USA Yesterday at the Olympics

• Jamie Anderson won gold in the women’s snowboard slopestyle event, the day after Sage Kotsenburg won gold in the men’s snowboard slopestyle. This is the 36^th time that a nation has won the same event for both men and women at a Winter Olympics, and it’s the 8^th time the USA has done this. That is the most by any nation, the national list for this stat is as follows:
  • United States                                                8
  • Korea (South)                                                5
  • Germany                                                          4
  • Austria                                                               3
  • German Democratic Republic             3
  • Switzerland                                                    3
  • Soviet Union                                                  3
  • France                                                                2
  • Netherlands, The                                        2
  • Norway                                                             2
  • Sweden                                                             1
• The 7 previous times the USA has done this, with wins by both men and women, are given below:
  • 1956        Figure Skating             Singles
  • 1960        Figure Skating             Singles
  • 1998        Freestyle Skiing          Aerials
  • 2002        Skeleton                          Skeleton
  • 2002        Snowboarding             Halfpipe
  • 2006        Snowboarding             Halfpipe
  • 1994        Speedskating               1,000 metres
• In the women’s biathlon, Susan Dunklee finished 14^th in the women’s 7.5 km sprint. This equals the best ever finish by a US women in an individual biathlon event, which was also done by Joan Smith in the 15 km, back in 1994 at Lillehammer. The 7.5 km sprint serves as the first half of the pursuit race, which will finish on Tuesday, 11 February, and Dunklee’s 14^th place finish qualifies her for that final. Hopefully she can move further up and set a new US best for women in Olympic biathlon. Susan Dunklee’s father, Stan Dunklee, skiied cross-country for the US at the 1976 and 1980 Winter Olympics, while his brother, Susan’s uncle, skiied cross-country at the 1972 Winter Olympics.
• The US won a bronze medal in the new event of figure skating team trophy, trailing the gold medalist Russians and Canada, in second place. The US struggled on the first day, and was only in 7^th place after the first two short program routines, falling far behind the Russians, but they rallied to move up into third and secure the bronze medal.
• Chris Mazdzer was the best US finisher in the men’s singles luge, placing 13^th. Mazdzer was 10^th after the first run, but dropped to 13^th after the second run on Saturday, and then remained in 13^th after the 3^rd and the final runs. We have yet to win a medal in men’s singles, but the US has had 6 top 10 finishes in this event, by three sliders – 4^th in 2002 by Adam Heidt and 2006 by Tony Benshoof; Wendell Suckow was 5^th in 1995 and 6^th in 1998; Adam Heidt was 9^th in 1998; and Tony Benshoof was 8^th in 2010.
• In men’s Alpine skiing downhill, Travis Ganong placed 5^th and Bode Miller 8^th. This was a disappointment for Miller, who was looking for his 6^th Olympic Alpine medal, which would place him 2^nd all-time behind Norwegian Kjetil André Aamodt, who has 8 Alpine medals. This was only the 2^nd time the US has placed 2 men in the top 10 of the downhill, after 2006, when Miller was 5^th and Darren Rahlves placed 10^th.

USA Today at the Olympics

• Men’s 500 metre speed skating – The USA has won 7 gold medals in men’s 500 metres speed skating – one of 3 events at Winter Olympics at which we have won 7, the most for any Winter Olympic event. The USA has also won 7 gold medals in men’s and women’s individual figure skating.
• Men’s short-track speed skating 1500 metres – The US has won 3 medals – gold/silver/bronze – one of only 2 Winter Olympic events at which we have a clean medal sweep of only 3 medals (1/1/1) – men’s 2-man bobsled is the other. The USA has done that at 11 events at the Summer Olympics.
• Freestyle skiing men’s moguls – The USA has won 5 medals in this event – 1/1/3. In women’s moguls US freestyle skiiers have also won 5 medals – 2/2/1. These are two of 19 events at Winter Olympics at which USA has won 5 or more medals – women’s singles figure skating is tops with 23. The US has won a medal 5 of the 6 times the men’s moguls has been an Olympic sport, missing only 1994 when Troy Benson finished 8th as our best finish.
• Biathlon men’s pursuit – The USA has never won a medal in biathlon, men or women, the only Winter Olympic sport in which we have been shutout. Our best finish in this event was 13th by Jay Hakkinen in 2002 – our only top 20 finish in the event.
• Alpine skiing women’s combined – The USA has won 2 silver medals in this event, by Gretchen Fraser in 1948 and Julia Mancuso in 2010. This is the only women’s alpine event in which US women have not won a gold medal and the 2 medals is the fewest of any Alpine event for USA women. The last top 10s in the event were by Mancuso, who was 9th in 2006, and Lindsey Kildow was 6th in 2002 – you might know her now as Lindsey Vonn. Fraser’s 1948 silver medal was the first USA alpine skiing medal won, men or women, at the Winter Olympics – she won a gold medal in the slalom the next day.

