it was up to Meghan Agosta to keep the game alive for Canada.

In stepped Maddie Rooney.

The gold medal was the first for the U.S. in women’s ice hockey since the Nagano Games in 1998.

We’ll have more on this game and this moment later today.

We would be remiss if we did not talk about the action from the non-medal events that went down today. Here’s what you may have missed:

  • Curling wrapped up the round robin portion of their competition. The U.S. men knocked off Great Britain 10-4 to advance to the medal round where they will face Canada. The U.S. women team were not as fortunate, dropping a 9-6 decision to Sweden and were eliminated.
  • OAR, Canada, and Germany all won their quarterfinal games to advance to the medal rounds of the men’s ice hockey tournament.
  • Training runs of the four man bobsled competition were contested. Medal runs begin on Friday.

Here’s What’s Next: Thursday, February 22nd

We have made it through half the week and just two more days separate you from the weekend. Unfortunately, we are also entering the final days of the 2018 Winter Olympics but there is still a lot of action to play out before the Games are closed.

Before we break down what to watch, here is Thursday’s schedule of events:

Screen Shot 2018-02-21 at 3.26.56 PM.png

(Medalย events denoted.)

With the action winding down, the push for medals will be stronger than ever.

Here’s what to keep an eye on:

  • Snowboarding continues competition with the men’s and women’s parallel giant slalom event.
  • Nordic combined wraps up competition with the team event.
  • Short-track speed skating wraps up their 2018 Games with medal races in men’s 500m and 5,000m relay and the women’s 1,000m.
  • Men’s curling semifinals are set and ready to go. The United States takes on Canada for a place in the gold medal match.
  • Figure skating wraps up competition with the women’s free skate. OAR could claim their first gold medal of the Games.

You can catch any of these events live or on replay by tuning into the channels listed beside the event.

If you cannot get to a TV, head on over to NBCOlympics.com to stream live online or catch up on any replays you may have missed. You can also watch wirelessly on your smartphone by downloading the NBC Sports App.

Medal Table

A quick look at the medal table after Wednesday’s action:

Screen Shot 2018-02-22 at 2.47.14 AM.png
Via NBCOlympics.com

Norway remains on top and closes in on the all time record for medals won at a single Winter Olympic Games. Germany and Canada remain second and third respectively. The big winner from Wednesday was the United States who won eight medals to move up to fourth and put pressure on Germany and Canada. Switzerland jumps up to ninth with a good day on the slopes.

Keep up to date on everything Olympics right here on “The Bat Flip” where we will be posting our daily Precap to cover what all went down and what else is to come in PyeongChang.

Olympic Precap: Lindsey’s Last Run?

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Via @usskiteam

(Note: Due to the time difference between South Korea and the United States, all events will be listed by the day they are being aired in the United States.)

The Olympics Precap is a daily post that will serve as a recap and preview of the action in PyeongChang.

Here’s What Happened: Tuesday, February 20th

Unlike Monday where the medal stand belonged to the Norwegians, there was a much more diverse representation on the podium Tuesday.

Biathlon has been holding events since the 2018 Games opened and they continued awarding medals on Tuesday.

France has already had a great Games in the biathlon and that continued on Tuesday as the country took home the gold in the mixed relay. The French team, consisting of two men and two women, easily claimed the gold medal by over 20 seconds. Sticking with the theme of these Games, Norway found its way onto the medal stand with a silver medal. The Italian team came across the finish line in third to win the bronze.

As a member of the French contingent who ran the race, Martin Fourcade won his third medal of the 2018 Winter Games.

Nordic combined was another disciplined awarding medals on Tuesday, wrapping up the individual portion of their schedule with the large hill competition. As a reminder, nordic is a combination of ski jumping and cross-country skiing.

It was a complete sweep of all the podium positions, with Germans claiming all three medals. Johannes Rydzek crossed with finish line less than a second before his two teammates to win the gold medal.

Fabian Riessle and Eric Frenzel crossed the line within a half a second of each other to win silver and bronze respectively.

One of the most anticipated races in short-track was on the docket Tuesday with the women’s 3,000m team relay. If you happened to watch, you saw how chaotic but still organized it was.

Home country South Korea were the favorites to win the gold and they delivered with a masterful performance, edging long time rival China at the line to win the gold medal and send the crown into a frenzy.

It appeared as if China easily claimed the silver but a penalty was called on the Chinese team and they were disqualified. This should have moved Canada into silver medal position but they were also given a penalty and disqualified. Those two penalties pushed Italy into the silver medal and awarded the bronze to The Netherlands, who had earlier won the B final in world record time.

