In the following calendar for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport are held. The number in each box represents the number of finals that were contested on that day.[1]
Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China win pair skating, setting world records for the short program and overall scores.[21] This is China's first Olympic gold medal ever in a figure skating event. For the Soviet Union, Unified Team and Russia, it was the end of their longest winning streak in the sport, which started during the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics.
Shani Davis of the United States wins gold in 1000 m becoming the first man to win this event twice. Mo Tae-bum of South Korea and Chad Hedrick of the United States were paired together and won silver and bronze respectively, 0.38 seconds separated gold from bronze.[34]
After weather delays, Germany's Maria Riesch skis to gold in women's combined. Anja Pärson of Sweden manages to repeat her bronze from Turin despite having been in a serious fall the day before.
Evan Lysacek of the United States wins men's singles, the first gold for the US since Brian Boitano. Controversy arises as silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko of Russia criticizes the judging system as he performed a more difficult element, the quadruple toe loop, though scored lower because of poorer form. Lysacek never performed a quadruple jump in his long program.[35]
Torah Bright won Australia's second medal of the Games in women's halfpipe, and she had a surprise at the end - her parents had travelled in secret to support her at the slope.[36]
Despite complaints about possible aero-dynamic elements to her helmet, Amy Williams of Great Britain wins the women's skeleton. She is the first British athlete to win an individual Winter Olympic gold medal in thirty years.[38]
In the second semifinal of the women's 1500 m, China's Wang Meng, a strong contender for a medal, caused a crash and knocked out United States' Katherine Reutter and South Korea's Cho Ha-Ri who were in qualifying positions. Wang was disqualified due to impeding and Reutter and Cho were allowed to advance to the final resulting in a large 8-woman final.
Bode Miller of the United States wins the men's combined earning his first Olympic gold. He was ranked 7th after the downhill event but jumped to gold with the 3rd fastest time in the slalom. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway led after the downhill event but veered off-course in the slalom.[41]
Evgeny Ustyugov wins the men's mass start ending Russia's 16-year gold medal drought in this event.[42] He won in 35:35.7 and with no penalties. Despite incurring three penalties, Martin Fourcade of France captures the silver medal 10.5 seconds behind Ustyugov.
Germany's Magdalena Neuner continues her strong performance in Vancouver earning her third medal, second gold.[43]
Germany's bobsleigh driver André Lange, with Kevin Kuske, won his fourth gold in four career races, taking the two-man competition to become the most successful pilot in Olympic history.[44]
Although she won bronze in Turin, Ireen Wüst of Netherlands claims gold in the 1500 metres against expectations. It was the second at these games where the gold medal favorite in this distance had been defeated by a Dutch, Kristina Groves settled for silver as did Shani Davis who lost to Mark Tuitert on the men's side.[47]
Lee Seung-hoon of South Korea skated to an Olympic record of 12:58.55 in the men's 10000 metres. In a bizarre twist, Sven Kramer of the Netherlands who beat Lee by over four seconds was disqualified when he failed to make a lane change, losing both the record and the gold medal.[49] Lee is the first Asian to medal in an Olympic 10000 m speed skating event.
The women's giant slalom competition was originally scheduled for February 24, but the event was halted after the first run due to low clouds and poor visibility and rescheduled to 09:30 PST on February 25.[52]
Czech Republic's Martina Sáblíková earns her third medal and second gold by winning the women's 5000 metres. Skating in the last pairing, she started her race with the fastest 200 m split, never relinquished her lead, and crossed the finish line just 0.48 seconds ahead of Germany's Stephanie Beckert. Sáblíková was so tired at the end of the race that she crumpled to the ice after slowly gliding to a standstill. She then had her coach take off her skates and started her victory lap in her socks.[55]
South Korea's Kim Yuna wins the gold medal in the ladies' singles, setting a new world record of 150.06 points for the free skate and for the combined total of 228.56 points.[56] The United States fails to win a medal in this discipline for the first time since Innsbruck in 1964.
Bill Demong win gold in the 10 km individual large hill event, becoming the first American to win gold in any Nordic skiing event (cross-country skiing, ski jumping, or Nordic combined) at a Winter Olympics.
Norway's Ole Einar Bjørndalen anchors the Norwegian team to gold in the men's relay. With 11 medals, he is now the second most successful Winter Olympic athlete in history. While Norway won gold by over 38 seconds, only 0.2 seconds separated silver won by Austria from bronze won by Russia.
Minor controversy ensues in the final turn of the men's 500 metres when Canada's François-Louis Tremblay and South Korea's Sung Si-Bak fell while Charles Hamelin and Apolo Ohno finished first and second. The Canadian judge disqualified Ohno for causing Tremblay to crash and ruled that Sung had slipped on his own and not by Hamelin's actions.[57]
Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk becomes the first woman from her country ever to win a Winter Olympic gold medal in the 30 km classical cross-country event.
Canada defeats the United States in overtime, 3–2, in the gold medal game in men's ice hockey.[60] The United States goalie Ryan Miller is named MVP of the tournament.
Canada ends the Olympics with 14 gold medals, the most for any country (host or otherwise) in any Winter Olympics. The U.S. ends with 37 total medals, also the most for any country (host or otherwise) in any Winter Olympics.
^ ab"Ladies' 3000m". Vancouver 2010. 14 February 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2010.. This is the first speed skating medal won by a Czech.
^ ab"Women's 10 km Pursuit". The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. 16 February 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
