Twenty years after winning the first Olympic gold medal in women’s ice hockey in Nagano, Japan, the United States defeated its archnemesis, Canada, in a 3-2 shootout Thursday in the gold medal game at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored the go-ahead goal in the sixth round of the shootout with a dazzling move against Canadian goalie Shannon Szabados, then watched as teammate and goalie Maddie Rooney stopped Meghan Agosta to snap Canada’s streak of four straight Olympic gold medals, as well as its 24-game Olympic winning streak. Thursday’s final was the first shootout in a women’s gold medal game, which has been dominated by the North American squads.
Finland won the bronze medal with a 3-2 win over the Russia on Wednesday.
The U.S. victory came 38 years to the day when the U.S. men’s team upset the Soviet Union in Lake Placid, New York, in the “Miracle on Ice” game.
On the slopes
In Alpine skiing, Sweden’s Andre Myhrer was the surprise gold medalist in the men’s slalom, finishing 0.34 seconds ahead of silver medalist Ramon Zenhaeusern of Switzerland. The 35-year-old Myhrer became the oldest man to win Olympic gold in the slalom after the favorites, Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen and Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, failed to complete their first runs. Austria’s Michael Matt, whose brother Mario won gold in the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, took the bronze medal.
Twenty-four-year-old Michelle Giffin of Switzerland took the gold medal in the women’s combined, with Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States finishing nearly a second behind to win the silver medal, and compatriot Wendy Holdener taking home the bronze. American Lindsey Vonn, the leader in the downhill section, failed the finish the slalom portion in her final Winter Olympics.
Elsewhere, American freestyle skier David Wise won his second consecutive gold medal in the men’s half-pipe event, his score of 97.20 edging out compatriot Alex Ferreira, who took the silver. Sixteen-year-old Nico Porteous of New Zealand won the bronze.
Austrian snowboarder Anna Gasser won the gold medal in the Olympic debut of the women’s Big Air snowboarding event, with American Jamie Anderson, who won gold last week in the slopestyle, coming in second. Another 16-year-old New Zealander, Zoi Sadowski Synnott, took home the bronze medal.
Doping violation
Away from the ice rinks and ski slopes, Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky has been stripped of his bronze medal after admitting to a doping violation. Krushelnitsky tested positive for the banned substance meldonium after winning the mixed doubles bronze with his wife, Anastasia Bryzgalova.
Meldonium is a drug designed for people with heart problems and some believe it can help athletes increase stamina. It was banned in sports in 2016.
Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova was suspended for 15 months after testing positive for meldonium at the Australian Open in 2016.
Russia’s national team was banned from Pyeongchang over a major doping scandal dating back to the Sochi Games, but 168 Russian athletes have been allowed to compete under the neutral Olympic Athletes from Russian banner. The latest incident could keep the Russians from being reinstated and marching under the national flag at Sunday’s closing ceremony.
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