Friday's Highlights at the Sochi Olympics
FRIDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS AT THE SOCHI OLYMPICS:
HOCKEY NIGHT IN RUSSIA
For the second night in a row, a Canadian hockey team got the better of its American neighbors. Canada advanced to the men's gold medal game with a 1-0 victory over the U.S., a day after the Canadian women edged their biggest rivals for gold. Jamie Benn scored the only goal Friday in the second period, giving the Canadians a chance to repeat as Olympic champions. Canada will face Sweden, a 2-1 winner over Finland, for gold on Sunday. The U.S. will play the Finns for bronze on Saturday.
SUPER SCHIFFRIN
Looking a little something like Bode Miller, American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin acrobatically capped a golden debut at the Olympics by winning the women's slalom title. At 18, Schiffrin became the youngest ever winner of the event at the Winter Games. Marlies Schild, the Austrian veteran who is one of Shiffrin's childhood favorites, took silver and another Austrian, Kathrin Zettel, earned bronze.
BUSTED
With the clock running out on the Sochi Olympics, the games get their first doping cases. German biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle, a five-time Olympic medalist, tested positive for a banned stimulant and was sent home. Italian bobsledder William Frullani was ejected from the games after also testing positive for a banned stimulant. The IOC is conducting 2,453 drug tests in Sochi, a record for the Winter Olympics.
FLASH OF GOLD
Short track speedskater Viktor Ahn, who previously represented his native South Korea but now competes for Russia, won two more gold medals at the Sochi Games. Ahn won the 500 meters and the 5,000-meter relay Friday, tying Apolo Anton Ohno for the most career short track medals with eight. Ahn finishes the games with three golds and a bronze.
SHE SKATES TO CONQUER
If Adelina Sotnikova had any doubts, Vladimir Putin made it clear, saying the "whole Russia is proud of you." The 17-year-old became the first Russian or Soviet to win Olympic gold in women's figure skating. In a message on the Kremlin's website, Putin said Sotnikova "won and conquered the height" Russian figure skating has been trying to scale "for long years."
A QUEEN'S REIGN
South Koreans remain loyal subjects of Yuna Kim, their beloved "Queen." Just don't get them started on judges. Kim finished with the figure skating silver medal behind Adelina Sotnikova. And many in South Korea feel their queen was treated rudely. Said Bang Sang-ah, a TV skating commentator for SBS: "I was angry. I had expected something like this ... but the home-side advantage (in Russia) was too much."
WOLF VIDEO
That wolf supposedly prowling the hall of a U.S. athlete's room was pure fairy tale. It was a stunt cooked up by American talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel and luger Kate Hansen. They posted a fake video in which the hallway set was built in Los Angeles and the wolf was rented. The video went viral and many fell for the prank.
MEDALS
The United States still has the most medals with 27 overall, one more than host Russia and three more than Canada. All three countries have nine golds, one fewer than Norway's 10 gold and 22 in total.
SATURDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
Marcel Hirsher of Austria goes for gold in men's slalom, the final Alpine skiing event of the Sochi Olympics. In all, seven gold medals will be awarded.
