February 7 Olympic Journal: The Amazing Lindsey Vonn and Chock and Bates Lead United States Women Win In Hockey
On February 7, we saw some amazing things at the Olympics. Lindsey Vonn had a fantastic training run, Chock and Bates came up big, the United States women’s hockey team won again, and an Italian Speed Skater won the 3,000-meter speed skating race on her birthday.
Those four stories were important on February 7, and the first medals of these Olympic Games were awarded. The early returns are that the host Italians are doing well.
February 7 Olympic Medal Count
The first medals of the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games were awarded today. The first gold medal went to a male downhill skier. It appears that the host Italians will do well in the early going; they certainly did well in the medals on the first day of competition. Here is an early medal table:
Country Gold Silver Bronze
Japan 1 1 1
Italy 1 1 1
Norway 1 1 1
Sweden 1 1 0
Switzerland 1 0 0
Slovenia 0 1 0
Canada 0 0 1
China 0 0 1
The Amazing Lindsay Vonn
On February 7, Lindsey Vonn had her second training run in the Women’s Downhill (the medal race is tomorrow). She finished third! This is all with a ruptured ACL. At 41 years old, she is looking good for a gold medal, and it should not be put past her.
Her greatest competition might come from her team. Her teammate, Breezy Johnson, won the event. Kira Weidle-Winkelmann from Germany came in second in the training run today. The training run today was delayed by fog on the mountain.
Evan Chock and Madison Bates Forced To Be Great
American Ice Dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates were forced to come up big after the “Quad God” came in second to Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama in the short program segment of the team competition on February 7. The Ice Dancers won yesterday. They scored a season’s best and left the announcers speechless.
US Women’s Hockey Blank Finland 5-0
The American Women’s Ice Hockey team continued its march to a medal with a 5-0 shutout win over Finland on February 7. Finland is a good team, but they were coming off having to postpone their game with Canada two days ago due to a stomach illness. The Finns were not a match for the United States machine. The United States outshot the Finns in this game by more than 30.
The American women pulled away in the second period. Taylor Heise and Megan Keller scored twice in 66 seconds before team captain Hilary Knight made history. Knight tied the American goals record with her 14th Olympic goal, giving the U.S. a 4-0 lead in the process. The United States coasted from there. They are on a collision course with Team Canada, whom they will play on Tuesday.
Francesca Lollobrigida set a new Olympic record in 3,000-Meter Speed Skating
Francesca Lollobrigida set a new Olympic record in the women’s 3,000-meter race. She set the record and won the gold medal on her 35th birthday with her son in attendance. The Italian skater won a gold medal for the home team. She bested the Olympic record set by the Dutch skater Irene Schouten in the 2022 Beijing Games.
The Netherlands dominated this event in the past, but they did not figure in the medals on February 7. Lollobrigida finished about two seconds ahead of Norway’s Ragne Wiklund, who got the silver medal. Canada’s Valerie Maltais received the bronze. This was the start of a good day for the Italians.
Parting Shots
Why do we love the Olympics? We love them because they culminate four years of sacrifice for the athletes, who toil in obscurity for the most part. On February 7, we saw some storybook stuff. The exemplary performance of Vonn stands out. However, the performance of Lollobrigida also stands out.
