Monobob double podium, Ice Dancing bronze, and a Gold Medal rematch | What You Missed
While many Americans were taking in the Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl win, Team USA was racking up the hardware in China. Elana Meyers Taylor and Kaillie Humphries headlined the monobob’s Olympics debut. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue earned their Bronze medal in Ice Dancing. Megan Nick snagged a surprising Bronze in aerial free skiing. And Team USA topped Finland in women’s hockey to set up a gold medal rematch against the Canadians. All that and much more on today’s edition of ‘What You Missed.’
Video Transcript
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- Good morning, America. While you were tossing back another chicken wing and reliving the Rams exciting Super Bowl win, Team USA was in action all over China. So let's get right to it with what you might have missed. We start at the Yanqing Sliding Center for the first-ever Olympic women's monobob final. Team USA'S Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor were the only Americans in the final, but they would not be denied.
Meyers Taylor grabbed the silver medal just under two years after giving birth to her son. Humphries, a former Canadian and five-time world champion bobsledder who left Team Canada to escape an abusive coach, blew away the competition, finishing 1.54 seconds ahead of Meyers Taylor to earn the gold. Humphries was granted US citizenship in December, just in time to bring home the hardware for Team USA. What an Olympic debut for the monobob.
Over to the capital indoor stadium for the second leg of the ice dancing final, the free dance. France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron came out of the rhythm dance with almost a 2-point lead, and they stretched that lead to for 6 with an incredible free dance. It was a redemption story for the French team after a wardrobe malfunction knocked them off the gold medal spot in 2018. Americans Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue earned a bronze medal with a 218.92 after finishing just off the podium in Pyeongchang. Congrats to Matty and Zach.
Next, we go to the Genting Snow Park for the women's free skiing aerials final. American Ashley Caldwell entered the final run at the top of the leaderboard after winning gold in the mixed aerials earlier this week. But on the final run, she went for her second gold and slightly over-rotated touching the ground on her landing and knocking her to the fourth position. But disappointment for Caldwell was jubilation for American Megan Nick, who earned the bronze medal in her first Olympics. China's Xu Mengtao finally won her gold at her fourth Olympic games after earning silver in Pyeongchang. Ashley Caldwell was the first one to congratulate Mengtao in a wonderful display of Olympic sportsmanship. On the curling sheet, USA's Team Peterson topped the Koreans 8 to 6 in women's round robin play. The win moves Team Peterson to 4 and 2 on the games with three more round robin matches to play.
And finally, over to the Wukesong Sports Center for the women's hockey semifinals between Team USA and Team Finland. A win for the Americans would set up a gold medal rematch with the Canadians. After a scoreless first period, Team USA came alive, netting two goals in both the second and third periods, including an empty netter, to cap off a dominant 4-1 win over the Fins. Team USA will now move on to play Canada in the gold medal match on Wednesday night, a rematch of 2018 when the Americans topped Canada in a shootout. Be sure to tune in at 11:00 PM Eastern on Wednesday for what will undoubtedly be an incredible game.
Let's check in on the medal count. Norway is still out in front with nine golds as well as a games-leading 21 total medals. They're followed by Germany with eight goals. Team USA has moved into the third spot with seven golds and 16 total medals. The Netherlands and Austria round out the top five in the gold medal standings. That's all we have for you today. Be sure to check in every morning during this final week of the 2022 Olympic Games as we fill you in on all the action from Beijing.