Interesting Stuff from Yesterday

• Two athletes competed in their 7^th Winter Olympics this weekend – Albert Demchenko (RUS) in luge and Noriaki Kasai (JPN) in ski jumping. Demchenko won a silver medal in men’s singles, while Kasai placed 8^th. At 42 years, 75 days, Demchenko also became the oldest Winter Olympic medalist in an individual event. He was trailed in men’s singles luge by Armin Zöggeler (ITA), who was 40-036 and becomes the 4^th oldest Winter Olympic individual medalist.
• Armin Zöggeler also won his 6^th medal in men’s luge singles, making him the first Winter Olympian to win 6 medals in the same event. This has been done 5 times in the Summer Olympics, but Zöggeler is the first athlete, Winter or Summer, to win 6 medals in an individual Olympic event.
• Bode Miller competed in his 5^th Olympics in Alpine skiing, moving into a tie for 2^nd place for the most Olympic appearances in that sport, trailing only Liechtenstein’s Marco Büchel, who competed from 1992-2010, but is not in Sochi. Later in these Olympics, Mexico’s Hubertus Von Hohenlohe will also compete in his 6^th Olympics in Alpine skiing.

This Day at the Olympics

383 Olympians were born

67 Olympians died

67 Olympic events were held

USA Births and Death on this Day at the Olympics

Born

[table]

Date,Name,Sport,Years

10 Feb 1851,Theodore Stanton,IOC,1900-03

10 Feb 1888,Alexander Cudmore,FTB,1904

10 Feb 1889,Henry Ziegler,ART,1936

10 Feb 1894,Max Wandrer,GYM,1924

10 Feb 1907,Ethel Lackie,SWI,1924

10 Feb 1919,Don Dupree Sr.,BOB,1948

10 Feb 1920,Ken Bartholomew,SSK,1948

10 Feb 1935,Tommy Pool,SHO,1964

10 Feb 1943,Larry Young,ATH,1968-72

10 Feb 1944,Gary Alexander,WRE,1976

10 Feb 1945,Glynn Saulters,BAS,1968

10 Feb 1946,Mary Meyers,SSK,1968

10 Feb 1950,Mark Spitz,SWI,1968-72

10 Feb 1951,Pete Lee,WRE,1976

10 Feb 1955,Lucy Harris,BAS,1976

10 Feb 1955,Tom LaGarde,BAS,1976

10 Feb 1960,Beth Paxson,CCS,1980

10 Feb 1965,Bobby Livingston,CYC,1988

10 Feb 1970,Brendan Eppert,SSK,1994

10 Feb 1971,Sherry Block,ARC,1992

10 Feb 1971,Marty Nothstein,CYC,1996-04

10 Feb 1975,Tina Thompson,BAS,2004-08

10 Feb 1979,Ross Powers,SNB,1998-02

10 Feb 1982,Justin Gatlin,ATH,2004-12

10 Feb 1982,Cat Reddick,FTB,2004

10 Feb 1986,Andrew Weibrecht,ASK,2010

10 Feb 1992,Annika Dries,WAP,2012

[/table]

Died

[table]

Date,Name,Sport,Years

10 Feb 1920,Amedee Reyburn,SWI/WAP,1904

10 Feb 1950,Joseph Charles,TEN,1904

10 Feb 1958,Charles Umbs,GYM,1904

10 Feb 1960,John Foy,ATH,1904

10 Feb 1961,Otto Feyder,GYM,1904

10 Feb 1966,Albert Manweiler,BAS,1904

10 Feb 1982,Paul Samson,SWI/WAP,1928

10 Feb 1991,Marion Roper,DIV,1932

[/table]

Previous USA Olympic Medalists on This Day

[table]

Medalist,Sport,X,Event,Medal,Date

Maribel Vinson,FSK,F,Singles,Bronze,10 Feb 1932

Peggy Fleming,FSK,F,Singles,Gold,10 Feb 1968

Anne Henning,SSK,F,500 m,Gold,10 Feb 1972

Dan Immerfall,SSK,M,500 m,Bronze,10 Feb 1976

Bonnie Blair,SSK,F,500 m,Gold,10 Feb 1992

Kelly Clark,SNB,F,Halfpipe,Gold,10 Feb 2002

[/table]

 

Events Finishing Today

• Alpine Skiing – Women’s Combined
• Biathlon – Men’s Pursuit
• Freestyle Skiing – Men’s Moguls
• Short-Track Speed Skating – Men’s 1,500 metres
• Speed Skating – Men’s 500 metres

 

Medal Standings after Day …

[table]

Day # – 9 Feb 2014,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Totals,Rank(US)

