US breaks Winter Olympics gold medal record; USA Hockey targets Sunday gold.

The highly anticipated ice hockey confrontation, awaited by the global hockey community for over a decade to reappear on the Olympic arena, has now arrived.

Sunday’s ultimate contest for the gold medal features the United States battling Canada, an encounter where the significance could not be more elevated.

American forward Matthew Tkachuk declared, “This represents the sport’s apex; it doesn’t get any better.”

Subsequently, Tkachuk, possibly overlooking the 8:10 a.m. ET start time, optimistically commented, “Every television set across the United States and Canada will undoubtedly be tuned into this game. That fact alone should ignite considerable excitement.”

The U.S. team has not claimed Olympic gold in men’s hockey since the legendary “Miracle on Ice” event 46 years prior. Their most recent appearance in a gold-medal game was in Vancouver in 2010, where Sidney Crosby’s overtime goal secured a win for host nation Canada, a broadcast that remains the most-viewed television event in that hockey-passionate country’s annals.

Although Canada, a nine-time champion, prevailed in the previous two Olympics that included NHL participants in 2010 and 2014, an elite American triumph on Sunday would not be unexpected. The U.S. arrived in Milan boasting a lineup rich with NHL stars and a firm conviction that their moment has finally arrived.

Numerous central figures in Sunday’s match also participated last February when the U.S. and Canada engaged in two intense, fiercely contested games at the 4 Nations Face-Off. The Americans secured victory in the round-robin fixture, a game that commenced with three altercations within the initial nine seconds. Connor McDavid’s overtime goal then sealed a retaliatory win for the Canadians in the championship match merely days afterward.

Will Canada mark its tenth Olympic gold, or will the U.S. conclude its prolonged dry spell? We will examine five crucial questions regarding Sunday’s monumental gold-medal confrontation.

It’s scarcely conceivable that the Milan Cortina Olympic Games are drawing to a close. The concluding ceremony is slated for Sunday in Verona, Italy, with the American delegation to be spearheaded by two of its most prominent athletes.

Friday brought the announcement that Hilary Knight, a celebrated figure in U.S. women’s hockey, and Evan Bates, an acclaimed ice dancer, will bear the American flag during the event.

Knight, aptly nicknamed “Captain America,” recently secured a dramatic victory against Team Canada in the gold-medal contest. On Thursday, the U.S. was down 1-0 with just over two minutes remaining in regular play, until the 36-year-old Knight netted an equalizer and a record-setting goal, extending the match into overtime.

Further details on this achievement are available.

On Saturday, the United States established an unprecedented national record for gold medals earned at a Winter Olympic Games. This remarkable achievement originated from a discipline in which the American team had previously lacked significant success during these Games.

Following underwhelming showings in the solo aerials competitions, the mixed team comprising Kaila Kuhn, Connor Curran, and Chris Lillis secured a medal, successfully retaining the gold medal the U.S. team had claimed in this event four years prior in Beijing.

This marked the eleventh gold medal for the United States in these Games, exceeding its previous Winter Olympic record established two decades earlier in Salt Lake City.

Lillis, the sole member remaining from the 2022 team and now the most decorated aerials skier in American history, remarked, “We’ve enjoyed considerable success in this discipline, and I believe the background of many U.S. athletes in team sports, coupled with our mutual motivation, greatly benefits us, particularly in aerials skiing. It can feel isolated up there, but anyone observing our team throughout the day would see how much we feed off each other’s energy, with each successful jump inspiring the next athlete.”

Additional information is available.

Following an unsatisfactory conclusion to his Olympic events, Ilia Malinin delivered an exceptional comeback display at Saturday’s gala.

Finland secured the bronze medal in the men’s ice hockey competition by triumphing over Slovakia with a score of 6-1.

Tomas Tatar narrowed Slovakia’s disadvantage to 2-1, finding the net with just thirty seconds left in the second period. However, Finland retaliated with a dominant four-goal surge in the final period.

Roope Hintz, Kaapo Kakko, and Joel Armia individually scored goals, and Erik Haula secured an empty-net goal after Slovakia removed Samuel Hlavaj from the ice with four minutes remaining. Haula concluded the match with a pair of goals.

Canada defeated Great Britain in a tightly contested 9-6 victory during Saturday’s gold medal match. This marks the fifth curling gold for Canadian men and their first since 2014, while Great Britain is still seeking its inaugural win in this event.

Kaillie Armbruster-Humphries and Jasmine Jones representing Team USA secured a bronze medal in the two-woman bobsled event, holding onto their third position throughout the competition’s fourth and concluding run.

