Double Take: Queens of the Ice

South Korean teenage phenom Yu-Na Kim, otherwise known as ‘Queen,’ had a free skate Thursday night to win gold that could only be described as far and above the other competitors, most of whom also skated their best.

Her judges score of 228.56 was a record through and through for any skater in any competition and broke the previous high mark of 210, which she also achieved. Her gold medal represents the first Olympic figure skating title ever for a South Korean. To put the amazing score into perspective, the silver medalist and Kim’s main rival, Mao Asada of Japan, received a 205.50. A 23-point differential in a sport as detailed as figure skating is like winning a hockey game by 18 goals. Oh, wait, that did happen, You get the idea.

With the crowd’s encouragement, Canadian Joannie Rochette won the bronze, overcoming emotional anguish from her mother’s sudden death in a Vancouver hospital just five days ago.

Women’s Hockey:
Hockey is the national pastime in Canada. It’s not that farfetched to say it’s all the natives care about. The Canadians shut out the United States 2-0 Thursday to win its third straight Olympic gold – anything less would be unacceptable and far below expectations.

Their coach summed it up like this:

"You are expected to win, male or female. It’s Canada. That’s the expectation."
-Women’s Hockey Head Coach Melody Davidson

Since women’s hockey debuted at the Olympics in 1998, Canada and the U.S. are the only two teams to win the tournament. In fact, no other nation has even remotely challenged either squad. In the four contests prior to the gold medal game, Canada outscored its opponents 46-2 and the U.S. 40-2. Repeatedly, the games were already out of reach by the first intermission.

But everyone involved knew this game was going to be different – far more competitive and far more intense than the others.

Canadian goalie Shannon Szabados looked absolutely untouchable in net, stopping all 28 shots she faced from all directions.

American goaltender Jessie Vetter gloved 27 shots. The only two pucks that passed her came off the stick of 18-year-old Olympic rookie Marie-Philip Poulin-Nadeau in the first period, just minutes apart.

Overall, Canada was led by Meghan Agosta, the tournament’s leading goal scorer, with nine goals and six assists in five games.

Four-time Olympian Jenny Potter led the U.S. with six goals for the tournament. Natalie Darwitz and Hilary Knight each had seven assists.

Angela Ruggiero, another four-time Olympian, played 106:25 minutes in five games to lead the U.S. team.

*Statistics from http://www.nbcolympics.com/.