February 20 Olympic Journal: Gold For Alysa Liu In Figure Skating, Alex Ferreira In Freestyle Skiing, and the US Men Destroy Slovakia In Hockey
February 20 was another riveting day at the Olympics. The United States won gold medals in both women’s figure skating for the first time in 20 years and freestyle skiing. The United States men will skate for the gold in hockey against rival Canada.
The United States is currently second in medals among countries. The winter Olympics will end on February 22. Do you think the Americans will finish second on the medal table?
February 20 Olympic Medal Table
| Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Norway | 17 | 10 | 10 |
| United States | 10 | 12 | 7 |
| Italy | 9 | 5 | 13 |
| Netherlands | 8 | 7 | 3 |
| Germany | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| France | 6 | 8 | 6 |
| Switzerland | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Sweden | 6 | 6 | 4 |
The United States now has a lead of two total medals over host Italy. There is no way the United States will catch Norway, but the question is whether the United States can stay ahead of the Italians.
Alysa Liu wins Gold In Figure Skating
Alysa Liu won the gold medal in figure skating on February 20. She has a fantastic story, and this was the first medal for the United States of any color in women’s figure skating in the last five Olympics. Lui’s story is that she retired when she was 16 before restarting her career.
The other bit of good news for the United States in this competition was the American favorite, Amber Glenn, who fell during the short program and was in 13th place, rallied in the long program. She hit her triple axel and was putting together an almost flawless program until her final loop, when she had to catch herself with her hand. She got a score of 147.52 to finish fifth.
Alex Ferreira Wins Gold In Freestyle Skiing
Alex Ferreira won a gold medal for the United States in the Big Air competition of Freestyle Skiing. Ferreira is 31 and won a bronze medal in PyeongChang in 2018. He won the gold medal on Friday, February 20, at Livigno Snow Park in one of the last events of these Olympics. His high score of 93.75 came on his final run, edging Estonia’s Henry Sildaru by 0.75.
This event could have been even better for the United States. Fellow American, Nick Goepper, nearly won bronze with a score of 89, but was beaten by the last skier to go. USA’s Birk Irving was fifth with 88 points.
United States Men’s Hockey Beats Slovakia 6-2
The United States dominated Slovakia 6-2 in a men’s semifinal hockey game. This win set up a gold medal match with Canada on February 22. Canada, for its part, had to come back in their semifinal game with Finland. This game was a complete victory for the Americans.
The United States exploded with four goals to take control of the game in the second period. The Americans were ahead by a large margin for most of the game, and after scoring early in the first period, there was really no doubt in the outcome of this game. Slovakia only scored its goals late in the third period.
Parting Shots
The United States is guaranteed one more medal in men’s hockey. That should secure second place for the Americans in the country medal count. Canada is better than the United States on paper, but hockey games are not played on paper. Anyway you slice it, the Americans have had a great Winter Olympic Games.
