PYEONGCHANG, Korea, Republic Of 鈥� On a snowboard and skis, Ester Ledecka is a history-making Olympic gold medallist.
One of the surprising breakout stars of the Winter Games, the Czech pulled double-duty on the slopes in Pyeongchang and became the first to win snowboarding鈥檚 parallel giant slalom and skiing鈥檚 Alpine super-G.
She outraced Selina Joerg of Germany to the line in the final of the snowboarding event Saturday and won by .46 seconds. That came seven days after she won the super-G by .01 seconds 鈥� and shocked everyone, including herself.
鈥淚t was a great day,鈥� Ledecka said Saturday. 鈥淚 enjoyed every run and I鈥檓 very happy to be here and stand on the highest place.鈥�
That鈥檚 also where the United States鈥� curling team is after winning the men鈥檚 final , beating Sweden 10-7.
The upset was only the second curling medal in U.S. history, with the first coming in a bronze-medal game at the 2006 Turin Games.
鈥淚t feels almost unbelievable,鈥� Team USA鈥檚 Matt Hamilton said, 鈥渂ut we came out here with great intensity and just had to believe we could do it, and make our shots.鈥�
Switzerland won the debut of the Alpine team event, but Norway鈥檚 third-place finish gave it a record 38 medals at a single Winter Olympics.
鈥淓ven underneath the suit, I get goosebumps talking about it,鈥� Norway鈥檚 Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen said.
Iivo Niskanen of Finland took gold in cross-country鈥檚 50-kilometre mass start , Sebastien Toutant of sa国际传媒 won the men鈥檚 Big Air snowboarding event and Nevin Galmarini of Switzerland was the winner of the men鈥檚 parallel giant slalom.
The Canadian men made sure they aren鈥檛 going home from the Olympics hockey tournament empty-handed, even after missing out on a third straight gold medal.
Andrew Ebbett, Chris Kelly and Derek Roy each scored in the first period, helping sa国际传媒 take the bronze medal by beating the Czech Republic 6-4. The Russians and Germany will play off Sunday for the gold medal.
The debut of the speedskating mass start races worked out well for the hosts, with South Korea鈥檚 Lee Seung-hoon unleashing a final sprint to beat Belgian inline skater Bart Swings in the men鈥檚 event.
Japan鈥檚 Nana Takagi blasted past opposition in the final straightaway to win the women鈥檚 gold from Kim Bo-reum of South Korea.
At Yongpyong Alpine Center, Ledecka had the fastest qualifying time in the women鈥檚 parallel giant slalom. Her fourth race was decided when her opponent slid off the course.
She had been considered a favourite for gold in snowboarding after being the top-ranked woman on the circuit, but she hadn鈥檛 come even close to that success in skiing.
Until last week.
鈥�(People) were reminding me, 鈥榊eah, you鈥檙e a skier, you did a great success,鈥� which was very nice,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut I was thinking, 鈥極K, but you have to change and be a snowboarder already.鈥濃��
No problems there.
鈥淲hat happened here,鈥� said Ledecka鈥檚 snowboard coach, Justin Reiter, 鈥渨as once-in-a-lifetime.鈥�
MIRACURL ON ICE
John Shuster has been part of both of the United States鈥� men鈥檚 curling medals, this time skipping the squad to the upset of Sweden.
He converted a double-takeout for a five-ender in the eighth, a very rare score that made it 10-5 and basically sealed the win.
The U.S. needed three straight victories to advance to the playoffs and then a semifinal victory over three-time defending gold medallist sa国际传媒 to get here.
鈥淲e knew we were close,鈥� Hamilton said, 鈥渁nd to make the breakthrough here at the Olympics is just amazing.鈥�
South Korea will play Sweden in the women鈥檚 final on Sunday. Japan beat Britain 5-3 for the women鈥檚 bronze medal.
MEDAL HEADS
Norway leads the medals table with 13 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze, breaking the record of 37 overall set at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics by the Americans.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a really cool feeling to feel that the whole team succeeded today,鈥� Nina Haver-Loeseth said after Norway edged France for the bronze. 鈥淚 think that Norwegian Alpine skiers had a very successful Olympics. We鈥檝e been at the medal plaza, cheering our teammates on and I was like, 鈥榃e are not leaving here without a medal.鈥� So it means a lot.鈥�
Switzerland beat top-seeded Austria in the gold-medal race. Leading 2-1, Swiss ski racer Daniel Yule wrapped up the win when Austrian rival Marco Schwarz skied out along the side-by-side parallel slalom course.
鈥淔or us skiers who usually are always doing an individual sport, to just do this all together like this for Team Switzerland, that was just amazing,鈥� Yule said.
FINLAND鈥橲 FINEST
Niskanen beat Russian rival Alexander Bolshunov with a strong sprint in the 50-kilometre mass start to give Finland its first gold of the games.
鈥淭he first, but not the last,鈥� Niskanen said. 鈥淭omorrow is a new day. I (was) wanting to win my gold medal (over) this distance and it had been long years.鈥�
Niskanen won the marathon event in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 22.1 seconds 鈥� more than 18 seconds ahead of Bolshunov.
SOARING TO GOLD
Toutant won in the Olympic debut of men鈥檚 Big Air by scoring 174.25 points in the final.
Kyle Mack of the United States took second with a score of 168.75, and Billy Morgan of Britain earned bronze.
Red Gerard, who won the first gold medal for the United States in Pyeongchang in the slopestyle event two weeks ago, finished fifth.