Ladies figure skating; and Nordic combined

Nordic Combined, Large Hill
Big night for NBC with the ladies figure skating long program, so they start with a Turkish skater to get us in the mood, then of course kicks to Nordic Combined. U.S. has broken its historic record of futility in this discipline at this Olympics, oddly they don't recap the Americans for us at the start.

Todd Lodwick third up, an okay jump. Bill Demong next, the wind's too much in his favor, so he's gotta wait more. Back from break, Demong did fine; weather's really playing a role, getting worse for the best in the world. Americans among top ten as we go to the 10K cross-country race, entirely due to the luck of the draw in this case.

Women's Giant Slalom NBC's playing up Julia Mancuso's drama tale, which I'm sick of already -- she had to halt her run after teammate Lindsey Vonn crashed ahead of her, which is something that happens. She was fading and losing time even before the restart.

Second of two runs, she's going after it early, dedicated the race to a friend who died last night. Commentator says she hasn't seen this kind of skiing from her in a couple of years -- yup, that's why it was no biggie that she had to restart yesterday.

Sarah Schleper of the U.S. next, 4th team, became a mother in between; pays her own way along with her kid and husband, live in Austria during the season to save costs -- what a better story, unfortunately only in fourth, Julia in first....

As the better skiers come up, Mancuso gest pushed down; Suter, Rebensburg, then Elisabeth Goergl of Austria, who like the Austrian team always does is just going all out. Trailing the German Rebensburg at the top, Tim Ryan's not a great announcer, gives us little additional information -- and she's into third, he finds out as we do. Julia's winds up 8th, they show her crying again, go over again her two runs yesterday, dance around the obvious, she wasn't fast enough to win or medal either way. I really hate these manufactured U.S. dramas NBC specializes in, there are so many genuine stories -- do a follow-up on the Dutch speedskater whose coach's cost him not just a gold, but a world record on a notoriously slow course no less!

Canadian woman beat the U.S., again, for gold in hockey, NBC tells us, as they go back to figure skating.

After a while, back to Nordic Combined. Spillane, Demong and an Austrian way out in front with less than a kilometer to go, U.S. is ready to make history and win its first gold in this thing. Demong takes off, Spillane follows, and they're just exploding, Gruber left behind. Wow! Demong is just destroying the other two, here comes Spillane though. USA! USA! Demong is gonna do it; Spillane few seconds behind, and we're gold and silver! Drought is over, Spillane's 3rd silver in the 3 Nordic events. No Norwegians in sight.

Al Trautwig is, as ever, letter-perfect with the call; partner Chad Salmela is appropriately informative, they might be my favorite announcers at the games. What a great moment, glad NBC showcased it, 10:42 pm EST.

Olympics' crowning moment: Ladies figure skatingUnbelievable storylines in this one, building on an epic short program. U.S. has a looong medals streak in this event dating back to the 60s, may be snapped tonight.

Racheal Flatts was actually up late last night doing homework; how awesome. Everyone looks good in warmups, Scott tells us; this is gonna be one of those nights where multiple people will skate gold-worthy performances, I think.

Flatts up first, in road, looks very young -- but so did Tara Lipinski.... Nails her first jump, then her next two; totally nails her triple lutz, and she's past her toughest jump Scott tells us. Big smile, looks a bit clunky still and doesn't have the speed of the top, all too clearly choreographed and telegraphed. But she's clean so far; great music choice, she's just exulting, is landing her jumps so cleanly, big and effortless; "she is really doing it" says Sandra, nails her last jump.

Man, judges are going to have to leave room, but what a great start! Crowd goes wild, she's totally gleeful, and man, this is gonna be great.... Oooh, a low score, 117.85, only into second; Scott says the judge in charge of determining whether she made full rotations and things like that is being strict.

Miki Ando of Japan, in a garish green Egyptianish outfit, being Cleopatra. Lots of arm movements and stuff; doubles a triple to start, she just looks nervous and stiff. Hitting the jumps though. Nice long lines; not crazy about her for whatever reason, a bit self-indulgent as Simon Cowell would say. Easily hitting jumps though; second part is like more Indianish, she's just mixing everything. Scott says slow, not her usual energy; Sandra says not engaged in it, just going through the motions.

