Apolo Ohno, Lindsey Vonn and bobsled

It's gonnna be Apolo Anton Ohno and Lindsey Vonn's nights, but they start with a boastful four-man USA 1 bobsled's first heat, blue-collarish driver says they wanna go fast right away to intimidate some people. You mean the two-time gold medalist Germans? All the other teams in an Olympic sport the U.S. traditionally flops in? Sheesh, holy Olympic spirit!

Wonder if they're gonna mention the domestic violence charge against the third U.S. team....

U.S. goes down fast, sets a track record; snow starts to fall afterwards which will slow the course. Russians wind up going, crash; one of the favorites out early. Canadians in second, three German sleds after that.

Wow, real intimidated.

Lindsey Vonn, broken finger and all, ready for the slalom, they illustrate all the parjavascript:void(0)ts of her body she's injured recently. A real competitor, I like her; switches to a mitten instead of a glove for today.

First off a Czech skiier, Zahrobska; fun event to watch. Susanne Riesch, younger sis of Linsdey's friend Marie; into second. They profile the friendship, how Lindsey spends Christmas with her in Germany; pretty cool, "fierce competitors and dear friends," from juniors.

Maria next, commentator likes how she skiis like a slinky, so contained; into first, unbecoming gray pants and all.

Marlies Schild of Austria next, few years ago won 7 of 9 slaloms, then a big injury; big turns though, into third.

Vonn misses a gate early, and her Olympics are over. She says after she's happy with her gold and bronze, her personality is to go for it.....

500M men's short track
Ohno, in his own words, compares short track to being on a motorcycle with other bikes inside a rink and trying to make constant tight turns. They replay his 500 in Torino, which he calls the perfect race. Look on his face at the end is of pure joy.

Canada's Charles Hamelin up in the first quarters, with 18-year-old American Simon Cho... who fails to make it out, Canadian and the South Korean too strong. They analyze Ohno's body position, what makes him so strong; good analysis, funny it's coming on the next-to-last night.

Oooh, Ohno in last coming out of the first turn; a crash, Ohno literally jumps over it, he's just easily through but wants first, gets second. Next quarters, the South Korean makes a great pass, but the Canadian comes back to nip him.

The world-record holder in this event couldn't even quality out of his own team, another South Korean -- who's friends with an American skater and yawns before his race ala Ohno -- is up next. Man, Canada's third skater is doing well too; tight race, South Korean winds up qualifying behind the Canadian.

Women's 1000M quarterfinals short track
Dutch skater false-starts, people in the crowd keep getting shushed. South Korean gets to the front, just cruises, Canadian follows behind her.

Hmmm, they show the long-time Australian short track ref Jim Hewish in the stands, he got death threats after DQing the South Korean women's team the other day. Some South Korean fans really are amazingly ugly when it comes to short track racing, like soccer hooligans.

Next quarters, Chinese woman controls it from the get-go pretty easily, Canadian in too. American next, Katherine Reutter, from Bonnie Blair's high school. Funny how personal elite athletics can be. 5 skaters in this one, gonna be a zoo. In second behind the South Korean, announcer says she panics a bit if she's in the back. They pull away from the pack, Reutter into first easily, and wins.

Last quarter, Wang Meng of China becomes most-decorated female short tracker if she gets a medal, six. Australian in a crazy camouflage green spidey outfit; Wang and she advance.

Speed skating team pursuit, Americans are Chad Hedrick and two kids against the hugely-favored Dutch -- and Shani Davis elected not to skate. Interesting event, you race with your two teammates in a row against the other team, take turns being breaking the way.

Wow, last lap, U.S. looking ragged but going for it, lead just over half-a-second, and they upset the Dutch!!! Wow, that's insane. Wonder why Shani didn't skate, the Dutch superstar, same one whose coach cost him a medal, yelling at him afterwards.

Back to Ohno's semifinals. That was exciting. Apolo's dad says it's gonna be just like a final, tough competition from two South Koreans; he's gotta start 4th too.

Canadian Charles Hamelin in the first semi, his girlfriend won a medal earlier. He looks like a lumberjack. Two Canadians in this one, Olivier Jean too. Canada now 1-2, South Korean in third; then at the end the South Korean takes advantage of a "massive" mistake by Jean to sneak in and grab second, Canadian may have kicked a block, skated wide....

They do a feature on Apolo and the South Koreans, he says they've been at the forefront of training for many years. He's very honest and up-front about how hard they work, it's cool. Starts third off the first turn, wow, what an amazing race, skater in front of Apolo wipes out, he goes around, then at the end accelerates and wins. Has that look of glee when he's competing that the best athletes always do.

Back to women's semis, Canadian and Zhou Yong. She and South Korean are 1-2, controlling the race, and they just pull away easily, crowd response is tepid. Second semis, Reutter and Wang. Third false start, you have to be still when the gun goes off. Reutter gets in front, Wang right behind her, then gets passed, announcer keeps saying she needs to pass back but isn't able to. Weird race, never seem to be all-out, Reutter able to fight off the Canadian at the end.

Joannie Rochette interview is next; hmmm, no interview with the actual champ, Kim Yu-Na? It's a great interview though, Bob Costas gives her the time and space to speak, he's a total pro. She's authentic and it's totally touching when she talks about her dad, and how they're going to cope afterwards, together. She says at the end her mom wanted her to learn English, forced her to "watch Scooby-Doo in English." What a great interview.

