PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics Day 15

Day 15

What a dramatic Day 15 of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.

Highlights:

Men's Snowboard Big Air

In the Olympics debut of a sport where the snowboarders jump off a tall hill and are scored by the tricks they do in the air, Sebastien Toutant scored a 174.25, the best total points in two out of three runs. He wins gold, the eleventh gold for Canada at these PyeongChang Games.

Sebastien Toutant of Canada competes during the Men's Big Air PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Al Bello/Getty Images AsiaPac

Kyle Mack of the United States took silver with a score of 168.75. He sat on his final third run, unable to put together a higher score to take that top spot. But a fantastic effort in a dangerous sport were crashes are common.

Kyle Mack of the United States competes during the Men's Big Air Final PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images AsiaPac

Billy Morgan of Great Britain earned bronze as the crowd cheered for the amazing feats and moaned at the hard crashes.

Billy Morgan of Great Britain competes during the Men's Big Air PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images AsiaPac

It was a spectacular debut of a new sport at the Winter Olympics, one that was a crowd pleaser and definitely pushes the limits of human ability and sensibilities!

(L-R) Silver medalist Kyle Mack of the United States, gold medalist Sebastien Toutant of Canada and bronze medalist Billy Morgan of Great Britain celebrate during the victory ceremony after the Men's Big Air PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Al Bello/Getty Images AsiaPac

Alpine Skiing Team Event

It is the debut of Alpine Skiing Team Skiing Event. The event has 16 countries seeded for a bracket-style tournament. Each team has four racers--two men and two women--competing in 1-on-1, side-by-side parallel runs. First to cross the finish with fastest time wins.

Each race victory is worth one point. If the score ends up at 2 each in a tie, then the lower combined time of each team's fastest man and fastest woman will decide the winner.

Katharina Gallhuber (L) of Austria and Wendy Holdener of Switzerland compete during the Alpine Team Event PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Tom Pennington/Getty Images AsiaPac

The tie breaker was used in the bronze match between Norway and France tying 2 race victories each. The combined fastest time of each team's fastest man and fastest woman gave Norway the edge and the first bronze in the debut of the event.

And in the gold medal match, Switzerland was up 2-1 in the final race between Swiss ski racer Daniel Yule and Austrian Marco Schwarz. It started fast and furious out of the gate, but halfway down, Marco Schwarz skied out along the side-by-side parallel slalom course.

Daniel Yule (L) of Switzerland and Marco Schwarz of Austria compete during the Alpine Team Event PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Tom Pennington/Getty Images AsiaPac

Switzerland finishes the race alone and takes the gold. And Austria takes silver.

Gold medalists were Switzerland's Ramon Zenhaeusern, Daniel Yule, Luca Aerni, Wendy Holdener, and Denise Feierabend.

Gold medallists Switzerland with (L-R) Ramon Zenhaeusern, Daniel Yule, Luca Aerni, Wendy Holdener and Denise Feierabend celebrate during the victory ceremony for the Alpine Team Event PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images AsiaPac

Austria's silver medalists were Marco Schwarz, Michael Matt, Manuel Feller, Katharina Liensberger, Katharina Gallhuber, and Stephanie Brunner.

Silver medallists Austria with Marco Schwarz, Michael Matt, Manuel Feller, Katharina Liensberger, Katharina Gallhuber and Stephanie Brunner celebrate during the victory ceremony for the Alpine Team Event PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images AsiaPac

Norway's bronze medal team consisted of Jonathan Nordbotten, Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen, Sebastian Foss-Solevaag, Maren Skjoeld, Kristin Lysdahl, and Nina Haver-Loeseth

Bronze medallists Norway (L-R) Jonathan Nordbotten, Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen, Sebastian Foss-Solevaag, Maren Skjoeld, Kristin Lysdahl and Nina Haver-Loeseth celebrate during the victory ceremony for the Alpine Team Event PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Tom Pennington/Getty Images AsiaPac

Women's Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom

Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic won a gold medal in the snowboarding parallel giant slalom on Saturday, and made history by becoming the first woman to win gold in two sports at a single Winter Olympics. She won the skiing super-G a week ago.

Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic competes during the Ladies' Parallel Giant Slalom PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Clive Rose/Getty Images AsiaPac

Germany's Selina Joerg took silver. And another German, Ramona Hofmeister, claimed bronze, by beating OAR’s Alena Zavarzina.

