5 to Watch: #ShibSibs Back On The Ice, Tie for Gold in Two-Man Bobsled, Westport's Marino Advances to Big Air Final

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Top Three U.S. Ice Dance Teams Advance

All three American teams are in position to contend for a medal in ice dance following the short dance portion of the competition Monday at Gangneung Ice Arena. The favorites entering the competition also asserted themselves, with Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir posting a world record-score for short dance.

The reigning United States champions, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, are in third place with a score of 77.75, two-hundredths of a point ahead of the brother-sister pair of Maia and Alex Shibutani. Madison Chock and Evan Bates are seventh, after receiving a season-high score of 75.45.

Virtue and Moir, who lead the field with 83.67 points, were Team Canada’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony and have a chance to become the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history. A trip to the podium in Pyeongchang would net them their fifth medal between ice dance and the team figure skating event. The short dance will be followed by the free dance Tuesday (Monday night in the United States).

See the replay here.

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Alexa Viscius

Westport's Jules Marino, Teammates Move On To Big Air Finals

Team USA members Jamie Anderson, Julia Marino, of Westport, and Jessika Jenson all survived the women’s big air qualification round Monday (Sunday night in the U.S.).

Anderson rebounded with a strong second run and stumbling during her first attempt. Marino, 20, made her Pyeongchang debut during the women’s slopestyle, finishing 11th.

They’ll e strong medal contenders in the big air, but they’ll have to catch Austrian Anna Gasser, who’s known for pulling off tricky technical moves and who finished first in the qualifying round.

The women’s qualifying round was the debut of big air in the Olympics. It’s as much a spectacle as it is a sport — competitors perform complex moves down a hill after launching off large jumps, aiming for height, distance, style and a clean landing. The scores are out of 100 and the top scorers will go for gold Friday (Thursday night in the U.S.).

See the replay on digital platforms here.

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Maddie Bowman

U.S.’s Maddie Bowman Defends Halfpipe Gold

Defending U.S. Olympic champion Maddie Bowman is looking to repeat her Sochi result in the women’s freestyle skiing halfpipe. She heads a strong contingent of American contenders, which includes Brita Sigourney, the first women to land a 1080 in a competition halfpipe, and Annalisa Drew, who finished fourth in qualifying. Sigourney finished third in qualifying, Drew finished fourth and Bowman finished sixth.

American Devin Logan, a silver medal winner in Sochi for slopestyle, finished 15th in the qualifying run and failed to advance to the final.

Tough competition is expected from Canada’s Cassie Sharpe, known for her bold tricks, and France’s Marie Martinod, a silver medal winner in Sochi.

Watch live on NBC’s primetime coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET Monday or on digital platforms here. 

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Emily Pfalzer (8), Haley Skarupa (11), Amanda Kessel (28), Kali Flanagan (6), Hilary Knight (21) and Kendall Coyne (26) of the United States huddle up before the Women's Ice Hockey Preliminary Round at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Kwandong Hockey Centre on Feb. 11, 2018.

U.S. Women’s Hockey Team Tops Finland, Advances to Gold Medal Game

The United States women’s hockey team advanced to the gold medal game for a third straight Olympics after beating Finland 5-0 in the semifinal Monday (Sunday night in the U.S.).

Gigi Marvin opened the scoring just 2:25 into the opening period. Dani Cameranesi extended the USA’s advantage with two goals and an assist. Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Hilary Knight had a goal apiece as they turned a 5-on-3 into two goals 34 seconds apart in the second.

Maddie Rooney made 14 saves for the shutout.

The Americans will play the winner of the other semifinal between Canada and the Russians. That game is Monday night (Monday morning in the U.S.)

See the replay on digital platforms here.

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Bobsledder Justin Olsen.

Canada and Germany Tie for Gold in Men’s Bobsled

Canada and Germany tied for gold in two-man bobsled. The U.S. men’s two-man bobsled competed after getting through very tough times, but did not medal.

Three-time Olympian Steven Holcomb died last year. Unfortunately, Team USA had a rough go during the first two runs in Pyeongchang and are out of medal contention.

Pilot Justin Olsen, a 2010 gold medalist who had emergency surgery for acute appendicitis on Feb. 5, performed the best among U.S. entrants. He and Evan Weinstock are ranked 14 out of 30 competitors.

German pilot Nico Walther and Canada’s Justin Kripps were the top two leaders heading into the finals, separated by 0.10 seconds. Kripps, a three-time Olympian, and Alexander Kopacz won for Canada’s first gold medal in the two-man since 1998.

Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis, of Germany, were the other gold-medal winners.

Oskars Melbardis and Janis Strenga, of Latvia, came in third for the bronze.

Watch the recap. 

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