Mixed Day for Team USA, Plus a Big Confession

Hello and welcome to SI's Daily Rings, Sports Illustrated's daily Olympics podcast.

I'm Dan Garland, joined by Mitch Golddich.

Mitch, another great day in the books.

Like yesterday, we went down to the wire, watching some figure skating.

Uh, I think we'll get to that a little later.

It's a busy, busy day.

A lot of sports to talk to today.

It was, uh, I put the schedule together yesterday and I, uh, I always make my little grid to help me decide what I'm gonna make sure I'm glued to, and I always send that out to everybody and putting it together, it was just like, oh, all the big stars are out today, like we're gonna see just a ton of people, uh, Mikaela Shiffrin's Olympic debut.

Ilya Malinin, uh, huge curling match, US women's hockey against Canada.

There's just, it was a loaded schedule and a couple of the, uh, results didn't quite go how the Americans wanted today, but, uh, definitely there was a lot, it was a packed schedule and a lot for us to pay attention to.

Yeah, you talk about, you know, having to choose between what you're gonna watch.

Um, I think I was a little bit worried going into the day.

I'd have to choose between Main and the hockey game, the women's hockey against Canada.

And then it turned out I actually didn't really have to pay attention to that ladies' hockey game because, uh, it was not all that interesting.

If you wanna start there, maybe, uh, 5-0 for the US and, uh, just really, I mean, You have to think that they're the gold medal favorite now after a, a big, you know, big showing today.

They dominated that rivalry series earlier in the year, or I should say late last year, um, and yeah, and they're just like, I mean, 5-0, uh, it's, it's unbelievable, really.

Yeah, same as you, and I, I don't have a ton of notes on the game because, uh, like you said, uh, I kept the screen up, but that was like, I think we can mute this one and, uh, pull my attention elsewhere.

Yeah, we knew that, uh, the US and Canada are both going to move on, uh, into, I mean, we, we.

From the bracket format that that was going to happen, but we knew there was a very good chance that they were going to be the top two seeds.

We also knew there was a great chance they were just going to play each other again in the gold medal game.

But, uh, yeah, I thought this would be a good chance for a test and, uh, and it turned out to be an easy win 5-0 was the final score of that one, right?

Correct, yeah, uh, Canada didn't have one of its star players, Marie Philippe Poulin , who, uh, is, you know, like one of the best players in the world, not, not a five goal difference kind of player, but, um, it will be a little bit different when they face again, face each other again.

Um, yeah, I think the, the other thing to.

About the hockey, um, this is the final day of group play in the 2nd tier group in the Group B.

And so, uh, the teams that are going to advance to the quarterfinals out of that group have decided that's gonna be Italy, Germany, and Sweden, uh, Japan and France were eliminated.

And so the US will face Italy in the quarters on Friday.

OK, and I think Canada still has that one game to make up against Finland of the norovirus, uh, outbreak, right?

Yeah, OK, well, there's your, uh, US, uh, win on the hockey side.

I think let's go into the loss.

Feels like we should start here because this was maybe the event we hyped up the most yesterday, which was the, uh , US mixed doubles curling team in the gold medal match against Sweden, and, uh, their exciting run unfortunately ended there with a loss, um.

It was a it it was another back and forth day.

I, I did think that they had a chance at it.

I was, let me go to everyone's favorite, me reading the box scores, but it was, uh, up 1-0, down 1-2, then 2-2, down 2-3, 3-3, down 3-4, up 5-4, uh, and then down 6-5.

Um, they, yeah, so I think they were, they like alternated who scored in every single one.

Um, but the issue is that, uh, the US, uh, gave up 2 points to Sweden in two different ends, and that actually, uh, was not even encompassing Sweden's power play.

They only scored 1 point when they had their power play, but the US left a couple of opportunities out there, and, uh, I also thought that Sweden's team was just very good.

I mean, obviously they, they won the gold medal, but they played very well today.

Uh, this is a fun team that I believe I mentioned this, uh, way back on the preview episode.

Uh, you can hit me with a ding there for mentioning that one again, but it's a team of siblings, uh, Rasmus and Iabella V Rana.

And uh I brought this up because not only they're brother or sister, but their dad is uh Matt Branna who is in the Swedish Curling Hall of Fame.

So that's just like a very cool uh curling family.

Imagine being a Hall of Famer and then you have two kids and then they're on a team together as siblings and win the gold medal, um, pretty unbelievable, um, but yeah, especially, I think Isabella in particular, she was just like on fire and, uh, hit a bunch of really good shots, including basically the game winner.

Um, so it was a, it was a tough day.

I saw that, uh, or they mentioned this on the broadcast actually, that, uh, the day started for the US team where they were stuck in traffic because of a car accident and they had to like get out and walk and go in the fan entrance.

So that's one of those things that if you win the gold medal, it's like a charming story that you talk about forever, and when you lose, it's like, wow, it was kind of an annoying way to start the day.

Yeah, it was a great game.

I, I, I was really glued to this, like, you know, we mentioned how tough to find , you know, what you're gonna watch all these different windows, but this was, you know, a nice, you know, clear window at noon to, to settle down and watch this one and great drama back and forth.

Like you said, one team scores, then the other, uh, really, you know, really got us hooked on curling, really excited for the rest of the, the 4 person tournament coming up with the men in the.

Women.

Um, yeah, really great match.

Uh, tough that that last end was just like, you know, the US, I they had a couple of, couple of shots to maybe make it, you know, escape with the, they gave up two points in the final end if I'm correct.

And then that's what, you know, they could have gotten Sweden to just maybe only get one and then force an extra end to have one last chance.

But yeah, some miscues there that cost them and cost them the gold medal.

Yeah, and I think they would have had the hammer if it had gone to the extra end also.

So that was a real pressure shot there to, uh, to score the two points to seal it.

Um, but yeah, that was, that was good, and so the, the men's will always, at the end of the episode, we always get to what we're gonna watch tomorrow.

Um, but, uh, the men's team will start.

There will not be any, uh, Corey Dropkin will not be on the men's team, but Corey TC we have not seen the end of.

She will be on the women's side later.

Um, so pretty cool for them getting a silver medal.

I watched their interview afterward, and you could tell they wanted the gold and, and it's a little.

Disappointing, but I think bittersweet.

I think they were, uh, very gracious about losing and, and what a week it's been.

Um, it, it's a nice feeling to have that when you wake up knowing that at worst, you're gonna be a silver medalist and you've got a chance to go for gold.

Um, we, uh, we can also update.

I feel like we've gotten to know some of these other teams from watching so much, but in the bronze medal match, I saw that Italy beat Great Britain.