Ester Ledecka is the first woman to win gold in two different sports at the same Winter Olympics. She is the second woman to medal in two different sports at the same Winter Olympics.

Jorien ter Mors of the Netherlands won gold in the 1000m long-track speedskating, and then she earned a bronze in the chaotic and thrilling 3000m relay in short-track. Her team set a new world record, winning the B Final. Then when second finisher China and third finisher Canada were disqualified in the A Final, third place Italy got bumped up to silver, and the record setting B Final Dutch team were elevated to third place, granting Jorien ter Mors her bronze, her second medal at the same Olympics, from a different sport.

Ester Ledecka is the third athlete, male or female, to win gold in two sports at the same Winter Olympics--her gold in Alpine Skiing Super G and gold in Snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom. The first athlete to earn gold in two sports at the same Winter Games was Norway's Thorleif Haug at Chamonix 1924, with two golds in cross-country skiing (18km and 50km) and the gold in Nordic combined. The second athlete to win gold in two sports at the same Winter Olympics is another Norwegian, Johan Grøttumsbråten, who took gold in cross-country skiing (18km) and gold in Nordic combined at St Moritz 1928.


Men's Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom

Switzerland's Nevin Galmarini, the 2014 Olympic silver medalist, takes the gold.

And Lee Sang-Ho of South Korea captured the host nation's first-ever Winter Olympic medal on snow with the silver. It was a fantastic race.

Sang-ho Lee of Korea competes during the Men's Parallel Giant Slalom PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images AsiaPac

I quite enjoyed watching Lee Sang-Ho make his Olympics debut run, with the crowd cheering him on in all his races. He is nicknamed affectionately as the "Napa Cabbage Boy," because when he was a small child, he learned to snowboard on a frozen cabbage patch that was turned into a sledding slope. And this cabbage patch kid gave his cheering home crowd a fantastic run that ended with a silver medal.

Slovenia's Zan Kosir outraced Sylvain Dufour of France in the small final to win bronze. It's Zan Kosir's third Olympic medal after earning bronze in the Parallel Giant Slalom and silver in Parallel Slalom at Sochi 2014.

(L-R) Silver medalist Sang-ho Lee of Korea, gold medalist Nevin Galmarini of Switzerland and bronze medalist Zan Kosir of Slovenia pose during the victory ceremony for the Men's Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images AsiaPac

Curling Men's Gold Medal Game (United States vs Sweden)

History was also made as the US won its first ever gold in men's curling, leaving Sweden the silver.

John Shuster scored the United States a 10-7 victory on Saturday for only the second curling medal in U.S. history, a bronze from Torino 2006. John Shuster was a part of that bronze team. But his lackluster performance at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 led to him being denied a spot on a team picked in 2014 and was specifically being trained for Pyeongchang 2018.

John Shuster gathered Matt Hamilton, John Landsteiner, who were also rejected, and with alternate Joe Polo, plus Tyler George (who didn't apply for the high performance team training) and formed their own team, "The Rejects". They trained, got healthy, and go on a hard path for the next four years. They won a bronze medal at the worlds, two national titles and then finished first in the U.S. Olympic trials, beating out the high performance trained team and earned a spot at PyeongChang 2018.

But they ran into serious trouble in Pyeongchang, and were on the verge of being eliminated if they lost to defending Olympics champions Canada. They defeat Canada and earned a spot in the gold match against number one seeded Sweden.

John Shuster, Tyler George,Matt Hamilton, John Landsteiner, and Joe Polo of the US win gold.

A small mixup occurred when the men were accidentally given the women's gold medals. Only John Polo had the right medal. The situation was immediately remedied with the right medals. Although John Shuster said that a gold medal is a gold medal. So true!

Gold medalists the United States react during the victory ceremony following the Curling Men's Gold Medal game PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images AsiaPac

Sweden's Niklas Edin, Oskar Eriksson, Rasmus Wranå, Christoffer Sundgren, and Henrik Leek take silver.

Silver medalists Sweden react during the victory ceremony following the Curling Men's Gold Medal game PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images AsiaPac

Benoît Schwarz, Claudio Pätz, Peter de Cruz, Valentin Tanner, Dominik Märki of Switzerland take bronze. Switzerland won the bronze by defeating Canada.

