Speed skating, Moguls -- and Pairs skating

7:00 pm -- Women's speed skating 3,000M
Big favorite Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic goes off in the first pairing they're showing. With Dan Jansen, one of my favorite commentators, not just because of his epic personal story, but because he really knows his stuff obviously and communicates it to us. Say she has the best ability to skate consistent lap times of all the females he's seen. Paired with Hozumi of Japan.

Blows into the finish, speeds it up, 32:01, Dan goes "wow... what a fantastic last lap." Weirdly, an American is currently in third, but they didn't show her. I know it's early, but why not kick off the coverage with an American?!

Canadian Kristina Groves has a good shot at a medal, paired with a German, Stephanie Beckert, who's a contender. Donald Sutherland hanging out in the stands. Home ice advantage definitely a plus here, but maybe more so in the shorter distances. Dan thinks one of these two could steal the gold. I love watching the times for these things, so far both are slightly below the Czech at the first lap. With three laps left, both have totally fallen off, can visibly see them tiring. The crowd is really carrying her as she comes toward the end, German turns it on, both are speeding it up, Groves is in bronze position.

Ireen Wust of the Netherlands, defending champ; with another German are the final two pairs. Both are ahead of her pace after the first lap, Jansen says a bit of concern for the Czech but not much. Dutch looks really smooth, now she's dying, the German sneaks ahead of her but just into fourth. So Czech, German, Canadian, crowd goes wild; Sablikova does too, goes running out with her flag, pure joy.

7:30 -- Pairs short
They feature the favorites from China, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, who when they started were part of a bad Chinese team that's now a powerhouse, of course. He ruptured his Achilles right before Torino.

Interesting, NBC is actually playing this up as a love story on Valentine's Day. They should be past their skating prime, Tom Hammond says, but aren't. They're a great couple, he says if they won't win there are no regrets, she says, in English, "we skated with heart."

Ah, the 'real' Olympics are about to begin, with ice skating. They gotta go first; fist bump as they go out on Chinese new year. He's in grey with pink stripes, she's in reddish dress; Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever." Beautiful opening... then he tosses her effortlessly, they just look like winners. It's a perfect program, Scott Hamilton just laughs afterwards. "So late in their career, and to skate like that -- it's a miracle," Hamilton says.

Scoring system is really unreliable though, cautions Hammond. Sandra Bezic says some of their jumps were the best she's seen; and they get a 76.66, the highest ever in an international performance!

7:47 -- Men's luge final run
Russian Demtschienko up first, moves to top of leaderboard with only three left to go with a good lower run, just ahead of a German. Armin Zoeggeler next, hasn't had a great Olympics so far. Hits the wall a couple of times, commentators are shocked; idiot commentators says he can't do it, but he does beat the Russian, a bronze at least.

German David Moeller next, big lead over Zoeggeler; maintains it to stay in line for silver, .6 seconds ahead. Felix Loch last, gold is his to grab. So quiet and still, just looks better than anyone else; dominant, .6 ahead of his teammate, "absolutely top to bottom dominating performance."

8:00 -- Pairs
Americans Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett, she's in bright red he's all black. Slight bobble on the opening move but pretty good; she turns her triple toe loop into a double. They definitely set up for their elements, not as smooth as the Chinese. So far it's a good performance, nothing to stand up and shout about though. Second part is better, like they're more relaxed now.

Big hand from the crowd at the end. Goal was top eight here, we'll see. Hamilton says he's never seen them miss an element like that, "great accomplishment to be here" -- and they're the U.S. champs! Coach is all positive to them. It really is a super-difficult sport; "first of probably many Olympics" Sandra says, they've only
been paired up since the spring of 2008.

8:15 -- Men's moguls qualifiers
They dwell on Jenn Heil's disappointing silver for Canada yesterday; oh well, it's why the Olympics are so great, the stories aren't manufactured, they're real.

From 30 to the top 20 for the finals. World champ Patrick Deneen of the U.S. up first, totally motoring, knees tight, huge jump, a bit off on the landing; 24.39 -- weird, they're not totally hyping him, I mean, they start with a look back at Heil and the promos have been about the Aussie who won last time out. 23.35 the fastest so far.

Michael Morse next, excels on the turns not the jumps; pretty good first jump. Huge second jump; didn't look as perfect as Patrick but good. 26.06. Hard to keep the upper body over the feet, Johnny Mosley says, he did it well.

Bryon Wilson, US's best jumper -- gymnastics background. Starts a bit tentative, good first jump but backed off his practiced one; an amazingly huuuge second jump, 24.01 too. Wow. "More in the bag" Johnny says. "That was a great run," still in second.

Alexandre Bilodeau of Canada, big hand of course. Not quite all-out on the middle, big last jump, nice run. 24.22; runs into second.

American Nate Roberts next, this is all about getting all the Americans into the finals, Johnny says he needs to not get too wild in the middle; he seems a
bit awkward, not a great first jump but does well in middle, and a huuuuge last jump, 24.23.

