Olympic 2018 Medal Count: Every Winner from Friday Morning Events
The United States fell further behind Norway and the Netherlands in the 2018 Winter Olympics medal count on Friday morning.
Madison Olsen had the best opportunity to earn a medal for the United States, but she placed sixth in the women's aerials.
Lindsey Vonn and pair of freestyle skiers could add to the American total on Friday night, but for now, they are stuck in fifth place with eight medals.
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The Netherlands extended their gap between themselves and the United States with its sixth gold in speedskating, while Switzerland and Belarus won their first golds in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Friday.
Medal Count
Friday's Medal Winners
Cross-Country Skiing
Men's 15-kilometer Free Start
Dario Cologna (Switzerland)
Dario Cologna became the first cross-country skier to win three-career gold medals in the same event with his victory in the 15-kilometer free start, per the Associated Press.
The 31-year-old Swiss skier held an advantage at most of the checkpoints throughout the 15-kilometer course and ended up with an 18-second margin of victory over Norway's Simen Hegstad Krueger.
The gold marked Cologna's fourth-ever Olympic title, which ties him with ski jumper Simon Ammann atop the all-time Swiss medal chart.
Cologna expressed his joy in winning gold and tying Ammann after the race, per Tom Dougherty of NBCOlympics.com.
"It was really hard work and I really wanted to win again here after Vancouver and Sochi," Cologna said. "Three times in this event and four gold medals. Now I am together with Simon Ammann, the only Swiss who won four times in the Olympics. To write a little bit of history, it is not bad."
The victory was the first for the Swiss in Pyeongchang, and fifth medal overall, with three of them earned in alpine skiing.
Freestyle Skiing
Women's Aerials
Hanna Huskova (Belarus)
The women's aerials super final, which featured six competitors who were dwindled down from a field of 12, was marred with falls as finalists made a surge for gold with their riskiest tricks.
Olsen was one of the athletes who attempted a massive trick in order to reach the medal podium, but she came up short on her final leap.
Hanna Huskova of Belarus was one of the few finalists to land her final jump, as she earned a final score of 96.14 that was good enough for gold.
The Chinese pair of Zhang Xin and Kong Fanyu tried to boost themselves over Huskova in the standings, but each fell short as they didn't fully connect on their respective jumps.
Huskova earned Belarus' first medal of the Olympics while becoming the second straight athlete from her country to win in women's aerials.
Fourth-place finisher Alla Tsuper won the event in Sochi, and countryman Anton Kushnir is the defending champion in the men's aerials.
Speed Skating
Women's 5,000-meters
Esmee Visser (Netherlands)
The Dutch continued their dominance at Gangneung Oval, as Esmee Visser became the sixth different Olympic champion from the Netherlands in Pyeongchang.
Visser's triumph in the women's 5,000-meter speedskating came from the fourth of six heats, as she topped the charts with a time of 6:50.23.
The 22-year-old faced challenges from the Czech Republic's Martina Sablikova and Russian athlete Natalia Voronina in the final heat, but both skaters faded toward the end of their race.
In contrast, Visser started slow before turning on the jets and taking over the lead from teammate and fourth-place finisher Annouk van der Weijden.
Eleven of the 13 medals won by the Netherlands in South Korea have come from speedskating, and more are on the horizon with seven events left on the schedule.
American Carlijn Schoutens finished 23 seconds behind Visser in 11th place.
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Statistics obtained from Olympic.org.
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