The final part of the sports year ender covers the Winter Olympics, athletics and U.S. sports

Record ID: 1366344

  • Title: The final part of the sports year ender covers the Winter Olympics, athletics and U.S. sports
  • Date: 28th November 2018
  • Summary: PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA (FEBRUARY 13, 2018) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SNOWBOARDER CHLOE KIM SAYING: "Yeah I definitely, when I was younger I struggled a little bit with just trying to understand my identity and who I wanted to be, and having my family be there through the whole process was so helpful and I've surrounded myself with such amazing people that they've definitely made it much easier for me. But I feel like I got to represent both the U.S. and Korea today and I'm very honoured to have been able to do that."
  • Embargoed: 12th December 2018 12:55
  • Keywords: Winter Olympics football baseball NBA NHL Athletics
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • Reuters ID: LVA00B98KY33Z
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: WINTER OLYMPICS
    While athletes from South and North Korea marched into the Olympic Stadium together behind a Korean flag showing the whole peninsula in blue, representatives from U.S.A., South Korea and North Korea were boxed together in the VIP grandstand when the Winter Games of Pyeongchang opened.
    South Korea's President Moon Jae-in waved and smiled, as did IOC President Thomas Bach, as the Korea athletes marched together with two flag-bearers together.
    In the front row of the grandstand, United States' Vice-President Mike Pence stood to wave and applaud the USA team as they made their circuit of the stadium.
    Behind them all, in the back row and wearing fur hats against the cold, were North Korea's President Kim Young Nam and Kim Yo Jong, the sister of the leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un, silently watching.
    Bach praised both Olympic committees for combining their athletes for the games, saying it was an example of the unifying power of the Olympic Games.
    Norway's Marit Bjoergen, the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time, stormed to gold in the women's 30km mass start cross-country ski race, claiming her 15th Olympic medal in the final competition of the Pyeongchang Games.
    The 37-year-old was superb in Pyeongchang, writing history in almost every race, and the eighth Olympic gold of her career and fifth medal overall at these Games put her into two more select band of athletes.
    Bjoergen equaled the record of eight career golds at the Winter Games, matching two compatriots, biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and cross-country skier Bjoern Daehlie.
    She also equaled the record of winning five medals at a single Games, something 10 athletes have done, including Bjoergen herself in 2010.
    Ester Ledecka became the first person in Winter Olympics history to capture gold medals in both Alpine skiing and snowboarding when she won the snowboard parallel giant slalom to go with her stunning Alpine super-G gold.
    The 22-year-old Czech was superb throughout and defeated Germany's Selina Joerg in the final by 0.46 seconds to become the fifth person to win gold in two different sports.
    Three of the four athletes to have won in different sports in the past did so in the closely related fields of Nordic combined and cross-country skiing while Russian Anfissa Reszova did so in biathlon and cross country.
    Dutch skater Jorien ter Mors bounced back spectacularly from an injury-plagued season by claiming a gold medal in the Olympic women's 1,000 meters.
    The 28-year-old set an Olympic record of one minute, 13.56 seconds to finish ahead of world record holder Nao Kodaira of Japan whose compatriot Miho Takagi took the bronze medal.
    Ter Mors, who won gold in the 1,500m at Sochi four years ago, did not defend that title in South Korea after failing to qualify in the distance due to a persistent knee injury.
    She showed no signs of any lingering after-effects as she zoomed around the track in the shorter race to shave 0.27 seconds off the Olympic record and set the fastest time recorded at sea level.
    Martin Fourcade drew on all his warrior instincts to continue his rewriting of French sporting history at the Pyeongchang Olympics by delivering team gold in the mixed relay.
    He delivered a storming performance on the final leg to become the second French athlete to win three gold medals at a single Winter Games after Alpine skier Jean-Claude Killy.
    The 29-year-old Fourcade was also the first athlete to claim three titles in Pyeongchang and he took his overall tally to a French record-extending five Olympic gold medals.
    Germany's Laura Dahlmeier held her nerve in the howling wind, putting in an almost flawless shooting performance to win the women's 10km biathlon pursuit in a time of 30.35 minutes and claim her second gold of the Pyeongchang Olympics.
    The victory made Dahlmeier the first female biathlete to win the sprint and pursuit double at the same Olympics.
    Darya Domracheva overcame errant shooting by skiing a perfect final leg to claim the women's Olympic 4x6km relay gold for Belarus in a see-saw race held in swirling snow.
    Dutch speed skater Ireen Wust secured her place in history by claiming a record 10th Olympic speed skating medal when she surged to gold in the women's 1,500 metres.
    Wust, who is the first Dutch athlete to win five Olympic gold medals and the most decorated Dutch Olympian with 10 medals in total, crossed the line in one minute 54.35 seconds, with Japan's Miho Takagi taking the silver.
