Olympic 2014 Results: Charting Medalists from All of Saturday's Events
After a dazzling opening ceremony on Friday, the 2014 Olympics got off to a fast start on Saturday. With the biathlon, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding and speedskating taking place, it was a very exciting and eventful day in Sochi.
Already, we have seen some surprising finishes chock-full of upsets, close contests and past champions reclaiming Olympic glory. After the dust settled, the first medalists of the 2014 Olympics were revealed.
Let's take a look at all of the medalists from Saturday's action and chart the overall standings after Day 1.
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Biathlon: Men's Sprint 10 km
One of the best storylines from Saturday's events was the performance of 40-year-old Norwegian Olympian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen. He claimed his 12th Olympic medal, which ties him for the most of all time, according to Deutche Welle.
Even after his win, Bjoerndalen remained humble and sung the praises of fellow Norwegian Bjoern Daehlie, who shares the 12-medal record. Said Bjoerndalen, "In my eyes Bjoern is still the biggest athlete in Norway. I am just looking from race to race now."
Bjoerndalen won the event with a 1.3-second gap over silver-medalist Dominik Landertinger.
| Gold | Ole Einar Bjoerndalen | Norway | 24:33.5 |
| Silver | Dominik Landertinger | Austria | 24:34.8 |
| Bronze | Jaroslav Soukup | Czech Republic | 24:39.2 |
Cross-Country Skiing: Ladies' Skiathlon 7.5 km Classic and 7.5 km Free
We witnessed a back-and-forth battle between Norway's Marit Bjoergen and Sweden's Charlotte Kalla. After the classic portion of the event, Bjoergen found herself with a good lead. However, after a lengthy pit stop to change skis, she was overtaken briefly by Kalla. Bjoergen regrouped and was able to come away with the victory, earning her the gold medal.
During an interview with Mattias Karen of ABC News, Bjoergen explained that she was racing for a teammate's brother who had passed away one day prior, "Astrid and her family wanted us to race for her brother, and we really did a good race for him today. Of course it is emotional. We did it for her, her family and her brother."
| Gold | Marit Bjoergen | Norway | 38:33.6 |
| Silver | Charlotte Kalla | Sweden | 38:35.4 |
| Bronze | Heidi Weng | Norway | 38:46.8 |
Freestyle Skiing: Ladies' Moguls
It was a disappointing conclusion to the event for American Hannah Kearney. After two strong runs, she faltered on her third, scoring 21.49. Canadian sisters Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe took advantage with scores of 22.44 and 21.66, respectively. It was a great finish to an exciting event.
Kearney expressed her disappointment with her finish during an interview with Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports:
"I feel like I let myself down. I wanted that gold medal. It wasn't the nerves. It was a simple kick-out. I did everything I could. I fought back from a not-very-good run, but that one turn got the best of me today.
"
| Gold | Justine Dufour-Lapointe | Canada | 22.44 |
| Silver | Chloe Dufour-Lapointe | Canada | 21.66 |
| Bronze | Hannah Kearney | USA | 21.49 |
Snowboarding: Men's Slopestyle
The U.S. got its first gold medal thanks to a fantastic showing by Sage Kotsenburg. His first run was impeccable, as he recorded a score of 93.50. That strong performance was enough to fend off Norway's Staale Sandbech, who turned in a second run that scored him a 91.75. They were the only athletes to finish with scores over 90.0.
Kotsenburg was thrilled that he was able to land a magnificent move called the "Back 16 Japan." The move requires 4.5 backward spins while grabbing the backside of the board. He simply told Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today, "I ended up landing it, and winning with it."
| Gold | Sage Kotsenburg | USA | 93.50 |
| Silver | Staale Sandbech | Norway | 91.75 |
| Bronze | Mark McMorris | Canada | 88.75 |
Speed Skating: Men's 5,000 m
Netherlands speedskater Sven Kramer put on a dazzling performance on Saturday. He showed an incredible amount of stamina, as he was able to push himself on a grueling pace through the lengthy event. His persistence allowed him to set a new Olympic record in the event. The Netherlands swept the 5,000-meter race, as they took hold of each medal.
According to Paul Myerberg of USA Today, Kramer simply said of his performance, "[It was] one of my best races ever."
| Gold | Sven Kramer | Netherlands | 6:10.76 |
| Silver | Jan Blokhuijsen | Netherlands | 6:15.71 |
| Bronze | Jorrit Bergsma | Netherlands | 6:16.66 |
Medal Standings by Country
After Day 1 of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi came to a close, the medal standings for each country were revealed. Seven countries have earned at least one medal so far, and the U.S. is in the mix. There are plenty of events left, but, as it stands right now, Norway is in command.
| 1 | Norway | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Canada | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Netherlands | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Austria | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Czech Republic | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
All event scores, times and medalists via Sochi2014.com unless noted otherwise.
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