In likely her last Olympics, Lindsey Vonn was the favorite in the women’s downhill event, a race she won at the 2010 Games. Vonn was making her return to the Olympics after missing the Sochi games due to a knee injury.

Two skiers before Vonn was her friend and rival Sofia Goggia of Italy. Goggia gave Vonn a target to hit, flying on her run and dropping the fastest time to move into first. Knowing what she had to do, Vonn hit the slopes and put all her effort into overtaking Goggia for first.

Unfortunately, Goggia’s run was just too good for Vonn to match and she had to settle for second place. In the end, Goggia’s time held up and she made history as the first Italian to win gold in the women’s downhill.

Vonn was sitting in silver position for most of the competition but she was relegated to bronze after Norwegian skier Ragnhild Mowinckel posted a better time to claim the silver medal.

Wrapping up the action on Tuesday night was the men’s ski cross race (essentially BMX on snow) but no Americans qualified to race in the Olympics. After several heats and elimination races, the final was set and Canadian Brady Leman walked away with the gold medal after just missing out on a medal four years ago.

Marc Bischofberger of Switzerland finished second for the silver medal and Sergey Ridzik of OAR rounded out the podium with bronze.

Another great day of competition brought the drama and excitement to the non-medal events as well. Here’s what you may have missed:

  • Short-track had a medal event but they also held heats for the men’s 500m and the women’s 1,000m. Their respective finals are later in the week.
  • Norway, Finland, and Germany all advanced to the men’s hockey quarterfinals with victories.
  • U.S. men’s curling defeated Switzerland 8-4 to keep their medal hopes alive.
  • Women’s 2-person bobsled held their first two runs of competition. The United States currently sits 2nd and 4th with two runs to go.
  • Men’s snowboarding Big Air made its Olympic debut with the qualifying rounds. Slopestyle gold medalist Red Gerard qualified for the final along with teammates Kyla Mack and Chris Corning.
  • Figure skating began its final event of PyeongChang with the women’s short program. Medal favorites Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva of OAR lead the way.
  • U.S. men’s hockey saw their Olympics come to an end following a heartbreaking 3-2 loss that had to be decided in a shootout.

Here’s What’s Next: Wednesday, February 21st

We have made it to Wednesday and that means we are halfway through the final week of competition at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. I know most of you have to work during the day but hopefully you can still catch some of the action.

Before we break down what to watch, here is Wednesday’s schedule of events:

Screen Shot 2018-02-20 at 5.31.15 PM.png
Via CBS Sports

(Medalย events denoted.)

Only a few days of action left in PyeongChang, don’t blink or you might miss history.

Here’s what to keep an eye on:

  • Curling wraps up round robin play for both men and women. Top four on both sides move onto medal rounds.
  • Ski cross gold medal final is scheduled for early in the morning. No Americans qualified to race in the Olympics.
  • Women’s ice hockey awards a bronze medal in a showdown between Finland and OAR.
  • Men’s alpine skiing holds the slalom event where Marcel Hirscher goes for his third gold of PyeongChang.
  • Also in alpine, due to potential weather issues, the women’s combined event has been rescheduled to Wednesday.
  • Cross-country awards medals in the men’s and women’s team sprint event.
  • Women’s snowboarding Big Air final had to be rescheduled and will go off this evening.
  • Women’s bobsled holds their final two runs to determine the medals. The U.S. has teams currently sitting in second and fourth.
  • Long-track decides medals in the men’s and women’s team pursuit events. The U.S. women’s team will try and win the country’s first medal ever in the event.
  • Men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe final closes out halfpipe competition at the Games. U.S.A sits in good position to claim at least one medal.
  • End the night with one of the most anticipated events of the Games, the women’s ice hockey gold medal game. As expected, it comes down to the U.S. and Canada once again.

You can catch any of these events live or on replay by tuning into the channels listed beside the event.

If you cannot get to a TV, head on over to NBCOlympics.com to stream live online or catch up on any replays you may have missed. You can also watch wirelessly on your smartphone by downloading the NBC Sports App.

Medal Table

A quick look at the medal table after Tuesday’s action:

Screen Shot 2018-02-21 at 1.45.38 AM.png
Via NBCOlympics.com

Norway cracks 30 medals to maintain healthy overall lead in medal count. Germany wins three but Canada is closing quickly. France jumps U.S. for top five on silver tiebreaker while both set sights on The Netherlands. OAR holds steady but still looking for first gold medal. Goggia gold propels Italy into top ten.