Norway,2,1,3,6,1

Netherlands,2,1,1,4,2

United States,2,-,2,4,3

Canada,1,2,1,4,=4

Russia,1,2,1,4,=4

Austria,1,1,-,2,6

Sweden,-,2,-,2,7

Italy,-,1,1,2,=8

Czech Republic,-,1,1,2,=8

Germany,1,-,-,1,=10

Slovakia,1,-,-,1,=10

Switzerland,1,-,-,1,=10

Finland,-,1,-,1,13

Great Britain,-,-,1,1,=14

Ukraine,-,-,1,1,=14

Totals,12,12,12,36

[/table]

[table]

Day #3 – 14 Feb 2010,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

United States,1,2,3,6,1

Germany,1,3,-,4,2

France,2,-,1,3,3

Canada,1,1,1,3,4

Korea,1,1,-,2,5

Italy,-,-,2,2,6

Czech Republic,1,-,-,1,=7

Netherlands,1,-,-,1,=7

Switzerland,1,-,-,1,=7

Slovakia,1,-,-,1,=7

Australia,-,1,-,1,=11

Norway,-,1,-,1,=11

Poland,-,1,-,1,=11

Austria,-,-,1,1,=14

Croatia,-,-,1,1,=14

Russia,-,-,1,1,=14

Totals (10 events),10,10,10,30

[/table]

[table]

Day #3 – 12 Feb 2006,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

Norway,1,3,3,7,1

United States,2,1,-,3,2

Netherlands,1,2,-,3,3

Russia,1,1,1,3,4

Italy,1,-,2,3,5

Germany,2,-,-,2,6

Korea,1,1,-,2,7

Canada,1,-,1,2,=8

France,1,-,1,2,=8

Austria,-,2,-,2,10

Finland,-,1,1,2,11

Estonia,1,-,-,1,12

Czech Republic,-,1,-,1,13

China,-,-,1,1,=14

Latvia,-,-,1,1,=14

Switzerland,-,-,1,1,=14

Totals (12 events),12,12,12,36

[/table]

[table]

Day #3 – 10 Feb 2002,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

Austria,2,1,2,5,1

United States,1,2,-,3,2

Germany,1,1,1,3,=3

Norway,1,1,1,3,=3

Finland,1,1,-,2,=5

Netherlands,1,1,-,2,=5

Switzerland,1,-,1,2,7

Italy,1,-,-,1,8

Czech Republic,-,1,-,1,=9

France,-,1,-,1,=9

Canada,-,-,1,1,=11

Japan,-,-,1,1,=11

Poland,-,-,1,1,=11

Federation,-,-,1,1,=11

Totals (9 events),9,9,9,27

[/table]

[table]

Day #3 – 9 Feb 1998,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

Germany,1,1,2,4,1

Russian Federation,2,1,-,3,2

Italy,-,2,1,3,3

Norway,-,1,2,3,4

Netherlands,1,1,-,2,5

Bulgaria,1,-,-,1,=6

Canada,1,-,-,1,=6

Finland,1,-,-,1,=6

France,1,-,-,1,=6

Czech Republic,-,1,-,1,=10

Ukraine,-,1,-,1,=10

Austria,-,-,1,1,=12

Belgium,-,-,1,1,=12

Switzerland,-,-,1,1,=12

Totals (8 events),8,8,8,24

[/table]

So after two days of competition Norway lead the points table from Russia with Holland’s speed skaters also racking up the points.

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.
Joint 7th place in ski jumping – both score 2 points

[table]
Rank, Nation,Points,Tie breaker
1, NOR, 64,
2, RUS, 50,
3, NED, 41,
4, CAN, 36,
5, USA, 34,
6, ITA, 31,
7, AUT, 28,
8, GER, 23,
9, SWE, 21,
10, SUI, 18, 1st
11, CZE, 18, 2nd
12, POL, 15, 1st
13, FIN, 15, 2nd
14, FRA, 13,
15, JPN, 12,
16, GBR, 9,
17, SVK, 8,
18, SLO, 7,
19, UKR, 6, 3rd
20, AUS, 6, 5th
21, BEL, 5,
22, KAZ, 2, 7th
22, CHN, 2, 7th

[/table]

How One Olympic Historian Is Going for Data Gold in Sochi

Think the biggest challenge at the Sochi Winter Olympics will be the snowboad stunts or death-defying ski jumps? Try doing the work of an Olympic historian whose hobby is to collect and store the loads of data that Olympic athletes generate.

During the 2012 Summer Olympics alone, more than 200 hundred nations competed in 300 events. And since the beginning of the modern Olympics in 1896, there have been 20 Winter Games and 26 Summer Games. Needless to say, that’s a lot of names, distances and world records to track. From the stone tablets used to immortalize winners during the ancient times, to the newsprint and hard drives of the modern games, the Olympics might be the biggest data storage challenge in sporting history.

