Day 15: The Eve of the Closing...but a New Leader...

We approach the end...and get a new leader at the top...

Luge Yourself is now the biggest Curling fan!

To the rundown...

Alpine Skiing - A new team event saw a lot of back-ups participating and lacked the star power.  Only Michael Matt of Austria and Soohorang Success was on the team that earned the silver.  No one elite wanted to participate in the slalom head to head race event.

Cross-Country - 50km mass start - no points earned

Curling - USA USA USA USA USA - Mr. T gave them a pep talk and the US men's team pitied the fools that doubted them.  After a miraculous run to get to the gold medal game, they delivered and beat the elite Swedish team.  Luge Yourself gets Gold, Russian Ministry of Sport gets Silver.
Japan won the women's Bronze - no points to anyone

Hockey - Canada won the Bronze! Obviously not the medal they hope for, but salvaging some points for Incheon Closer. After their semi-final loss to Germany, the German foreign office sent out a message to Germans in Canada to be nice to the Canadians, because think about how you would feel if Canada beat Germany in soccer.

Snowboarding - Ester Ledecka gets an EXPECTED Gold in the parallel giant slalom for Lindsey Vonn-miting after earning the skiing Super G gold earlier.  She had borrowed someones skis to compete, but no borrowing of equipment in her specialty here.  Nevin Galmarini got a Gold for Suk-hee year in the Men's Parallel Giant Slalom event.

Long Track - The men's and women's Mass Start events were a new event this year, and featured some very bizarre rules that I still don't understand.  Also they had Dale Earnhardt Jr try to describe how this is like NASCAR so I was even more lost.  The skaters seemed to know what they were doing, so in the men's race, Suk-hee year won a gold from Lee Seung-hoon of South Korea and Lindsey Vonn-miting got a Bronze from Koen Verweij.

IT ALLLLL COMES DOOOOOWN TO THIS

Day 14: One Weekend to Decide it all

Day 14 has wrapped up - two to go and the standings are tight:

The top 5 teams are only separated by 11 points - the remaining team are still in striking distance with big team points still in play.

Long Track - Kjeld Nuis of Russian Ministry of Sport barely edged out Havard Lorentzen of Team Mark to win gold.

Figure Skating - The marquee event crowned the princess of the games - the Ladies free skate concluded as expected with Russians closing it out to compete for gold.  Unexpectedly the results were reversed - Alina Zagitova of Suk-hee year took the Gold, with Evegina Medvedeva of Luge Yourself narrowly getting silver.  Katelyn Osmond of Canada was the best of the rest and got the bronze for Run DMZ.

Curling - After getting wiped all over the ice by top seed Sweden, Switzerland men's curling team bounced back to shock Canada and grab the Bronze medal.  Incheon Closer will covet any points out of that shocking result.  Run DMZ shockingly gets 0 points for finishing off the podium with Canada being the favorites entering the competition.
Note:  The OAR mixed doubles team had their bronze medal STRIPPED for doping (seriously....in curling).  Norway then claims the Bronze, but this doesn't affect our standings as neither team was chosen.

Biathlon - The men's 7.5km relay had Sweden stealing the Gold (no selections), Norway getting Silver (Johannes Thingnes Bo, Soohorang Success; Tarjei Bo and Emil Hegle Svendsen, both of Run DMZ), and Germany took bronze, led by Arnd Pfeiffer (Incheon Closer)

NOW, we head into the final 2 days of the games - sports are wrapping up but there are some big fish out there - here's what to watch for:
MEDAL EVENTS TOMORROW:

• Alpine Skiing
• Cross-Country Skiing
• Curling (USA USA USA - Luge Yourself is chanting all night as they try to beat out Sweden of Russian Ministry of Sport) (Team Mark has Team GB women going for Bronze)
• Hockey (Incheon Closer has Canada trying to salvage the Bronze after a disappointing defeat to Germany)
• Snowboard
• Long Track Speed Skating

MEDAL EVENTS SUNDAY:

• Bobsled (Incheon Closer's Friedrich 4-man team is in the lead after the first day of runs, Walther of Red White and Luge and Lochner of Team Mark are all in the mix)
• Cross-Country Skiing
• Curling (Red White and Luge have the Swedish women's team going for gold against the home team South Korea)
• Hockey (Seoul Searching is going for Gold with OAR facing the upstart Germany)

Many of the sports have concluded - let's take a look at the best picks and net gains in each of these:

Biathlon - only 3 athletes posted net gains on the projected point totals.  Johannes Thingnes Bo being the biggest loser, but hard to be sad about the 20 points earned. Martin Fourcade was the best overall pick with 30 points earned and only 5 points under projected

Figure Skating - Virtue/Moir Ice Dancing Twizzled to the top.  Nathan Chen was a massive disappointment.

Freestyle Skiing - This was ROUGH - basically so many events we all got to pick favorites, but only 5 of us come away with any points:

Nordic Combined - Jan Schmid sucked it up and Eric Frenzel threw it down big

Short Track Speed Skating - South Korea massive disappointment

Skeleton - not many events so not lots of points, especially with the upsets:

Ski Jumping - Forfang sunk his teeth into these hills

The pictures were hard to get to post at a better readable resolution, so check out the spreadsheet on the google drive link if you want to analyze any sport and your teams.

Day 13: Standings Shakeup

Day 13 - What's your lucky number?  Apparently most are better than mine.

Alpine Skiing - Mikaela Shiffrin delivered a silver in the Super Combined for Run DMZ.  Soohorang Success grabbed a bronze with Michael Matt in the slalom.  Marcel Hirscher, the heavy favorite, missed a gate and was out.  Sadness for Team Mark.  Lindsey Vonn missed a gate as well and went from first to worst.  Double sadness for Team Mark.

Biathlon - The women's 4x6km relay saw Darya Domracheva carry Belarus to Gold, leading her to her second medal of the games and matching her husband, the legendary Norwegian Ole Einar Bjorndalen.  Luge Yourself is glad to be connected to legends. 

Freestyle Skiing - Suk-hee year made a smart pick with taking David Wise, who threw down a mega run in the ski halfpipe on his last try to earn the Gold for the USA.

Hockey - YOU KNOW IT USA USA USA USA USA USA USA
Red White and Luge is appropriately flying the golden flag today.  Lindsey Vonn-miting has to eat a bowl of Freedom Flakes as Canada takes silver.  In the medal ceremony a Canadian player ripped the silver medal off her neck as soon as they put it on.  Sucks for you, Canada.

Speaking of US beating Canada the US CURLING TEAM SWEPT OUT CANADA TO MOVE TO THE GOLD MEDAL MATCH.  Go enjoy some maple syrup on those pancakes boys.

Nordic Combined featured the team event and rolled out all kinds of points -
Germany took the Gold - Rydzdek (Luge Yourself), Frenzel (Red White and Luge), Geiger (Soohorang Success)
Norway took the Silver - Graabak (Seoul Searching), Andersen (Team Mark), Riiber (Suk-hee Year), Schmid (Incheon Closer)
Austria took Bronze - Klapfer (Lindsey Vonn-miting)
Russian Ministry of Sport (Japan) and Run DMZ (Finland) are the only teams to not receive any points

Snowboarding - Jamie Anderson of the USA secured a silver in Big Air for Incheon Closer - the only double medal winner in snowboarding!  Anna Gasser barely beat her for the Gold and got the points for Russian Ministry of Sport

Short Track had a huge day -
Women's 1000m - Enormous upsets as the South Korean favorites - Choi Min-jeong and Shim Suk-hee (the world record holder) end up in 4th and penalized respectively to not earn any medals.  Simply out strategized in the last few laps by unexpected Netherlands skater Suzanne Schulting.  Kim Boutin grabbed the silver for Team Mark.  Arianna Fontana (unselected) earned her third medal of the games.

Men's 500m was a bit more chalk with Wu Dajing bringing success to Soohorang success, and a pair of Koreans getting silver and bronze.  Suk-hee year took the silver with Hwang Dae-heon.