Keep up to date on everything Olympics right here on “The Bat Flip” where we will be posting our daily Precap to cover what all went down and what else is to come in PyeongChang.

FlipCast Episode 13: The One Where Robbie Loses It

The FlipCast (4)

Find it here on Podbean.

Subscribe on iTunes.

In this episode: Robbie and Shawn discuss the 2018 Winter Olympics and what has gone wrong for the Americans … Free agents are getting signed in the majors, what does that mean for the biggest name yet to sign? … The crew also discusses NBA All-Star Weekend … And Shawn finally gets Robbie to lose it. We won’t spoil when that is, though. (SPOILER: It’s not in the intro, so you’ll have to listen a little bit)

Olympic Precap: Canada’s Golden Day

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Via @TeamCanada

(Note: Due to the time difference between South Korea and the United States, all events will be listed by the day they are being aired in the United States.)

The Olympics Precap is a daily post that will serve as a recap and preview of the action in PyeongChang.

Here’s What Happened: Monday, February 19th

Norway and Germany have held the top two spots on the medal table throughout the entire Olympics and Monday’s performance just reinforced how strong both teams are in several disciplines.

Luge and Skeleton have wrapped up competition and made way for the bobsled on the sliding track and on Monday, the sport awarded its first medals of the 2018 Games.

Kicking off the bobsled events in PyeongChang was the 2-person men’s race and the racing was so tight, they had to award TWO gold medals. After four runs by all teams, the Canadian team of Justin Kripps/Alexander Kopacz and the German team of Thorsten Margis/Francesco Friedrich posted identical times of 3:16.86. Since the Olympics only count to the hundreth of a second, it was ruled a tie and both teams were awarded the gold medal.

Since there were two gold medal winners in the 2-person race, silver was removed, leaving the bronze up for grabs. Missing gold by only 0.05 seconds, the Latvian team of Oskars Melbardis/Janis Strenga took home bronze.

Now that we have entered the final week of the Games, many disciplines will be wrapping up their competitions throughout the week. One such competition concluding its PyeongChang slate was ski jumping.

Across the two men’s individual ski jumping events, only three countries made the medal stand and that theme continued in the team event on Monday and it was not particularly close. Norway was the runaway gold medal winner with a combined score of 1098.5. Germany, with a score of 1075.7, claimed the silver and Poland landed with bronze thanks to a score of 1072.4.

Austria finished fourth overall but were nearly a 100 points off Poland for third place.

In a big upset on the long-track, The Netherlands was kept off the podium in the men’s 500m race, where the Dutch were expected to dominate like they have all Olympics long.

Instead, it was Norway bringing home yet another gold medal, their first on long-track in 26 years.

Gold and silver in the men’s 500m was incredibly close, decided by only 0.01 seconds between Norway’s Havard Lorentzen and Cha Min Kyu of host South Korea. Lorentzen had just enough left to cross the line to claim the gold while Kyu had to settle for silver.

Rounding out the podium was Gao Tingyu of China, a quarter of a second behind the winner.

A week after the snowboarders took on the halfpipe it was the skiers turn to try and take home gold. Canadian Cassie Sharp continued a strong day for her home nation with the gold, posting a 95.80 on her second run to put her in first for good.

Marie Martinod of France dropped a 92.60 on her first run to finish behind Sharp with the silver medal.

Bronze went to Brita Sigourney of the United States. Before she dropped in for her last run, Sigourney had to watch her teammate Annalisa Drew knock her out of bronze medal position. On her final run, Sigourney dropped a 91.60 to regainย third place and claim a podium spot.

Monday’s medal events wrapped up in figure skating, with the ice dancing free skate. The United States had two teams in medal contention after the short program and it was sibling pair Maia and Alex Shibutani who put the U.S. on the podium with a bronze.

The real showdown was going to be for gold between Canadian pair Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir and French pair Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron.

Papadakis and Cizeron took the lead with their free skate but Virtue and Moir brought the house down as the last pair to go and scored just high enough to overtake the lead and win their second gold medal of these games, and second career gold in the ice dancing program. Papadakis and Cizeron won the silver.

It wasn’t just the medal events bringing the drama and action, there was plenty of that in non-medal competition as well. Here’s what you may have missed.

  • So much curling but that’s expected at this point. The U.S. men’s team stayed in medal contention with a 9-7 overtime win over Canada. The U.S. women’s team also remained in the medal hunt with a 10-4 victory over China.
  • Canada defeated OAR in the women’s ice hockey semifinals to set up a gold medal showdown with the United States later this week.
  • On the long-track, the quarterfinals for the women’s team pursuit were held and the United States finished fourth to move onto the semifinals. The U.S. has never won a medal in this event.
  • Women’s downhill held their final practice run before the medal run this evening. Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin both posted top five times.
  • Men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe got underway with the qualifying runs. All four U.S.A. skiers qualified for the final.
  • U.S. men’s ice hockey reached the quarterfinals with a 5-1 victory over Slovakia. They advance to play the Czech Republic tomorrow.

