Team USA Women’s Hockey routs ROC, Women's Slopestyle snowboarders advance to final round, and first medals of Beijing Games handed out | What You Missed
Team USA saw another dominant performance from its women's hockey team, which defeated the Russian Olympic Committee to improve to 2-0. Three Americans qualified for the Women's Snowboard Slopestyle finals, the most of any nation. Plus, the first medals of the Olympics were handed out in an action-packed Saturday in Beijing.
Video Transcript
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- Good morning, America. Day four of the Beijing Olympics is in the books, and the first medals have been handed out. Let's take a look at what you might have missed.
Three members of Team USA advanced to the women's snowboard slopestyle final by finishing in the top 12 of the qualifying round. Jamie Anderson came in fifth with a score of 74. Julia Marino finished sixth with a score of 71. And Hailey Langland came in ninth with a score of 68. They'll all have a shot at the podium later tonight.
Team USA'S mixed doubles curling team continued round robin play as Chris Plys and Vicky Persinger pulled out a win over China before falling to Canada 7 to 2 later in the day. Their overall record sits at 3 and 3, good for a tie for fifth place in the standings with the three games left to play. The top four teams will advance to the semifinals.
And then the first medal event. And no surprise here, the first gold of the Beijing games went to Norway as Therese Johaug won the women's skiathlon. The next gold medal went to Dutch speed skater Irene Schouten, who broke a 20 year Olympic record as she claimed first place in the women's 3,000 meter.
Team USA was nearly able to grab its first medal in men's moguls as Nick Page advanced all the way to the final round in his Olympic debut. The 19-year-old from Utah ended up finishing in fifth place with a score of 79.
Canada's Mikael Kingsbury, regarded as the greatest mobile skier of all time and the defending Olympic champion, looked to be in position to grab another gold after earning a score of 82. However, on the final run of the night, Sweden's Walter Wahlberg pulled off the upset, earning a score of 83 to win the gold, Sweden's first ever moguls medal.
On the ice, Team USA took on the Russian Olympic Committee and came away with a resounding 5-0 win to improve to 2 and 0. The Americans took a 2-0 lead into the second intermission before blowing the game wide open in the third period was three more goals. Five different players scored for Team USA, which outshot the Russians 62 to 12.
And Team Canada continued their own dominance. They followed up their 12-1 win over Switzerland in their first game with another route, this time an 11-1 win over Finland. Brianne Jenner and Sarah Nurse each scored hat tricks in the victory, while Natalie Spooner dished out four assists, giving her 9 points through two games to lead all players in Beijing.
Taking a look at the early medal count, Norway won two gold medals, while Slovenia, the host nation China, the Netherlands, and Sweden each took home one gold a piece. Team USA is still looking for its first podium finish, but there will be plenty more opportunities. And Yahoo Sports' will have you covered with all the latest news from Beijing. We'll see you tomorrow morning for what you might have missed.
