5 to Watch: #ShibSibs Ice Dancing, US Women's Ice Hockey
By Staff Reports ••
The excitement of the Pyeongchang Games heads to the slopes for the men’s downhill skiing, slopestyle snowboarding and to the ice rink for ice skating and U.S. women’s hockey. Here are the day’s 5 to Watch.
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Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway makes a run during the Men's Downhill Alpine Skiing training at Jeongseon Alpine Centre on Feb. 9, 2018, in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea.
Men’s Downhill Canceled Due to High Wind Conditions
The first Alpine skiing event of the 2018 Pyeonchang Olympics, men’s downhill, was canceled Sunday morning due to high winds. Gusts of up to 50 mph were predicted for the event's would-be start at 11 a.m. local time. Wind speeds were strong enough to close the only gondola lift carrying racers and officials up the mountain.
The event has not yet been rescheduled.
Norway’s formidable “Attacking Vikings” were expected to try to wrest the downhill gold from the defending champion, Austria’s Mattias Mayer. Among the Norwegians to watch: Kjetil Jansrud, the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, who had the fastest time at this year’s Olympic test event, and Aksel Lund Svindal, the 2010 Olympic silver medalist and fourth-place finisher in Sochi, who is second in the World Cup standings. Alpine skiing might be an individual sport but the Norwegians take it on as a team.
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Mayer is trying to become the first man to defend his gold downhill medal.
Team USA has only one man in the top 20 of the World Cup standings. Bryce Bennett, who is ranked 18th, had the seventh-fastest time in Wednesday’s Olympic downhill training run.
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Pictured: Red Gerard
A Unique Slopestyle Course Spells Unpredictability
Canadians and Norwegians enter the slopestyle competition the strongest in the field but one young American could bring an upset: 17-year-old Red Gerard. Gerard was the only American to make the final in Saturday’s qualifying round. He’s known for being a creative rider.
Gerard is going up against Mark McMorris, the snowboarder who has dominated the event, and other favorites: McMorris’s teammate, Max Parrot, and Marcus Kleveland of Norway. McMorris, the bronze medalist at the 2014 Olympic Games, has won a slopestyle medal at every X Games Aspen since 2011, but he was badly injured last year after crashing into a tree while snowboarding.
When slopestyle made its debut at the last Olympics, riders from Canada, Norway and the United States each won a medal. U.S. medalist Sage Kotsenburg has since retired and the U.S. are considered the underdogs in Pyeongchang.
The course is one of the most unique designs ever seen.
Monique Lamoureux-Morando #7 (L) and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson #17 of the United States Women's Hockey Team poses for a portrait on Jan. 16, 2018, in Wesley Chapel, Florida.
US Women’s Hockey Face Finland in First Olympic Match
Much of the attention has been on the unified Korean women’s team, but the U.S. women’s hockey team plays its first game against Finland.
The American team famously include twins Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando. American women have not won Olympic gold since 1998 and have a tough job ahead. Canada has taken home four straight gold medals.
Alex and Maia Shibutani Ready for Their Ice Dancing Competition
Brother-sister duo Alex and Maia Shibutani might be living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, these days, but Alex was born in Boston -- and has remained a Boston sports team fan ever since.
They say their love for the ice started when they were children, and that watching Michelle Kwan inspired them to aim for the Olympics, and had their first taste of Olympic competition at Sochi.
The siblings also have a YouTube channel, for which they say they love making videos.
NBC10 Boston reporter Audrey Asistio gives a tour of the media facility at the Olympic’s Gangneung Ice Arena that will be the site of ice hockey, speed skating, figure skating, and curling.
NBC10 Boston Reporter Audrey Asistio Tours the Pressroom
Wonder what happens behind the scenes of the Olympics, including where stories are filed for the rest of the world?
NBC10 Boston anchor and reporter Audrey Asistio gives a tour of the media facility at the Olympic's Gangneung Ice Arena.
The arena will be the site of various Olympic events, including ice hockey, speed skating, figure skating and curling.
And the Gold Goes to…
Join in the excitement of the day’s Gold Medal competition. Here’s a quick run-down of the day’s other events.
Men’s Biathlon 10 Kilometer Sprint
Watch NBCSN coverage beginning at 5 a.m. ET or on digital platforms Sunday at 6:15 a.m. ET
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PARK CITY, UT - SEPTEMBER 25: Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin poses for a portrait during the Team USA Media Summit ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games on September 25, 2017 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
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Annalisa Drew is a freestyle skier who specializes in the halfpipe. Drew is a two-time Olympian (2014, 2018) and is a Andover, Massachusetts native. She attended the University of Maine.