Here’s What’s Next: Tuesday, February 20th

Tuesday brings another slate of Olympic competition so hopefully you can sneak away from your work duties for a little while and check in on all the fun in PyeongChang.

Before we break down what to watch, here is Tuesday’s schedule of events:

Screen Shot 2018-02-19 at 3.28.55 PM.png
Via CBS Sports

(Medalย events denoted.)

Time is running out on these Olympics so don’t miss any of the action even if that means cutting out of work early.

Here’s what to keep an eye on:

  • Men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe qualification goes off.
  • Curling, Curling, Curling. Both U.S. men’ and women’s teams are in action and making a push for the medal rounds.
  • Men’s ice hockey elimination rounds continue throughout the day.
  • Nordic combined wraps up Olympic competition with the large hill event.
  • Biathlon awards medals in the mixed event where men and women compete for gold together.
  • Busy day in short-track with heats and medal races set to get underway.
  • Women’s alpine skiing holds its feature downhill event. American Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin both go for gold.
  • Figure skating begins its last individual event with the women’s short program.
  • It’s the women’s turn on the sliding track with the bobsled 2 person race.
  • Men’s snowboarding returns with their Big Air qualifications.
  • U.S. men’s ice hockey looks to book a spot in the semifinals when they take on the Czech Republic.

You can catch any of these events live or on replay by tuning into the channels listed beside the event.

If you cannot get to a TV, head on over to NBCOlympics.com to stream live online or catch up on any replays you may have missed. You can also watch wirelessly on your smartphone by downloading the NBC Sports App.

Medal Table

A quick look at the medal table after Monday’s action:

Screen Shot 2018-02-20 at 1.41.56 AM.png
Via NBCOlympics.com

Norway remains on top and overtakes the lead in gold medals with two on Monday. Germany and Canada comfortable round out the top three. The United States holds in the top five with two bronze medals on Monday and closes the gap on The Netherlands for fourth. Not shown here, the host nation South Korea is closing in on a top ten spot.

Keep up to date on everything Olympics right here on “The Bat Flip” where we will be posting our daily Precap to cover what all went down and what else is to come in PyeongChang.

Olympic Precap: No Stopping Norway

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Via @Olympics

(Note: Due to the time difference between South Korea and the United States, all events will be listed by the day they are being aired in the United States.)

The Olympics Precap is a daily post that will serve as a recap and preview of the action in PyeongChang.

Here’s What Happened: Sunday, February 18th

We are officially into the final week of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and that means some disciplines will be starting to wrap up their Olympic competition in the coming days but there will still be plenty of medals to hand out before the Games come to a close.

Already with a substantial lead a top the medal table, Norway continue to pile on the hardware Sunday and it began in a sport they have dominated since they stepped foot in South Korea, cross-country skiing.

It was time for the men’s 4x10km relay and like their women counterparts, the Norwegian men’s team pulled away down the home stretch to lock up the gold medal. Anchored by Johannes Klaebo, Norway battled back from a rough start to overtake the rest of the field in the end.

Coming home in silver position was the team representing OAR who hung with Norway for most of the race but faded late down the stretch. France put together a strong performance from start to finish for the bronze.

Building off their early gold, Norway continued racking up medals but had to settle for bronze in the men’s 15km mass start biathlon event. A combination a cross-country skiing and shooting, Europeans mainly dominate the discipline and today was no different.

An earlier gold in the men’s 12.5km pursuit already made the 2018 Games a success forย  France’s Martin Fourcade but he doubled down with a second gold in the 15km mass start. Falling behind early thanks to a shooting penalty and brief fall, Fourcade battled back and pulled away from everyone besides Germany’s Simon Schepp.

The two athletes stayed together and went into a full on sprint down the last few hundred meters. Fourcade and Schepp hit the line at the same time, prompting a photo finish that showed Fourcade’s boot crossing the line just the blink of an eye before Schepp, giving Fourcade his second gold in less than a week.

Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen crossed the line in third to claim the bronze.

Freestyle skiing completed the more traditional portion of its Olympic schedule with the men’s aerials final where the United States had an unexpected medal contender in Jonathon Lollis. Unfortunately, Lollis could not pull off a repeat effort of his qualifying jump and was eliminated in the second round.

