Olympics

Switzerland's Corinne Suter won the women's alpine skiing downhill final Tuesday (Monday ET) at Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre for her first gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Suter raced down the piste in a time of 1:31:87 to top Italy's Sofia Goggia, who won the event at the 2018 PyeongChang Games. Goggia finished second with a time of 1:32:03, just 16-hundredths of a second behind Suter, to capture silver.

The Italian's run was impressive after she recovered from an injury suffered in a horrific crash last month at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Super-G event. 

Italy also had another medal winner on Monday. Nadia Delago earned a bronze with a time of 1:32:4. Elena Curtoni, also of Italy, finished fifth with a time of 1:32:87. 

It was an impressive run for the Italian's overall, who had all four of their competitors finish inside the top 11.

Women's Alpine Skiing Downhill Medalists and Leaderboard

1. Corinne Suter, Switzerland: 1:31:87, gold
2. Sofia Goggia, Italy: 1:32:03, silver
3. Nadia Delago, Italy: 1:32:44, bronze
4. Kira Weidle, Germany: 1:32:58
5. Elena Curtoni, Italy: 1:32:87
6. Joana Haehlen, Switzerland: 1:33.16
7. Cornelia Huetter, Austria: 1:33.35
   
8. Mirjam Puchner, Austria: 1:33.45
   
9. Marie-Michele Gagnon, Canada: 1:33.45
   
10. Laura Gauche, France: 1:33.47
    

As for American Mikaela Shiffrin, who competed in the event for the first time in her Olympic career, she finished 18th with a time of 1:34:36. The downhill event is considered Shiffrin's weakest, though she has struggled mightily in this year's Winter Games and has yet to medal.

The 26-year-old dealt with a back injury and bout with COVID-19 leading into the 2022 Winter Games, but it's unclear if those past ailments have anything to do with her poor performances.

Despite the lack of success thus far, Shiffrin appears excited about the women's alpine combined event and believes she has a chance to do better than she has in weeks past.

"I mean we'll see. There's a couple women who have a really good shot for strong downhill runs and then also really strong slalom runs," Shiffrin said after Monday's downhill final. "So, I don't feel that anything's guaranteed... But I think I have a shot, and that's really nice. So, I'll go for it, and we'll see."

After the women's freeski slopestyle events at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing were postponed due to heavy snowfall and low visibility, 12 women qualified for the freeski slopestyle final during Sunday's qualification round. 

Estonia's Kelly Sildaru, Norway's Johanne Killi and China's Eileen Ailing Gu topped the qualification round leaderboards, but it was Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaude who took home the gold medal with a stellar performance in Monday's final at Genting Snow Park H & S Stadium. 

Gremaud won gold with an 86.56, which came on her second run of the day. It was an incredible bounce back for the 22-year-old, who lost a ski during her first run to open with a score of 1.10.

Women's Freeski Slopestyle Medalists and Leaderboard

1. Mathilde Gremaud, Switzerland: 86.56
2. Eileen Ailing Gu, China: 86.23
3. Kelly Sildaru, Estonia: 82.06
4. Anastasia Tatalina, Russian Olympic Committee: 75.51
5. Maggie Voisin, United States: 74.28
6. Johanne Killi, Norway: 73.11
7. Tess Ledeux, France: 72.91
8. Kirsty Muir, Great Britain: 71.30
9. Katie Summerhayes, Great Britain: 64.75
10. Silvia Bertagna, Italy: 61.85
11. Olivia Asselin, Canada: 16.83
12. Marin Hamill, United States: DNS

This mark's Gremaud's first gold medal at the 2022 Games and her second overall. She won a bronze medal in the women's freeski big air event last week behind China's Eileen Ailing Gu and France's Tess Ledeux.

Gremaud also won a silver medal in the slopestyle event at the 2018 PyeongChang Games.

Speaking of Gu, she also competed in Monday's freeski slopestyle competition, finishing with a silver medal. After two shaky runs, Gu nailed her final run for a score of 86.23 to secure her second medal at these Games. 

Sildaru, who topped the qualification leaderboards, finished Monday's event with a bronze medal. Her best score was 82.06, which came on her first run. 

Austria's Anna Gasser soared her way to a gold medal Monday.

Again.

Gasser defended her title by winning the women's snowboarding big air competition at the 2022 Beijing Olympics with a score of 185.50. New Zealand's Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (177.00) and Japan's Kokomo Murase (171.50) joined her on the podium.