Um, remember, Great Britain is the team that, uh, way back when they were undefeated, and, uh, it was the US and Great Britain in a battle of unbeaten, uh, which the US lost, um, but I saw that, uh, Team Italy was like doing the podium selfie.

That's also, it's gotta feel good to be in the 3rd place, cause when you win gold, you win gold, it's very exciting.

Silver, it can be a little bit disappointing, but then the team that's in bronze is like very.

Happy to be on the podium because they woke up this morning not knowing they were gonna have a medal, uh, and then played their game a few hours earlier.

But yeah, I loved, loved the mixed doubles curling tournament.

The whole thing was, uh, fun, like from the first batch to the last.

Um , so now we'll have to, uh, get used to some new rules and the, the 4 on 4 for men's and women's, but, uh, plenty more curling is coming.

The, uh, you mentioned how, you know, the, the , the Corey were, you know, they were, they were happy to have the silver one of the gold.

I think, you know, we've been plugging the, um, all the work that our colleagues have been doing over in Italy.

We haven't talked about Eric Rascoe, our photographer.

He's been in Cortina get some great ski shots.

He was at the curling today.

Um, he has some great photos of the, of the Corey's on the podium, you know, joking with each other, posing with their silver medals, you know, obviously, they want the gold, but they seem to be really, really happy with those silver.

I hope people will, I think, look for them on on SI.

com if you, if you haven't seen them already.

Those are great pictures.

Yeah, Rascoe is the best.

Uh, I went to the Olympics for SI in 2018, and I remember it was just unbelievable seeing like how much gear he had, and it was so cold, and he was like bundled up and just he would have to like go.

This was the day he was shooting the skiing on the up on the mountain, and he was just like layered up and had all of his gear and just had his stuff for the whole day, and it's just like amazing the stuff he can do and the shots he gets are so good.

Um, and so yeah, we've been seeing them internally and they're in all, all the SI stories, and I'm sure we have photo galleries or if we don't have them up already, we will, um, have plenty of them and the, uh, SI Olympics newsletter, which I have mentioned has photos in it.

So yeah, go check out Eric Roscoe's great work.

At least he got to be inside today.

Yes.

Um, should we move on to maybe the most viral story of the day, the, uh, Norwegian biathlete?

Well , you may be, uh, offending the Italian short track speed skating team by calling this the most viral.

There are a couple viral moments, but sure, let's, let's move on to, uh, to cross country skiing.

Yeah.

OK, so, uh, take, take our listeners behind the game a little bit.

Mitch, I informed Mitch of this story and he said, wait a second, I want, I'm not going to look up any more details.

I want you to kind of.

To surprise me with what's going on here.

So he has the basic gist of it.

I'm gonna fill him in on all the details.

Yeah , I saw that, I saw the headlines, but I thought, I thought this would be a fun way to do it.

Yeah.

Yes.

So this was the, uh, the men's 20 kilometer biathlon.

It was won by Norway's Johann Olaf Boten.

France's Eric Perrault won silver, but the guy everybody's talking about is Sterla Holm Laride, who won bronze.

Uh, so he's, he's also from Norway.

He wins.

I had, so I had been watching other things earlier, you know, this morning, and um one of them, I, I, I just happened to turn on the biathlon right at the end, I see this guy LeGride cross the finish line, and he has this enormous string of drool going down, like, almost to his chest, and I was like, that's the most disgusting thing I've seen during these Olympics, that's really funny.

So I took a screenshot, posted it online.

Anyway.

Then I didn't expect to see his name pop up again in my social media feed a little bit later, because apparently after he had wiped his chin off, he goes on Norwegian TV.

And he, you know , he's, they're interviewing him and asking him about, you know, what's it feel like to win the bronze, you know, it was his first individual Olympic medal he had won previously in a team event in 2022.

Um, and so he, he really let his guard down and he says this is on the, um, Norwegian state broadcaster NRK.

Are you gonna, are you gonna read it in the original Norwegian or do you have in the original Norwegian?

Yes, there actually, there is a town in Norway called Gartland.

Uh, we don't have to get into that.

Um, so theoretically I might be able to speak Norwegian.

Um, anyway, so translated here in English from the BBC, uh, he says, there's someone I wanted to share it with who might not be watching.

6 months ago, I met the love of my life, the most beautiful and kindest person in the world.

3 months ago, I made the biggest mistake and cheated on her.

I had the gold medal in life, and I'm sure there are many people who will see things differently, but I only have eyes for her.

Sport has come 2nd these last few days.

Yes, I wish I could share this with her.

So he's on TV and all of a sudden he just says, yeah, I cheated on my girlfriend.

I go, wait.

So, this goes mega viral.

He then has a chance to, to think it over a little bit.

And, um, you know, and after he's, you know, the adrenaline maybe worn off a little bit.

Now he's doing a press conference inside, uh, in front of a room of journalists.

And I'm quoting here again, that I've cobbled this together from a variety of sources, the BBC, Reuters, The Athletic, uh, some others.

Everyone covered this, yeah, yeah, it's all over the place.

So, uh, I'm not giving proper credit we're just, you know, blanketed.

I got these quotes from all over the internet.

So.

They asked him, you know, hey, why did you, why did you decide to do that?

And he says, it was the choice I made.

We make different choices during our life and that's how we make life.

So today I made a choice to tell the world what I did, so maybe, maybe there's a chance she will see what she really means to me, maybe not.

Um, he later added that he felt bad about perhaps upstaging, um, Bolton, his teammate who had won the gold.

He says, now I hope I didn't ruin Johann's day.

Maybe it was really selfish of me to give the interview.

I'm not really here mentally.

Um, and then later he spoke to a Norwegian newspaper, um, and he said, my only way to solve it is to tell everything and put everything on the table, and I hope she can still love me.

Um, so just, I mean, an unbelievable story where I don't think anybody ever expected when the day when the Olympics started, that they're gonna have some guy who wins a medal and then just, oh, by the way, I cheated on my girlfriend, and I'm surprised I won because I've just been so distraught, uh, the past few weeks.

Yeah, the quote I saw, I thought that he had also said something about like it being the worst week of his life, even, which is just like a, an amazing thing for someone to say right after, uh, right after winning a medal.

Yeah, he did say, yes, I skipped over that in my notes.

Yeah, he said it was the worst week of his life, that he hasn't been thinking about sports, and he's just been distraught, you know, alone in his, uh, no, now I'm paraphrasing, but he's just been distraught and, uh, yeah, it's, uh, imagine that and then he goes and wins the bronze and Um, yeah, what a, what a week for that guy.

One of the quotes he relayed was him saying like, I don't know if she's gonna see this.

I would guess she's gonna see it at this, yeah, now she will.

This was picked up world lotwide.

I'm sure she will see this gesture.

It's like heartbreaking.