They should take a tape of this and show it to every TV sports executive -- this is why you hire the Bob Costases, this is the difference between a journalist and a talking head.

Short Track 'B' finals up, the two South Korean and a Brit and a German. Whoah, the one of the Koreans might be hurt or something, not really racing. Other Korean wins; weird, first guy may have just been saving himself for the relay, in which case that's not cool.

And now... the main event we've all been waiting for tonight. I remember this being the single most exciting moment four years ago; Apolo starts in third, two Canadians in one position and four, South Korean in two. Whoah, he's by himself won 7 of the U.S.' 10 short track medals ever!

Here it is, baby, the big moment. Crowd roars, quiets down gradually. Oooh, starts fourth.... Not a great race, he's in fourth the entire time. Oh no, he might be penalized, he finishes second, but it looks like he pushed a Canadian guy down, South Korean guy goes down on his own. Canadian Hamelin wins, crowd is going crazy. What a wild finish. Oh, and the Canadian guy who won looks like he pushed the South Korean a little!

Oh no, Ohno is disqualified, Canada gets gold and bronze. Ugh. They call Ohno's, but not Hamelin's?! That's stupid.

Back to women's slalom, Schlepper up; does her trademark lion's roar, in 9th. She doesn't ski with abandon, then gets in trouble toward the bottom and is pretty much out of it. "Oh, Schlepp..." says Vonna at the bottom, it apparently was a spot her coach had specifically warned her about.

Whoo, in an interview afterwards Ohno says he didn't think he should've been DQed, says the ref was Canadian, but adds with a smile he needed to have been faster. He's really good; gets his point across without looking like a jerk.

Riesch sis the younger, just motoring down the course, and misses a gate, is out right near the end. Vonn's reaction is priceless, a shriek, and "Susieeeee." She's sobbing on the snow.

Man, Schild up, just attacking, announcer has a good line, "her legs are at a rock concert and her upper body's at the opera." Nice, into first by almost a second, a really nice race.

Two racers left, Zahrobska first, Tim Ryan's partner really is very informative. Losing speed, oddly looks very slow, like she's tired. Into second, celebrates. Maria up last, Lindsey cheering her on, along with her folks. She is silky smooth, just looks better; a bit of trouble, pulls it back; and she wins! .43 seconds, fall to the ground in ecstasy, family goes nuts, and where's Lindsey?! Odd, NBC doesn't show her until well after, she's just clapping at the point. A screw-up. If you're gonna build up the friendship, you need to show that moment. No replay, either. Big, long hug between them a the end, two elite competitors sharing a great moment.

She says afterwards she normally "can't do this good" under these conditions. Then a huge hug for her crying sister afterwards; will be interesting to watch them in Sochi.

Women's 1000M short track finals, Reutter going for gold; U.S. hasn't won an individual women's medal in short track since 1994. Two great Chinese skaters; no country's ever swept all four short track events in the same Games, China trying to make history. And a South Korean. Reutter really being agressive, in fourth halfway through, then moves into second, second Chinese well back. In second, last lap, South Korean coming, Reutter finishes second! Even had a shot at the very end, but Wang Mang just too great, now most-decorated female ever. Reutter is totally in tears with flag, Chinese proud with their flag too.

And now, the men's 5000M relay final, 20 minutes after the 500M final. All the heavyweights -- U.S., South Korea, Canada, China, and then France. Extra team out there, gonna be crazy. J.R. Ceslki, Travis Jayner and Jordan Malone, with Apolo the anchor. U.S. starts last though, a million laps in this thing to move up.

Getting exciting, Koreans trying to move up, U.S. a bit farther back now, off top three. 25 laps to go. This is totally exciting. France now far back; Canada moves back out front, China, Koreans, U.S. We're consistently off the top three. Canada is really stretching it out, U.S. gap is increasing. 3 laps left, let's see what Ohno does, final 2 laps. Canada wins, Koreans second, U.S. gets bronze. 8th medal for Ohno.

Our 34th medal of the games, ties most-ever for us; Canada now has 10 golds, two more than us. We're guaranteed two more medals tomorrow, in speedskating pursuit and hockey, so we'll tie Germany's record of 36 medals in one games (Salt Lake) and with Bode Miller skiing and the bobsled guys going, could break it.

Back to bobsled to finish the night, U.S. sled #2. Still no mention of domestic violence. Oooh, sled crashes, it's over for them. Everyone seems okay.

Germany 2, decent run, second to Switzerland. Germany 1 now, sets a start record. They're so smooth, clean lines. Oooh, hits the wall a bit, recovers, decent run. Canada 1 next, currently in second. Not a great run, moving around quite a bit; Germans almost crashed though so they don't make that mistake, in first.

USA 1 finishes out the night. Good start, looks pretty clean; smoking fast, .40 ahead, with another track record. Nice; good racing by Steve Holcomb.

Bob Costas returns to talk about the medals table again, adding that the U.S. has a shot at the overall record. I forgot that the U.S. women's speedskaters also have a shot at a medal, in the team pursuit semis after a huge upset of Canada.

NBC closes with a tribute to Ohno through the years, it's awesome, holds up 8 with the relay team, then hugs his dad.