Sochi Olympics: First Victories and Disappointments

The first Sochi gold medal went to American Sage Kotsenburg in the Men's Slopestyle, who finished with a score of 93.50.
Photo: Sage Kotsenburg

Staale Sandbech of Norway grabbed silver (91.75) while Canadian Mark McMorris took bronze (88.75).

Photo (left to right): Staale Sandbech (Norway) – silver, Sage Kotsenburg (US) – gold, Mark McMorris (Canada) – bronze.

Norwegian skier Marit Bjoergen won a sprint finish to take gold in the women’s 15 kilometer cross-country skiathlon at the Sochi Winter Olympics on Saturday. Bjoergen produced a decisive burst of pace on the last stretch to win by 1.8 seconds from Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla. Another Norwegian, Heidi Weng, took the bronze, 13.2 seconds off the lead.
Photo (left to right): Charlotte Kalla (Sweden), Marit Bjoergen (Norway), Heidi Weng (Norway).

Bjoergen, known as the "Iron Lady," was one of the favorites for the race. It is the eighth career Olympic medal for Bjoergen and her fourth win, following a golden treble at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, making the 33-year-old Norway's most successful female Olympian.
Photo (left to right): Marit Bjoergen (Norway) – gold medal, Heidi Weng (Norway)- bronze medal.

Russian skiers were not among the Olympic favorites, and the result was expected: Russian Yulia Chekaleva came only 15th.

Norwegian King of Biathlon, Ole Einar Bjorndalen, 40, made headlines by winning his seventh Olympic gold medal. He finished with a time of 24 minutes 33.5 seconds, missing with one shot.

Austria's Dominik Landertinger finished 1.3 seconds behind to take silver.

Czech biathlete Jaroslav Soukup, ranked 41, won a bronze medal. Russian Anton Shipulin came fourth.
Photo: Jaroslav Soukup

A trio of Dutchmen reached the podium in the men’s 5,000 meters speed skating in Sochi Saturday. Sven Kramer of the Netherlands set an Olympic record and defended his title, winning gold with a time of 6 minutes, 10.76 seconds.

Another Dutchman Jan Blokhuijsen took the silver.

Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands claimed the bronze. Russians Denis Yuskov, Ivan Skobrev and Alexander Rumyantsev won no medals on the first day of tournament.

Four Russians, Alexei Romashev, Mikhail Maksimochkin, Denis Kornilov and Ilmir Khazetdinov, who came 18th, reached the final in the ski jumping tournament.
Photo: Ilmir Khazetdinov.

Photo: Russian Denis Kornilov during the qualification round for the men’s ski jumping.

Russian luger Albert Demchenko came second in the men's singles after two runs.

Demchenko who led after the first run, lost to German Felix Loch, who finished the run with 51.964 seconds. Italian Armin Zoeggeler came third (52.387 seconds).
Photo: Luger Armin Zoeggeler (Italy) starts the first run in the men's singles.

Canadian Justine Dufour-Lapointe won the gold medal in the women's moguls with a score of 22.44. Her sister Chloe Dufour-Lapointe won silver in the same event. Hannah Kearney of the US was third at 21.49 points.

Russian Regina Rakhimova left the second final round and came 8th.

Russian figure skaters confirmed their lead in the team tournament. Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Soloviev, the world bronze medalists, came third in the pairs.

Canadan ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir pulled Canada to within a point of Russia at the top of the standings. Virtue and Moir finished runners-up to perennial rivals Charlie White and Meryl Davis.
Photo: Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Russian Julia Lipnitskaya, 15, won the women's short program, finishing ahead of Italy’s Carolina Kostner and Japan’s Mao Asada.

Ksenia Stolbova and Fyodor Klimov capped a near-perfect day for Russia in the Olympic team figure skating event on Saturday, winning the pairs free program and giving the host nation a commanding six-point lead at the top of the standings.
They scored 135.09 to earn a maximum 10 points for Russia. Canada's No. 2 pair Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch came second with 129.74 and nine points for their country, while Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotarek claimed third place with 120.82 and eight points for Italy.
Photo: Ksenia Stolbova and Fyodor Klimov