PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics Day 11

Day 11

It was a sensational Day 11 of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.

Highlights:

Ice Dancing

It's official: Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are the greatest ice dancers of all time!

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images AsiaPac

The Canadian duo won gold after a magnificent and riveting performance that showcased why they are still the best ice dancers in the world. They were extraordinary and exquisite, charismatic and spectacular in their dance. Just absolutely perfect! They truly earned their top spot and become the most decorated ice dancers and figure skaters of all time with a Vancouver 2010 gold, Sochi 2014 team and dancing silvers, and PyeongChang 2018 team and dancing golds.

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France settle for silver. While their performance was indeed very lyrical and contemporary, I did not feel as captivated with them as I did with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's gripping performance.

To me, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron lacked the power, strength, and technical excellence and stunning artistry that just radiates from Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. Experience matters. And it shows.

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron skate beautifully and flow like fresh falling snow. And ultimately, like pretty snowflakes, they look splendid but left me feeling cold.

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Jamie Squire/Getty Images AsiaPac

On the other hand, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are diamonds--radiant, sparkling, exquisite, and extremely strong! They are warm and engaging and mesmerizing in their dances. They leave the audience breathless and wanting more. And their dance deserved the standing ovation and tears of the audience.

Brother-sister ice dance team Maia and Alex Shibutani of the US claim bronze, keeping alive the medaling streak that was started by a Torino 2006 bronze won by Tanith Belbin (now White) and Ben Agosto, then a Vancouver 2010 silver and Sochi 2014 gold by Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani of the United States compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Jamie Squire/Getty Images AsiaPac

Maia and Alex Shibutani are the first siblings to medal in ice dancing since France’s Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay took silver at Albertville 1992. They earned their spot by being the best at the challenging twizzles and by skating cleanly and effortlessly. They add this bronze to the team bronze they helped win.

And while the US continues its ice dancing medaling streak, the Russians have failed to medal in ice dancing for the first time ever! The top Russian ice dancing team was not invited to participate over doping troubles. Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Soloviyev of the Olympic Athletes from Russia finished fifth. But they did help the OAR take silver in the team event.

Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Olympic Athlete from Russia compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 on February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images AsiaPac

Heartbreak for Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the US, who were third going into the free skate. They had a smoldering, evocative performance. They were assured a podium position. But a minor mistake (him losing balance and placing his hand on the ice to keep from falling), caused them to slip to fourth.

Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images AsiaPac

Even worse was the sudden fall of Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the US when their skates collided. They got back up and finished their program with loud encouragement from the crowd. But they knew they were out of medal contention. They finished 9th.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States fall while competing in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Jamie Squire/Getty Images AsiaPac

Besides Tessa and Scott, my fave performers of the night were:

Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac of France

Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac of France compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Jamie Squire/Getty Images AsiaPac

Yura Min and Alexander Gamelin of South Korea

Yura Min and Alexander Gamelin of Korea compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images AsiaPac

Sara Hurtado and Kirill Khaliavin of Spain

Sara Hurtado and Kirill Khaliavin of Spain compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images AsiaPac

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images AsiaPac

Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland of Great Britain

Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland of Great Britain compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images AsiaPac

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Canada

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Canada compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images AsiaPac

Congratulations to Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir for a most remarkable comeback and outstanding performance.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada compete in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Dance PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Jamie Squire/Getty Images AsiaPac

Women's Skiing Halfpipe Freestyle

Top ranked Cassie Sharpe of Canada soars and spins high in Women's Skiing Halfpipe Freestyle to claim the gold. Her second run out of three was the highest scoring at 95.8; she had the highest score in the first and second run. The third run was just a victory lap. She crashed, but kept going to show off more tricks to entertain the cheering crowds.

Cassie Sharpe of Canada competes during the Freestyle Skiing Ladies' Ski Halfpipe PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images AsiaPac

Marie Martinod of France wins silver, adding to a Sochi 2014 silver in this event. Her second run scored 92.6 to place second. After securing the silver, she picked up her daughter and said she was planning on retiring from competitive skiing to raise her family and have more children. There are no medals in raising a family. But it is one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences in life. Best of luck to her.

Brita Sigourney of the US scored a bronze after a third run score of 91.6 earned her third place.

Defending Sochi 2014 gold medalist Maddie Bowman of the US didn’t land any of her runs and finished 11th.


