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The third day of the Olympics did not disappoint, featuring some spectacular moments for competitors.
Jakara Anthony made history Sunday, winning the gold medal and becoming the first Australian woman to win a medal in the event at the Olympic Winter Games. The Australian freestyle skier landed difficult tricks, scoring 83.09. Anthony finished ahead of U.S. athlete Jaelin Kauf at 80.28 and the ROC’s Anastasiia Smirnova at 77.7.
“Gold medal was the plan, so I’d say it went according to plan. It was pretty tough to try not to get too far ahead of yourself. You have to constantly bring yourself back to the moment and just try to take things one step at a time, which is easier said than done. It was really incredible. I really feel like it was my best run on the course, and I’m so proud that I was able to let myself ski like that. It’s a real mental game to let yourself do what you are capable of, and I really feel I was able to achieve that, which is something really special and something I’ve been working really hard to be able to do,” said Anthony.
The American women’s ice hockey team dominated Switzerland with three wins. Hilary Knight, the U.S. star forward, struck first on Sunday with a power play with 5:40 on the clock. Knight converted her own rebound after an initial save by Swiss goalie Saskia Maurer.
“I think you just have to take whatever opportunities present themselves, try to create more opportunities. Obviously, the puck doesn’t go in if you don’t shoot it and I’m really proud of our squad for being able to put it on net and be good in front and make it messy,” Knight told NBC.
“I think the Americans showed up and really proved what they wanted to do. They ran four lines, all four lines have actually produced a goal in this period. So, definitely, I think, the most dominant period we’ve seen from Team USA so far,” Angela Ruggiero, 1998 Olympic gold medallist told NBC.
Japanese skier Kobayashi Ryoyu took the gold medal in the men’s normal hill ski jumping final, scoring 275 points. Japan has not had a gold medalist in this event in 50 years, when Kasaya Yukio took the gold in 1972.
“I can’t believe it at all. My two jumps were perfect, which I was very pleased with. Today I had only good feelings when I was performing. At the last Olympics, I realized many things that I was missing so this time I did what I had to do. This is why I got the victory,” said Kobayashi. At the previous winter olympics, Kobayashi finished seventh in the same event.
German competitor Johannes Ludwig won his first Olympic singles luge gold medal Sunday at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre. Ludwig set track records on two of his previous three runs for a combined winning time of 3:48.735.
“This gold medal means a lot to me. I have a lot of years in this sport behind me and I had a lot of not so successful years. In 2010 and 2014 I didn’t qualify for the Olympics. I had a lot of fourth places in world championships, I think nearly five. There were a lot of times only near the podium. It’s one thing that I always keep continuing luging, and I’m happy that I did it. I think this medal is a sign that I did the right thing,” said Ludwig.
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