The final featured the 12 competitors who advanced past the qualifying round after unleashing three runs apiece. The scores from each snowboarders two best runs, which had to feature different tricks, were then added together.

Here are the final standings:

1. Anna Gasser, AUT: 185.50
   
2. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, NZL: 177.00
   
3. Kokomo Murase, JPN: 171.50
   
4. Reira Iwabuchi, JPN: 166.00
   
5. Rong GE, CHN: 160.00
6. Melissa Peperkamp, NED: 141.75
7. Jasmine Baird, CAN: 130.00
8. Laurie Blouin, CAN: 115.00
9. Tess Coady, AUS: 114.75
10. Annika Morgan, GER: 88.00
11. Miyabi Onitsuka, JPN: 65.25
    
12. Hailey Langland, USA: 53.25

The biggest storyline entering the final was whether Japan would sweep the podium with Murase, Reira Iwabuchi and Miyabi Onitsuka or if Sadowski-Synnott or Gasser would steal the show.

Gasser won the event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, while Sadowski-Synnott—who had already captured gold in these Games during slopestyle—made a statement as the top qualifier.

Sadowski-Synnott picked up right where she left off on her first run in the final to take the lead. She was followed closely by Gasser in what seemed to be shaping into a two-competitor race.

The veteran Gasser continued to apply pressure with a solid second run that featured a backside double 1080, but Sadowski-Synnott responded to hold on to a 0.25-point lead heading into the final jump.

With those successful runs under their belts, they had opportunities to go for a high-risk, high-reward approach with the gold medal hanging in the balance.

But before their last runs, Iwabuchi made a head-turning push for a medal by attempting a triple cork. She just missed landing it and finished off the podium.

It was then Gasser's turn, and she put down a clutch double cork 1260 to propel herself to the top of the leaderboard and once again put the pressure on Sadowski-Synnott.

The Kiwi star was unable to land her attempt and had to settle for silver.

Hailey Langland was the only American to advance past the qualifying round with three-time Olympic medalist Jamie Anderson, Julia Marino and Courtney Rummel falling short.

The Beijing 2022 men's snowboard big air qualifier, which went down late Sunday night/early Monday morning in the U.S., held more than a few surprises. 

Like the women's big air qualifier, there were some shocking results as the field of 12 men was set for the big air final. The women's qualifier saw Beijing 2022 slopestyle silver medalist Julia Marino did not start because of an injury suffered in practice, per U.S. Ski & Snowboard (via USA Today), and Pyeongchang 2018 slopestyle gold medalist and big air silver medalist Jamie Anderson failed to reach the final. 

In the men's qualifier, where 29 athletes from 14 nations attempted to advance to the final, defending Olympic big air gold medalist Sebastien Toutant of Canada wasn't able to put down two clean runs and finished 26th. On his third run, Toutant suffered a nasty crash but was able to walk off the course with help. 

Fellow Team Canada rider Mark McMorris said that Toutant had bruised his heel in practice and had been with the doctors until "90 seconds before his jump," per the Canadian Press (via TSN).

Norway's Staale Sandbech, competing at his fourth Winter Olympics, also did not qualify for the final. 

Canada's Max Parrot was the top qualifier with a score of 164.75 (his two best runs combined), followed by Japan's Takeru Otsuka (160) and the United States' Red Gerard (158.75). 

We'll break down the 12 riders who will be competing in the final, which will be broadcast late Monday night in the U.S. (Tuesday morning in Beijing) and make final predictions.  

Men's Big Air Start List

1. Darcy Sharpe, Canada

2. Niek van der Velden, Netherlands

3. Chris Corning, United States

4. Mons Roisland, Norway

5. Mark McMorris, Canada

6. Sven Thorgren, Sweden

7. Marcus Kleveland, Norway

8. Su Yiming, China

9. Hiroaki Kunitake, Japan

10. Red Gerard, United States

11. Takeru Otsuka, Japan

12. Max Parrot, Canada

Men's Big Air Odds

Max Parrot +225 (bet $100 to win $225)

Marcus Kleveland +400

Takera Otsuka +550

Red Gerard +600

Men's Big Air Schedule

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 15

Time: 12 a.m. ET

TV: NBC

Live Stream: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com

The big question mark heading into the men's big air final is judging.

