Sage Kotsenburg won the 1st gold medal of the Sochi Olympics by winning the men’s snowboarding slopestyle event.

He becomes only the 4th USA Olympian to win the first gold medal at a Winter Olympics – here are the others:

• Charlie Jewtraw – 1924 – men’s speed skating 500 metres
• Jack Shea – 1932 – men’s speed skating 500 metres
• Andi Mead-Lawrence – 1952 – women’s alpine giant slalom

Jewtraw’s gold medal was the first gold medal ever awarded at the Winter Olympics.

Three other USA Winter Olympians won a gold medal on the first day of medal competition but they were beaten out by earlier gold medalists. These are as follows:

• Tommy Moe – 1994 – men’s alpine downhill
• Chad Hedrick – 2006 – men’s speed skating 5K
• Hannah Kearney – 2010 – women’s freestyle skiing moguls

USA Winter Olympic Medalists on 8 February

[table]

Medalist,Sport,X,Event,Medal,Date

Irving Jaffee,SSK,M,10K,Gold,8 Feb 1932

Billy Kidd,ASK,M,Slalom,Silver,8 Feb 1964

Jimmy Heuga,ASK,M,Slalom,Bronze,8 Feb 1964

Cindy Nelson,ASK,W,Downhill,Bronze,8 Feb 1976

[/table]

This Day at the Olympics

385 Olympians were born

49 Olympians died

41 Olympic events were held

 

USA Births and Death on this Day at the Olympics

[table]

Born,Athlete,Sport,OlyYr

8 Feb 1892,Ted Conant,SAI,1932

8 Feb 1903,Joe Tierney,ATH,1928

8 Feb 1908,James Eagan,LAX,1928

8 Feb 1921,Leo Martin,BOB,1948

8 Feb 1929,Pappy Gault,BOX,1948

8 Feb 1929,Louis McMillan,ROW,1952

8 Feb 1930,Cathy Hardy,ATH,1952

8 Feb 1931,Gene Sandvig,SSK,1956

8 Feb 1936,Charles Pranke,CYC,1968

8 Feb 1941,Reg Benham,BOB,1964

8 Feb 1947,Ronnie Harris,BOX,1964

8 Feb 1949,Scotty Allen,FSK,1964

8 Feb 1951,Lynn Skrifvars,SWI,1972

8 Feb 1962,Nicole Kramer,SWI,1976

8 Feb 1962,Dave Stephens,ATH,1988-96

8 Feb 1968,Joy Fawcett,FTB,1996-04

8 Feb 1970,Alonzo Mourning,BAS,2000

8 Feb 1976,Jim Parque,BSB,1996

8 Feb 1978,Christa Williams,SOF,1996-00

8 Feb 1989,Nick Delpopolo,JUD,2012

[/table]

[table]

Died,Athlete,Sport,OlyYr

8 Feb 1956,Bill Thompson,ROW,1928

8 Feb 1981,Joe Dougherty,ROW,1928-36

8 Feb 1981,Jimmy Morgan,BOB,1976

8 Feb 1982,Edwin Fullinwider,FEN,1920-24

8 Feb 1988,Ralph Flanagan,SWI,1932-36

8 Feb 1992,Tom Williams,ICH,1960

8 Feb 2006,Larry Black,ATH,1972

8 Feb 2006,Kurt Orban,HOK,1948-56

8 Feb 2010,Jimmy Heuga,ASK,1964-68

8 Feb 2013,Bill Smith,SWI,1948

[/table]

And now to help USA oriented sports fans and media, here are the USA Event Factsheets for the medal events concluding on 8 February. One event omitted is men’s snowboarding slopestyle, which finishes today but is a new event, and has no history or statistics to present to you.

• USA Biathlon – Men’s 10K
• USA Cross-Country Skiing – Women’s Skiathlon
• USA Freestyle Skiing – Women’s Moguls
• Speed Skating – Men’s 5K

OK, we just noted that 5 flagbearers in Sochi will be carrying their national flag for the 3^rd time at an Opening Ceremony. Does that equal the record? Not really. Five athletes have carried their national flag 4 times at the Opening Ceremony, but nobody has ever done it 4 times at the Winter Olympics. However, Spain’s Francisco Fernández Ochoa, an Alpine skiier, uniquely carried the Spanish flag 3 times at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies, and also carried at the 1972 München Opening Ceremony – at a Summer Olympics. 30 athletes have carried their national flag 3 times at an Olympic Games – 25 before tonite.

Here is the list of flagbearers carrying their national flag 4 times at the Olympic Games.

[table]

NOC,Athlete,Sport,Years

AUT,Hubert Raudaschl,SAI,1972/1984-88/1996

BEL,Gaston Roelants,ATH,1964-76

FSM,Manuel Minginfel,WLT,2000-12

TTO,Hasely Crawford,ATH,1972-84

ESP,Francisco Fernández Ochoa,ASK,1972(S/W)/1976-80

[/table]