Germany’s Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi claimed gold, with Lisa Buckwitz and Neele Schuten earning silver. German athletes occupied three of the top four placements in the final results, as Kim Kalicki and Talea Prepens secured fourth.

This medal marks Armbruster-Humphries’ sixth Olympic accolade, with two attained during these Milan Cortina Games. Her previous achievements include monobob gold in Beijing, additional gold medals in Beijing and Sochi, and a two-woman bronze in Pyeongchang.

Two additional U.S. pairs finished within the top ten, with Kaysha Love and Azaria Hill securing fifth place, and Elana Meyers Taylor and Jadin O’Brien finishing seventh. Meyers Taylor had previously won monobob gold on Monday.

Sebastian Aho skillfully guided the puck past Slovakian goaltender Samuel Hlavaj, giving Finland a 1-0 advantage in the opening period of the men’s hockey bronze medal match.

The American team seems well-positioned to secure a medal in the two-woman bobsled competition following the initial three heats of the event.

The pair of Kaillie Armbruster-Humphries and Jasmine Jones presently occupies third place, trailing the second position by half a second. Kaysha Love and Azaria Hill are ranked fifth, with Elana Meyers Taylor and Jadin O’Brien in sixth.

Germany commands the leading two positions, as well as three of the top four, with Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi at the forefront of the competition.

This year’s Olympic Games will conclude on Sunday with an additional event, as Saturday’s freeski women’s halfpipe final was rescheduled due to adverse weather conditions, specifically a snowstorm.

Eileen Gu, a figure of much discussion, along with American team members Svea Irving and Kate Gray, and Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin, will now experience a slight delay.

Eight years earlier in Pyeongchang, Mia Manganello earned a bronze medal in the team pursuit.

This Saturday, she once again secured bronze, this time in a solo speedskating competition—specifically, the mass start event, where she had finished fourth in the 2022 Beijing Games.

Further details regarding her performance are available.

Competing in her concluding Winter Olympics, female speedskater Mia Manganello clinched a bronze medal in the mass start competition on Saturday.

Participating in her third Winter Games, Manganello secured third place with a recorded time of 8:35.39. Marijke Groenewoud from the Netherlands achieved gold at 8:34.70, and Canada’s Ivanie Blondin completed the race in 8:35.09.

The 36-year-old Manganello garnered her second Olympic bronze medal, having previously won bronze in the team pursuit event in Pyeongchang.

Additional information can be found.

Jordan Stolz’s exceptional Olympic journey concluded on Saturday, marking the first instance in these Games where he did not achieve a podium finish.

The twenty-one-year-old narrowly missed a medal, securing fourth place in the unpredictable mass start event of long-track speed skating.

Jorrit Bergsma from the Netherlands claimed the gold medal, while Viktor Hald Thorup of Denmark secured silver. Italy’s Andrea Giovannini finished a distinct third, just nine hundredths of a second ahead of Stolz.

Despite this, Stolz departs the Olympics with a total of three medals: gold in both the 500 and 1,000 meters, and a silver in the 1,500-meter race.

For further details on his mass start performance, refer to this source.

Trailing 8-7, the American team required a steal in the tenth end but were unable to produce the necessary final Olympic enchantment to achieve it.

Peterson’s concluding throw failed to bypass Canada’s guard, leading to Canadian celebrations of their 10-7 triumph.

The United States possesses the sole women’s curling team that has participated in every Olympic Games without securing a medal. Nevertheless, the American team’s performance in these Games was courageous.

Further information concerning the bronze-medal match is available.

The American contingent is not yielding easily, having just optimally utilized the hammer advantage.

The concluding throw by U.S. skip Tabitha Peterson in the ninth end earned two points for the Americans, by nudging a Canadian stone from the four-foot area and settling beside another American stone.

Currently, the United States is behind by a narrow margin of 8-7.

For the second occasion within three ends, Canada successfully scored three points.

American skip Tabitha Peterson executed an impressive hit-and-roll, yet her stone was swiftly displaced from the house.

Furthermore, Peterson’s last stone only removed a single Canadian stone, thereby presenting Team Canada with an additional chance to score three points.

Canadian skip Rachel Homan capitalized on this opportunity.

Remarkable.

An impressive comeback from the American team, which conceded three points in the sixth end only to score two of its own in the seventh.

Following a superb freeze delivered by Canada’s Rachel Homan, U.S. skip Tabitha Peterson deftly maneuvered a draw between two stones, which eventually grazed a Canadian rock and settled on the button, allowing the Americans to score multiple points and equalize the game at 5-5.