French skier Clement Noel won the gold medal Wednesday in the men’s slalom at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Austria’s Johannes Strolz, who won gold in the men’s Alpine combined event, won the silver medal, while Sebastian Foss-Solevaag of Norway earned the bronze.
Sweden took home the gold medal in the women’s 4x6 kilometer relay event in biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. The four-member team of the Russian Olympic Committee won the silver medal, with Germany coming in third to win the bronze medal.
Germany was the gold medal winner in the women’s cross-country skiing team sprint classic event. Sweden finished nearly two-tenths of a second later to win the silver medal, with the ROC taking the bronze medal after crossing the finish line nearly three-quarters of a second later. On the men’s side, Norway won the gold in dominating fashion, beating silver medal winner Finland in well over two minutes, while the Russian team crossed the finish line four minutes later to earn the bronze medal.
In freestyle skiing, Americans Alex Hall and Nick Goepper won the gold and silver medals, respectively, in the men’s freeski slopestyle event, with Jesper Tjader of Sweden winning the bronze.
Elsewhere Wednesday, the United States men’s hockey team was eliminated from medal contention with a 3-2 shootout loss to Slovakia in the quarterfinal round, with Peter Cehlarik making the game-winning goal in the extra period. The Russian Olympic Committee downed Denmark 3-1, while Finland trounced Switzerland 5-1.
Norway continues to lead all nations in the total medal count with 28 medals, including 13 gold. The Russian Olympic Committee is second with 23 total medals — four of them gold — followed by Germany with 20 overall medals, including 10 gold, and the United States in fourth place with 19 medals, including 8 gold medals.