I think she was just petrified, at the end it's pure relief for her, and then a huge smile. Feel bad for her.... "Didn't feel an attack," says Scott. Jumps into first, though.

Kim Yu-Na on the ice for warm-up, Scott says his heart just started beating faster. In classic blue, has a regal look to her; coached by Canadian Brian Orser. She's seductive as hell, looks right at you. Hits her opening triples, next jump, piano music in the background, nice easy jumps, big smiles, and we're off! She looks so delicate and fragile, but is totally determined and precise. Feels like she's skating for us, hits her hardest combination, then vamps it up a bit. Just cruising now, having fun; this is a gold-worthy performance.

"Oh my goodness, this is glorious, it's one of the greatest Olympic performances I have ever seen," Sandra bursts out with right before she ends. She's so seductive, is smiling and in tears, crowd goes wild. "Wonderful combination of shyness with this fire, this competitive ability," says Sandra. They play up the Orser angle a bit, as if this is his gold medal.

Still gasping over in the kiss and cry, Sandra likes how during the performance she took moments to look into the crowd, feel the music; and... 150.06, destroying the old record, as Scott had said, "they're going to be huge."

Mao Asada up next, in red top and black skirt. Building's still abuzz of course. Could be epic.... Oooooh, very martial music; nails a triple axel, making history as the first woman to hit two in one competition; then nails another, Scott's shouting. Man, what a shoot-out.... She is powerful, totally fits the music, in some ways this is even more moving than Kim's. She's totally like a warrior; crowd is just roaring. Music is stirring, slight fumble on one of the jumps, but no mater, then a couple totally random errors on easy transitions. "What she has done is extraordinary," Sandra says. Fire and ice tonight, looks like ice has won, but man, fire rocked.

Big smile for her, not a huge ovation, actually, which is odd. Into second, but pretty far behind, of course. Next, Joannie Rochette, the Canadian who skated a day after her mom died. In turquoise; she's fighting for bronze, but what a story. Nails her openings; man, none of these final women have missed a jump! Then, she does, a step out. Nails her next one then; huge applause from the crowd. Another bobble, no fairy tale here but a great skate nevertheless.

Just a huge ovation for her at the end, Scott's choking up, breaks off mid-sentence a few times. Stays in third place, pretty darn close to silver, which is a bit ridiculous, but oh well.

16-year-old Mirai Nagasu of the U.S. closes the evening, to Carmen in red and black. Gets right to it, nice and easy jumps, Scott's chuckling and off we go again, it's really been an unbelievable night already. My god, huge jumps and great landings. Hmmmm.... Looks like such a composed pro, just wiped all that other stuff away. Amaaaazing spin has the crowd into it; she is gonna be great, and tonight is already world-class. Totally elegant and fearless, a natural. Looks like she's really enjoying her night, her jumps are just effortless. Man, she's won the crowd too. This is the definition of crowd-pleasing; huge smile at the end, crowd goes wild, and man, I think she deserves bronze!!!

She was in sixth coming in, so it'd have to be quite a jump; but that was the third-best program we saw tonight. Sandra says her program wasn't as sophisticated as the Canadians', or the depth; prob true, but that she's even in the discussion... and sure enough, she finishes fourth just two points back, is thrilled, as Scott says, everybody's happy.

Yeah, not sure when we've ever seen such an excellent night of skating; everyone did great, it was totally thrilling.

Great medal ceremony even; Kim has a plastic face like Audrey Hepburn, she's effortlessly charming. Tom Hammond in particular likes to keep talking about Asian athletes as feeling pressure and relief when they win; it's just as bad as talking about the natural skills of black athletes all the time, a bit silly.

Kim does look like the queen, like it's her natural place to be at the top of the podium. Confident but also gracious, she just keeps smiling. What a huge Olympics for the South Koreans, their first-ever medal in figure skating is the most important one there is. And she's just 19.... Looks very cat-like, singing along to her anthem, tearing up at the end but fiercely proud.

Back to back champs from Asia now; shifting of the guard, for sure. Wow, Hammond claims Joannie stole our hearts, but Kim won -- oh, really? Whose hearts? Joannie's story was great, but ultimately, I think everyone who watched tonight remember Kim and Asada.

Medals update: U.S. has 32, Germany 26, Norway 19. Most we ever had was 34 in Salt Lake; only time we ever topped the medals race was 1932!