And so it ends. A massive day for Russian winter sport puts the host nation over 60 points clear at the close of competition. Thanks to a strong finish in bobsleigh and some points from ice hockey, the USA nudge clear of Norway and into 2nd place with Canada, Germany and the Netherlands making up the rest of the top six.
Many thanks to Michael Thiel and “Janak” for pointing out some errors in the calculations.

The scoring table is as follows;
1st 8 points
2nd 7
3rd 6
4th 5
5th 4
6th 3
7th 2
8th 1
If countries are level on points their single best result is the tiebreak.

[table]
Rank, Nation,Points,Tie breaker
Rank, Nation,Points,Tie breaker
1, RUS, 378,
2, USA, 310,
3, NOR, 304,
4, CAN, 279,
5, GER, 246,
6, NED, 218,
7, AUT, 192,
8, FRA, 169,
9, SWE, 154,
10, SUI, 145, 6x1st
11, CHN, 145, 2x1st
12, ITA, 142,
13, JPN, 119,
14, CZE, 107,
15, SLO, 97,
16, KOR, 77,
17, POL, 71, 4x1st
18, FIN, 71, 1x1st
19, BLR, 55,
20, GBR, 48,
21, AUS, 39,
22, LAT, 36,
23, UKR, 28,
24, KAZ, 24,
25, SVK, 22,
26, NZL, 14,
27, BEL, 12,
28, CRO, 7, 2nd
29, ESP, 7, 4th
30, DEN, 6,
31, HUN, 5,
32, BUL, 4,

[/table]

Thank you and good night.

Assuming Russia wins a medal in bobsledding today, that will give them 33 medals in Sochi. It is only the 5^th time that a nation has won over 30 medals at a Winter Olympics, after Germany and the United States in both 2002 and 2010, and will rank them 4^th all-time for nations at the Olympic Winter Games, whether they finish with 32 or 33 medals. The top 4 national performances at a single Winter Olympics have been as follows:

[table]

 

Year,NOC,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Totals

2010,United States,9,15,13,37

2002,Germany,12,16,8,36

2002,United States,10,13,11,34

2010,Germany,10,13,7,30

[/table]

 

But in 2010, Russia won “only” 15 medals, meaning they will have improved from 15 to 33 in Sochi, a gain of 18 medals (or possibly 17). How does that improvement rank all-time at the Winter Olympics? Either way, it will be second all-time after the USA improving from 13 to 34 from 1998-2002, a gain of 21, which, like Russia, benefitted from hosting the Winter Olympics on home soil. But the Netherlands also improved in Sochi, from 8 to 24 medals, a bump of 16 medals, thanks to their impressive speed skaters. That is 3^rd all-time.

Here are all the nations that have seen a bump of 10 or more medals from one Winter Olympics to the next. Please note that this is a little easier as the number of events increases at each Winter Olympics.

 

[table]

Year,NOC,TM,Δ

1998,United States,13,

2002,United States,34,21

2010,Russia,15,

2014,Russia,33,18

2010,Netherlands,8,

2014,Netherlands,24,16

1988,Norway,5,

1992,Norway,20,15

2006,United States,25,

2010,United States,37,12

1972,Soviet Union,16,

1976,Soviet Union,27,11

1988,Austria,10,

1992,Austria,21,11

1984,Switzerland,5,

1988,Switzerland,15,10

[/table]

 

And that is @bambam1729 signing off from Sochi, folks. Its been fun. I’ll leave you with the words of the Reverend Robert de Courcy Laffan, who spoke them at the Closing Banquet at the end of the 1908 Olympics in London:

“The Olympic Movement was one with great ideals – the perfect physical development of a new humanity, the spreading all over the world of the spirit of sport, which was the spirit of the truest chivalry, and the drawing together of all the nations of the earth in the bonds of peace and mutual amity. They were at the beginning of one of those great world movements which was going to develop long after all present had passed away.”

 

With 2 days of competition left Russia and the USA still lead the table with the host nation still maintaining a healthy lead. Norway and Canada are divided by just two points in the chase for 3rd place disqualifications in biathlon meant Germany actually lose points today.

The scoring table is as follows;
1st 8 points
2nd 7
3rd 6
4th 5
5th 4
6th 3
7th 2
8th 1
If countries are level on points their single best result is the tiebreak.

