The Sochi 2014 Olympics are fully underway after the opening ceremonies and the results have the United States and Russia as two of the top teams in the medal standings and some of the leaders in gold, silver and bronze medals includes Norway, the Netherlands and Canada at the Winter Games.
The United States won the first gold medal of the games at the snowboard slopestyle and it came on an amazing run from Sage Kotsenburg before Jamie Anderson scored another gold for the US in the women's side of the event to sweep the competition in the first year of its existence. The event already had added attention already for being one of the competitions to start before the opening ceremonies and once Shaun White pulled out, many boarders and media members wrote about his decision and that put it in the spotlight even more.
White pulled out of the event after injuring his wrist during a training session and now he is focusing on just the halfpipe, which he has won in two straight Winter Olympics, including last year at Vancouver. White is the favorite in the halfpipe and on the women's side of the slopestyle, Jamie Anderson won the gold medal and on the men's side, favorite Mark McMorris of Canada made a comeback to finish with the bronze. Great Britain set a mark already for this Olympics with a bronze medal in the women's slopestyle for Jenny Jones, becoming the first athlete from that nation to win a medal on snow. The GB team had won medals on ice for skating before, but never an event on the powder.
Bode Miller is still in play for two medals at the Olympics, but the American star missed out in the downhill at the Winter Games and he ended up in eighth, while there was a surprise winner in Matthias Mayer, who ended up with the gold in the event from Austria. Miller comes into the games after winning three medals at the last Winter games in Vancouver and he has won five medals in Alpine skiing, which is a record and after his run he said he was disappointed but ready for his next events.
The Russian team and the United States team won medals at figure skating in the team event, with the home nation winning gold after some great performances, while the US team had Ashley Wagner, Meryl Davis and Charlie White performing in the event. American Hannah Kearney won a bronze medal for the USA in the moguls event and the team now is in the top five to start the games in medal standings. Norway has started off in the early lead with seven medals, including two gold and four bronze, while the US has two golds and two bronze medals in the early goings. Russia has won multiple medals, as has Austria and Canada.