It, it's, I mean, it's a, it's a reminder that we never know what these athletes are actually going through, and people think.

That they do, but there's always like so much happening behind the scenes in in their personal lives and drama within a team, outside of a team, teammates, rivals, etc.

but like, you never really know what someone's going through, like, who knew that this guy who was a medal contender is, is having the worst week of his life.

But yeah, just one of those stories that, uh, when you have this many athletes and personalities together.

You never know what's gonna come out and yeah, never imagined this would be what we were talking about today.

Um, good luck to the guy with, without knowing any of the details.

Uh, he sounds sorry.

I don't know if that's enough for her to take him back and, and I don't, you know, I don't want to tell either of them what to do, but, uh, sometimes, sometimes you got to say what you're feeling and so good for him on that one.

Yeah, this is like, it's like a movie really, you know, you see this maybe, uh, you know, in, in Oslo's version of Hollywood, they'll they'll be working on a script on this one to to come out for the next Olympics, we'll see.

All right, did you have any other notes on the, uh, the biathlon, uh, outside of the, the postgame interview?

Anything else you want to say about the race itself?

It's OK if not.

He, he says hopefully he didn't overshadow.

I think he did, I think he did overshadow.

I mentioned Legreed's drool.

Bolton also had some crazy drool, uh, see if you can find that online.

He, his face is like all white, it was nasty.

I don't know what's going on with these guys.

They gotta, they gotta have a handkerchief or something.

All right, well, I, uh, I misheard you a little bit when you said the, the most viral, and then I said let's go to cross country because there was also a cross-country moment that went super viral, and it was, of course, uh, our guy Johannes Clabo, who I think we're just gonna talk about him every day.

I also will say internally, I have begun the campaign already for Johannes.

Clabo to be the 2026 SI Sportsperson of the Year.

I did, I was already in, uh, our editor in chief Steve Cannella's ear, uh, and let him know, hey, let's get, uh, let's get this cover story ready.

Uh, this guy's just incredible, but then there was this one clip of him, uh, that I saw going all over social media, um, like NBC Olympics pumped it out, um.

And it's basically him like running uphill on skis, uh, in the snow, and I think his top speed, I forget if it was MPH or kilometers, but I think he was going like 10 miles an hour, and people were like comparing that time to like Olympic sprinters who are not going uphill on skis.

Um , but this guy is just incredible, and, uh, we've talked about him, especially in that, uh , the classical style, which is the one where you're like running uh straight forward in the parallel grooves.

He just gets to a different gear that nobody else can get to.

And it's like, a lot of us are learning about all these sports, uh, re-familiarizing ourselves maybe four years later.

This is one where the eye test is just so obvious.

You see him and you just go, oh, that guy is the best at this, he is incredible.

Um, so we've, we've talked about it.

He is going for, uh, 6 gold medals in just one single Olympics.

He is now 2 for 2 after today, um.

There was another one where he was ahead by so much that he just like started celebrating really early, um, and so the final margin, if you just look at the times, and actually it was an American who won silver, Ben Ogden, uh, and that is a big story, which we'll get to him in a second, but if you just look at the final times, you go, oh, it was a close race, he almost beat him, he only lost by 800 of a second.

But no, because Clavo knew exactly what he was doing, he knew that the time and space.

he had and was just, uh, enjoying the moment and uh celebrating with the crowd.

But yeah, Ben Ogden, uh, the, he's the, this is one of the oldest Olympic sports in the Winter Olympics.

And the US, he's now only the 2nd US man to win a medal, and it had been 50 years.

And uh he came in and, and picked up a silver.

So that's also a big story and, and good for him.

I had a lot of fun watching this , so this was the, the sprint format.

Um, it's about a 1 mile long course and the, the women were finishing it in about 4 minutes and the men maybe 2025 seconds faster.

So just to give you some perspective, obviously part of that is like downhill, they're not running a 4 minute mile in skis.

Um, but this was a lot of fun because the races are short, um, and they're back to back, you know, they'll race men and then women and then back to the men.

Um, and it's like a bracket format of knockout, um, so it was a lot of fun.

I tuned in, I think, for the, uh, the semis and, uh, maybe, maybe one of the quarters as well, but, um, you mentioned Ogden, so he was in a semi with Clabo and neck and neck, really keeping pace with him, and I was like, wow, look at, like, like, we've been talking so much about Clabo and how dominant he is, like, wow, look how, look how much, you know, this, this American guy is hanging with him.

And then they get to the hill and then Clabo starts, I swear, I don't know if it's that he actually starts going faster on the hill or it just seems like he is because everyone else is like dropping back so much, but, uh, yeah, Clabo pulls away on the hill, and then uh Ogden, so the way that the format works.

In those semifinals, there's 2 semifinals, and then the top 2 in each semi, they advance to the final, and then the two, skiers with the fastest times who weren't in the top 2, then they get in as the lucky, quote unquote lucky loser.

So Ogden's like Clabo passes him, OK, like to be expected, and then, OK, can you hang on now for that second spot?

Uh, this Finnish guy chased him from behind and it was a photo finish.

Ogden loses, uh, comes in 3rd on the photo finish, but snuck in as the lucky loser, and then he gets.

Another chance in the in the final.

And then again, you know, neck and neck with Clabo, but Clabo gets to the hill.

So, as we're talking about, he's a chance for 6 gold medals.

When Clabo gets to a hill, you know, this is when the race really starts.

This is when he pulls away.

It's super fun.

Um, yeah, this was, this was a really fun race.

We should also mention, Uh, you mentioned that, uh, Ogden was the first American man to win in 50 years.

Well, Jessie Diggins, the American woman who's been a, a great Olympian, she, she fell out in the quarters, uh, the quarterfinal race, she failed to advance, and it came out later, she's dealing with bruised ribs after that crash we saw her suffer in the very first Olympic race of these Olympics.

So a big storyline to watch there.

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Yeah, that was surprising cause we actually um talked about that crash when it happened, that it was, it was more like in front of her and she didn't go down, so I guess I don't know that I saw like a clear um replay of it, but uh I didn't think she was actually affected, but obviously, you know, clearly she was.

Um, yeah, so you, you mentioned, um, seeing the semis or maybe the quarters.

I, uh, I think.

Who even remembers what time it was?

I think that, I think I, I tuned into the quarters at, I think that was at like 5:30 this morning, Eastern time where we both are.

Um, but one thing that, uh, was really, uh, jarring to me is that the times in the quarterfinals were like 20 seconds slower than the times in the, uh, the first round of the heats.

And it's just like a grueling.

Exhausting day because they did this whole bracket in one day.

And so, uh, all the competitors who were in the final match went 4 times today, which is like 4 miles of cross-country skiing, and we've talked about this being one of those exhausting sports where when they finish, they, you can see how wiped out they are.