Australia Dale Begg-Smith, born in Vancouver originally. Wow, looks like a total pro, goes huuge on the second jump, sits down a bit on the bottom 24.65. Not a great performance though, Johnny tells us.

Hannah Kearney gets interviewed by Bob, she's straightforward and steely -- said she came to win, not to let Jen win on her home court. Says she feels terrible that Jen's great silver has been tainted by the pressure to win Canada's first home soil gold. She's totally honest, I really like her; talks about how crushed she was after Torino. Strong mentally. Has a bit of the drama in her, as she takes us through the run. This is really a great interview; turns out her mom was Canadian, she has "huge respect" for the country, looking forward to watching ice skating and hockey. Huge Red Sox fan, had Jacoby Ellsbury t-shirt on underneath at the Opening.


8:45 -- Pairs
Vera Barizova and Yuri Larionov from Russia, she's in pale pink, he's in black; messes up the first element, out of unision; music is great, Dr. Zhivagoish quality to it.
They're so young, could be really good -- she has a really delicate, classic quality to her, despite her struggles with jumping.
Crowd is kindof in love with them, despite their early struggle. Lines are really precise and elegant. End slightly out of synch too.

Americans Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig; like a lot of other skaters he's had to work a lot of odd jobs to make ends meet, was a volunteer at Salt Lake City. His Asian American partner, who's Filipino, is involved with another of the American pairs; in a pinkish redish dress, he's in a blue shirt, black pants. Nice piano music, again nobody tells us what it is. Nice side-by-sides; they look less like a unit than the Russians, whose scores we never got. She's really good, vibrant with a big smile. Nice performance, "as good as they could've hoped for," Sandra says -- she's just beaming at the end, big applause. Into second, Sandra says "wow," crowd goes wild. Her mom's crying, it's really cool, "oh my god" says his wife.

Annabelle Langlois and Cody Hay of Canada next, both in turquoise. Beautiful opening; they're very quiet and still on the ice. Second move is downgraded to a double. Huge throw, you can tell they're a bit nervous but gaining confidence. Scores are met with big cheers, into second; Scott goes, "wow." Everyone's waaaay behind the Chinese at the moment.

9:10 -- Men's moguls finals
Michael Morse up first, huge first jump, a few mistakes; big second too, almost sits down; 24.45 -- Johnny says you can't make these mistakes and get on the podium.

Nate Roberts next, in 7th now; looks totally normal so far, then screws up -- and is out of it, gets back in to finish, going way too fast. Oh well. Patrick Deneen next, is just motoring through the middle, a mistake, then falls, crashes into the sign, and is out. Ouch! May very well be a night without any medals for the U.S.; one guy left in moguls.

Are you kidding, NBC?! Canadian Jason Marquis does great, into first, and we missed it?! Another Canadian sitting in second right now. Third Canadian goes, not as great Johnny tells us, into 6th. Jesper Bjoernlund of Sweden, who we haven't seen yet. Very controlled but not fast, huge second jump, and he's slow at the finish.

Dale Begg-Smith, big first jump, huuuge second jump, 23.72, blistering time, "smoking fast run." Shoves into first. Bryon Wilson up, tough act to follow; nails huge first trick, announcers say it's a great jump; not as fast as the Aussie -- 24.0 at the end, 23.10 the fastest. Has a shot at silver, I'd say. Into second! big celebration from him and the crowd. Two competitors left...

Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau up, one more after him, he's going soooo fast down the middle; huge second, 23.17; totally impressive! His brother has cerebal palsy, what a great story. Nice; I think he'll be first. He's in first, crowd goes nuts.

Last one, Frenchie, Guilbaut Colas; secretly hoping he falls, although France has had a heck of a day. Doesn't have the jumps, gonna have to go faaaaast. Not looking great -- but an unbelievable 22.90 time! Well, no medal for the U.S.; let's see if Canada can hold on for gold. Misses the grab on the eggroll jump, Johnny says that could be the difference. Whoah, in 6th! Holy cow, and the drought is over for Canada, the country goes nuts.

And another medal for the U.S.! Six total now. Bilodeau is so happy afterwards, thanks everyone. Talks about his brother, he learned, "don't complain, my brother never complains, he has every right to complain."

They profile Apolo Anton Ohno; he's probably my favorite individual athlete here. 20 pounds lighter than in Torino; just seems like a great guy.

10:00 -- Pairs
Lithe Russians again, Oleg Mukhortova and Trankov and apparently they are anything but a couple off the ice, have worked with a sports psychologist on their relationship. Nice classical music; both in pastels, pinkish and brownish. He falls, that's pretty much it for them, everyone else has been perfect. It's a hard sport; either one can screw it up, and when they do, you just have to power through it, and try not to think about it -- or hate the other person. Too bad about the fall, I liked them afterwards. He's got his face in his hands, is crying; she just skates away from him, before coming back for their second bow.