Down to six jumpers in the final round Oleksandr Abramenko of the Ukraine landed his run perfectly, scoring a 128.51 to win the gold medal. This was Ukraine’s first medal in PyeongChang, becoming the 26th country to win a medal at these Games.

Chinese skier Jia Zongyang just missed the gold by 0.46 and had to settle for the silver medal. Ilia Burov of OAR rounded out the podium with the bronze.

The fastest event in long track speed skating is the 500m races and on Sunday it was the women’s turn to take center stage. For all the success the Dutch have had on the long-track in PyeongChang, they were unable to medal on this day.

Gold medal favorite Nao Kodaira of Japan lived up to expectations and blew away the field to win her first career gold medal. Kodaira won silver in the women’s 1,000m race last week and has not been defeated in a 500m race in two years.

Lee Sang-Hwa gave the home crowd a reason to cheer as the South Korean skater finished in second place to claim silver. Karolina Erbanova of the Czech Republic won bronze.

Brittany Bowe was the highest finishing American in fifth, 0.19 off a podium spot.

As has been the case everyday of the Olympics, there was plenty of non-medal action to take in. Here’s what you may have missed:

  • Bobsled competition kicked off with the first two runs of the men’s 2-man race. Germany holds the early advantage with two runs to go.
  • Curling round robin play continued as the medal rounds inch closer. The U.S. men’s team dropped an 8-5 decision to Norway. The U.S. women bounced back with a 7-6 win over Denmark.
  • Men’s ice hockey wrapped up group play. The Czech Republic defeated Switzerland to win Group A and Sweden knocked off Finland to claim Group C. Knockout rounds begin tonight.
  • Women’s ice hockey began their semifinal round. The U.S. women booked their spot in the gold medal game with a 5-0 victory over Finland.
  • On the long-track, the men’s team pursuit race began with the quarterfinals. South Korea, The Netherlands, Norway, and New Zealand advanced to the semifinals.
  • Second training run for the women’s downhill went off and gold medal favorite Lindsey Vonn posted the third best time.
  • Figure skating resumed after a day off with the ice dancing short program. American teams Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue and Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani sit third and fourth respectively.
  • The halfpipe is open once again, this time for the women’s freestyle competition. Three Americans qualified for the finals later tonight.
  • Snowboarding Big Air made its Olympics debut with the women’s qualifying runs. Slopestyle gold medalist Jamie Anderson was the top qualifying American.

Here’s What’s Next: Monday, February 19th

Monday is a holiday here in the United States which and that means many will have the day off and if you don’t then you should consider calling in sick because there will be plenty of Olympic action to take in.

Before we break down what to watch, here is Sunday’s schedule of events:

Screen Shot 2018-02-18 at 2.24.10 PM.png
Via CBS Sports

(Medalย events denoted.)

Hopefully you get to benefit from the holiday and have Monday off because there is plenty of Olympic actions that you will not want to miss.

Here’s what to keep an eye on:

  • Snowboarding Big Air makes its Olympic debut with the women’s qualification runs. If you’ve never seen Big Air make sure to check it out.
  • Both the men’s and women’s U.S. curling teams are in action as they make a push for the medal rounds.
  • Ski jumping wraps up Olympic competition with the team event off the large jumping hill.
  • Bobsled awards its first medals in the men’s two man race. The final week is filled with bobsled action so check it out.
  • Speed skating returns to the long-track for the men’s 500m.
  • Canada faces OAR in the second women’s ice hockey semifinal.
  • Figure skating awards more medals after the free skate of the ice dancing competition.
  • Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin return to the slopes for women’s downhill training.
  • Freestyle skiing begins a busy final week with the women’s halfpipe final.
  • Men’s U.S. ice hockey begins the knockout rounds against Slovakia.

You can catch any of these events live or on replay by tuning into the channels listed beside the event.

If you cannot get to a TV, head on over to NBCOlympics.com to stream live online or catch up on any replays you may have missed. You can also watch wirelessly on your smartphone by downloading the NBC Sports App.

Medal Table

A quick look at the medal table after Sunday’s action:

Screen Shot 2018-02-19 at 1.53.15 AM.png
Via NBCOlympics.com

Norway stays on top handily with two medals on Sunday. They also matched Germany’s gold medal total with 9. OAR hops into the top five at the expense of the United States but OAR is still searching for their first gold medal. United States does not win a medal for the third time this Olympics.

Keep up to date on everything Olympics right here on “The Bat Flip” where we will be posting our daily Precap to cover what all went down and what else is to come in PyeongChang.