The Men's 5000m relay was craaazy - South Korea getting knocked out again and Hungary grabbed the first ever winter gold medal for the country.  The Liu brothers, led by Shaolin Sandor Liu of Russian Ministry of Sport deftly weaved through the last exchange to eat up the gold medal.  Wu Dajing secured his second medal of the night on the team from China, and Canada won the bronze, good for the Luge power couple who had Sam Girard and Charles Hamelin.

We're getting to that point where there's not much left to earn - still some important events to come - 4 man bobsled, Curling, and Hockey all have big point medals out there.

Day 12: Triple Digits

Lots of teams have eclipsed the century mark with big team events occurring today:

The first hockey medal was handed out after the Bronze medal game in the women's tournament - Russian Ministry of Sport was quite conflicted as their team from Finland battled her comrades  - the OAR team chosen by Team Mark.  However, in true Russian fashion only winners are accepted - Finland takes the bronze.

Alpine Skiing - the much advertised battled between Sofia Goggia of Red White and Luge and Lindsey Vonn of Team Mark was close, but Goggia couldn't be caught.  Gold for Goggia, Bronze for Vonn.

Bobsled - The women's event had some truly unexpected results, as Germany took the gold, but not the team anyone expected to perform well - there was a Jamaican bobsled team but JAMANKA the driver cruised to Gold.  No one selected Jamanka, but silver went to USA driver Taylor of Soohorang Success and Bronze to Canada driver Humphries of Seoul Searching for Gold

Cross-Country Skiing - the men's and women's freestyle relays occurred today -

• In the women's race, there was an incredible finish with US, Sweden, and Norway all ski to ski through the final lap.  In the end, a dramatic push by Jessie Diggins dug out the GOLD for the US - the first ever cross country gold that the US has ever won.  Luge Yourself gambled with the selection and proudly waves the red, white, and blue today.  Sweden took the silver with Stina Nilsson also of Luge Yourself, and Charlotte Kalla of Run DMZ.  Bronze to Norway with Marit Bjorgen of Lindsey Vonn-miting and Maiken Kaspernan Falla of Soohorang Success.
• In the men's race, Norway dominated for Gold with Johannes Klaebo of Russian Ministry of Sport grabbing his third gold, and Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Lindsey Vonn-miting grabbing his second. OAR won silver (no selections) and France took bronze with Maurice Manificat of Team Mark

Long Track Speed Skating - Men's and Women's Team Pursuit races:

• Women's - Miho Takagi of Japan and Red White and Luge led her team to gold over the powerful Dutch Team which led to silver for Marit Leenstra (Seoul Searching), Antoinette de Jong (Luge Yourself), and Ireen Wust (Lindsey Vonn-miting).  Bronze to the US! (No selections)
• Men's - Norway took the gold, however the team curiously didn't feature gold medalist of Team Mark, Havard Lorentzen, so no points for Norway..  Suk-hee year picks up a silver with Lee Seung-hoon of South Korea.  Netherlands, of course, gets a medal, but it's Bronze - Koen Verweij of Lindsey Vonn-miting and Sven Kramer of Luge Yourself grab the 3 points.

Heading into the last 4 days, the competition is heating up on the ice!

Day 11: Turn it up to 11

Lots of action today! Things are getting tight in the race for Fantasy Gold as Run DMZ sprints to an extended lead, but places 2-6 are separated by only 6 points.  One gold medal could flip the standings!

Biathlon - the mixed team event led to lots of points handed out!  France brought home the third gold for Seoul Searching and Martin Fourcade.  Norway took silver with Johannes Thingnes Bo (Soohorang Success) and Emil Hegle Svendsen (Run DMZ) leading the way. Suk-hee year grabbed a bronze with Dorothea Wierer of Italy.

Figure Skating - Incheon Closer embraced the twizzles and celebrated the gold with Virtue/Moir of Canada throwing down a personal best crazy score.  Red White and Luge scored the Bronze with the family affair Shibutani sibling US pair.