You never want judging to be a central storyline at the Olympics, but unfortunately, that was the case in the men's snowboard slopestyle final on Feb. 7. (Riders who compete in slopestyle at the Olympics are automatically qualified to compete in big air.)

In that competition, judges failed to notice that Parrot, who won gold, grabbed his knee instead of the front of his board. Silver medalist Su Yiming and bronze medalist Mark McMorris finished within three points of Parrot, so if the judges had docked him for the missed grab, it would have almost certainly changed the podium order. 

Unfortunately, judging is proving to be an issue in big air, too. In qualifying, athletes could not explain the sometimes inconsistent scores. On Gerard's first trick, a switch backside triple cork 1620 indy (four-and-a-half rotations, three off-axis flips), he received a 75.50.

McMorris did the same trick on his first run, grabbing stalefish instead of indy, and earned a score of 81.50. The different grabs should not have affected the score that significantly. 

"It doesn't really make complete sense," Gerard said after, per the Associated Press (via CBC). "Having that six-point difference is pretty incredible."

The men didn't leave much on the table in qualifying. The top trick of the final, which anyone hoping to win gold will need, will be a quad 1800, four off-axis flips and five full rotations. Though we didn't see any quads in qualifying, Parrot and Otsuka had a triple 1800, while Yiming had a flat-spin 1800.

In his X Games debut in 2017, Kleveland became the first to land a quad 1800 in competition. It's become something of a signature trick for him. Coming off big air gold at X Games Aspen in January, Kleveland is a good bet to take gold. 

But if Parrot can take a second gold to go with his slopestyle medal, he'll become the first snowboarder to win two golds in his first Olympics. 

Picks: Marcus Kleveland (gold), Max Parrot (silver), Su Yiming (bronze)

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The United States surged up to third place in the 2022 Winter Olympics medal table over the last 24 hours. 

The American team members in bobsled, figure skating and freestyle skiing produced a total of four medals to put the United States behind Norway and the Russian Olympic Committee in the overall medal standings. 

Kaillie Humphries earned the lone American gold of the last 24 hours in the first-ever women's monobob competition.

Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor went one-two in that inaugural event. The gold put the Americans in third behind Norway and Germany in first-place finishes in Beijing. 

Two bronze medals were picked up on Monday morning through Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue in the ice dance competition and Megan Nick in the women's aerials event. 

The United States hold 16 medals from 10 days of competition. They are guaranteed at least one more medal from women's hockey after the U.S. and Canada won their respective semifinal games to set up the gold-medal game showdown Wednesday night. 

Medal Count Top 5

1. Norway (9 gold, 5 silver, 7 bronze) - 21

2. Russian Olympic Committee (4 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze) - 18

3. United States (7 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze) - 16

4. Germany (8 gold, 5 silver, 2 bronze) - 15

5. Austria (5 gold, 6 silver, 4 bronze) - 15

Full medal table can be found on NBCOlympics.com.

Day 10 Medal Winners

Bobsled

Women's Monobob

Gold: Kaillie Humphries (United States)

Silver: Elana Meyers Taylor (United States)

Bronze: Christine de Bruin (Canada)

Figure Skating

Ice Dance

Gold: Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (France)

Silver: Viktoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov (ROC)

Bronze: Madison Hubbell/Zach Donohue (United States)

Freestyle Skiing

Women's Aerials

Gold: Xu Mengtao (China)

Silver: Hanna Huskova (Belarus)

Bronze: Megan Nick (United States)

Ski Jumping 

Men's Team

Gold: Austria

Silver: Slovenia

Bronze: Germany

Humphries, Meyers Taylor Go 1-2 in Women's Monobob

The first one-two finish from the United States in Beijing came from the inaugural women's monobob competition.

Kaillie Humphries controlled the event throughout all four runs to earn the gold medal. She recorded the fastest times in three of the four runs.

Meyers Taylor laid down the fastest time in the fourth run on the sliding track to move up the standings into the silver medal position.

Humphries earned her third goal medal and the first while representing the United States. She won gold in the two-woman bobsled in 2010 and 2014 as a member of the Canadian Olympic team. 

Meyers Taylor won her fourth Olympic medal after two silvers and a bronze from the last three Winter Games in the two-woman bobsled. 

The 37-year-old called the silver earned on Sunday night her most difficult victory. She spent over a week in isolation because of a positive COVID-19 test in the weeks leading up to Beijing. 