    Wust's second medal of the Games after her heartbreak in the 3,000m, where she finished 0.08 seconds behind compatriot Carlijn Achtereekte, lifted her past Germany's Claudia Pechstein to stand alone as the most successful speed skater in history.
    Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer raced into the record books by winning his third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the men's 5,000 metres.
    Kramer, the first man to win three golds in the same speed skating event at the Winter Games, set an Olympic record of six minutes 09.76 seconds, finishing ahead of Canada's Ted-Jan Bloemen with Norway's Sverre Lunde Pedersen claiming bronze.
    The 31-year-old, who won silver in the 5,000m at the Games in Turin in 2006 as well as gold in Vancouver and Sochi, started well and settled into a steady rhythm as he glided to victory in Gangneung.
    Kramer is the second male speed skater to win four Olympic medals in a single event, following in the footsteps of compatriot Bob de Jong, who got four medals in the men's 10,000m.
    Shaun White cemented his legacy as the most successful snowboarder of all time after winning a third Olympic gold medal in a spectacular Pyeongchang Winter Games halfpipe final.
    White scored 97.75 on his final run to pip Japan's Ayumu Hirano to the gold, while Australian Scotty James took bronze.
    White's victory also gave the United States its 100th gold medal in Winter Olympics history.
    White, who also won Olympic gold in 2006 and 2010, needed to beat Hirano's score of 95.25 to win on the final run of the day and the 31-year-old produced an almost-flawless run.
    Switzerland's Dario Cologna crushed the field in the men's 15km freestyle race to take his third Olympic title in a row over the distance, winning gold in a time of 33:43.9 minutes.
    Norway's Simen Hegstad Krueger finished 18.3 seconds behind the Swiss, with Denis Spitsov, representing Olympic Athletes from Russia, in third another 4.7 seconds further back.
    Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu took gold in the men's singles figure skating competition despite several mistakes in an otherwise mesmerizing programme, becoming the first man in 66 years to defend his Olympic title and giving Japan its first Pyeongchang gold.
    Skating in front of a crowd of euphoric supporters at the Gangneung Ice Arena, the 23-year-old took steps out of his quad toeloop and triple Lutz. But those errors did not stop him from delivering a gold-worthy performance despite a gap of weeks in his training after injuring his ankle last November.
    Hanyu, a two-time world champion, finished nearly 11 points overall ahead of compatriot Shoma Uno. It was the first time Japanese athletes took two top podium places at a Winter Olympics since 1972.
    Kamil Stoch retained his Olympic large hill ski jump title with the final leap of the competition to deny Germany's Andreas Wellinger and become Poland's most successful Winter Olympic athlete.
    Stoch's victory marked a return to form after he managed only fourth in the normal hill.
    He is the fourth ski jumper to win two Olympic gold medals on the large hill after Birger Ruud of Norway, Matti Nykanen of Finland and Simon Ammann of Switzerland, who finished 13th on Saturday.
    Majestic Marcel Hirscher won his second gold medal of the Pyeongchang Games after leaving a field of rivals trailing in his wake with another technical masterclass in the giant slalom.
    The Austrian, who had already won the men's combined, posted a time of two minutes 18.04 seconds for his two runs, a full 1.27 seconds ahead of Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen, who produced the quickest second run to leap up to second from 10th in the morning run.
    The Austrian had arrived at the Games without a gold medal to his name despite his domination of the sport in the past seven years but his rivals conceded that, in current form, he is simply unstoppable in the technical events.
    Aksel Lund Svindal threw his battered body down the Jeongseon slope in thrilling style to cap a brilliant career with Norway's first Olympic downhill gold medal, becoming the oldest Alpine skiing champion in the history of the Games.
    The 35-year-old's team mate, rival and friend Kjetil Jansrud celebrated with Svindal as the backrunners continued to come down the course after taking silver for a Norwegian 1-2, while world champion Beat Feuz won bronze for Switzerland.
    Norwegians, including Svindal in 2010 and Jansrud in 2014, have finished on the podium in five of the last six Olympic downhills but none had previously claimed the biggest prize in Alpine speed racing.
    American Redmond Gerard claimed the gold medal with his victory in the snowboarding slopestyle competition.
    Gerard scored a run of 87.16 to hold off Canadians Max Parrot and Mark McMorris, who finished second and third respectively.
    The 17-year-old Gerard, the youngest in the competition, landed a perfect backside triple cork 1440 on his final run and despite Parrot landing the same trick on the final run of the day the judges favoured the American.
    America's 17-year-old Chloe Kim became the youngest female snowboarder to win an Olympic gold medal as she dominated the women's halfpipe, winning gold with a near-perfect score of 98.25.
    Kim's parents hail from South Korea and her grandmother watched her compete for the first time in Pyeongchang.
