Team USA at the Olympics: Americans unable to medal for second straight day

It was a busy day for Team USA in Pyeongchang with key events on the line including the women's super-G featuring alpine skiers, men's singles as part of the figure skating program, and the women's slopestyle in freestyle skiing, but the Americans came up just short of adding any medals to their collection.

Lindsey Vonn made her highly anticipated Peyongchang debut, but after a wobbly turn where she lost her balance and almost fell, she tied for sixth with a time of 1:21.49. The super-G marked her first Olympic event in eight years after she missed out in the Sochi Games four years ago due to a knee injury. Czech snowboarder Ester Ledecka was the surprise gold medalist in the super-G.

The men's singles featured three Americans, who were facing an uphill battle as they entered the free skate portion of the event well out of medal contention. Nathan Chen, 18, had a strong comeback with a huge historic performance becoming the first man to land six quadruple jumps in the Olympics, but finished fifth because of his disappointing performance the night before in the short program. Teammates Vincent Zhou and Adam Rippon were close behind him with Zhou sixth and Rippon 10th.

Defending Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu claimed his second straight Olympic gold medal with teammate Shoma Uno claiming the silver and Spain's Javier Fernandez earning the bronze. In the women's slopestyle, Team USA wasn't expected to medal, however Maggie Voisin put up a strong performance and finished fourth with a score of 81.20, which she secured on her third run. Her teammate Logan Devin finished 10th with a 56.80 as Switzerland's Sarah Hoefflin and Mathilde Gremaud claimed the top two spots.

Team USA saw success in curling as both the men and the women took home victories in the round robin. The women defeated Olympic Athletes of Russia 7-6 while the men beat out Denmark 9-5.Madison Olsen finished sixth in the women's aerials while Kiley Mckinnon placed 10th, both making their Olympic debuts. Hanna Huskova of Belarus was the gold medal winner. In the women's 5000m of long-track speedskating, first-time Olympian Carlijn Schoutens finished 11th in a time of 7:13.28. Dutch skater Esmee Visser won the gold.

Who said what?

Rippon is quickly winning over the hearts of America and he continues to inspire every time he takes the ice. He's become known for his post-performance interviews and he certainly didn't disappoint with the one following the men's singles.
"On some level we can all relate to just being rat sh—. And I'm a little rat sh—. I try my best to keep it real and in my interviews, I try my best to be myself and when I am out there on the ice, I am just showing another part to myself," Rippon said when asked about how he inspires Americans.

"I came here and I wanted to show the world who I was on and off the ice. I wanted to go out there and show that I am a serious athlete. But at the same time, have fun and show everybody, who I am. And I think that people have kind of enjoyed my honesty and my openness. That's exactly who I am, I have been completely honest with this whole Olympic experience. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And I wanted to be be open and honest about it and fun with the media, it's a whole part of it that I wanted to enjoy and I enjoyed every single second.. . . . I am America's sweetheart."

Did you see this?

In the women's aerials, athletes fly off the ramp as high as five stories high. Team USA's Madison Olsen was expected to finish as high as she did, but take a look at her crazy tricks.

Ta-daaa!#WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/ojqM3KGAHv
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 17, 2018

What's next?

Ted Ligety will compete in his best event — men’s giant slalom — and looks to bring home his third Olympic gold medal. Coverage starts live at 11:30 p.m. ET, NBC.