Um, but it's just like a marathon day.

And, uh, then the other exciting thing was that, um, the, uh, women's final, it was a podium sweep for Sweden.

Uh, so they, uh, I also saw this, that Sweden won all 6 women's gold medals at the most recent, uh, world championships, uh, also won gold in the skiathlon, which was the first event, so Sweden is off to an incredible start, and that was really cool seeing them come down the last home stretch of the course is like a big straightaway where they've got a ton of stands .

So you see them finish and you see all the fans there, um.

And there were like people running with Swedish flags, like, so on the background, um, like over the rail while the three Swedes were coming in and then they had like a team, a very excited team huddle, uh, after they crossed the line.

That's just like such a cool moment seeing a podium sweep like that.

So yeah, the, the Sweden women have just.

been dominant and uh and they lived up to it today.

Um, Julia Kerr, we should say, was the American.

We thought Jessie Diggins would be the person we were talking about.

She got into the final as a lucky loser, I believe.

So it did not come away with a medal, but an impressive showing for her, um, getting into that final race.

Yeah, the, the, the Swedes, I was, I was having a lot of fun watching them.

They're fantastic.

I also got a kick out of the, the woman who won the gold.

Her name was Lynn Swann, which is like, you know, so close to the NFL Hall of Famer, Lynn Swan.

And then, yeah, then in the, in the silver, then you had Hans Ward and Bjorn Roethlisberger won the won the bronze.

So, uh, great to know, I, I the silver was a.

Was Yoda Sundering and the bronze was Maya Dahlquist, but I just couldn't, couldn't pass up that.

Yeah, it's good, yeah, and the Steelers will probably play in Sweden next year at the rate the NFL is expanding in Europe also.

Um, any other thoughts on cross country or should we move to, uh, I brought up a short track earlier.

Should we dive into the short track?

Yeah, OK, so the, uh, The short track was interesting.

The big viral moment there that I talked about, so I'll say today was the um the mixed relay, which is just like a frantic event.

All of the relays are, um, but this is like, they, uh, you expect to see the teams like skating around the track, duh, you know, short track speed skating, but what's interesting is the relay partners who are like next in line, are also like skating circles around the inside of the track, so constantly you're seeing like multiple people on every team in motion.

And then when the new person subs in, they give them like a, a shove on the back.

It looks like a little tu push that just like rockets them ahead.

Um, but the, the funny moment that I mentioned is there was this guy, um, Pietro Sigel from Italy, uh, and we've talked about how impressive.

Italy has been as the host country.

They've been racking up medals all week.

So, Team Italy wins this, and this guy basically turns around at the finish line.

People are comparing it to the viral photo of Usain Bolt, uh, from 2016 in Rio and he's like turning his head and smiling.

There are some unbelievable photos of this guy, where he is fully turned around and all three of the other competitors in the race are facing him, and everyone's just looking at him like, look at this guy, and he even, he had to come out afterward and say like, oh, I wasn't trying to be disrespectful, I was just trying to hype up the crowd, and like, good for him, like, hype up the crowd, absolutely, especially on your home ice there, um, but just like an unbelievable moment.

It was a chaotic day.

We talked earlier this week about how there are gonna be crashes.

There were crashes involving Team USA, uh, had a couple of wipeouts and didn't make it to the final.

Um, so it's just like a complicated sport.

I think you shared that old story about how like the best team does not always win, but, uh, here the, the host nation had a very exciting day and capped it off with a viral moment that I will definitely remember.

Well, we talk about viral moments upstaging greatness that happened over here with Italy and the backwards guy and uh Ariana Fontana.

Uh, she is, she's, yeah, she's 35.

She became the oldest woman to win a short track medal.

It's her 3rd career goal and 12th medal overall, it's the most in short track history.

Um, there's only two women, a Dutch long track speed skater named Irene Woost and Norwegian cross country skier Marie Bjorgen, who have more.

So she's, um, and she's got a chance, I think she has another 1 or 2 events coming up in these Olympics, so a chance to add to that total.

Yeah, um, and then two more things I wanted to say.

So you may have noticed the, uh, short track speed skating is very early in the morning, which, uh, is kind of annoying for those of us in the US who'd like to follow.

Well, the reason for that, and I think we talked about this on your venue day, is that they are doing the short track in the same arena as the figure skating, which, as we've talked about, is basically the highlight ending, uh, every day around like 5 p.m. ish, uh, Eastern time, which is like 11 p.m. in Milan.

Um, so there were actually some complaints about the ice.

Now, uh, take this with a grain of salt if you want because it's coming from Team USA which had a couple of crashes, and so you may wonder if that just spurs them to complain about the ice, but I do want to pass along that they said this.

So, um , Corinne Stoddard, uh, and these quotes were given to NBC, said, uh, this isn't the best ice for short track right now.

I think it's pretty much figure skating ice.

And so, that is interesting.

I first was gonna bring this up anyway as just like, uh, oh, it's, it's, uh, affecting what time the events are because of the figure skating.

And then as the day unfolded, I saw that actually the athletes were saying that's a concern.

Uh, Julie Letai, another, uh, member of Team USA said, I mean, it's slushy, it's soft.

It's clear that once you're reaching high speeds, it's not just one or two people, it's a lot of people struggling through that exit.

So, obviously you have the caveats that the ice affects all teams equally , and so it's unfortunate there were falls, there were probably going to be falls anyway in short track speed skating.

I wasn't there.

I don't know enough, uh, about whether the quality of the ice really led to that or if it was just a tough day or just, you know, one of those things that happens, um, but thought I would pass that along.

Um, yeah, it's an interesting factor because, you know, this is, you talk about the ice quality, and it's a big challenge for the organizing committees because this is not like this arena is not a, not, not an ice arena.

It's a, it's primarily used by a basketball team in Milan.

And so they put in a temporary ice rink.

And then, you know, they also have to, they always import, um, You know , ice keepers to, to manage the ice at all these, all these venues.

Um, I believe the, the lead ice guru or whatever, whatever his title is, the Ice Doctor.

Yeah, the Ice Doctor is Canadian.

Um, so, you know, they, they bring these people in and then, you know, it's not, it's not a facility that's dedicated to ice skating or figure skating, um, and so they have to, you know, it, it, it's, it makes sense that there might be some deficiencies when they're basically only building an ice rink for 3 weeks and they gotta, you know, Get the, get the best out of it that they can.

Um, do you have anything you want to get to?

I have, I have a couple more.

Um, yeah, I've got a couple.

I'm sort of into like lightning round territory for me.

So, if you've got one you want to hit first, you can go for it.

We, we probably should talk about the figure skating at some point.