Women's Short Track Speed Skating 3000m Relay

It was the most dramatic and chaotic race of the day! The Women's Short track Speedskating 3000m Relay.

And it started off the B Final, where the teams who didn't make the medals final have a race for placement. The Netherlands, Hungary, Japan, and Olympic Athletes from Russia raced in the B final.

Short track and long track skater Jorien ter Mors, 1000m long track PyeongChang 2018 champion, along with teammates Suzanne Schulting, Yara van Kerkhof, and Lara van Ruijven set a new World Record of 4:03.471!

The Dutch destroyed the Olympics record of 4:05.315 set by China in the semifinals, and annihilated the World Record of 4:04.222 set by South Korea back in November 2016.

The excitement continued in the fast and furious and flabbergasting relay A final. Top ranked South Korea, China, Canada, and Italy raced in the A final for medals and a podium finish.

The race started orderly enough. China takes an early lead, followed by Canada, then Italy, and favorite South Korea trailing. Then in the middle of the race, the Koreans make the move to second, but are driven back to third by Canada, while China pulled ahead of the pack.

Then in the final few laps, all hell breaks lose as the teams scramble and jostle for positioning. They start to bump and cut off each other. The skaters got more aggressive as they chased after China. It's madness and mayhem! In the last laps, a speedskater from South Korea trips and falls, taking out a Canadian! Italy seizes the opportunity and surges ahead to catch the leading two!

A general view of the Ladies Short Track Speed Skating 3000m Relay Final A PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images AsiaPac

In the maddening chaos, China loses ground, South Korea jumps to the lead, Canada and Italy battle for position. And in the final two laps, South Korea barely hangs on to a thin lead as China is poised to overtake her! Canada pushes forward, and it's South Korea who crosses first, then China, followed by Canada, then Italy.

The crowd goes wild! The South Koreans cry and wave to their countrymen, then they carried the South Korea flag around the ice in what they assume is a victory lap.

Meanwhile, all the other teams have retired to their corners. Someone was going to get penalized for all the falls and interference. The Chinese start making moves, blaming South Korea for blocking them. The Canadians are silent, brooding. The Italians are anxious, they sense they're about to ascend the podium as one of the team's ahead of them was about to be disqualified.

The boisterous crowd grows silent, anxious. The South Koreans sense the tense mood, stopped skating and look towards the judges and score board. All are tense, worried, eager for the ruling as they wait for several agonizing minutes.

Then the judges render their verdict. South Korea stays first, winning the gold, to the deafening roar of the home crowd! But second place China and third place Canada are penalized for interference and missed exchanges! Italy roars with unexpected joy as they are bumped from fourth to silver!

The Italy team celebrate winning the silver medal, as the disqualified China team look on following the Ladies Short Track Speed Skating 3000m Relay Final A PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images AsiaPac

And glorious, world record setting The Netherlands are elevated from B final to bronze in a rare double penalty!

South Koreans Shim Suk-hee, Choi Min-jeong, Kim Ye-jin, Kim A-lang, and Lee Yu-bin take gold.

Italians Arianna Fontana, Lucia Peretti, Cecilia Maffei, and Martina Valcepina take silver.

And Dutch Suzanne Schulting, Yara van Kerkhof, Lara van Ruijven, and Jorien ter Mors ascend the podium to bronze.

Oh, the thrill of victory for the medaled teams! The agony and heartbreak for the penalized teams knocked off the podium! Short track once again lives up to its chaotic and unpredictable nature! Anything can happen!

More than a world record was set. Jorien ter Mors claims a historic double, becoming the first woman to win Olympic medals in different sports at the same Winter Games. Ter Mors on Tuesday adds this bronze in the short track 3000 meter relay to go with her gold in the 1000m on the long track won last week.

For Italy's Arianna Fontana, this team silver is her seventh Olympics medal overall, making her the most decorated female in short track!


In other Olympics news, the Russian delegation to the Pyeongchang Olympics admit that a second test of a sample from a curler Alexander Krushelnitsky, who won bronze in mixed curling with his wife, is positive for the banned substance meldonium.

The Russian delegation says in a statement that "we express our sincere regret over the fact of the incident." Now they admit he wasn't poisoned or sabotaged like they originally and ridiculously argued. But the statement says results indicate Alexander Krushelnitsky only consumed meldonium once, and that it wasn't enough to have any real effect. Whatever, cheaters! Y'all got caught again!