"This is better than gold," Meyers Taylor said, per USA Today's Nancy Armour. "This is definitely the most difficult medal I've ever earned. It's definitely been the hardest journey to get here. So this is the most special by far, and I am so excited to take it back to my son." 

Humphries and Meyers Taylor will return to the sliding center on Friday and Saturday for the two-woman bobsled, where they both have chances to win more medals.

US Earn 2 Bronze Medals on Monday

The second and third bronze medals won by the United States in Beijing were earned Monday morning. 

The figure skating pair of Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue picked up third place in an ultracompetitive ice dance field. 

Hubbell and Donohue held on to third place ahead of their teammates Madison Chock and Evan Bates. 

Chock and Bates delivered a strong free dance program, and their score was just 0.26 points worse than the bronze-medal duo. 

France's Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron won gold, while Viktoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov brought home silver for the Russian Olympic Committee.

Hubbell and Donohue extended the American medal streak to five in the ice dance. They are the second consecutive American bronze medalists in the event. 

A few hours later, Megan Nick captured a rare medal for the United States in the women's aerials event. 

The Vermont native became the first American woman to medal in the event since 1998. She produced the third-place finish in her Olympic debut. 

Nick was one of two Americans to reach the six-woman final. Ashley Caldwell took fourth and was part of the American group that won gold in the team aerials event. 

Sha'Carri Richardson raised questions after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Russian skater Kamila Valieva could resume competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics despite having recently tested positive for a banned substance.

The track and field star asked why Valieva remains eligible to skate while she was unable to represent Team USA at the Summer Olympics in 2021 after her positive test for marijuana:

Sarah Hirshland, the CEO for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, issued a statement saying the organization was "disappointed by the message this decision sends" in regard to the ruling by CAS:

A drug test Valieva performed Dec. 25 was flagged for trimetazidine, a heart medication that can provide a benefit to athletes by helping them maintain a higher heart rate for longer than usual.

Despite the test, the CAS gave the 15-year-old Russian the green light to return to the ice. James Ellingworth and Graham Dunbar of the Associated Press wrote: "The court gave her a favorable decision in part because she is a minor, known in Olympic jargon as a 'protected person,' and is subject to different rules from an adult athlete."

"The panel considered that preventing the athlete to compete at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in the circumstances," CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb said on the ruling.

The International Olympic Committee announced it won't hold a medal ceremony in the team figure skating event after Valieva helped the Russian Olympic Committee win gold. There won't be a ceremony in the women's individual event either if she places in the top three.

Prior to Richardson's comments on the matter, many compared her situation to that of Valieva:

Richardson qualified to represent Team USA in Tokyo after posting the fastest time (10.86 seconds) in the 100-meter dash at the U.S. Olympic trials. That performance likely would've put her on the 4x100-meter relay team as well.

Instead, the 21-year-old was suspended for 30 days by the United States Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for THC. The timing of the suspension ruled her out of the 100-meter dash but left the window open for her to run in the relay event. Instead, USA Track and Field omitted her from the four-woman squad.

At the time, Richardson's suspension drew criticism because marijuana isn't widely viewed as a performance-enhancing substance. USA Track and Field said it felt the World Anti-Doping Agency's stance on THC "should be reevaluated."

The CAS ruling on Valieva is bound to generate even more frustration about Richardson's being denied what might have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in 2021.

The ski jumping competitions at the 2022 Winter Olympics came to an end on Monday with a fourth nation earning gold in one of the sport's disciplines. 

Austria rounded out the program by winning the men's large hill team event. 

Austria, Japan, Norway and Slovenia all earned gold medals on the ski jumping hills in China. Slovenia was the only nation to land a pair of gold medals and finished on top of the medal table with four overall, including a silver from the men's team event Monday. 

A total of eight nations won medals across three male, one female and one team events that took place over the last week. 

Ski Jumping Medal Table

1. Slovenia (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) - 4

2. Germany (0 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze) - 3

T3. Austria (1 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze) - 2 

T3. Japan (1 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze) - 2

5. Norway (1 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze) - 1

6. Russian Olympic Committee (0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze) - 1

T7. Canada (0 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze) - 1

T7. Poland (0 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze) - 1 

Individual Medal Winners

Men's Individual Normal Hill

Gold: Ryoyu Kobayashi (Japan)

Silver: Manuel Fettner (Austria)

Bronze: Dawid Kubacki (Poland)

Men's Individual Large Hill

Gold: Marius Lindvik (Norway)

Silver: Ryoyu Kobayashi (Japan)

Bronze: Karl Geiger (Germany)

Men's Team Large Hill

Gold: Austria

Silver: Slovenia

Bronze: Germany

Women's Individual Normal Hill

Gold: Ursa Bogataj (Slovenia)

Silver: Katharina Althaus (Germany)

Bronze: Nika Kriznar (Slovenia)

Mixed Team Normal Hill

Gold: Slovenia

Silver: Russian Olympic Committee

Bronze: Canada

Slovenia Earns Most Ski Jumping Medals

Both of the gold medals earned by Slovenia at the Winter Olympics so far were earned in ski jumping. 

