David J. Phillip/Associated Press
The quest for world dominance is going strong at the 2014 Winter Olympics. After only a few days of action, it's already quite evident which countries will continue to rack up the medals.
A record 88 nations are competing in this 22nd installment of the Winter Games. While not all will make their presence felt in terms of medalling, it will still be great to see each of these countries' top competitors in various events.
Below you'll find a graphic of the current Olympic standings. Continue to check back as the graphic will update as the Sochi Games carry on. Norway
Gero Breloer/Associated Press
Norway has been a staple of most leaderboards in early Olympic action, and the Norwegian team is currently in the lead with six total medals.
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen is possibly Norway's biggest success story thus far. He was already one of the country's most decorated winter athletes, having won six Olympic gold medals.
The 40-year-old defeated a much younger group in the men's sprint 10-kilometer biathlon on Day 1, adding a seventh gold medal to his collection. He is the oldest gold medallist in Winter Olympics history.
40-year-old Ole Einar Bjoerndalen won his seventh biathlon gold for Norway (@USATSportsImage): http://t.co/7wadxCC5YT http://ift.tt/1kt1WN8 USA TODAY Sports (@USATODAYsports) February 9, 2014
Marit Bjoergen also won gold in ladies' skiathlon 7.5-kilometer classic and 7.5-kilometer free. The difficult course was bested by Bjoergen, a competitor who already had plenty of Olympic hardware to show for herself.
Teammate Heidi Weng finished in third in the event, earning a bronze medal. United States
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
The United States has two gold medals and a bronze medal to its name at this point, though there will certainly be more added to the collection in due time.
Both gold medals have come in slopestyle. In its inaugural year, slopestyle has been absolutely dominated by the U.S. field.
Sage Kotsenburg took home Sochi's first medal with a dominating performance. It was the 20-year-old's first run that netted him his winning score of 93.50.
The U.S. swept the first Olympic slopestyle competition and 'it was fricken' mind blowing' http://t.co/cCQSY7TB4m- For The Win (@forthewin) February 9, 2014
On the women's side, Jamie Anderson also took home the gold with a score of 95.25. Via USA Today's For The Win, Alexander had this to say about the win: "It was fricken' mind blowing. What a day."
Hannah Kearney took home the bronze medal in ladies' moguls, thus giving the States three total medals. Netherlands
Pavel Golovkin/Associated Press
With four total medals (two gold, one silver and one bronze), the Netherlands have already been quite successful at Sochi.
They haven't been dominant overall, but their performance in the men's 5,000-meter speedskating event cannot be overlooked. All three medals were won by members of the Dutch team.
Favorite Sven Kramer destroyed the rest of the pack with a time of six minutes, 10.76 seconds, living up to all the hype surrounding him and taking home the gold.
Sven Kramer of the Netherlands sets new Olympic record for speedskating event: http://t.co/KxgXGC116W #Sochi2014- Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) February 8, 2014
Kramer also won this event at the 2010 Vancouver Games. He was nearly four full seconds faster at Sochi.
Jan Blokhuijsen and Jorrit Bergsma then raced for the silver. Blokhuijsen won that battle with a time of 6:15.71, but Bergsma was still awarded with the bronze medal for his efforts.
Their dominance on ice would suggest that the Netherlands isn't done racking up skating medals at this Olympics.
0 comments Blogger 0 Facebook
Post a Comment