[table]
Rank, Nation,Points,Tie breaker
1, RUS, 310,
2, USA, 290,
3, NOR, 261,
4, CAN, 259,
5, GER, 211,
6, NED, 208,
7, FRA, 159,
8, AUT, 148,
9, CHN, 145,
10, SUI, 141, 6x1st
11, SWE, 141, 2x1st
12, ITA, 122,
13, JPN, 115,
14, CZE, 97,
15, SLO, 89,
16, KOR, 69,
17, FIN, 60,
18, POL, 54,
19, BLR, 51,
20, GBR, 44,
21, AUS, 39,
22, UKR, 28, 1st
23, LAT, 28, 2nd
24, KAZ, 24,
25, SVK, 19,
26, NZL, 14,
27, BEL, 12,
28, CRO, 7, 2nd
29, ESP, 7, 4th
30, DEN, 6,
31, HUN, 5,
32, BUL, 4,
[/table]

Mikaela Shiffrin’s victory in the women’s slalom today gives her the following Olympic statistical bests/records:

• Youngest gold medalist in women’s slalom (surpassing Paola Magoni-Sforza (ITA-1984) (19-155)
• 5th youngest medalist in women’s slalom (at 18-345) – leader is Danièle Debernard (FRA-1972) (17-205)
• 5th youngest female gold medalist in Alpine skiing (18-345) – leader is Michela Figini (SUI-1984 Downhill) (17-315)
• 4th American victory in the event which moves the USA ahead of Switzerland (we currently both have 3).
• 6th American medal in the event – first since 1972 (Barbara Cochran) – still trail France (8) and Austria (7)
• First American victory in women’s slalom since 1972 (Barbara Cochran) and slalom overall since 1984 (Phil Mahre)

This is also the 5^th USA medal in Alpine skiing at Sochi, which equals the 2^nd best USA performance at any Winter Olympics (1984). We have won medals as follows:

[table]

Year,RankUS,RankEU,G,S,B,TM

2010,1,2,2,3,3,8

2014,,,2,1,2,5

1984,1,1,3,2,-,5

1964,3,3,-,2,2,4

1994,3,2,2,2,-,4

1960,4,6,-,3,-,3

1948,4,4,1,1,-,2

1952,4,2,2,-,-,2

1972,4,3,1,-,1,2

1992,=5,=7,-,2,-,2

2002,6,6,-,2,-,2

2006,5,2,2,-,-,2

1976,=7,=7,-,-,1,1

1980,6,5,-,1,-,1

1998,7,6,1,-,-,1

[/table]

USA Today at the Olympics

• Alpine Skiing – Women’s Slalom – the USA has won this event 3 times, but it has been 42 years. The 3 gold medals were won by Gretchen Fraser in 1948, Andi Mead-Lawrence in 1952, and Barbara Cochran in 1972. We have won 2 other medals – a silver by Betsy Snite in 1960 and a bronze by Jean Saubert in 1964. The USA is tied for 1st all-time with Switzerland in terms of most gold medals in the event. The 5 medals won is 3rd behind France (8) and Austria (7), also tied with Switzerland.
• Biathlon – Women’s Relay – this event has been contested 6 times and the USA has one top 10 finish, with an 8th in 1994.
• Short-Track Speed Skating – Men’s 500 metres – J. R. Celski is in the quarter-finals and still alive for a medal. The USA has 2 medals in this event, with a gold by Apolo Anton Ohno in 2006, and a bronze by Rusty Smith in 2002. This puts the USA =3rd all-time in terms of medals won, trailing Canada (5) and Korea (3).
• Short-Track Speed Skating – Men’s Relay – the United States is in the A Final and has a shot at a medal. The USA has won 3 medals in the event, with bronzes in 2006-2010 and a silver in 1994. The USA Olympic best in the event is 6:44.498 set by the US team in the Vancouver final.
• Short-Track Speed Skating – Women’s 1,000 metres – Jessica Smith and Emily Scott are in the quarter-finals and still alive for medals. The USA has 1 medal in the event, a silver by Katherine Reutter in 2010. We have had 1 other finalist, Amy Peterson in 1998, who placed 4th.
• Men’s Curling – the United States has been eliminated.
• Freestyle Skiing – Women’s Skiier-Cross – this is a new event to the Olympic Program.