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Meghan Duggan is an ice hockey forward and a three-time Olympian (2010, 2014, 2018) Duggan captained the 2014 team. She earned silver medals in 2010 and 2014 and is a Danvers, Massachusetts. native.
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Steve Langton is competing in the bobsled event. Langton won bronze medals in the four-man bobsled and the two-man bobsled events at the 2014 Winter Games and also competed at the 2010 Olympics. He grew up in Melrose, Massachusetts. and graduated from Northeastern University, where captained the track and field team.
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Jared Goldberg is competing in alpine skiing at his second Winter Olympics (2014, 2018). Goldberg was born in Boston.
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Alex Shibutani is competing in ice dancing at his second Winter Olympics (2014, 2018). Shibutani's partner is his sister Maia. He was born in Boston and enjoys following the local sports teams.
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Eric Loughran is a freestyle skier who will compete in aerials at the Winter Games. Loughran was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. and lives in Pelham, New Hampshire.
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Bobby Butler is an ice hockey forward who is competing in his first Olympics. Butler is a native of Marlborough, Massachusetts. and attended the University of New Hampshire.
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Chris Bourque is an ice hockey forward who is competing in his first Olympics. Bourque was born in Boston, grew up in North Reading, Massachusetts and played hockey at Boston University. His father Ray is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and played for Canada in the 1998 Olympics.
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John McCarthy is an ice hockey forward who is competing in his first Olympics. He is a native of Boston and played hockey at Boston University where he co-captained the NCAA Championship team in the 2008-09 season.
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Ryan Donato is an ice hockey forward who is competing in his first Olympics. Donato was born in Boston and grew up in Scituate, Massachusetts. He played hockey at Harvard, where he was coached by his father Ted, who played 13 seasons in the NHL and Team USA at the 1992 Olympics.
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Cayla Barnes is an ice hockey defender who is competing in her first Olympics. Barnes attended New Hampton School in New Hampshire and played hockey at Boston College.
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Megan Keller is an ice hockey defender who is competing in her first Olympics. Keller played hockey at Boston College.
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Kali Flanagan is an ice hockey defender who is competing in her first Olympics. Flanagan grew up in Burlington, Massachusetts and played hockey at Boston College.
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Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin, a native of Colorado, attended Burke Mountain Academy in East Burke, Vermont. She is competing in her second Olympics after taking home the gold for slalom in Sochi 2014.
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Nick Alexander is a ski jumper and a three-time Olympian (2010, 2014, 2018). Alexander is a native of Lebanon, New Hampshire.
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Sean Doherty is competing in biathlon at his second Winter Games (2014, 2018). Doherty is a native of Center Conway, New Hampshire.
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Will Rhoads is a ski jumper competing in his first Olympics. Rhoads was born in Concord, New Hampshire.
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Mac Bohonnon is a freestyle skier competing in aerials and is a two-time Olympian (2014, 2018). Bohonnon was born in New Haven, Connecticut and grew up in Madison.
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Lindsey Jacobellis is a snowboarder specializing in snowboardcross and a four-time Olympian (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018). Jacobellis won a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics. She was born in Danbury, Connecticut and went to Stratton Mountain School in Vermont.
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Tucker West is competing in luge and is a two-time Olympian (2014, 2018). West is a native of Ridgefield, Connecticut.
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Sophie Caldwell is a cross-country skier and two-time Olympian (2014, 2018). Caldwell is from Peru, Vermont and was a five-time All-America and graduate from Dartmouth in 2012. Her cousin, New Hampshire native Patrick Caldwell, is making his first Olympic appearance.
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Cross-country skier Patrick Caldwell is a native of Lebanon, New Hampshire, who attended Stratton Mountain School in Vermont and Dartmouth College. He is competing in his first Olympics. His cousin, Vermont native and two-time Olympian Sophie Caldwell, is a cross-country teammate in Pyeongchang.
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Kelly Clark is a snowboarder specializing in the halfpipe. This Olympics will mark Clark's fifth appearance at the Winter Games (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018). Clark won gold in 2002 and bronze in 2010 and 2014. She was born in Newport, Rhode Island and graduated from Mount Snow Academy in Vermont.
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Susan Dunklee is competing in biathlon and is a two-time Olympian (2014, 2018). Dunklee was born in Newport, Vermont and lives in Barton. She garaduated from Dartmouth in 2008 with a degree in ecology. Her father, Stan Dunklee, competed in the 1976 and 1980 Olympics as a cross country skier.
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Emily Dreissigacker is competing in biathlon at the 2018 Olympics. Dreissigacker makes her home in Morrisville, Vermont.
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Nolan Kasper is an alpine skier and three-time Olympian (2010, 2014, 2018). Kasper makes his home in Warren, Vermont and graduated from Dartmouth with an economics degree in 2017.