Stone Tablets to Bits & Bytes 

Bill Mallon would know. He’s the author of more than 20 books about the Olympic Games, former president of the International Society of Olympic Historians and the founder of OlyMADMen, a society of Olympic historians and statisticians. Mallon has compiled Olympic data from local archives and other sources since the early 1980s and served as a consultant statistician to the International Olympic Committee, which earned him the Silver Olympic Order in 2001.

Stone tablets might be good for posterity, but they’re not easily searchable by journalists or enthusiasts interested in Olympic data. Before the Internet, people would have to either visit local archives in host cities where games were held, or browse sports magazines and newspapers in libraries to access data. Mallon has travelled as far as Switzerland and France to scour local archives by, literally, sifting through boxes of documents.

That began to change following the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif., when Olympic results were computerized for the first time.

“That was the beginning of the modern era,” says Mallon. “It was also the first time that the Olympics began to publish official results books that included lists of all of the competitors.”

From: http://subzeroblog.acronis.com/posts/how-one-olympic-historian-going-data-gold-sochi

This morning Austrian Matthias Mayer won the men’s downhill, the blue riband event of Alpine skiing. Also noted is that his father, Helmut Mayer, won a silver medal in Super-G back in 1988 at Calgary. Has it ever happened before that a parent/child have both won Olympic medals? By now, do you think we’d ask that if it hadn’t happened?

OK, this is a difficult query for our database, so we should be a little cautious with the numbers. But we found 148 examples of a parent and a child both winning an Olympic medal. Now if we limit this to both winning an individual medal, this limits it a great deal – this has only happened 23 times. And if we limit it to the same individual event, this has only happened 7 times, and only once at the Winter Olympics. In fact, the Mayers (Matthias/Helmut) became only the second example of parent/children medalists in any individual events at the Winter Olympics.

There are a couple other examples in combative sports (boxing, wrestling, etc.), where you could consider slightly different weight classes as the same event, but here are the 7 times a parent and child have both medaled in the same Olympic event (considering men/women analogues as the same event):

• Oscar Swahn and his son, Alfred Swahn, both Sweden, won medals in both running target and running target, double shot events. In fact, they both won gold medals in running target (single shot), the only example of a parent/child winning gold medals in the same individual event. Oscar won gold in running target in 1908 and Alfred in 1912.
• Jack Kelly (USA) and his son, Jack, Jr., both won medals in single sculls rowing. The father won a gold in 1920 while Jack Jr took bronze in 1956.
• Americans Pat McCormick and her daughter, Kelly, both won medals in springboard diving. Pat famously won golds in 1952-56 in both springboard and platform, while Kelly won a silver (1984) and a bronze (1988) on the springboard.
• Soviet Aleksandr Makarov and his son, Sergey (RUS), both won medals in the javelin throw. Aleksandr won a silver in 1980, while Sergey won two bronzes in the event, in 2000-04.
• Myriam Jerusalmi-Fox and her daughter, Jess Fox, both won medals in kayak slalom. Notably, they did it for different countries – Jerusalmi-Fox winning a bronze for France in 1996, and Jess Fox winning a silver for Australia in 2012.
• Another cross-national example is one of the two father-daughter examples. This is Valery Lyukin, who won a gymnastics silver in the 1988 individual all-around for the Soviet Union, while his daughter, Nastia Liukin, won gold in that event (women’s version) for the United States in 2008.
• The other father-daughter example is the only time this has happened at the Winter Olympics. In 1968, Odd Martinsen (NOR) won a silver medal in the men’s 30 km cross-country race, while in 2002, his daughter, Bente Skari-Martinsen, won bronze in the same event for women.

Albert Demchenko (RUS) competed in men’s luge yesterday and Japan’s Noriaki Kasai competed in men’s normal hill ski jumping. Not too earth shattering until one considers this made them the first athletes to have competed in 7 Winter Olympics. Both have competed continuously since the 1992 Albertville Games, a span of 22 years.

The Summer Olympic is 10, held by Canadian equestrian Ian Millar. Two athletes have competed in 9 Olympics – Austrian sailor Hubert Raudauschl and Latvian/Soviet shooter Afanasijs Kuzmins. Six athletes have competed in 8 Summer Olympics, and 18 have competed in 7.

USA’s Travis Ganong finished 5th with Bode Miller 8th. USA has never before had 2 skiiers finish in top 9 of men’s Olympic downhill

Sorry, guys, posted quickly as top 10, but at Torino in 2006, Darron Rahlves placed 10th and Bode Miller was 5th.

• Speed Skating – Men’s 500 metres Event Factsheets

• Short-Track Speed Skating – Men’s 1500 m Event Factsheets

• Freestyle Skiing – Men’s Moguls Event Factsheets

• Biathlon – Men’s Pursuit Event Factsheets