Here are our "7 to Watch" in Pyeongchang for Tuesday:
1. Meyers Taylor, Humphries Renew Rivalry on Bobsled Track
Elana Meyers Taylor has waited four years for redemption.
In Sochi in 2014, Meyers Taylor, bobsled driver for Team USA, was in first place after three of four runs. But she skidded on the final turn of that last run, and ended up 0.1 seconds behind Kaillie Humphries of Canada — who happens to be her training partner.
Humphries got gold. Meyers Taylor got silver. They’re back for another shot in Pyeongchang, and started that quest on Tuesday, with the first of two runs.
Mariama Jamanka and Lisa Buckwitz of Germany are the leaders at the midway point of the women's bobsled competition. Meyers Taylor and her teammate Lauren Gibbs are second for the U.S., and three other sleds are all within 0.04 seconds of third place.
The final two runs will be held on Wednesday.
Meyers Taylor once called San Diego home. She and her teammates trained in Chula Vista on their way to South Korea.
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Americans Jamie Greubel Poser and Aja Evans are also competing for a medal. The pair won bronze in Sochi and sit in fourth in Pyeongchang.
The Jamaican team has gotten the most attention at the Pyeongchang Games, in the spotlight for drama over their bobsled, rather than their performance. Their former driving coach left the team, and perhaps was to take the sled with her, dashing their Olympic hopes. But the Red Stripe beer company gave the sled to the team, saving its dream. They are in 18th place out of 20 after two heats.
Watch the final runs live on digital platforms beginning on Wednesday at 3:40 a.m. PT this link at or on NBCSN at 6:30 a.m. PT.
2. US Men’s Hockey Eliminated After Shootout Loss
The U.S. Men’s Hockey Team’s dreams of an Olympic medal were crushed in a shootout loss to the Czech Republic.
Petr Kouka was the only player to score for either team in the 10-player shootout as the Czech Republic eliminated the Americans with a 3-2 victory in the quarterfinals at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
USA’s Chris Bourque, Mark Arcobello, Ryan Donato, Troy Terry and Bobby Butler were all stopped in the shootout.
Donato and Slater scored in regulation for the U.S., which again was led by its youngest players, including speedster Terry. U.S. goaltender Ryan Zapolski allowed three goals on 29 shots and one in the shootout.
The Czechs move on to face the winner of the Olympic athletes from Russia against Norway.
3. Russian Skaters Deliver in Women’s Short Program
Women’s figure skating at the Pyeongchang Olympics was billed as a showdown between Olympic Athletes from Russia Evgenia Medvedeva and Aliona Zagitova, and they delivered Wednesday at Gangneung Ice Arena.
Zagitova set a new short program record with her score of 82.92 to slide into first place, ahead of Medvedeva by 1.31 points. If the 15-year-old Zagitova holds on to the top spot through Friday’s free skate, she would become the second youngest women’s figure skating gold medalist behind Tara Lipinski, the 1998 Olympic champion.
Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond was in third place after the short program with 78.87 points.
All three Americans to skate in the short program planned to open their routine with triple jumps, and all three stumbled. Bradie Tennell and Mirai Nagasu each fell all the way to the ice — Tennell on a triple lutz to triple toeloop combination, and Nagasu on a her trademark triple axel — while teammate Karen Chen placed a hand on the ice to brace herself coming out of a triple lutz.
4. Italy’s Goggia Wins Gold, Vonn Takes Bronze in Women’s Downhill
Italy’s Sofia Goggia held off a strong field to win gold in the women’s downhill, while Team USA’s Lindsey Vonn took bronze, finishing 0.47 seconds behind her rival.
“I gave it my best shot,” Vonn said through tears after the race. “And I’m so proud to have competed with so many amazing girls.”
Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway won silver, finishing 0.09 seconds behind Goggia.
Vonn’s bronze-medal finish makes history: At 33, she is the oldest female medalist in Alpine skiing at the Winter Games. She will ski again in the combined on Thursday (Wednesday night in the U.S.), going up against teammate Mikaela Shiffrin, who won gold in these Games in the giant slalom.
Team USA’s Alice McKennis finished fifth, Breezy Johnson finished seventh and Laurenne Ross finished 15th.
5. Backs Against the Wall, Women’s Curlers Face Sweden
The United States women’s curling team has never won an Olympic medal and it finished last in the previous two Olympics. But with a win over Sweden, the Americans could complete a stunning turnaround and advance to the medal round.
The top four teams move out of round-robin play to the semifinal round, with tie-breaker games determining the semi-finalists, if necessary. With two games to play, the U.S had a 4-3 record, tied for fourth place with Great Britain. The women were to play South Korea on Tuesday.
Sweden has been one of the better teams in the tournament, with a 5-2 record, but Swedes lost its last two matches.
Watch on digital platforms at 3:05 a.m. PT Wednesday at this link or as part of CNBC’s coverage at 2 p.m. PT Wednesday.
6. 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.
7. After 42 Years, US Wins Gold in Women's Cross-Country Skiing
Team USA ended their 42-year Olympic medal drought in cross-country skiing Wednesday and they made American cross-country history in the process.
Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall became the first American cross-country skiers to capture a gold medal by winning the women’s team sprint at the Alpensia Cross-Country Centre in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Sweden captured silver and Norway took home bronze.
Diggins and Randall are the first American women to win an Olympic medal and join Bill Koch as the only American cross-country skiers to earn an Olympic medal.
Koch picked up the silver medal in the men's 30km in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1976.
Going into the team event, Diggins had three fifth-place finishes and a sixth-place finish in these Olympics.
Diggins’ other high finishes have come in the 4x5-kilometer relay (fifth), the skiathlon (fifth), the 10-kilometer freestyle (fifth) and the classic sprint (sixth). But throughout her career, she’s shined in the team sprint, winning gold at the world championship in 2013 and bronze at the world championship in 2017.
