This is another story in our continued coverage of the upcoming Olympics. You can read the introduction to this series here; the first part of the preview is here, and the second part is here. The first “What to Watch” is here. The first part of the preview and the intro are provided without charge, but the rest of the pieces, including this one, will be behind the Wide Left paywall, with proceeds going to Minnesota Direct Relief.
One note from Ethan prior to getting into what has happened to date: given that these previews are pre-written, there are occasionally changes that happen after press time that I’m not able to tweak. A great example of this is not knowing who on Team USA would skate in the Women’s Team Program (Glenn vs. Liu), or France not making the medal round in that same event. I’ll try to be more explicit about noting these hypotheticals going forward, and I'll post a daily updated schedule on my Bluesky account if you want slightly more timely information.
Medal Updates
Team Rainbow is off to a fantastic start with TWO gold medals, both of which were earned by American athletes! It began with Breezy Johnson barnstorming in Women’s Downhill, earning victory with a time of 1:36:10. While the event was marred by Lindsay Vonn’s injury, Johnson’s triumph over the Tofane slope was a bit of a reclamation project of her own.
That very hill had caused Johnson to hurt her knee prior to the 2022 Olympic Games, sweetening this revenge story just a bit more. Unfortunately, fate had one more break in store for Johnson - her gold medal, literally, shattered into three pieces. Hopefully, someone fixes it up before she leaves Milan. Johnson’s work is not complete, as she will be competing for Team USA in the Team Downhill starting Tuesday.
The second gold medal was earned in figure skating by Amber Glenn, who endeared herself to the nerdy masses as a Magic: The Gathering superfan prior to earning third place in the Women’s Free Skate during the Figure Skating Team Event.
While Glenn did not execute her skate perfectly, she overcame mental hurdles and helped the Americans secure just enough for a gold medal. Glenn is also a top contender in the Women’s Single Skating competition, and I am hopeful she will bounce back and earn us one more medal.
Additional notables include Bruce Mouat, who will vie for bronze in Mixed Curling Doubles, ice dancing French favorite Guillaume Cizeron, and Hilary Knight, who has tied the American goal-scoring record in Women’s Hockey. Knight and Alex Carpenter have two goals apiece in the competition thus far, keying the USA’s attack.
Anna Kjellbin has the highest +/- of any woman (+6), while Emerance Maschmeyer has been critical in net for Canada. Illness in Milan has impacted some scheduled games, but as the round robin wraps up, it will be interesting to see which teams can face the added pressure of impending sudden-death competition.
One disappointment came in the form of Brittany Bowe being edged out of the medals in the Women’s 1000m speed skating. She held second place until Jutta Leerdam and Miho Takagi blitzed through the final heat, storming their way onto the podium. Czechia’s Nikola Zdrahalova finished in 10th place.
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