Freestyle Skiing - Team Mark was looking sharp with Cassie Sharpe getting the ski halfpipe Gold

Nordic Combined - A German SWEEP on the podium - they essentially made a wall in the home stretch of the cross country portion and fought each other for the medals.  Johannes Rydzek of Luge Yourself was the favorite and pulled away for the Gold.  Eric Frenzel led for most of the race, but settled for Bronze, much to the chagrin of Red White and Luge.

Short Track - The relays in this sport are just insane and the Women's 3000m did not disappoint.  South Korea survived a crazy exchange that wiped out Canada and Italy to get in a final race with China on the final two laps.  South Korea and mah gurl Choi min-jeong skated for the Gold.  Suk-hee year finally scored a namesake Gold with Shim Suk-hee being on the relay team.  China came in second and Canada third, but BOTH were assessed penalties and were eliminated.  Italy, which came in 4th then moved up to the Silver medal.  The Netherlands were not even in the race, but they won the consolation round and somehow come out of it with the Bronze.  Crazy! 
No one had skaters on either of these teams, but a couple omissions - Arianna Fontana of Italy has a Gold and a Silver and wasn't picked, and Jorien Ter Mors of the Netherlands now has a Long Track gold and a Short Track Bronze - wasn't picked! 
Seoul Searching and Team Mark both had Canadian silver or bronze medals wiped out with the penalty.

Day 10: Short Day but Big Points!

Only 3 medal events today but big points tabulating for our teams:

Bobsled was the big ticket event - kicking off with the 2-man event these are TEAM multiplier events so everyone is counting on their pick to come through.
In the end this was probably the most exciting event of the day as there was a TIE for the Gold medal!  After 3 runs down the track, the time compounds to decide the podium and the German team driven by Friedrich and the Canadian team driven by Kripps finshed with the same exact time.  They celebrated hugging each other running all over the track.  Russian Ministry of Sport and Run DMZ can take a victory lap together as they both get the 20 points for the team Gold.
Unfortunately the other contender - Suk-hee Year's German team driven by Lochner finished off the podium.

Ski jumping featured the big team event with many of our teams hoping for big results.  Seoul Searching and I were both cheering hard for the Norwegians, and it payed off as the marvelous mustached Robert Johanssen led the team to Gold.  Johanssen is the big surprise of the games as he was not projected for anything but clearly has been one of the best with multiple medals in the Games. Johan Andre Forfang of Seoul Searching and Daniel-Andre Tande of Incheon Closer get the 10 points for gold.  Soohorang Success and Team Mark were equally cheering for Germany together but had to settle for silver with Andreas Wellinger and Richard Freitag.  Poland scored bronze with Kamil Stoch carrying the team - Luge Yourself will take the points.

Long Track featured the men's crazy fast 500m race - Team Mark made a smart pick by going with Havard Lorentzen who blazed to Gold.

Day 9: Entering the Final Week...time to Run

Day 9 in the books and Run DMZ makes a move...

Alpine Skiing - Gold to Marcel Hirscher of Team Mark, Silver to Henrik Kristofferson of Suk-hee year, and Bronze to Alexis Pintarault of Red White and Luge

Biathlon - Martin Fourcade of Seoul Searching for Gold lost the 15km mass start by 3 cm in Sochi, but this time he held on for Gold and won by about 9 cm - crazy that after 15km it can come down to a photo finish!  Run DMZ gets on the board in biathlon with a bronze for Emil Hegle Svendsen

Freestyle Skiing - Run DMZ had a huge day with a slopestyle Gold from a pearl of a run by Oystein Braaten of Norway

Long Track Speed Skating - Once again Run DMZ ran down the gold with Nao Kodaira securing Gold in the 500m race

Cross-Country Skiing - the men's relay event concluded and a lot of our teams were counting on big results in this one.  Norway took the gold (Lindey Vonn-miting - Sundby and Russian Ministry of Sport - Klaebo), OAR took Silver (NONE) and France took Bronze (Team Mark - Manificat).  Incheon Closer is weeping silently by not having his Norwegian Finn Krogh picked to be on the team.