Slovenia captured gold in the mixed team normal hill event and through Ursa Bogataj in the women's individual normal hill competition. 

The central European nation also picked up a silver and a bronze to round out the best medal record in the sport. The performances over the last week-and-a-half put Slovenia ahead of some traditional powers like Austria, Germany and Norway.

Slovenia did not win a ski jumping medal at the 2018 Games, and it earned just two bronze medals eight years ago in Sochi. 

The Slovenian women had the chance to perform so well since FIS World Cup leader Marita Kramer of Austria was unable to compete because of a positive COVID-19 test. 

Slovenia has the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 women in the World Cup standings, but none of them were as dominant as Kramer going into the Olympics. The Austrian won six individual competitions on the World Cup circuit. 

The two gold medals earned in Beijing doubled Slovenia's overall gold medal haul at the Winter Olympics. The other two came from the Sochi Games in Alpine skiing. 

Germany Fails to Win Ski Jumping Gold

Germany entered Beijing with the top male ski jumper in the world in Karl Geiger and the No. 1 team in the FIS World Cup standings, but it left China with one silver and two bronze medals in a sport it was expected to earn at least one gold medal in. 

Geiger placed first or second in nine different events on the World Cup circuit this season. He had two victories and a second-place mark in the final four competitors prior to Beijing. 

The results in Beijing ended a run of two straight Olympics in which Germany won a ski jumping gold. It won three gold medals in Sochi and Pyeongchang, which was tied with Poland for the most ski jumping victories in that span. 

Germany still came away from the Winter Olympics with three ski jumping medals, but the overall performance was a bit disappointing based on the results earlier this winter.

The stage is set for the final of the women's ice hockey tournament in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Canada hammered Switzerland 10-3 in the first semifinal, and the United States followed with a 4-1 victory over Finland. The teams will meet Thursday in a rematch from the 2018 Winter Olympics final.

Canada lost out on a gold medal to the U.S. four years ago in Pyeongchang, South Korea, but headed to Beijing as the clear favorite. The Canadians reasserted themselves as the best in the world with an overtime win over Team USA at the 2021 Women's World Championship. 

Troy Ryan's squad has shown no mercy in Beijing.

Canada beat the United States 4-2 to close out the preliminary round. The team won its other five games by a combined score of 50-6.

Eight of the top 10 players in points are Canadians. The pair of Brianne Jenner and Sarah Fillier have scored 17 goals between them.

The United States won't be overawed by its opponent in the final. Head coach Joel Johnson has some notable holdovers from the 2018 roster. Kendall Coyne Schofield, Brianna Decker, Amanda Kessel and Lee Stecklein are all competing in their third Olympics, while Hilary Knight is in her fourth Winter Games.

But there's no question Canada has had Team USA's number of late.

In the Women's Worlds, the Canadians cruised past the U.S. 5-1 in the preliminary round before winning the final rematch. In the preliminary round of this tournament, Canada won again even though the United States nearly doubled Canada's shot total, finishing with 53 to 27.

The U.S. briefly led in the second period after Dani Cameranesi and Alex Carpenter scored, but the trio of Jenner, Jamie Lee Rattray and Marie-Philip Poulin found the net over a six-minute span to put Canada back in the driver's seat.

In a good way, Johnson will have a dilemma on his hands in terms of who starts at goaltender for the United States.

Maddie Rooney, the primary netminder in 2018, and Nicole Hensley have each started one game in Beijing, and Rooney got the nod against Canada the first time around. But Alex Cavallini added to a strong showing in the tournament with 25 saves against Finland on Monday.

Cavallini has the hot hand, but Rooney has the edge in Olympic experience.

Granted, the Canadian attack is so potent that it may not matter who's standing between the pipes for the United States.

