PYEONGCHANG, Korea, Republic Of 鈥� Yuzuru Hanyu made Olympic figure skating history with a strong 鈥� and expected 鈥� performance in the men鈥檚 free skate.
Meanwhile, Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic stunned everyone, including herself, by winning the gold in the women鈥檚 super-G.
On a busy Saturday at the Pyeongchang Olympics, Switzerland鈥檚 Sarah Hoefflin won the women鈥檚 slopestyle skiing event, Norway was victorious in the women鈥檚 cross-country relay, and Slovakia鈥檚 Anastasiya Kuzmina won the women鈥檚 12.5-kilometre mass start biathlon.
In short-track speedskating, South Korea鈥檚 Choi Min-jeong got the victory in the women鈥檚 1,500 metres, while sa国际传媒鈥檚 Samuel Girard won the men鈥檚 1,000 metres.
In Gangneung, Hanyu became the first man to repeat as Olympic champion since Dick Button in 1952 after also winning in Sochi in 2014. He also won the 1,000th gold medal in Winter Games history.
鈥淭his is the best day of my skating life,鈥� Hanyu said. 鈥淢y tears were from my heart. I can find one word and that is 鈥榟appy.鈥濃��
He held off Japanese teammate Shoma Uno and Spain鈥檚 Javier Fernandez for the victory.
A gracious Hanyu told Fernandez that he wished they both could have won.
鈥淚 told him, 鈥榊es, Yuzu, but only one can be champion. Only one can have the gold medal,鈥� 鈥� Fernandez said.
In Jeongseon, Ledecka simply couldn鈥檛 believe she was No. 1 on the videoboard standings moments after crossing the finish line.
Her time of 1 minute, 21.11 seconds was just 0.01 seconds faster than Austria鈥檚 Anna Veith, the defending Olympic champion. While Veith was one of the favourites, the 22-year-old Ledecka was a low-ranked competitor who was considered a better contender for a medal in snowboarding.
She鈥檚 now an Olympic champion.
鈥淚s this a kind of mistake?鈥� Ledecka said when asked what immediately went through her mind. 鈥淥K, they鈥檙e going to change the time. I鈥檓 going to wait for a little bit, and you鈥檙e going to switch and (add) some more seconds.鈥�
Nope, not quite.
American star Lindsey Vonn, who tied for sixth in her first event in Pyeongchang, echoed the sentiments of Ledecka 鈥� and just about everyone else.
鈥淒efinitely shocking,鈥� Vonn said.
In men鈥檚 hockey, the United States had a rough night in a 4-0 loss to the 鈥淥lympic Athletes from Russia.鈥�
It was a convincing win for the Russians, who outplayed, outhit and outclassed the United States in a game that wrapped up pool play for each team.
Because of the loss, the U.S. must play in Tuesday鈥檚 qualification round. Ilya Kovalchuk scored two goals for the Russians. U.S. goaltender Ryan Zapolski allowed four goals on 26 shots, including Kovalchuk鈥檚 goals that were less than 33 seconds apart at the end of the second period and start of the third.
ELECTRIC RUN
At Phoenix Snow Park, Hoefflin edged teammate Mathilde Gremaud for gold by posting a score of 91.20 in her final run.
鈥淚 suppose I got pretty lucky,鈥� Hoefflin said. 鈥淚 ski better when there is no wind and I struggle with the wind. We had wind in the practice and for my final run I was so relaxed because I knew what the speed was and usually if I know the speed I know the tricks.鈥�
Isabel Atkin of Britain took bronze with a score of 84.60 in her final run.
Defending Olympic champion Dara Howell crashed twice during qualifying and didn鈥檛 advance.
SHE鈥橲 GOLDEN
Marit Bjoergen moved into a tie for the most career Winter Olympic medals with 13 after helping the Norwegian women to a first-place finish in the cross-country relay.
Bjoergen tied male biathlete and fellow Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, and can move into sole possession of the record with a medal in either one of the last two women鈥檚 events: the team sprint relay Wednesday or in the mass start.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think about that now,鈥� Bjoergen said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just focused on each race and I think I have to look behind me after the Olympics and see how many medals I have.鈥�
Sweden finished second, and a team of Russians were third.
FIRST-TIMERS
South Korea earned its first victory in the men鈥檚 curling round robin, beating Britain 11-5 after the Brits conceded early after falling far behind.
鈥淚t was a tough game,鈥� Britain鈥檚 Thomas Muirhead said. 鈥淢aybe (we) didn鈥檛 play to our strengths. They were good and we weren鈥檛 really good enough on the day.鈥�
sa国际传媒鈥檚 men鈥檚 team lost for the first time in the curling round robin, falling to Sweden 5-2.
NICE SHOT
Kuzmina, who had previously won two silver medals, hit 19 of 20 targets and beat Darya Domracheva of Belarus by 18.8 seconds.
Kuzmina has accounted for all three of Slovakia鈥檚 medals in Pyeongchang.
Norway鈥檚 Tiril Eckhoff won the bronze. Germany鈥檚 Laura Dahlmeier, considered the favourite, finished in 16th place.
SKATING BY
Choi took the lead in the seven-woman final to finish in 2 minutes, 24.948 seconds and give South Korea its second gold in short-track speedskating.
Li Jinyu of China earned silver and sa国际传媒鈥檚 Kim Boutin won bronze.
In the men鈥檚 1,000, Girard took the goal with a time of 1:24.650, edging American John-Henry Krueger into silver.
MORE MEDALS
鈥� Britain鈥檚 Lizzy Yarnold won her second consecutive gold medal in women鈥檚 skeleton.
Yarnold finished four runs in 3 minutes, 27.28 seconds. She won by nearly a half-second over Germany鈥檚 Jacqueline Loelling. Britain鈥檚 Laura Deas took third.
鈥� Defending champion Kamil Stoch won ski jumping鈥檚 large hill. The 30-year-old Polish jumper scored 285.7 points to beat normal hill gold medallist Andreas Wellinger of Germany, who took the silver. Robert Johansson of Norway won the bronze.