Wow, they look depressed at the kiss and cry, no talking or anything. Now she hugs him, his eyes are still wide in shock like Frodo; and... they're still in 3rd! Wow, ahead of the Americans. Sandra says she's surprised, Scott quietly adds, "me too."

Volosozhar and Morozov from Ukraine, in matching electric blue outfits. Oh, he touches down; his weakest element. Hmm, sounds goes out on NBC's broadcast, that's not good. Huge throws, maybe it's not all over if you go by the Russians. Weird technoish music; they're kind of mesmerizing to watch, interesting costumes. Scott flat-out says he holds them back, not nearly as strong a skater as she is. He's dejected at the end. Sandra says not much life and energy the rest of the way. Hmm, at break, Visa already has up a commercial with Morgan Freeman, congratulating Johnny Spillane for his silver.

Kavaguti and Smirnov, with the famous short Russian coach, Tamara Moskvina, she faxed her when she was 16 saying she wanted to be coached by her. She's Japanese originally. Beautiful Dreamer, she's in white, he's in black. I like them right away. Tom says some in Japan called her a traitor, Sandra gently later says there is no figure skating legacy in Japan, she had to make this move to follow her dream. I agree, even though the reigning ladies singles champ is Japanese.... They're really classic and elegant, Hamilton sighs at the niceness of their routine so far, as they land their jumps. She's got a mouth agape elfin quality to her. Sandra says "Tamara is such a brilliant and calculating coach," everything is pre-planned. Totally in synch, it lacks something though that would make me really want to cheer, maybe we'll see it in the long. They'll be in second; Sandra says not nearly the level of Shen and Zhao.

"How many people actually defect to Russia," Hamilton says. Tamara is happy with them; she's totally tiny. "Careful and calculated performance," Sandra says. This really is the A announcing team here; Hammond does what he should, which is stay out of the way; Sandra and Scott are great together, insightful yet different.

He kisses Tamara's hand, she calls out greetings in both Russian and Japanese; and they're into second place, personal bests, just 2.5 points out of first. Americans now down in fifth. Last group comes out, crowd roars.

Costas talks about Spillane's silver, adds that it was the closest finish ever in Nordic Combined; interesting, don't remember the announcers at the time saying that.

Dick Button talks about the pairs, says the Chinese were "superb," and "stunningly marvelous," decries that they were first and the audience was still coming in. Ha, idiots who came late really missed out. Button says pairs is the hardest of the skating event, you have to master it as well as the skating; mentions the tough factor of hoping your partner maintains his/her interest, he's obviously talking about in years of competing not during the actual competition itself, Costas says, "let's hope they maintain it, it's the Olympics after all."

Canadians next, Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison; very dramatic music, he's in black and silver, she too; they almost hit the camera along the side, and she falls on a jump. Sandra says sometimes it's like the ice becomes heavy, Scott says "when you make a mistake, sometimes it takes the will out." Holy cow, they still get third place; Scott and Sandra are both speechless, the two skaters are as well.

Chinese Pang and Tong in blue, "truly special" when the music starts Scott says, "most improved pair" says Sandra as she praises their program; perfect jumps during a lull in the music, very dramatic. I like them a lot. Strong, effortless so far. Nice, huge throw; audience is totally watching, very quiet. They're miles ahead of the other recent competitors; you just have to keep watching them; applause starts even before they're totally finished. "Seemless, beautifully delivered," says Scott; "free and joyful," says Sandra. Into third, awesome.

Final Chinese pairs, Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, silver in Torino despite the fall Visa just showed us. In white and black, not great costumes. Very fast though, "tend to make sloppy mistakes, but they have huge throws," says Sandra. They're good, not magical like the others. Should be in fourth; they're good, not electric. Sandra makes a good point, they get the job done, but "they don't present their work as if it were special." Scott echoes, not the passion you see with the others. Indeed, into fourth.

Final pair are the Germans, dressed like clowns, she in white he in black, Savchenko and Szolkowy; "Send in the Clowns." Very theatrical, huge triple flip throw opens, they nail their jumps; wow, this could be magical, pleasing music, they've struggled all year, may be back. I like watching them, good timing, audience loving it, they stop their rotations on a dime. Sandra points out the footwork is really slow, doesn't cover much ice; audience really likes it though. Third, I predict.

Wow, and they jump into second; top three are so bunched up, Russian coach has gotta be furious. The graphic NBC shows for the standings has all the flags screwed up; whoops!

11:00 -- Medal ceremony for Hannah Kearney
Chris Collinsworth is totally excited for Hannah to get her moguls medal; this is pretty cool. Her teammate Shannon is totally crying as the anthem starts, she got bronze. Huge smiles from both of them as the anthem ends, it's a great moment. And that's it for tonight.... what a great day of Olympics watching.