 

This Day at the Olympics

346 Olympians were born

69 Olympians died

87 Olympic events were held

 

USA Births and Death on this Day at the Olympics

Born

[table]

Date,Name,Sport,Years

21 Feb 1874,Oluf Landnes,GYM,1904

21 Feb 1882,Bill Tuttle,SWI/WAP,1904

21 Feb 1885,Julio Kilenyi,ART,1932

21 Feb 1886,Howard Smith,ART,1932

21 Feb 1894,Franz Federschmidt,ROW,1920

21 Feb 1896,Karl Knight,CAN,1924

21 Feb 1900,James Newell,ART,1932

21 Feb 1915,Basil Francis,SWI,1932

21 Feb 1927,Colin Stewart,ASK,1948

21 Feb 1928,Gino Pariani,FTB,1948

21 Feb 1934,Thomas Orley,FEN,1964

21 Feb 1956,Nancy Fiddler,CCS,1988-92

21 Feb 1963,Michael Gostigian,MOP,1988-96

21 Feb 1967,Leroy Burrell,ATH,1992

21 Feb 1973,Les Gutches,WRE,1996

21 Feb 1973,Brian Rolston,ICH,1994-06

21 Feb 1976,Donald Suxho,VOL,2004-12

21 Feb 1977,Tyler Jewell,SNB,2006-10

21 Feb 1990,Kathleen Hersey,SWI,2008-12

[/table]

 

Died

[table]

Date,Name,Sport,Years

21 Feb 1925,Raymond Havemeyer,GOL,1904

21 Feb 1964,John Brennan,ATH,1908

21 Feb 1965,Harry Daniels,WAP,1928

21 Feb 1969,Joe de Capriles,FEN,1936-52

21 Feb 1971,Clare Jacobs,ATH,1908

21 Feb 1976,Temple Ashbrook,SAI,1932

21 Feb 1996,Fred Kammer Jr.,ICH,1936

21 Feb 1996,Don Laz,ATH,1952

21 Feb 1997,Leo Sjogren,ATH,1952-56

[/table]

 

Previous USA Winter Olympic Medals on This Day

[table]

Medalist,Sport,X,Event,Medal,Date

Dick Button,FSK,M,Singles,Gold,21 Feb 1952

Jim Grogan,FSK,M,Singles,Bronze,21 Feb 1952

Charlie Tickner,FSK,M,Singles,Bronze,21 Feb 1980

Eric Heiden,SSK,M,1500 m,Gold,21 Feb 1980

Kristi Yamaguchi,FSK,F,Singles,Gold,21 Feb 1992

Nancy Kerrigan,FSK,F,Singles,Bronze,21 Feb 1992

Bode Miller,ASK,M,GS,Silver,21 Feb 2002

Sarah Hughes,FSK,F,Singles,Gold,21 Feb 2002

Michelle Kwan,FSK,F,Singles,Bronze,21 Feb 2002

USA Team,ICH,F,Ice Hockey,Silver,21 Feb 2002

USA Team,BOB,F,Two,Silver,21 Feb 2006

Shani Davis,SSK,M,1500 m,Silver,21 Feb 2006

Chad Hedrick,SSK,M,1500 m,Bronze,21 Feb 2006

Bode Miller,ASK,M,Combined,Gold,21 Feb 2010

[/table]

 

Recent Medal Standings after Day #14

[table]

Day #14 – 20 Feb 2014,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

United States,8,6,11,25,1

Russia,7,9,7,23,2

Netherlands,6,7,9,22,3

Norway,10,4,7,21,4

Canada,7,9,4,20,5

Germany,8,4,4,16,6

France,4,4,7,15,7

Sweden,2,6,4,12,8

Switzerland,6,3,2,11,9

Austria,2,6,2,10,10

Czech Republic,2,4,2,8,11

Japan,1,4,3,8,12

Italy,-,2,6,8,13

Slovenia,2,1,4,7,14

Belarus,5,-,1,6,15

China,3,2,1,6,16

Korea (South),2,2,1,5,17

Poland,4,-,-,4,18

Finland,1,3,0,4,19

Great Britain,1,-,2,3,20

Australia,-,2,1,3,21

Latvia,-,1,2,3,22

Slovakia,1,-,-,1,23

Croatia,-,1,-,1,24

Kazakhstan,-,-,1,1,=25

Ukraine,-,-,1,1,=25

Totals (81 events),82,80,82,244

[/table]