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Devin Logan is a freestyle skier and will be competing in halfpipe and slopestyle at the Winter Games. Logan is a two-time Olympian (2014, 2018) who won a silver medal in slopestyle at the 2014 Olympics. She makes her home in West Dover, Vermont and went to Mount Snow Academy.
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Andy Newell is a cross-country skier and four-time Olympian (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018). Newell's hometown is Shaftsbury, Vermont and he attended high school at Stratton Mountain School.
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Ida Sargent is a cross-country skier and two-time Olympian (2014, 2018). Sargent makes her home in Craftsbury, Vermont and graduated from Dartmouth in 2011 with degrees in biology and psychology.
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Liz Stephen is a cross-country skier and three-time Olympian (2010, 2014, 2018). Stephen is a native of East Montpelier, Vermont and attended Burke Mountain Academy in East Burke.
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Simi Hamilton is a cross-country skier and three-time Olympian (2010, 2014, 2018). Hamilton was a three-time All-American at Middlebury College in Vermont.
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Hilary Knight is an ice hockey forward and a three-time Olympian (2010, 2014, 2018). Knight won silver at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics. She attended high school at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut and plays professional hockey with the Boston Pride.
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Jessie Diggins is a cross-country skier and two-time Olympian (2014, 2018). Diggins is a resident of Stratton, Vermont.
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Alex Gamelin is an ice dancer competing for South Korea at the Winter Games. Gamelin was born in Boston and previously competed internationally for the USA with his twin sister before getting dual citizenship. His current partner is Yura Min from California, who also has dual citizenship.
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Lowell Bailey is competing in biathlon and is a four-time Olympian (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018). Bailey graduated from the University of Vermont in 2005.
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Emerson Smith is a freestyle skier competing in moguls at the Winter Games. Smith's hometown is Dover, Vermont.
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Alice Merryweather is an alpine skier competing in her first Olympics. Merryweather is from Hingham, Massachusetts and attended Stratton Mountain School and Dartmouth College.
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Jonathan Cheever is competing in snowboardcross at his first Olympics. Cheever is a native of Saugus, Massachusetts and attended Malden Catholic High School and the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He works during the summer as a licensed plumber.
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Troy Murphy is a freestyle skier competing in his first Olympics. Murphy is a native of Bethel, Maine.
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Zachary Donohue (pictured with Madison Hubbell) is a figure skater specializing in ice dance. He is competing in his first Olympics. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and is a native of Madison.
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Mark Arcobello is an ice hockey forward and first-time Olympian from Milford, Connecticut. He attended Yale University.
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Julia Marino is a snowboarder specializing in slopestyle and big air. A native of Westport, Connecticut, she is competing in her first Olympics.
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Kiley McKinnon is a freestyle skier who specializes in aerials. The native of Madison, Connecticut, born in New Haven, is competing in her first Olympics.
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Luger Emily Sweeney is a Suffield, Connecticut, native who was born in Portland, Maine. She is competing in her first Olympics.
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Clare Egan is a biathlete from Cape Elizabeth, Maine. She is competing in her first Olympics.
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Second-time Olympian Russell Currier first competed at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. He is a native of Stockholm, Maine.
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Kacey Bellamy, an ice hockey defenseman from Westfield, Massachusetts, who attended the University of New Hampshire and plays for the Boston Pride, is competing in her third Olympics. She previously won silver medals with Team USA in Vancouver and Sochi.
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Former NHL defenseman Noah Welch, a native of Boston's Brighton neighborhood who attended Harvard University, is competing in his first Olympics for USA Hockey.
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Snowboarder Mike Trapp, who competes in parallel slalom and giant parallel slalom, is a native of Barnstable, Massachusetts, partaking in his first Olympics.
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Broc Little, an ice hockey forward, is a first-time Olympian for Team USA. He attended Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, as well as Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
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Caroline Claire, a freestyle skier who specializes in slopestyle, is competing in her first Olympics. She is a native of Manchester, Vermont, who attended Stratton Mountain School in that state.
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Alpine skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle, a native of Starksboro, Vermont, is competing in his first Olympics, but he comes from a long line of Olympic skiers. His mother earned a gold medal in 1972, and his family operates Cochran's Ski Club.
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Caitlin Patterson, a cross-country skier from Craftsbury, Vermont, is competing in her first Olympics. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 2012, two years before her brother, Scott Patterson, who is also a cross-country skier making his Olympic debut in Pyeongchang.
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Ice hockey Amanda Pelkey (left) was born and raised in Montpelier, Vermont. She attended the North American Hockey Academy in Stowe, as well as the University of Vermont, and plays for the Boston Pride. She is competing in her first Olympics.
