Medal Count 2014 Olympics: Latest Reaction and Standings for Day 10 Results
Day 10 of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, certainly did not lack for wild entertainment thanks to great performances and interesting storylines.
Like many of the days that preceded it, Monday was largely dominated by the curling scene despite no medals being awarded.
Fog got the day's medal proceedings off to a false start, as the men's snowboard cross had to be postponed until Day 11, according to the Associated Press' Will Graves via The Denver Post.
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However, the weather's blinding reach did not put a damper on every medal event. Several were able to proceed as scheduled and subsequently had an impact on the standings.
Standings
Results
Women's 12.5-kilometer Mass Start
| Gold | Belarus | Darya Domracheva | 1 | 35:25.6 |
| Silver | Czech Republic | Gabriela Soukalova | 1 | 35:45.8 |
| Bronze | Norway | Tiril Eckhoff | 1 | 35:52.9 |
Darya Domracheva of Belarus did the unthinkable to open the medal events on Day 10 by claiming her third gold medal of the Games.
Domracheva also won gold in the 10-kilometer pursuit and the 15-kilometer individual events. The trifecta secures her place in history, as real biathlon points out on Twitter:
Despite a total time of 35 minutes, 25.6 seconds that was more than 20 seconds better than the rest of the field—not to mention the history she just made—Domracheva says she does not feel the impact of her actions just yet, via Douglas Gelevan of CBC:
A distant second behind Domracheva was the Czech Republic's Gabriela Soukalova and her total time of 35:45.8. Even farther back was Norway's Tiril Eckhoff thanks to a 35:52.9 final tally.
That will do it for the individual women's biathlon events, as things now shift toward the relays. The mixed relays is sure to be a spectacle to see on Wednesday before the women's 4x6-kilometer relay occurs on Friday.
As far as contenders go for the rest of the Games, Belarus is an obvious choice given Domracheva's dominance, as is Norway.
2-Man Bobsled
| Gold | Russian Federation 1 | 3:45.39 | |
| Silver | Switzerland 1 | 3:46.05 | +0.66 |
| Bronze | United States 1 | 3:46.27 | +0.88 |
The competition was fierce at the Sanki Sliding Center on Monday—well, after the No. 1 spot.
Russia and pilot Alexander Zubkov ran away with the competition from the beginning, showing an uncanny understanding and execution of the 4,921-foot track to score a total time of 3:45.39 after four heats.
To put things in perspective, Zubkov should have mastered the track given his wealth of experience with it. USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt took a stab at guessing how many times Zubkov was able to practice the course:
"But between then and Monday, Zubkov took as many runs as possible here. He even skipped the final World Cup race this season to go home and get more practice on this track. Holcomb said he had about 40-some runs on the track here, and it's possible Zubkov had five times as many.
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Beat Hefti and Switzerland came in second, more than 0.60 seconds behind the sled with the home-field advantage.
The biggest story of the day and most competitive portion of the race came from the United States, as Steven Holcomb and Steve Langton bruised their way to the bronze medal and made history in the process, as Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press details:
Holcomb and Langton's time was just .03 seconds better than Russia's No. 2 sled.
Fortunately for fans, the bobsledding fun is just getting started in Sochi. The women's side of the event still has to take place, where Russia will be obvious favorites. Things then transition to the four-man event, where the hosts are sure to once again have a major advantage.
Switzerland appears to be the only legitimate threat to take on the Russians in the four-man event, especially after its strong showing in the two-man heats. If Monday's results are any indication, the upcoming action promises not to disappoint.
Ice Dance Free Dance
| Gold | Meryl Davis and Charlie White (USA) | 78.89 | 116.63 | 195.52 |
| Silver | Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Canada) | 76.33 | 114.66 | 190.99 |
| Bronze | Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov (Russia) | 73.04 | 110.44 | 183.48 |
Even a record-breaking performance from Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir could not prevent the U.S. duo of Meryl Davis and Charlie White from taking home the gold medal in the ice dance free dance.
Davis and White somehow found a way to improve on their silver medal from the Vancouver Games in 2010, which is an impressive feat in itself. When the dust settled, their total score of 195.52 landed them on top of the podium.
But Virtue and Moir would have won in any normal competition. As CBC Sports' Scott Russell points out, they nailed a personal best and a new world record:
Trailing close behind was the crowd-favorite duo of Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov with a score of 183.48—which shows just how dominant the top two groups were.
The event marked the conclusion of figure skating team events. But the ladies still have a short program and free-skating program to compete in to close the games. Of those events, the ladies' free skating on Feb. 20 is the finale and contest with the last piece of hardware on the line.
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