Oh, the figure skating, yeah, we did see Elliott Alladin today and he was amazing.

So, yeah, do you want to take the lead on that?

Um, sure, so we saw Ellm Alladin today and he was amazing.

Um, no, so this was the, um, the short program, um, then we'll see the free skate later, and, uh, yeah, he basically nailed everything.

I think you and I talked earlier in the week about.

Uh, the timing aspects where they have the team competition before the individual.

Um, and this is the one where when he did his short program during the team competition, he was not at his best.

Uh, and so who knows if that was nerves or what, but, uh, clearly has everything ironed out after that, uh, the, uh, his free skate and the team that helped win the gold.

Um, because he was just like perfect and, um, yeah, I, I don't have much else to say about him.

I know that, uh, earlier in the week we were watching, um, during that team competition and, and they were talking about how he was like, dialing down tricks or they were like, oh, sometimes he does a quad here, this time he did a triple, um, but he seemed to do everything today and and did it flawlessly and, and he's in the lead going into the, uh, free skate tomorrow.

Yes, he was great.

Yeah, I think there's like, there's not anything too novices can say about him too much to go into too much detail, but I think just for some perspective, um, he, his score was 108.

16.

The commentary team was saying his, his high, his career high is about 110, so close to that, but not, not his, not his best.

Um, but you compare it to, we mentioned his, his difficult short program in the, in the team event.

He scored only a 98.0 there.

So, uh, 10 points better this time.

And then his main challenger is, uh, Yuma Kagayama from Japan, who had, who had bested him in the team event.

Um, but Kagayama, he had a 103.

07, so about 5 points behind Malinin.

Um, this sets up a, so, um, he had fallen backwards, Kagayama, he had fallen backwards on the triple axle.

He, he had a, a tough, you know, landed off balance, uh, fell backwards, stuck a leg out, lost some points there.

Yeah, it was like more of a more of like a stumble than a fall.

He didn't, yeah , not a fall, yeah, yeah, uh, yes, a stumble is a good way to put it, um, but yeah, so, but still a great score, 103 is fantastic.

Um, and then it's really, so it's gonna, Mallin's got like a good cushion there for, uh, for gold, especially because, as we talked about earlier , the free skate, the longer session is where he has more of an advantage because he can do more of these, uh, more difficult jumps that the other, his other competitors can't do.

So really, he has like an advantage just out of the gate.

If he manages to land the ball and does his best, you know, he's gonna win, nobody can catch him on like the technical points.

Um , France's Adam Shifa.

Uh, he, he's in third at 102.

5, uh, well ahead of fourth.

So it's gonna be those three guys going for the medals in some order.

Probably Mallon in first, but, uh, we'll see.

There's the shorter, um, distance between the French skater and uh Kagayama, so we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Yeah, and I just want to bring up one more thing about Malinin that I think we said this at some point, but we probably don't say it often enough, uh, and I just want to make sure our listeners who've been with us are aware of this.

He does the backflip.

The backflip does not get him any points.

Uh, so for a long time in figure skating, the backflip was illegal, and they would actually deduct points if you attempted it, and then they, uh, recently, I think just this Olympic cycle, said, OK, fine, you can do backflips, but it's not like a required element.

And so he doesn't actually get any points.

He just likes doing it because he, because he can, and he's good at it, and it pumps up the crowd, and there's a lot of risk, uh, because if he falls, they will deduct.

He, it's like he has, uh, everything to lose and nothing to gain, but he just likes throwing a backflip into his routine, and that's just like outrageous confidence in himself pulling it off and, uh, just like incredible as a competitor being like, yeah, I'm so good that I'm gonna do a backflip, even though I don't have to, like, imagine being any of these.

Other skaters, uh, lining up knowing that he has that in his routine, in addition to all of the other incredibly difficult jumps that he does get points for.

Um, and it just felt like we hadn't said that in a while.

So just something to keep in mind for the next time you see him out there, uh, go into his backflip.

Yeah, his main thing is he's a showman, right?

And that, that speaks to him being a showman.

He's doing this thing that has only, only, uh, negative downside.

There's no upside to it.

So , um, I mean, it's, you know, it's got, it's a daredevil approach, and that's why fans love him so much.

Yeah.

All right, what else do you have on your list here?

Oh, that's about all.

I mean, I, there was a bit on, um, well, Mitch, I know you're a big ski jumping fan, and uh I will just bring up briefly.

That, uh, the ski jumping mixed team event was today.

Slovenia won gold, Norway silver, and Japan 3rd.

I wanted to mention because I, I, I, I was responsible for the ski jumping, uh, preview in the, in the preview episode.

And, um, so I, I got, you know, I did a little bit of research and one thing I noticed that, that I learned was that Slovenia is on like a bit of a hot streak in ski jumping.

They're having Slovenia ski jumping is having a moment.

Um, and so their gold here, uh, it's their 2nd straight win in this event in the Olympics.

Uh, they now have 8, Slovenia does now 8 ski jumping medals .

5 of them are in the past 2 Olympics, and there's still 3 events left to go.

So bravo to the Slovenian ski jumping team, uh, on a real tear here in the last 4 years.

Yeah, I have the Slovenia flag on my bookshelf.

I was, I was very excited to see that.

I did not watch it live.

Uh, my, my thoughts on the ski jumping have been made, but I, I was, uh, I smiled a bit when I saw Slovenia won the gold.

Um, I think the only other sport really is luge, if you had any luge notes.

Um, I was watching, I was pulling for Emily Fisnoer after her husband won a medal, I think yesterday.

Um, and I saw she was, uh, she like pulled into 5th place, I think when she finished run number 3, and she looked pretty happy, but then I watched and she sort of rammed into a wall, um, in run 4 and finished, uh, like 1.3 seconds back, I think.

Um, so she had a chance at a medal but didn't.

But then actually another American did actually medal, uh, Ashley Farquharson.

Um, do you, did you see that?

I did, yeah.

So the, the Fish dollar error was, that was tough.

She was in second place before that, had a chance to get on the podium and then.

Yeah, and then that that really cost her , um, but then yeah, Farquhar and she was great, um, so she's, she won bronze, she had the, this is similar to, um, a lot of the other sports you've seen where the, the top competitors are, you know, they're going last, and so there's a chance that like you're waiting to see, OK, is my time gonna be surpassed.

So she's one of the final ones down , maybe 3rd or 4th, last, I forget which, and um she comes up with a great time.

She's like 1st among people who've already gone.

Um, she ended up getting surpassed by, by 2, by a German and a Latvian, but uh she ends up with bronze, and then you can see her, this is a great moment.

You see her, she reaches the bottom, she sits up, she sees the clock and just like burst into tears.

She can't believe that she's now, you know.

Top of the top of the standings, guaranteed a medal.

