The United States picked up its seventh Winter Olympic medal Monday - Chris Witty's bronze in the women's 1,500-meter speed skating at the M-Wave.
With a young, relatively inexperienced American clap-skate squad using the Nagano Games to gear up for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Witty was considered a favorite to win a speed skating medal at some point this go-around. She also set a national record with her time of one minute, 58.97 seconds.Meanwhile, the Americans continue to rack up more missed opportunities than medals, including four unrealized chances from late Saturday to Monday evening. A medal by Todd Eldredge in the men's figure skating singles competition was all but a given, while Picabo Street was considered a medal lock in the downhill - her strong suit - following a gold in last week's women's super-G. Eldredge ended up fourth, Street sixth.
Also, the men's curling team lost in the bronze-medal game, and disappointing finishes by the two-man bobsled crews meant that the U.S. futility in that event continues for now.
Here's how U.S. competitors fared from late Saturday night to Monday evening. Note: DNS =did not start; DNF =did not finish; DSQ =disqualified.
ICE HOCKEY
U.S. update: With a 1-2 record in pool play, Team USA advances to Wednesday's quarterfinals, where the Americans must win - to play the loser of Monday night's late game between the Czech Republic and Russia - to make the semis and keep their medal hopes alive. The U.S. women are guaranteed a medal by playing in Tuesday night's golden game against Canada.
U.S. results: Men - defeated Belarus 5-2 Saturday; lost to Canada 4-1 Monday.
ALPINE SKIING
U.S. update: The men placed a pair in top eight of Monday's super-G, while Street's sixth-place spot in the downhill would be more disappointing had she not won the women's super-G last week.
U.S. results: Men's giant slalom (Monday) - Daron Rahlves, 7th; Tommy Moe, 8th; Kyle Rasmussen, 13th; Chad Fleischer, 34th. Women's downhill (Monday) - Picabo Street, 6th; Jonna Mendes, 17th; Kathleen Monahan, 26th (tie); Kirsten Clark, 28th. Women's combined downhill (Monday) - Caroline Lalive, 14th; Jonna Mendes, 15th; Kirsten Clark, 17th, Alexandra Shaffer, 19th; Kathleen Monahan, DNS.
FREESTYLE SKIING
U.S. update: Only three Americans qualified among the top 12 competitors in both the men's and women's aerials, with Park City's Nikki Stone the only U.S. woman to advance. The finals are set for Wednesday.
U.S. results: Men's aerials qualifications (Monday) - Britt Swartley, 2nd; Eric Bergoust, 4th; Mariano Ferrario, 15th; Matt Chojnacki, 21st.
Women's aerials qualifications (Monday) - Nikki Stone, 4th; Tracy Evans, 17th; Stacey Blumer, 20th.
SPEED SKATING
U.S. update: The U.S. finally earned a medal - Witty's aforementioned bronze - besides its many Top 10 finishes already in the Games.
U.S. results: Women's 1,500 meters (Monday) - Chris Witty, bronze medal; Jennifer Rodriguez, 8th; Becky Sundstrom, 12th; Moira D'Andrea, 14th. Men's 1,000 meters (Sunday) - Casey FitzRandolph, 7th; K.C. Boutiette, 8th; Nathaniel Mills, 23rd (tie); Cory Carpenter, 29th; Women's 500-meter 2nd race (Saturday) - Christine Witty, 10th (6th after first race); Becky Sundstrom, 17th (25th after 1st); Moira D'Andrea, 19th (18th after 1st); Amy Sannes (27th after 1st).
BOBSLED
U.S. update: In what was considered to be a breakthrough possibility for the U.S. to end its 42-year medal drought, the Americans never challenged in the weekend's two-man competition. The United States still has the four-man to look forward to later this week.
U.S. results: Men's 2-man 2nd day (Sunday) - USA II (Heberich/Olesen), 7th; USA-I (Shimer/Hines), 10th. Men's 2-man 1st day (Saturday) - USA II (Heberich/Olesen), 11th; USA I (Shimer/Hines), 12th.
FIGURE SKATING
U.S. update: Todd Eldredge missed his expected medal, dropping from third to fourth after the men's free program Saturday night. The Americans appear out of medal contention in the ice dancing, which is typical, since the only U.S. medal was a bronze from the 1976 Innsbruck Games.
U.S. results: Ice dancing original dance (Sunday) - Elizabeth Punsalan/Jerod Swallow, 7th (ranked 7th after compulsories); Jessica Joseph/Charles Butler, 20th (ranked 20th after compulsories). Men's singles free skating (Saturday) - Todd Eldredge, 4th; Michael Weiss, 7th. Ice dancing's free program was contested last Monday night.
BIATHLON
U.S. update: All of Sunday's American participants break into the Top 10 U.S. historical finishes in that event, but only because women's biathlon has been an official sport since just 1992.
U.S. results: Women's 7.5-kilometer sprint (Sunday) - Kristina Sabasteanski, 33rd; Deborah Nordyke, 48th; Stacey Ann Wooley, 58th.
CURLING
U.S. update: With the women's team eliminated after preliminary play, the U.S. men needed two tiebreakers - the last a nail-biting 5-4 victory over host Japan - to reach the medal round. However, the American success was short-lived with a 7-1 loss to Canada in the semis and a 9-4 defeat by Norway in the bronze-medal match.
U.S. results: Men - defeated Japan 5-4 in Saturday's tiebreaker; lost to Canada 7-1 in Saturday's semifinals; lost to Norway 9-4 in Sunday's bronze-medal match.
CROSS COUNTRY
U.S. update: The U.S. women finished next-to-last in the team relay, while the men's pursuit saw Americans finish in the 40s.
U.S. results: Women's 4x5-kilometer relay (Monday) - USA (Petty/King/McCabe/Wilson), 15th. Men's 15-kilometer freestyle/pursuit (Saturday) - Patrick Weaver, 40th; Justin Wadsworth, 44th; John Bauer, 47th; Marcus Nash, DNS.
NORDIC COMBINED
U.S. update: Todd Lodwick nearly dropped out of the Top 20 with a poor finish in Saturday's cross country segment.
U.S. results: Men's combined (15K freestyle cross country Saturday) - Todd Lodwick, 20th (ranked 13th after jumping, finished 28th in cross country); John Jarrett, 30th (34th in jumping, 25th in cross country); Bill Demong, 34th (19th in jumping, 40th in cross country); Tim Tetreault, 36th (39th in jumping, 29th in cross country).
SKI JUMPING
U.S. update: The Americans ended up with similar rankings from four years ago in Lillehammer.
U.S. results: Individual 120-meter hill (Sunday) - Casey Colby, 30th; Alan Alborn, 44th; Randy Weber, 50th; Brendan Doran, 58th.