Meanwhile, Slovenia's Ziga Jeglic became the third athlete to be processed under doping protocols at the Pyeongchang Games.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Jeglic tested positive for fenoterol, a drug designed to open the airways to the lungs. Jeglic said it was an asthma drug that he took under doctor's orders. He failed to declare it under therapeutic exceptions for the Games. He was removed from the Slovenian hockey team list before they played the US in the qualifiers. He is voluntarily leaving the Olympics Athlete Village.


Biathlon 2x6km Women + 2x7.5km Men Mixed Relay

In a brilliant and amazing show of strength and skill, Martin Fourcade erases over a 37 second deficit, shooting a perfect 10/10 targets to help the mixed French team of Marie Dorin Habert, Anais Bescond, and Simon Desthieux come from behind and take the gold!

Martin Fourcade finishes the last leg of the race, claiming his third gold of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, the first athlete to do so. France clocks in at 1 hour, 8 minutes and 34.3 seconds, 20 seconds ahead of Norway. Fourcade is now the most decorated French Olympian of all time.

Taking control from the two slower first and second legs of the relay, Johannes Thingnes Boe used his powerful skiing to drag Norway back into medal contention. Emil Hegle Svendsen finished the job to secure silver.

Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway, Martin Fourcade of France and Dominik Windisch of Italy compete in the final leg during the Biathlon 2x6km Women + 2x7.5km Men Mixed Relay PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images AsiaPac

Norway's Marte Olsbu, Tiril Eckhoff, Johannes Bo, and Emil Hegle Svendsen clock in at 1:08:55.2 at the finish line.

And in an exciting furious finish, Dominik Windisch of Italy battles Arnd Peiffer, out skis him, and claims the bronze for Italy, clocking in at 1:09:01.2; the Germans protest that Windisch performed an illegal move at the end. The jury deliberates. And they rule in favor of Italy!

Dominik Windisch of Italy crosses the finish line ahead of Arnd Peiffer of Germany to win the bronze medal during the Biathlon 2x6km Women + 2x7.5km Men Mixed Relay PyeongChang February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Dan Istitene/Getty Images AsiaPac

Germany's Vanessa Hinz, Laura Dahlmeier, Erik Lesser, and Arnd Peiffer place fourth.

And what a missed opportunity for Germany! They were hoping to top Norway in the gold medal count. But without explanation, they made a last minute switch, removing Simon Schempp, who had a foto finish with Fourcade in the mass start. Schempp came from behind and caught up to Fourcade for a furious last 100m race to the finish line. The foto determined Fourcade won by bare centimeters!

Simon Schempp was unexpectedly replaced with Arnd Peiffer to anchor. Arnd Peiffer inherited a huge 37.9 seconds lead, but he missed his last two targets! That opened the door wide open for Fourcade to erase that lead and take gold. The Germans finish fourth.


Nordic Combined Individual Gundersen LH/10km

Better news for Germany:

It's a German sweep at the Nordic Combined Individual Gundersen Large Hill. Nordic combined features ski jumping and a cross-country ski race. The athlete who wins the ski jumping stage starts first followed by the remaining athletes in their order of finish. This event featured the large hill for the jump portion.

World Champion Johannes Rydzek powered forward from fifth position after the jump to overtake Fabien Riessle in the last km of the 10km ski race. He finished four seconds ahead for gold. And Normal Hill Nordic Combined Champion Eric Frenzel takes the bronze.

Johannes Rydzek (C) of Germany celebrates winning the gold medal with silver medallist Fabian Riessle (L) of Germany and bronze medallist Eric Frenzel of Germany during the victory ceremony for the Nordic Combined Individual Gundersen 10km Cross-Country PyeongChang 2018 February 20, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 19, 2018 - Source: Lars Baron/Getty Images AsiaPac

Top ranked Japan's Akito Watabe skied first after posting the best jump. He had a one second lead over Norway's Jarl Magnus Riiber, but finished fifth behind Riiber.

Defending champion Joergen Graabak of Norway had a poor jump and finished 10th overall.


And so ends a spectacular and stunning day 11 of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. More surprises and shocks to come as the PyeongChang Games wind down.