Um, and then, yeah, just really fantastic for her.

She's the first, she's only the second American woman to win a singles luge medal, and the first since Erin Hamlin won bronze in 2014.

Uh, the only other US athlete to win an individual luge was, uh, Chris Madzer in 2018.

He won silver.

So, um, not a long tradition there of American athletes winning in luge, but she got there and it was great to see.

Um, can I tell you something funny that has happened that I just realized?

I think I realized the same thing, which is that we did not talk about alpine combined.

So we've gone 40 minutes talking about sports today and we forgot to talk about what happened in the, uh, Breezy Johnson, Mikaela Shiffrin alpine combined race.

Yeah, that's in, uh, in classic SI daily rinks fashion.

We gave you the, uh, biathlon, uh, uh, cheating, uh, confession and the short track ice update and, uh, forgot to mention that Michael.

Shiffrin, uh, skied for the first time today, uh, and it did not go very well.

So do you want to take us into alpine combined here, which somehow snuck into our lightning round by mistake?

Yeah, this was the , uh, this was at the top of my notes as I, as I scrolled down to the more obscure sports, I forgot to scroll back up and catch the alpine combined, but, um, I just, I assume that everybody is listening to all of our episodes in full.

And so it's like, we'll get to it in whatever order.

We were gonna talk about the alpine.

Nobody was, nobody's like, oh, I'm just.

Gonna listen for the 1st 5 minutes to hear what they say about Alpine and then duck out the rest of my day.

Our people, we're, they're all here for the long haul.

We, we appreciate are violating the, the long-held journalistic tenet of the inverted pyramid and putting things up, the most important things first.

Um, anyway, so yeah, so Breezy Johnson, who won the downhill, uh, gold medal, she was also first in the downhill portion of this combined event, setting the US up to have a great, you know, another medal, maybe perhaps another gold with Mikaela Shiffrin, the legendary slalom skier.

Skiing the slalom portion of this race, and then and Shiffrin posted the 15th best time in the slalom, uh, fell, fell into 4th place, um, really tough.

She was 15th best, I should say, out of 18 skiers.

Um, she's about 1 2nd behind, or I think, uh, almost exactly, I'm sorry, exactly 1 2nd behind the best slalom time, which is posted by Germany's Emma Eichner.

That team won silver.

Um, so yeah, tough, tough break for them, but their loss is another.

Other US teams gain.

We mentioned how there were 4 US teams in this event.

Uh, another one composed of Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Molson.

They won bronze.

Uh, it was looking, they, it was another instance where, like, you know, they're waiting to see if their time will be surpassed .

They get bumped down by Germany and then Austria, and you think, OK, now here, now here comes Shiffrin to knock, knock him off the podium, not the way it happened.

They end up hanging out for bronze, and then there was Shiffrin and, uh, and Johnson who had to settle for 4th place.

Yeah, so I've got a few more uh details here.

So Breezy's run was awesome.

Uh, she, when, when, I don't know if it was the first or the second checkpoint that flashed up on the screen, she was uh 0.28 seconds behind, uh, the leading pace, and then she picked that all the way up and finished in first.

Um, you mentioned that, uh, Mikaela Shiffrin finished 15th out of 18.

That's out of 18 finishers.

There were a few, um, right, right, right, DNF I should have said, yeah.

And so, and, and of course we have talked about it .

We remember that Mikaela Shiffrin had 3 DNFs in Beijing and had this like really difficult Olympic experience when she was one of the favorites and has this whole history and is the most decorated skier of all time, like all the World Cup wins and everything.

Um, Pat 40 from SI who was over there on the mountain today, uh, I saw this stat in his story that 15th out of 18 is her worst place finish since March of 2012 when she was 17 years old.

So, of course, that doesn't count the, uh, the DNFs and crashes and things, but.

When she gets down to the mountain, uh, she had not been as, uh, as far back as 15th since, uh , since 14 years ago when she was 17 years old.

Um, wow, yeah, like you said, she was, uh, exactly 1 2nd, behind the best, so that put them as a team, they were, uh, Off the podium by 600 of a second with just combining the two scores, and they were out of a gold medal, uh, off of gold medal time by 0.31 seconds.

So that is tough.

Um, that US team that did win, uh, Jackie Wiles and Paul Malton, they finished, uh, fourth in both the downhill and the, uh, slalom.

So that's like a fun way to finish 4th and 4th, nice and well rounded, and then you, uh, slide in there to number 3, There was, uh, I was looking at just how some of the teams were doing to see who was like well rounded and who was lopsided as a team.

There were 2, the two Swiss teams finished 2nd and 3rd in slalom, and then they went 12th and 13th in the downhill.

Um, I guess I have the order backwards, uh, actually, cause the downhill took place earlier in the day, um, and then Italy was in 3rd place after the downhill and had a did not finish on the slalom, so that was another reason why they were able to move up.

Um, the team that had silver is Germany, um, which finished, uh, 6th in the downhill, and then it was, uh, Emma Eiker who had the fastest slalom.

So that's an exciting way to do it, to put up the fastest time on the slalom and jump up from 6th place into 2nd.

Um, very exciting, disappointing for Shiffrin, of course, and now I think people are only gonna ask more questions about her, uh, given her history at the previous Olympics.

She does have 2 more races coming up.

She'll be in the slalom again, the individual slalom, uh, and then the giant slalom also.

Interesting timing in this, by the way, that, uh, Breezy Johnson had already done the individual in her event, the downhill, and won gold.

And for Shiffrin and, and for everyone doing the slalom, uh, this is their first time, I guess, unless, you know, they also did the downhill.

I don't even know if anyone falls into that category, but talking about like the figure skating and who has nerves and who's going.

For the first time as an individual or a team, it just feels kind of strange to me that they would do the individual downhill, uh, before the team and the slalom after the team instead of giving, uh, both competitors, uh, or teammates, uh, a chance to get their, you know, feet wet and get under them and, and do it.

So it just feels like a strange scheduling quirk that that's how they did it.

Yeah, that that is odd.

Um, I, I, I hadn't really thought of it that way till you brought it up, but I think, yeah, you wonder how Schiffer might have done if it had been a different schedule.

Yeah, and it's listen, it's the same for everyone, as we said with the ice on the short tracks, you can't make excuses for anybody, like everybody's dealing with those, those same conditions and the start order and all that stuff, um, but it was just, yeah, it's just interesting to me and, and felt kind of surprising.

Yeah, should we move on to day 5?

Let's preview day 5.

OK, um, I think I'll start with, um, one of the, the meteor items I have because, um, this is, well, this is one of the big events that's happening tomorrow.

It's at 1:30, the ice dance free dance begins, um.