    Russian teenager Alina Zagitova edged compatriot Evgenia Medvedeva in the women's figure skating with a stunning free skate that earned the Olympic Athletes from Russia a first gold at the Pyeongchang Games.
    The 15-year-old, who led Medvedeva by just over one point after a record-setting short programme, effortlessly executed every element of her jump-packed free skate, earning 156.65 points for the performance and 239.57 overall.
    Skating to Don Quixote by composer Leon Minkus in a flashy red tutu, Zagitova held on for her opening jump, a triple Lutz, and went on to land another six triple jumps.
    AMERICAN SPORTS
    Philadelphia Eagles win the Superbowl.
    The Philadelphia Eagles upset the National Football League's defending champion New England Patriots 41-33 in a back-and-forth clash to capture their maiden Super Bowl title.
    For the Eagles, who previously lost title games in 1981 and 2005, the win capped a remarkable late-season charge that most observers considered unthinkable when starting quarterback Carson Wentz suffered a season-ending injury in December.
    The Eagles, trailing by one point late in the fourth quarter, moved 38-33 ahead when quarterback Nick Foles connected with tight end Zach Ertz on a 11-yard touchdown that held up after a review determined it was a catch.
    Philadelphia missed a subsequent two-point conversion attempt to leave the door open for the Patriots with a little less than two-and-a-half minutes to play.
    But in a game when both offenses moved up and down the field effortlessly, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had the ball swatted from his grasp by Brandon Graham and Philadelphia's Derek Barnett recovered the fumble.
    The Eagles went on to kick a field goal to extend their lead to eight points and denied the Patriots from engineering a last-minute, game-tying drive.
    After the game, Foles was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
    Golden State Warriors win the NBA.
    The Golden State Warriors repeated as NBA champions with victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to extend a stunning run that has included three titles in the last four seasons.
    The fourth consecutive NBA Finals matchup between the two rivals proved to be the most lopsided as the Warriors won the latest best-of-seven series in four games, which marked the end of James's second tenure with the Cavs.
    Boston Red Sox win the World Series.
    The Boston Red Sox, after winning a franchise record and Major League Baseball best 108 games during the regular season, carried their domination all the way to the World Series and overwhelmed the Dodgers 4-1 in the best-of-seven series.
    The Red Sox clinched their ninth World Series title, and fourth in 15 years, with a lethal combination of power and pitching.
    Washington Capitals win the Stanley Cup.
    The Washington Capitals beat the Vegas Golden Knights to win the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup for the first time in their 44-year history.
    The Capitals clinched the best-of-seven championship series 4-1 and brought an end to what had been a magical inaugural season for the Golden Knights.
    Alex Ovechkin, the face of the Capitals franchise who for years bore the brunt of the blame for his team's shortcomings, became the first Russian-born captain to hoist the Stanley Cup and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the play-offs.
    Larry Nassar sentenced to jail.
    Former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to an additional 40 to 125 years in prison in a Michigan courtroom for sexually abusing young female gymnasts, following an earlier sentence of up to 175 years.
    The case against Nassar has sparked various investigations into why the U.S. Olympic Committee, the sport's governing body USA Gymnastics, and Michigan State University, where he also worked, failed to investigate complaints about him going back years.
    Nassar, who is also serving a 60-year federal sentence for child pornography convictions, pleaded guilty to two sets of molestation charges in Michigan's Ingham and Eaton counties and had to be sentenced in each case.
    Nassar's sentencing followed days of testimony from scores of his victims, who offered emotionally wrenching accounts of his abuse masquerading as medical treatment, sometimes with their own parents present in the exam room.
    All told, the two sentencing hearings saw more than 200 victim impact statements, and prosecutors have said there are approximately 265 known victims in total.
    Nassar offered a brief apology to his victims, saying, "The visions of your testimonies will forever be present in my thoughts."
    But the judge, Janice Cunningham, said Nassar had again suggested in a pre-sentencing interview with authorities that he had not done anything wrong, even after he was sentenced in Ingham County.
    ATHLETICS
    Eliud Kipchoge sets new men's marathon world record.
    Kenya's Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge set a sensational world record over the distance, shaving more than a minute off the previous best with a dazzling run in Berlin, Germany.
    33-year-old Kipchoge, widely seen as the greatest marathon runner of the modern era, defended his title from last year's Berlin Marathon with an official time of time of two hours, one minutes and 39 seconds on a sunny and warm autumn day along the flat inner-city course to beat Dennis Kimetto's world best by a minute and 18 seconds - set in Berlin back in 2014.
    Kipchoge is also a former world champion over 5,000 metres and marathon gold medallist at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.
    Kipchoge missed out on becoming the first athlete to run the marathon in under two hours last year by just 26 seconds - his time was not recognised as a world record because in-out pacemakers were used.
    He also won the London Marathon in 2018.
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