Welcome to The Home Team, VTDigger’s daily Olympic dispatch. Every morning, we’ll feature the highlights of Vermonters competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Check out our full list of Vermont athletes on Team USA, and meet author Kevin O’Connor in our Olympic preview podcast.
Pelkey assists U.S. hockey to finals
The U.S. women’s hockey team is set to face off against Canada for Olympic gold — thanks to help from Montpelier’s Amanda Pelkey.
Team USA, beating Finland 5-0 in Monday’s semifinals, scored its first goal 2:25 into the game with an assist from the 2015 University of Vermont graduate.
“From the get go, we’ve handled pressure pretty well,” the 24-year-old tells TeamUSA.org. “Every team that comes to the Olympics has pressure on them, whether you’re the last seed or first seed. I think it’s a huge world stage and everyone wants to perform at their best.”
Pelkey and her peers hope to win Thursday (the game should end here around 2 a.m.) for the first time since their U.S. predecessors grabbed gold when women’s hockey became an Olympic sport in 1998.
Video: “Saturday Night Live” comedienne Leslie Jones couldn’t stop tweeting at Monday’s hockey semifinal — but shared only one example of her enthusiasm that’s family-friendly enough to share.
Shiffrin drops out of downhill
Vermont-schooled Mikaela Shiffrin, who won giant slalom gold last week, is dropping out of Tuesday’s downhill so she can concentrate on snagging one last medal in the upcoming alpine combined.
“As much as I wanted to compete in the Olympic downhill,” the 22-year-old graduate of Burke Mountain Academy said in a statement, “it’s important for me to focus my energy.”
Shiffrin arrived in South Korea favored to win multiple medals, only to finish fourth in Friday’s slalom and forgo Saturday’s super-G. She wants to be the first U.S. skier since 1952 Vermont Olympian Andrea Mead Lawrence to nab two same-games victories.
Looking Ahead: Area athletes Lowell Bailey and Susan Dunklee are competing in Tuesday’s mixed 2×6+2×7.5-kilometer biathlon relay.
Previous dispatches
• Tuesday, Feb. 13 – Thursday, Feb. 15