So that's gonna be what we've talked about though, how this, the skating will go on, like, you know, uh, a day long thing basically.

This is the US team of chalk and Bates, we've talked about a lot, best in the world, uh, but they're currently in 2nd place behind the French team.

Um, they're chocolate baits are gonna go second to last, probably around like 4:30 or so, and then the French will follow them.

Um, but I, I mentioned it like one, this is something we want to get into a little bit of detail on.

I'll try to go through this quickly because it's a really complex story, and I encourage people to, to seek out, uh, articles on the subject.

Um, great one by Diana Moskovitz at, um, at Defector, who I, I cribbed a lot of this from.

But so, um, the French team of Guillaume Czarron and Laurence Fournier Boudry, um.

So they, uh, they've only been together.

As a pair, uh, for a little less than a year, they partnered up in March 2025, made their competitive debut in August, and, um, there's the like a, a strange situation around the both of them.

I don't really, it's, it's difficult to describe because it's, it's very different, um, you know, strangeness on, on both sides, but I think, um, there was a quote in in Moskowitz's story from Adam Ripponn, the American skater who, um, he was in that Netflix show Glitter and Gold.

He said, quote, there was some sinister energy around the partnership.

Um, so I want to get into this because they mentioned how, um, the NBC broadcast didn't really get into too much detail on this.

So just to bring people up to speed as they're watching this tomorrow, so they know what the, what the deals with these two.

So, um, Czarron had been, this is the, the, the man, um, Czarron had been skating with Gabriel Papadakis for 20 years.

Won the 2022 gold medal in this event.

They broke up in 2024.

Papadokis then published a memoir, uh, early this year or late last year, um, called To Not Disappear.

In that book, she described Cesarron as quote, often the controlling, demanding and critical.

Um, at one point in the book, she said she would not skate with him unless a coach was present.

Um, they had tried to have a, a reunion after winning gold.

The relationship was just so frayed that they, they couldn't make it work there with the therapy.

Uh, that didn't work.

Um, so then they ended up breaking up.

Um, Papadocas said that by the end of their time together.

Together she feared him.

She feared Czarron.

Um, Papadokis was supposed to be a commentator for NBC at these Olympics, but then lost that job after the book was published.

NBC said there was a conflict of interest with her having been so openly critical and opening up about her mistreatment by this man who was one of the medal contenders.

Um, Meanwhile, Fournier Baudry, um, so she had been skating with a man named Nikolai Sorensen since 2013.

In October 2024, Sorenson was accused by a female skater of sexual assault.

The alleged incident occurred at a party in Connecticut in 2012.

Um, Sorenson was subsequently banned by Canada's governing body for six years, but an arbitrator overturned the ban, citing a Essentially jurisdictional issues.

So Sorenson was born in Denmark at that time, had been representing Denmark, had not yet switched his allegiance to Canada.

He later got Canadian citizenship so that he could skate with Fournier Boudry.

Uh, Fournier Boudry tried to get Danish citizenship, so he ended up going to anyway, long story, ended up going to Canada.

And then the arbitrator said, well, it's not really Canada's place to, uh, to ban.

Uh, Sorenson, when he was representing Denmark at the time, um, the case is still, you know, it's still unresolved.

He may end up serving the band, but she ended up leaving Sorenson, getting French citizenship so she could, so she could skate with Cesarron, um, and she has stood by Sorenson, I should say.

Um, Fournier Baudry and Sorenson, they are still a couple.

They have been together as a couple for quite some time.

They are still together, and she has stood by her boyfriend throughout this whole process, basically called, uh, you know, denying the claims the woman brought.

So, um, just a weird, you know, a weird situation involving the two of them.

Um, you know, uh, Fourni Baudry then has to, you know, find this new partner because her, her partner's, um, you know, bad behavior has thrown her career in the lurch, and so, just a weird thing going on there, um, and interesting that they're gonna, they're in contention for a, a gold medal, uh, with this cloud kind of hanging over them.

Yeah, thanks.

I'm glad you, um, brought that up.

I also, I read, uh, Diana's story at Defector, and part of it was about, uh, like power or platform imbalances and like who gets to tell their story and who doesn't.

And so, um, yeah, whatever platform we have here, I'm glad that we brought it up just so that.

Our audience is aware of some of this and definitely I'd recommend going and seeking out some of those stories that are probably a little bit easier to consume as a reader than listener.

But I'm glad that I'm glad you shared some of that with our our people who are listening here.

Yeah, I just want people to be aware as they're watching tomorrow, especially because it seems like NBC might not really touch on it too much.

Yes, that, that is definitely true.

It sounds like.

Um, all right, on a, uh, on a lighter note, we move to the rest of the day 5 schedule.

Uh, the men's curling, which I think I said this earlier, that is, uh, starting.

There's, there's no break in curling, the mixed doubles ends and the men's tournament begins.

So, uh, this is a brand new team to get ready for, uh, to meet.

It's Team Casper, as we talked about.

Um, Corey Dropkin will not be on the team.

He is done for the Olympics, uh, with his silver medal.

Um, but, uh, we've got a whole new cast of characters.

John Cullen was on, and, and if you want to go back, we had a bunch of interviews before the Olympics started.

So if you're new or if you maybe picked us up at the opening ceremony, uh, we had a great interview with John Cullen talking about, uh, curling and previewing the whole tournament and also just giving us a lot of technical stuff on how it works.

But he was just telling us these are like fun guys who they like juggle before the matches start just to like keep loose and sounds like they're gonna be a good team.

Uh, that we get to, uh, get to know, and, and I, I think they're, they're gonna be, uh, outsiders trying to win a medal.

We knew going in that the, uh, mixed doubles team was Team USA's best chance at a medal, but, uh, definitely I'm excited to see if, I don't know if there's any momentum, if, if momentum works when it's, uh, a totally different team, but, uh, maybe there's some momentum for American curling fans who are now just expecting more wins.

Um, but they get underway, uh, tomorrow against Czechia at 1:05 Eastern.

Another American making her debut is gonna be Chloe Kim.

So her first event is tomorrow, the snowboard halfpipe qualification , that's at 4:30 in the morning.

I mean, qualification not probably not worth getting up at 4:30, but check the results when you wake up.

The final for that event is on Thursday.

Um, the men's qualifying will be at 1:30 p.m., more of a decent hour before the final on Friday.

Four Americans in competition on the men's side, but they're not really medal favorites.

The best chance probably 17-year-old Alessandro Berberri, who's the highest in the World Cups and I think he's like 8th, so not really like among the best in the world, but of the Americans, your best chance for a medal in that event.

Um, I believe Chloe Kim will go twice, and the first round is at 4:30 and then a second one at 5:27.