Bronze medalists Switzerland react during the victory ceremony following the Curling Men's Gold Medal game PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images AsiaPac

Curling Women's Bronze Medal Game (Japan vs United Kingdom)

Satsuki Fujisawa, Chinami Yoshida, Yumi Suzuki, Yurika Yoshida, and Mari Motohashi of Japan won the bronze match against Great Britain's Eve Muirhead, Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams, Lauren Gray, and Kelly Schafer.

Winners of the Bronze medal, Japan shake hands with Great Britain after the Curling Womens' bronze Medal match between Great Britain and Japan PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images AsiaPac

This bronze is Japan's first ever Olympic medal in curling, and they become the first Asian nation to medal in Olympic curling.

South Korea will face off Sweden later in the gold medal match.


Cross-Country Skiing Men's 50km Mass Start Classic

Ristomatti Hakola of Finland, Lucas Boegl of Germany, Francesco De Fabiani of Italy, Andrew Musgrave of Great Britain, Emil Iversen of Norway compete during the Men's 50km Mass Start Classic PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Al Bello/Getty Images AsiaPac

Iivo Niskanen has captured Finland's first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Games, clocking in the marathon event at 2 hours, 8 minutes, 22.1 seconds.

Iivo Niskanen beat out Russian Alexander Bolshunov with a strong sprint to the finish in the 50km mass start. In the last 11km of the marathon, Alexander Bolshunov and Iivo Niskanen broke away and made a two man race to the gold. At the last kilometer, Iivo Niskanen kicks up the speed and Alexander Bolshunov could not match. He finished more than 18 seconds after Iivo Niskanen to take silver for the OAR. Another OAR, Andrey Larkov, took the bronze.

(L-R) Silver medalist Alexander Bolshunov of Olympic Athlete from Russia, gold medalist Iivo Niskanen of Finland and bronze medalist Andrey Larkov of Olympic Athlete from Russia celebrate during the victory ceremony after the Men's 50km Mass Start Classic PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images AsiaPac

It's the first time in 11 races that Norway has failed to medal in a cross-country race here. Norwegian ski star, three time gold medalist Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, decided to skip the final men's race of the Olympic Games. He returned home to Norway despite having a chance to become the only Olympian at the Pyeongchang Games to win four gold medals.


Ice Hockey Men's Bronze Medal Game (Canada vs Czech)

Two time defending champions Canada took the bronze medal at the Pyeongchang Games by beating the Czech Republic 6-4.

Kevin Poulin #31 of Canada defends the net against a shot by Martin Ruzicka #27 of the Czech Republic in the first period during the Men's Bronze Medal Game PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images AsiaPac

A surprise, outstanding performance by Germany got them a shot at the gold medal in the final match later against OAR.


Speed Skating Women's Mass Start Final

Any time you put a bunch of people on the ice and have them race, you're going to get glorious crashes.

Ivanie Blondin of Canada, Ayano Sato of Japan and Annouk Van Der Weijden of the Netherlands collide during the Ladies' Speed Skating Mass Start Semifinal 2 PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images AsiaPac

In the Olympics debut of the mass start, Japan's Nana Takagi blasted past opposition in the final straightaway to win the first gold of women's mass start. She adds that gold to a team pursuit gold she won earlier in the week.

Nana Takagi of Japan races ahead of Bo-Reum Kim of Korea and Irene Schouten of the Netherlands to win the gold medal during the Ladies' Speed Skating Mass Start Final PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images AsiaPac

Kim Bo-reum of South Korea grabs silver. And Irene Schouten of the Netherlands, who was leading into the final straightaway, went too wide on the final corner and had to settle for bronze Saturday.


Speed Skating Men's Mass Start Final

South Korea's Lee Seung-hoon skated a deft race, taking the last corner in a brilliant move that left the other skaters chasing him. He wins South Korea's first gold in long track speedskating of the PyeongChang Games, much to the delight of the home crowd.

Seung-Hoon Lee of Korea competes in the Men's Speed Skating Mass Start Final PyeongChang 2018 February 24, 2018 South Korea. Feb. 23, 2018 - Source: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images AsiaPac

Belgian inline skater Bart Swings held on to take silver. And Koen Verweij of the Netherlands finishes third for the bronze.

In the tactical mass start race, 5000m champion Sven Kramer went for gold with four laps to go, but the Dutchman was caught just as he entered the final lap. The top three passed him. From then on, it was Lee's exceptional skills on maneuvering the tight final corner that paid off and won the first gold awarded in the men's speedskating mass start.


And so ends a historic Day 15 of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. Only a few events are left as the Pyeongchang 2018 Games come to a close.