Medal count: Minnesota athletes with Olympic hardware
Minnesota athletes are piling up the medals in the 2018 Winter Olympics — and there are still a few more days to go.
Team USA has won eight gold, seven silver and six bronze medals this year, so far. Of those, one individual gold and one bronze are owned by athletes with ties to Minnesota.
A bunch of Minnesotans also scored gold medals as part of the huge win in women's hockey. And in curling, the Minnesota-led U.S. men are still playing but guaranteed to finish with a medal.
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Women's hockey
Since women's ice hockey debuted at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, U.S. and Canada have battled with a fierce rivalry between the two countries. The U.S. beat Canada for gold at the debut event. Since then, Canada has dominated.
But after three tries in the last four Olympic games, U.S. came out on top Thursday in a shoot-out goal by Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson.
Team USA's goalie and Minnesota's own Maddie Rooney stopped 29 shots and four of Canada's six shootout attempts.
Sidney Morin of Minnetonka helped set up a goal for Hilary Knight for an early lead before the first intermission, and Kelly Pannek of Plymouth passed the puck to Monique Lamoureux-Morando for a goal to tie the game with 6:21 left in regulation.
Other Minnesota players on Team USA include Hannah Brandt, Dani Cameranesi, Gigi Marvin, and Lee Stecklein.
Lindsey Vonn
The veteran downhill racer born in St. Paul took home a bronze in downhill skiing. She also competed in the women's super giant slalom, also called the super-G, and took sixth place.
It's likely that this will be Vonn's last Olympics.
During her career, she competed in four Olympics, and captured one gold and two bronze medals. She's also received seven medals in world championships since her first year competing in 2005, two golds in 2009, two silvers in 2007, a silver in 2011, and a bronze in 2015 and 2017.
"It was tough to contemplate this being my last Olympic downhill," Vonn said afterward. "I struggled to try to keep the emotions together, but I left it all on the mountain like I said I would."
Jessie Diggins
Jessie Diggins of Afton, along with her teammate Kikkan Randall, are the first American cross-country skiers to win a medal at the Olympics in 42 years, and the first women to win for Team USA.
Diggins has been eyeing a chance to stand on the podium throughout the games at Pyeongchang. She competed in four other events — the 10-kilometer freestyle, the 15-kilometer skiathlon, the sprint classic, and the four by 5-kilometer relay — and in each one a medal was just out of reach. She finished fifth three times, and sixth in the Sprint Classic.
Her hometown is already planning for her return, with a local ice cream parlor planing to name a flavor in her honor, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Men's Curling
While they haven't yet received their medal, the men's curling team victory over Canada Thursday means they are guaranteed a medal, the only question is what color. The men's team will play against Sweden Saturday. It's scheduled to air at 2 a.m. on NBCSN.
Led by Chisholm, Minn.-born skip John Shuster, the team battled back from a 2-4 record in round robin play with a three game winning streak to end with a 5-4 record. Shuster, along with three Minnesota teammates — Joe Polo, John Landsteiner, and Tyler George.
This could be Team USA's second curling medal ever and first since 2006. The U.S. secured a bronze in 2006 games in Turin. The sport has been dominated by Canada since 2006, winning gold each tournament.