Olympic 2018 Results: Tuesday's Early Medal Winners, Scores and Top Performers
The United States appeared to close the gap between itself and the nations at the top of the 2018 Winter Olympics medal count with two bronzes on Monday night, but by the time Tuesday morning ended, the disparity had grown again.
Germany made a statement in its chase of Norway for the top position in the medal count, as it swept one of the three medal events that took place Tuesday morning in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Norway added a silver to its haul that now sits at 29 thanks to 11 gold, 10 silver and eight bronze medals.
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The host nation had plenty to cheer about Tuesday as well, as South Korea flexed its muscle in one of its best events.
Two more medal events are set for Tuesday night, with the women's downhill and men's ski cross taking place Wednesday morning local time.
Medal Count
Tuesday's Medal Winners
Biathlon
Mixed Relay
Gold: France
Silver: Norway
Bronze: Italy
Nordic Combined
Individual Gundersen long hill/10-kilometer ski
Gold: Johannes Rydzek (Germany)
Silver: Fabian Riessle (Germany)
Bronze: Eric Frenzel (Germany)
Short-Track Speedskating
Women's 3,000-meter relay
Gold: South Korea
Silver: Italy
Bronze: Netherlands
Top Performers
Johannes Rydzek
Nordic combined doesn't find itself in the spotlight much, but the winner of any event in the sport deserves a ton of recognition for the athletic feats he achieved.
Germany's Johannes Rydzek took gold in the long hill/10-kilometer event which features a jump off the ski jumping long hill and a 10-kilometer cross-country skiing race.
Rydzek placed fifth in the ski jumping portion of the competition, as he earned a score of 131.2, which was seven points behind Japan's Akito Watabe.
The gold-medal winner showed off his strength in the cross-country race, as he made up a 26-second deficit from the first kilometer to win in 23 minutes, 52.5 seconds.
Rydzek was joined on the podium by teammates Fabian Riessle and Eric Frenzel, who won the gold in the normal hill/10-kilometer nordic combined event.
By sweeping the medal podium Tuesday, the Germans installed themselves as one of the favorites to win the team event Thursday, which features jumps off the long hill and a cross-country relay in which each skier races five kilometers.
South Korea's Women's Short-Track Team
Short-track speedskating is one of the most unpredictable sports at the Winter Olympics because of its fast-paced nature in tight quarters.
Even with the potential for a mistake to happen at any turn, South Korea's remained dominant in the women's 3,000-meter relay.
The host nation won its sixth gold in eight attempts in the event Tuesday in a time of four minutes, 7.361 seconds in a chaotic competition in which Canada and China were disqualified in the "A" final.
In addition to the madness in the "A" final, the Netherlands set a world record of four minutes, 3.471 seconds from the "B" final and was awarded the bronze after the penalties to Canada and China.
Alex Azzi of NBCOlympics.com summed up the wild day inside the Gangneung Ice Arena:
In addition to capturing relay gold Tuesday, Shim Suk-hee and Choi Min-jeong won their respective heats in the women's 1,000-meters as they attempt to earn a third gold in women's short-track for South Korea on home ice.
France's Biathlon Mixed Relay Team
France overcame a poor shooting day from Anais Bescond in the second leg of the biathlon mixed relay to capture gold over Norway and Italy.
Bescond missed a total of four shots, including three during her second trip to the range, and handed off to Simon Desthieux 48 seconds behind the leaders on course.
Desthieux cut the deficit down to 32 seconds before Martin Fourcade took control of the event with 10 perfect shots and an immaculate race on his skis.
Fourcade closed the gap during his first lap on course and took the lead after his first perfect set of five shots.
From that point on, one of the most dominant Olympic biathletes of all time left no doubt that France would take first place and secured the victory in a time of one hour, eight minutes and 34.3 seconds.
The three-time gold-medalist in Pyeongchang expressed how much winning the team event meant to him on French television, via Philip O'Connor of Reuters.
“I wanted this team medal, it’s such a different emotion from an individual medal, Fourcade said. "This is an individual sport and to win as a team is something beautiful, even if everyone cannot participate."
The 29-year-old Fourcade is now the owner of seven Olympic medals, including five golds.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from Olympic.org.
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