US Olympic Speedskating 2018: Updated Predictions, Team Schedule and Odds
The United States is hoping to end an eight-year medal drought in speedskating during the second week of competition in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Hope remains that the task can be achieved at the 2018 Winter Olympics, especially after the short-track team ended its dry spell of the same length on Saturday.
Seven medal events are left on the schedule, including the mass start discipline that makes its Olympic debut at the conclusion of the competition.
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The best opportunity to claim a medal in South Korea could come in the mass start, which features an opening like the ones we normally see in short-track speedskating.
Speedskating Schedule
Sunday, February 18
Women's 500 meters (6 a.m. ET)
Monday, February 19
Men's 500 meters (6 a.m. ET)
Wednesday, February 21
Women's team pursuit (6 a.m. ET)
Men's team pursuit (6:22 a.m. ET)
Friday, February 23
Men's 1,000 meters (5 a.m. ET)
Saturday, February 24
Women's mass start (6 a.m. ET)
Men's mass start (6:45 a.m. ET)
Odds (via OddsShark)
Women's 500 meters
Brittany Bowe (+900; bet $100 to win $900)
Heather Bergsma (+1,600)
Men's 1,000 meters
Joey Mantia (+2,500)
Bowe, Bergsma In Search of Medals in Women's 500 Meters
The last chance to claim individual Olympic glory for Brittany Bowe and Heather Bergsma comes in the women's 500 meters on Sunday.
Bowe, who finished fourth in the women's 1,000 meters, has had the better Olympics of the two, with Bergsma recording a pair of eighth-place finishes.
Bowe won the 500 meters at the U.S. Championships and finished on the podium in the event before on a major international stage.
In 2016, Bowe took second in the event at the World Single Distance Championships, and she won the overall gold at the 2015 and 2016 World Sprint Championships.
If she uses the result from the 1,000 meters as a momentum builder, Bowe should approach Sunday's event with plenty of confidence.
However, the same can't be said for Bergsma, who has struggled to find a rhythm in Pyeongchang with disappointing finishes in the 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters.
If the American duo fails to win an individual medal, there's always a chance to reach the podium in the women's pursuit, which is expected to be dominated by the Netherlands, but that seems unlikely.
Mantia Waiting to Make Impact in Mass Start
Although he's already taken to the ice in South Korea, Joey Mantia is still waiting to compete in his best event, the men's mass start.
Mantia has seven more days to prepare for the new Olympic event and back up the gold he won at the 2017 World Single Distance Championships.
The 32-year-old has a decorated resume by American speedskating standards, as he's qualified for two Olympics and won three World Cup events in a sport controlled by the Dutch.
Look for Mantia to use the men's team pursuit and men's 1,000 meters as warm-up races for what he hopes is an Olympic triumph on the penultimate day of competition in Pyeongchang.
Mantia has an outside chance to reach the podium with his teammates in the pursuit, but it'll be a hard accomplishment to achieve with a team that hasn't fared well in South Korea.
Predictions
After a disappointing string of results in the first week of competition, Mantia and Bowe will come through for the Americans.
Bowe will take bronze in the women's 500-meters, while Mantia backs up his world title with a gold in the men's mass start.
Other than that, the Americans are going to be shut out of medals while the Dutch pile on to their collection.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from Team USA.
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