So if, if, if 4:30 sounds horrifying to you, but 5:27 sounds a little more palatable, uh, then at some point, probably between 5:30 and 6, she'll be up.

So if you're up at that point, um, apologies to everyone on the West Coast.

I'm sure this has been a tough one for all of you out there, um, these entire Olympics, but, uh, yeah, you'll, you'll get a chance and, and again you can see highlights on Peacock.

Um, let's see, back to the, uh, alpine skiing.

We're gonna get the men's Super G starting at, uh, at 5:30 a.m. So, hey, if you're up for, uh , Chloe Kidd, you get to see Ryan Cochran Siegel also, uh, he goes off third.

Uh, Marco Odermott, uh, he was a little disappointing in the downhill.

I think we expected him to sort of cruise.

Cruise to a medal, the Swiss guy, um, uh, he is, uh, going off 10th.

So, uh, let's see.

So yeah, if you want to check that out.

The Super G, we've talked about this, that there are 2 speed events and two technical events.

Uh, the downhill obviously is the first speed event which we've seen.

The Super G is also a speed.

It is not quite like the.

Downhill, there are a few more gates, um, and so it's a little bit less steep, but still very exciting.

Um, it's, uh, it's not quite the technical like what we saw from Mikaela Shiffrin today in the slalom is more of a technical.

This is sort of like in between those.

Um, but yeah, it's a fun race.

I don't think this is, uh, I could be wrong.

I don't think this is Ryan Cochran-S Siegel's best chance at a medal, um, but it is a chance to see him ski tomorrow.

Yeah, some other great names in that in that event as well.

Some people chasing multiple medals here at these Olympics.

Franjo von Almen, the, the Swiss guy who won the downhill and the gold in the combined as well, uh, he's, he'll be in this one.

Italy's Giovanni Franzoni and Dominic Paris, who won, uh, silver and bronze respectively in the downhill.

They're gonna be in action.

You mentioned Odermott, Vincent Kriekmeyer, who, who, uh, shared the combined silver, uh, with that, um.

That, uh, Swiss team of, uh, Marco Autermatt, uh, you mentioned before, uh, he's also gonna be in action.

So some people here are gonna add to their medal count in a major way and really looking forward to that one.

elsewhere on the ski slope, um, the women's moguls event, the final runs at 9 o'clock.

Um, haven't really caught too much of the moguls so far, so hoping to catch that, especially because it's, it's at a good, a good time of day.

Um, the moguls always a fun one, always makes you, uh, you know, grasp your knees in in, uh, in sympathy, but, uh, yeah, we'll look forward to see that one.

Yeah, so I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go lightning round here to finish off.

Uh, you mentioned the moguls.

The biathlon, uh, women's 15K is at the same time as the moguls at 8:15.

So get your multiple screens out, or actually that's 15 minutes into gold zone starting.

So if you've got Peacock, that might be the best way to go.

Um, a few other medal events, the, uh, women's and men's luge doubles will both have their, uh, competition and medals.

The, uh, women's finals will be at 12:53 Eastern and the men's at 1:44.

So the, uh, the luge doubles is, I think people always enjoy seeing the.

The photos and video of that and watching them, uh, where it's like 22 people like stacked up without the sled surrounding them like the bobsled.

It's kind of a funny looking image, um, but that is, yeah, that's, that's no joke and it's fun, uh, seeing how good they are and, uh, and yeah, I'll be, I'll definitely be watching the Devils luge tomorrow.

Yeah, on the doubles luge, uh, front, there's two Americans, uh, Marcus Mueller and Ansel Haugsha.

They were in the top 10 in 5 of the 6 training runs, including top 5 in each of the last 3.

They're actually 1st in the last training run.

So, um, again, we talked about American luge, not really a powerhouse, but it could be a chance, you know, some, somebody to watch there, they're, they're not, those training runs don't count for anything, but they did at least have a good showing.

Um, my last one's, um, the men's, uh, 1000 m long track speed skating, that's gonna be at 12:30.

American great Jordan Stow, talk about him so much, like, perhaps the best ever by some measure.

Um, he's in the second to last pairing.

There's two other Americans, Cooper McLeod and Connor McDermott Mustawi, who are also in the Final Four pairings.

Um, we will hand out our first medal in Nordic combined at 7:45 a.m. We talked about Nordic combined, uh, kind of an, uh, an oddball sport, but, um, if people got excited about that from our discussion, then that's when to catch that.

And then your first men's hockey games are gonna be tomorrow.

Um, Slovakia and Finland at 10:40 a.m. and Italy and Sweden at 3:10.

Um, not really, they shouldn't be too, uh, you know, Finland and Sweden are, are superior by a wide margin in those matches, but, um, at least a chance to see some NHL guys in their, uh, country's uniforms.

Yeah, the Nordic, the jumping is at 4:00 a.m. and the cross country is at 7:45.

So if there's anybody out there who maybe has, uh, co-hosted a podcast and talked repeatedly at length about how they don't love the ski jumping, but they do like the cross country, well, good news for you, uh , whoever that person is, you can tune in for just the cross country, uh, which they'll be lined up based on their ski jumping totals.

Um, yeah, and speaking of Nordic combined, we also have.

had an interview, uh, before the Olympics started with Joe Brebeck, the, uh, president of US Nordic Combined, who, um, talked a lot about why you should enjoy the sport.

And also we got into that whole, um, the, uh, just the idea that they don't have women competing and it's the only sport at the Olympics that's men only.

And she, uh, talked about that and what they're doing to fight it and try to get women's inclusion and also to keep the sport in the Olympics in 2030.

So I, I definitely feel more.

Invested in the success of Nordic combined after, uh, after that one interview.

Maybe I'm, I'm that much of a pushover that it was having one conversation, uh, I was totally sold on it.

Um, yeah, even when you can't stand half the sport.

I was gonna say maybe I was, yeah, that was before I got to watch the ski jumping.

So maybe, um, you know, maybe my tune will change, uh, although I predict I will be asleep at 4 a.m. Eastern time.

I hope, I hope to be as well.

Yeah, I'll be up for Chloe Kim though, I think that's my plan.

Yeah, that'll be good.

Um, I think, yeah, that about covers it for today.

I think, um, real thorough today.

Uh, a lot of, a lot of great stuff.

It seems like we can judging by how long the preview took a lot of great stuff tomorrow as well, so it should be a good one and, uh, we'll be back here again tomorrow.

Yeah, this episode went in a lot of different directions, but, uh, we, we promised to be thorough and uh sometimes alpine skiing is gonna be 40 minutes into the episode, and we really appreciate everybody who's been listening and reaching out and emailing us and uh sharing things on social and writing us those reviews and telling your friends and all that good stuff.

So thanks everybody, and yeah, I'm looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.

Yep, catch you then.