For the fourth straight Winter Olympics, women's hockey will come down to a battle between the United States and Canada.

Hilary Knight, Cayla Barnes, Hayley Scamurra and Abby Roque scored goals and Alex Cavallini was sensational in the net, leading the United States to a 4-1 win over Finland in their semifinal matchup.

The U.S. will look to defend its gold medal from 2018 in PyeongChang, while Canada seeks revenge from its loss four years ago.

Since women's hockey was introduced as an Olympic sport in 1998, the United States and Canada have met five times in the finals. Canada has made the championship game for seven straight Olympics, while the United States have made it six times. Finland, which beat the U.S. in Turin 16 years ago on its way to silver, is the only other country to make the finals.

While the Fins came into Monday's semifinal hopeful to repeat the upset, they never got particularly close. Barnes lit the lamp early in the second period after a scoreless first, taking advantage of a power play off a pass from Hannah Brandt.

Knight moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time Olympic scorer's list with a goal later in the period. Her 26 points trail only Jenny Potter's 32 for the most among U.S. women's hockey players.

The third period was mostly a foregone conclusion, with Scamurra netting an insurance goal with less than five minutes remaining and then a wild final minute that featured a Susanna Tapani goal for Finland and Roque hitting an empty netter with five seconds left.

The United States and Canada already met once in these Olympics, with the Canadians pulling off a 4-2 victory. Canada has outscored its opponents by a jaw-dropping 46 goals, including a 10-3 romp over Switzerland in the semifinals. 

The United States men's ice hockey team may be among the youngest competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics, but it also appears to be one of the best. Because since the Americans arrived in Beijing, they have been on a roll.

Team USA went 3-0 during the preliminary round, notching victories over China, Canada and Germany. In doing so, the U.S. earned the No. 1 seed for the medal round, meaning it's one of the four teams that earned a bye into the quarterfinals.

The Americans will next take the ice Tuesday night (Wednesday afternoon in Beijing) and will face either Germany or Slovakia in the last eight of the tournament.

Here's everything else you need to know about the U.S. team for the rest of the Winter Games.

Quarterfinal Broadcast Information

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 15

Start Time: 11:10 p.m. ET

TV: USA Network

Live Stream: Peacock, NBC Sports app and NBCOlympics.com

Preview, Predictions

When the United States cruised to an 8-0 win over China in its opening game of the 2022 Winter Olympics, it wasn't much of a surprise. The host nation was expected to struggle against the strong competition it would face at the Games.

But the U.S. proved that it's a legitimate medal contender with its wins over Canada and Germany. The Americans beat the former 4-2, as goaltender Strauss Mann recorded 35 saves in a strong overall performance. The 3-2 win over Germany saw the U.S. lead by two goals in the third period before holding on after a late push by the Germans.

The United States and Finland were the only teams to go 3-0 during the preliminary round, but the Finns needed overtime to win their game against Sweden. Even the Russian Olympic Committee (the pre-tournament favorite for the gold medal) lost a game, falling 6-5 to the Czech Republic in its final game of the preliminary round.

There's a good chance that the United States' quarterfinal contest will be a rematch against Germany, which is facing Slovakia in a qualification playoff. If the Americans were to that contest, they would leave Beijing without a medal despite their excellent play to this point.

That's why the U.S. team isn't resting on its laurels.

"We're going to be hungry for our next game, and we're going to attack our next game like it's do or die because it really is," goaltender Drew Commesso said, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press.

Although Germany played a close game against the U.S. in the preliminary round, don't expect the Americans to lose to the Germans in the quarterfinals. The United States looks like the better team, and it should keep its momentum going to earn at least one more win.

The Americans are no guarantee to end up on the podium, though—especially because they could face either Canada or Sweden in the semifinals. And if the United States gets to the gold-medal game, expect either Finland or the Russian Olympic Committee to be on the other side.

It all means the Americans' path to the gold isn't easy, even if they keep up the form they have displayed since arriving in Beijing.

The prediction here is that the U.S. will fall short of winning the gold by losing in the semifinals. And it will be Canada that gets revenge and knocks the United States into the bronze-medal game. The Canadians have a solid team, and its only loss came against the U.S. They will be motivated to avenge that defeat will do so in another close contest.

However, the United States will bounce back to win the bronze. And considering nobody on the roster plays in the NHL and 15 players are in college, that should be seen as a success.

Prediction: United States loses in semifinals, wins bronze medal.