[table]

Day #14 – 25 Feb 2010,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

United States,8,12,12,32,1

Germany,8,11,7,26,2

Norway,7,6,6,19,3

Canada,8,6,3,17,4

Russia,3,4,6,13,5

Austria,4,3,5,12,6

Korea,6,4,1,11,7

France,2,3,5,10,8

China,4,2,3,9,9

Switzerland,6,-,2,8,10

Sweden,4,2,2,8,11

Netherlands,3,1,2,6,12

Czech Republic,2,-,3,5,13

Poland,-,3,1,4,14

Japan,-,2,2,4,15

Italy,-,1,3,4,16

Australia,2,1,-,3,17

Belarus,1,1,1,3,=18

Slovakia,1,1,1,3,=18

Slovenia,-,2,1,3,20

Finland,-,1,2,3,21

Latvia,-,2,-,2,22

Croatia,-,1,1,2,23

Great Britain,1,-,-,1,24

Estonia,-,1,-,1,=25

Kazakhstan,-,1,-,1,=25

Totals (70 events),70,71,69,210

[/table]

[table]

Day #14 – 23 Feb 2006,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

Germany,9,10,5,24,1

United States,7,8,5,20,2

Austria,8,6,5,19,3

Russia,8,3,8,19,4

Canada,5,8,6,19,5

Norway,2,8,8,18,6

Switzerland,5,4,4,13,7

Sweden,5,2,4,11,8

Italy,4,-,6,10,9

France,3,2,4,9,10

China,2,3,4,9,11

Korea,4,3,1,8,12

Netherlands,2,2,3,7,13

Finland,-,3,3,6,14

Estonia,3,-,-,3,15

Croatia,1,2,-,3,16

Australia,1,-,1,2,17

Czech Republic,-,2,-,2,18

Ukraine,-,-,2,2,19

Japan,1,-,-,1,20

Belarus,-,1,-,1,=21

Bulgaria,-,1,-,1,=21

Great Britain,-,1,-,1,=21

Slovakia,-,1,-,1,=21

Latvia,-,-,1,1,25

Totals (70 events),70,70,70,210

[/table]

[table]

Day #14 – 21 Feb 2002,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

Germany,10,15,8,33,1

United States,10,11,9,30,2

Norway,12,5,4,21,3

Austria,3,4,8,15,4

Russia,4,4,3,11,5

Italy,3,2,5,10,6

Canada,3,1,6,10,7

France,3,4,2,9,8

Switzerland,3,2,4,9,9

Finland,3,2,1,6,10

Sweden,-,1,5,6,11

Netherlands,2,3,-,5,12

China,1,2,2,5,13

Croatia,2,1,-,3,=14

Korea,2,1,-,3,=14

Czech Republic,1,2,-,3,16

Bulgaria,-,1,2,3,17

Australia,2,-,-,2,18

Estonia,1,-,1,2,=19

Great Britain,1,-,1,2,=19

Japan,-,1,1,2,=21

Poland,-,1,1,2,=21

Belarus,-,-,1,1,=23

Slovenia,-,-,1,1,=23

Totals (64 events),66,63,65,194

[/table]

[table]

Day #14 – 20 Feb 1998,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

Germany,10,9,8,27,1

Norway,8,8,5,21,2

Russia,9,5,2,16,3

Austria,3,5,7,15,4

United States,6,3,4,13,5

Canada,4,5,4,13,6

Netherlands,5,4,2,11,7

Finland,2,4,5,11,8

Italy,2,6,2,10,9

Japan,4,1,3,8,10

France,2,1,4,7,11

Switzerland,2,1,3,6,12

China,-,4,1,5,13

Korea,2,-,1,3,14

Czech Republic,-,1,1,2,=15

Sweden,-,1,1,2,=15

Belarus,-,-,2,2,=17

Kazakhstan,-,-,2,2,=17

Bulgaria,1,-,-,1,19

Denmark,-,1,-,1,=20

Ukraine,-,1,-,1,=20

Australia,-,-,1,1,=22

Belgium,-,-,1,1,=22

Totals (59 events),60,60,59,179

[/table]

 

At the end of day 13 Russia’s lead is 20 points but it’s now the USA who are in second place after a good day for America saw them pass Norway. Canada take 4th back from Germany and France move up to 7th. Denmark enters the list.

