After Friday’s stunning result in men’s singles figure skating, you might have thought the biggest surprises from the Olympics had been sprung. Well, Saturday had at least a couple of more eye-openers:
• An athlete representing a South American country won a Winter Olympics gold medal for the first time.
• A goalie who, three years ago, helped his NHL team record the most wins ever in one season allowed a goal on a shot from the center of the rink.
• Canada still does not have a gold medal (here’s the medal table).
But, showing that it’s not all chaos at these Games, Jordan Stolz of the United States won another speedskating final, achieving a gold medal double that hadn’t happened since 1980.
Here are some of Saturday’s highlights:
Jordan Stolz 2-for-2 after Olympic record in men’s 500m speedskating
Jordan Stolz won his second gold medal and set his second Olympic record Saturday, posting a time of 33.77 seconds in the men’s 500-meter speedskating event. He won the 1,000m on Wednesday.
Stolz’s time shaved 0.16 second off the world record of 33.61, which has stood since 2019. Silver medalist Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands (33.88) and bronze medalist Laurent Dubreuil of Canada (34.26) also ducked under the former Olympic record of 34.32.
Stolz, who is profiled by The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli in this wonderful recap, was paired with de Boo and trailed after the first 100 meters.
“It just seems like he doesn’t get tired,” said Dubreuil, who missed a medal in the 2022 Olympics 500m by 0.03 second. “I really don’t understand how that’s possible for somebody.”
Stolz became the first man to win the 500m and 1,000m at the same Olympics since 1980.
The podium for the men’s giant slalom consisted of two athletes from Alpine power Switzerland (silver medalist Marco Odermatt, left, and bronze medalist Loïc Meillard, right) sandwiching gold medalist Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil.
Brazil now a skiing power?
Entering these Olympics, eight countries had won the gold medal in the men’s giant slalom, countries one might expect to produce skiing stars — Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France, for example. Well, now there’s a ninth.
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who was born in Norway but now represents Brazil, became the first gold medalist representing a South American country in Winter Olympics history. He won the two-run giant slalom with a combined time of 2 minutes, 25 seconds, more than half a second faster than silver medalist Marco Odermatt of Switzerland (2:58.58).
Pinheiro Braathen began his competitive career representing Norway but then switched to Brazil, where his mother was born.
Pinheiro Braathen had the fastest time in the first run by nearly a second, enough of a lead to keep his spot after he had the 11th-fastest second run.
The defending Olympic champion in the giant slalom, Odermatt, earned his second silver (also in the team combined) at the Milan Cortina Olympics to go along with a bronze (super-G). Three medals (and a fourth-place finish in the downhill) are more than many athletes could hope for, but the absence of a gold medal — given the expectations piled on Odermatt — seems like a disappointment to some.
Poulin returns, Canada advances to hockey semifinals
Marie-Philip Poulin returned to Canada’s hockey lineup after missing two games with a knee injury and scored in a 5-1 quarterfinal win over Germany.
With the 18th goal of her Olympic career, Poulin tied Hockey Hall of Famer Hayley Wickenheiser’s Olympic record.
Canada will play Switzerland, a 1-0 winner over Finland, in the semifinals.
U.S. men trail twice before dispatching Denmark
The 6-3 win by the U.S. men might not be remembered as much as a surprising goal by Denmark in the first period. Nicholas B. Jensen let a shot fly from just inside Denmark’s offensive zone, and the puck made it past goalkeeper Jeremy Swayman, who in 2022-23 helped the Boston Bruins win an NHL-record 65 games.
That shocking goal gave Denmark a 2-1 lead — its second, after the United States fell behind less than two minutes into the game on a goal scored from near the crease.
The United States pulled away for the win, though, and heads to Sunday’s final preliminary-round game with two wins in as many games.
Other highlights
Norway won the women’s 4×7.5-kilometer cross-country skiing relay, defeating a powerhouse Sweden team by more than 50 seconds. Sweden entered this race having won three golds, three silvers and one bronze in the three prior events at these Olympics. … Domen Prevc of ski-jumping power Slovenia won the men’s large hill, collecting his second gold after Slovenia won the mixed normal hill team event.