These Winter Olympics haven’t always been kind to Americans, but there might be no bigger day for Team USA at the Pyeongchang Games than the one that finally sees Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn share the hill.
It’s the matchup we’ve been waiting for since Vonn recovered from the years of injuries that kept her out of the Sochi Games, where Shiffrin made her Olympic debut and won gold. The Alpine combined will give the two greats a chance to play to their strengths as they duke it out down the hill.
Beyond that pair of stellar skiers, there are a handful of medals that the U.S. could grab, including at least a silver in the women’s hockey finale — the latest installment in one of hockey’s deepest rivalries.
A trio of American freestyle skiers are in pole position going into the men’s halfpipe finals, and what sport is more American than big air snowboarding? The first big air Olympic champion will be crowned tonight.
So break out the Stars and Stripes and settle in for some of the best action the Olympics has to offer.
Here are our "7 to Watch" in Pyeongchang for Wednesday:
1. US Women Win 1st Long Track Speedskating Medals in 16 Years
The long wait is over for an American woman to stand on the podium in long track speedskating.
Team USA beat Canada in the women’s pursuit on Wednesday, becoming the first American women to win an Olympic medal in long track speedskating since 2002. No American had won a long track medal since the 2010 Games.
For most of the match, the U.S. skaters looked like they had the medal in the bag. They leapt out to a huge lead, more than two-and-a-half seconds after two laps, and then ratcheted it up. But the high speeds wore on Mia Manganello, who began clutching her knee and nearly fell in the final stretch. Nevertheless, she, Heather Bergsma and Brittany Bowe held on.
The Netherlands, so dominant in speedskating in Pyeongchang, were upset in the team pursuit. The men lost to eventual gold medalists Norway in the semifinals, while the women, who had cruised to victory over the U.S. in the semifinals, lost to Japan in their final.
2. Swedish Skier Wins Slalom Gold After Favorites Make Mistakes
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With the favorites failing to finish the race, Swedish skier Andre Myhrer won the Olympic gold medal in men's slalom on Thursday.
Myhrer watched as first-run leader Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway, holding a 0.21-second advantage, skied out early in the second run. Marcel Hirscher of Austria, this season's top slalom skier, failed to even finish the first run.
The 35-year-old Myhrer finished 0.34 seconds ahead of Ramon Zenhaeusern of Switzerland, who took an unexpected silver medal. The tallest man in the race at 6-foot-7 threw his ski poles in the air after seeing he had taken the lead before Myhrer started.
3. US Beats Canada For 1st Women’s Hockey Gold Since 1998
The United States has beaten Canada in a shootout to win their first Olympic gold since 1998 in women's hockey.
It was 2-2 after three periods and 2-2 through five shooters in the tie-breaker.
Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored in the first extra round of the first shootout tiebreaker in Olympic women's hockey history on Thursday to give the United States the gold medal with a 3-2 victory.
Maddie Rooney stopped Meghan Agosta on her second try of the shootout to clinch it. Rooney stopped 29 shots in regulation and the 20-minute overtime. Shannon Szabados made 39 saves for Canada, which had won four straight Olympic gold medals.
4. Vonn Voyage! Lindsey Skis Out in Alpine Combined, Shiffrin Takes Silver
A day after winning bronze in her best discipline, Lindsey Vonn, who posted the fastest time in the downhill leg of the women’s Alpine combined, missed a gate early in the slalom and didn’t finish in what's likely the final race of her Olympic career.
Michelle Gisin of Switzerland turned in a nearly flawless performance as she finished in a combined time of 2 minutes, 20.90 seconds to eclipse the silver-medalist Shiffrin by 0.97 seconds. Wendy Holdener of Switzerland earned the bronze.
Shiffrin adds the silver medal to the gold she won earlier in the games in the giant slalom.
It was very likely the first and only Olympic race between U.S. teammates Vonn and Shiffrin.
5. Austria’s Gasser Takes Big Air Gold; Team USA's Anderson Earns Silver
Austria’s Anna Gasser, the favorite in women’s snowboard big air, took gold Thursday after she landed two different 1080s — something no one else did in the competition. Gasser edged the top American in the event, Jamie Anderson, by 7.75 points and Anderson took silver.
Scoring is determined but the best two runs out of three. Gasser broke out back-to-back double 1080s in her second and third runs for a total score of 185.00 and it was good enough for gold.
Already the Olympic champion in snowboard slopestyle, Anderson was in search of her third career Olympic gold medal. Her top trick was her first one, a frontside 1080 that received 90.00 points.
New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnott took bronze.
6. Wise Takes Gold as US Dominates Men's Freeski Halfpipe
Americans dominated the podium in the men’s freeski halfpipe on Thursday, with David Wise winning gold and Alex Ferreira taking silver.
American Alex Ferreira led the way after two rounds, scoring a 96 on an electric second run. But Wise came roaring back, after falling on his first two runs, to take the lead with a 97.20.
Teammates Aaron Blunck and Torin Yater-Wallace placed seventh and ninth, respectively.
New Zealander Nico Porteous took bronze.
7. USA Clinches Silver in Women's Bobsled
Elana Meyers Taylor and Lauren Gibbs of the U.S. finished second in women's bobsled in Pyeongchang. Their time of 3:22.52 was just 0.07 seconds back from the gold-medal German sled — the closest margin between first and second in any Olympic bobsled race.
Germany's Mariama Jamanka — a winner of exactly zero major international races in her life until now — drove to gold in the event, adding to her country's dominant showing at the sliding track in these Olympics.
Canada's Kaillie Humphries teamed with Phylicia George to get third in 3:22.89.
It was the third consecutive medal for both Meyers Taylor and Humphries. Meyers Taylor won bronze as a push athlete in 2010 and silver as a driver in 2014; Humphries won gold in each of those Olympic races.
The American sled piloted by Jamie Greubel Poser with brakeman Aja Evans finished fifth, 0.13 seconds off the podium. Greubel Poser won bronze in Sochi.
Outside the medal race, teams from Jamaica and Nigeria made history in Pyeongchang. The Jamaican sled became the first women’s sled from the country to compete in the games, while the Nigerian women became the first African nation to participate in women’s bobsled. Jamaica finished the competition in 19th. Nigeria finished 20th.
See the finals on NBC 7's primetime beginning at 5 p.m. PT Wednesday.
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