The scoring table is as follows;
1st 8 points
2nd 7
3rd 6
4th 5
5th 4
6th 3
7th 2
8th 1
If countries are level on points their single best result is the tiebreak.

[table]
Rank, Nation,Points,Tie breaker
1, RUS, 284,
2, USA, 264,
3, NOR, 251,
4, CAN, 223,
5, GER, 216,
6, NED, 198,
7, FRA, 151,
8, SUI, 139,
9, AUT, 132,
10, SWE, 118, 1st
11, ITA, 118, 2nd
12, JPN, 115,
13, CHN, 110,
14, CZE, 91,
15, SLO, 87,
16, FIN, 59,
17, POL, 53, 4x2nd
18, KOR, 53, 2x2nd
19, BLR, 47,
20, AUS, 37,
21, GBR, 33,
22, LAT, 28,
23, KAZ, 20,
24, SVK, 18, 1st
25, UKR, 18, 3rd
26, NZL, 14,
27, BEL, 12,
28, CRO, 7, 2nd
29, ESP, 7, 4th
30, HUN, 5,
31, BUL, 4,
32, DEN, 3,
[/table]

• USA Alpine Skiing Men’s Slalom
• USA Biathlon Men’s Relay
• USA Cross-Country Skiing Women’s 30K
• USA Speed Skating Men’s Team Pursuit
• USA Speed Skating Women’s Team Pursuit

There are also 2 new events ending on Saturday – snowboarding parallel special slalom for both men and women.

 

With the Games winding down, the final full day of multiple events and medal events is Saturday, 22 February. There are only 3 finals on Sunday (23 Feb) – men’s ice hockey, 4-man bobsledding, and 50 km cross-country skiing. Here are the event sheets for the events ending on Saturday:

• Alpine Skiing Men’s Slalom
• Biathlon Men’s Relay
• Cross-Country Skiing Women’s 30K
• Speed Skating Men’s Team Pursuit
• Speed Skating Women’s Team Pursuit

There are also two new events – snowboarding parallel special slalom for men and women.

The United States and Canada play today in a men’s ice hockey semi-final. This will be the 18^th Olympic match between the two arch-rivals, with Canada holding a comfortable edge in the rivalry – winning 11, tieing 3, and losing 3. The results of all the matches are as follows:

 

United States vs. Canada

[table]

Year,Match,Result,Score,Date

1920,Semi-Final,CAN d. USA,2-0,Apr 25

1924,Final Pool,CAN d. USA,6-1,Feb 3

1932,Round-Robin,CAN d. USA,2-1,Feb 4

1932,Round-Robin,CAN tied USA,2-2,Feb 13

1936,Final Pool,CAN d. USA,1-0,Feb 16

1948,Round-Robin,CAN d. USA,12-3,Feb 5

1952,Round-Robin,CAN tied USA,3-3,Feb 24

1956,Final Pool,USA d. CAN,4-1,Jan 31

1960,Final Pool,USA d. CAN,2-1,Feb 25

1964,Final Pool,CAN d. USA,8-6,Feb 3

1968,A Pool,CAN d. USA,3-2,Feb 11

1984,B Pool,CAN d. USA,4-2,Feb 7

1994,B Pool,CAN tied USA,3-3,Feb 17

1998,D Pool,CAN d. USA,4-1,Feb 16

2002,Gold Medal,CAN d. USA,5-2,Feb 24

2010,Gold Medal,CAN d. USA,3-2,Feb 28

2010,A Pool,USA d. CAN,5-3,Feb 21

[/table]

 

• USA Alpine Skiing Women’s Slalom
• USA Biathlon Women’s Relay
• USA Freestyle Skiing Women’s Skiier-Cross
• USA Short-Track Speed Skating Men’s 500 metres
• USA Short-Track Speed Skating Men’s Relay
• USA Short-Track Speed Skating Women’s 1,000 metres