Winter Olympics 2014 Schedule: Live Stream, TV Info and Day 9 Preview
Five gold medals will be on the line during an exciting Day 9 at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Sunday's action features the continuation of preliminary matchups in both hockey and curling, as well as the start of bobsled and ice dance. However, fans will be most excited to see medals given out in alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, snowboard cross and speedskating.
There is a lot to keep track of but here is a guide for Feb. 16 at the Olympics. Remember, all events are available to view online at NBC Live Extra.
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| 12 a.m. | Men's Curling | USA vs. Canada | NBCSN* | No |
| 12 a.m. | Men's Curling | Sweden vs. Russia | - | No |
| 12 a.m. | Men's Curling | Great Britain vs. Norway | - | No |
| 1 a.m. | Alpine Skiing | Men's Super G | NBC* | Yes |
| 2 a.m. | Snowboard | Ladies' Snowboard Cross Seeding | - | No |
| 3 a.m. | Women's Hockey | Finland vs. Germany | - | No |
| 3 a.m. | Men's Hockey | Austria vs. Norway | USA | No |
| 4:15 a.m. | Snowboard | Ladies' Snowboard Cross Quarterfinals | NBC* | No |
| 4:30 a.m. | Snowboard | Ladies' Snowboard Cross Semifinals | NBC* | No |
| 4:40 a.m. | Snowboard | Ladies' Snowboard Cross Finals | NBC* | Yes |
| 5 a.m. | Cross-Country | Men's Relay 4x10 KM | NBCSN | Yes |
| 5 a.m. | Women's Curling | USA vs. Canada | MSNBC | No |
| 5 a.m. | Women's Curling | Sweden vs. Russia | - | No |
| 5 a.m. | Women's Curling | Denver vs. South Korea | - | No |
| 5 a.m. | Women's Curling | Japan vs. Switzerland | - | No |
| 7:30 a.m. | Men's Hockey | Russia vs. Slovakia | USA | No |
| 7:30 a.m. | Men's Hockey | Slovenia vs. USA | NBCSN | No |
| 9 a.m. | Speedskating | Ladies' 1,500 Meter | NBC* | Yes |
| 10 a.m. | Biathlon | Men's 15 KM Mass Start | NBCSN* | Yes |
| 10 a.m. | Men's Curling | China vs. Canada | - | No |
| 10 a.m. | Men's Curling | USA vs. Sweden | CNBC* | No |
| 10 a.m. | Men's Curling | Norway vs. Switzerland | - | No |
| 10 a.m. | Men's Curling | Germany vs. Denmark | - | No |
| 10 a.m. | Figure Skating | Ice Dance Short Program | NBCSN | No |
| 11:15 a.m. | Bobsled | Two-man Heat 1 | NBC* | No |
| 12 p.m. | Women's Hockey | Russia vs. Japan | - | No |
| 12 p.m. | Men's Hockey | Finland vs. Canada | USA | No |
| 12:50 p.m. | Bobsled | Two-man Heat 2 | NBC* | No |
Events to Watch
Ladies' Snowboard Cross
One of the problems with most Olympic events is that they lack head-to-head competition. Everything from skiing to luge to long track speedskating features nothing more than a time trial between opponents.
However, snowboard cross changes that by putting all of the competitors in the race at one time. When someone crosses the finish line, you know who wins.
Interestingly, Aviva Rutkin of New Scientist reports that snowboard cross is the most dangerous sport in the Olympics due to the highest rate of injuries in 2010.
This should be even scarier this year with six racers per heat instead of four. Men's competitor Nick Baumgartner explained to Rick Maese of the Washington Post: "I think it is more dangerous. It’s more exiting. It changes it. Anything can happen. It’s totally unpredictable when you’re going down the course."
Sunday will feature the women's race, which includes a few top competitors including Canada's Maelle Ricker, who is the reigning champion of this event.
Alpine Skiing Men's Super-G
If you did not realize that Super-G was difficult, all you had to do was look at the results from the women's competition, provided by Charles Robinson of Yahoo!:
Anna Flenninger of Austria was able to earn gold but only after about one-third of the course fell out of the running.
The men will certainly hope that things get a little easier in order to truly determine which skier is the best and not just which is left standing.
Aksel Lund Svindal enters as the favorite of the competition, but he has not had a good Olympics so far. He was expecting multiple gold medals in Sochi but has not yet stepped on a podium after finishing in fourth in the downhill and eighth in the combined.
Americans Bode Miller and Ted Ligety will also attempt to earn medals after disappointing weeks.
Speedskating 1,500-Meter
One of the big stories from Sochi is the inability of the United States speedskating team to earn a medal. After gaining four medals in Vancouver and garnering high expectations entering the week, the team has been shut out so far.
Nick Zaccardi of NBC Sports discussed one of the more recent disappointments:
Both Heather Richardson and Brittany Bowe will be competing in the 1,500-meter race, but they first better figure out what has gone wrong.
A few of the athletes have been blaming their new Under Armour suits and the squad now hopes to use their old suits, per ESPN's Darren Rovell:
No matter what happens, anything less than a medal in this race will be a massive disappointment.
Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for the latest breaking news and analysis.
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