Olympics: Julia Mancuso Surprises; Freestyle Skiing Gets First Repeat Champ

A day after Bode Miller failed to medal, Julia Mancuso captured the U.S.' first alpine ski medal of the Sochi Olympics Monday with a surprising third place finish in the super combined.
The bronze is the fourth Olympic medal of Mancuso's career, following a gold in Torino and two silvers, including one in the super combined, in Vancouver. No other American female skier has more than two. She is the first U.S. skier to medal at three Olympics.

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Germany's Maria Hoefl-Riesch defended her title in 2:34.62, with Austria's Nicole Hosp in second in 2:35.02.

Proving yet again to be a big-event skier, Mancuso crushed the downhill portion of the event and held on in the slalom to make the podium in 2:35.15. Mancuso had not skied a full slalom in a year, had not made the podium in the super combined since she won the silver in Vancouver and has not won a World Cup race in almost two years.
History was made when Canada's Alex Bilodeau became the first person to repeat as champion in a freestyle skiing event with a 26.31-winning run in the men's moguls. Compatriot and world champion Mikael Kingsbury was second (24.71) and Russia's Alexandr Smyshlyaev was third (24.34).

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In the first short track event of the Games, Canada's Charles Hamelin won the 1,500 meters in 2:14.985, with China's Han Tianyu in second (2:15.055) and Russia's Viktor Ahn in third (2:15.062). American J.R. Celski, who won bronze in Vancouver, was fourth. This marks the first time South Korea did not podium in a men's short track event since 2002 and the first short track medal for Russia, not counting its bronze as part of the Unified Team in 1992. (Ahn, who won three golds in Torino, defected from South Korea for Russia in 2011.)The Dutch scored their second speed skating sweep in the men's 500 meters with Michel Mulder in 69.31, followed by Jan Smeekens in second (69.32) and Mulder's twin brother Ronald in third (69.46). Smeekens initially thought he won when his unofficial time was placed on top of the leader board. The time was soon adjusted to one-hundredth of a second behind Michel Mulder's.

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France's Martin Fourcade won the men's 12.5-kilometer pursuit, followed by Czech Ondrej Moravec and Jean-Guillaume Beatrix, also of France. Norweigan Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, who was aiming for a Winter Games all-time record 13th medal, finished fourth.What did you think of Day 3?