Sochi 2014 Olympics medal count: Norway wins Nordic combined, French sweep ski cross

Norway has been an unstoppable force whenever the cross-country skis are buckled on. After Thursday’s gold medal in Team Gundersen LH/4x5km, nine of Norway’s 11 medals are in events featuring cross-country skiing.

Thursday’s gold was closer than most, however, as the Magnus Moan-led foursome beat out the Germans -- who won the jump portion of the competition -- by a measly three hundredths of a second. Austria took bronze in the event, and nobody else was within a minute of the Norwegians. The American team came in sixth place.

The surprise finish of the day was in Men’s Ski Cross, where French athletes swept the podium. Jean Frederic Chapuis won the gold, Arnaud Bovolenta; the silver, and Jonathan Midol (who went to college in Salt Lake City, Utah) received the bronze. The sweep put the French delegation back in the running for the total medals lead, as their 14 medals has then seventh among all countries. American skier John Teller finished in 28th, out of 32 athletes.

In the bronze medal game for Women’s Ice Hockey, Sweden probably felt comfortable with a 2-0 lead heading into the third period. However, quick Swiss goals by Sarah Benz (41:18) and Phoebe Stanz (46:13) tied the score up, and two more in quick succession (Jessica Lutz at 53:43 and Alina Muller at 58:53) iced the bronze medal for Switzerland. A last-gasp goal by Pernilla Winberg (59:16) was all for naught. The women’s gold medal game, featuring the United States and Canada, is at 9:00 p.m. Sochi time and 12:00 noon ET.

Great Britain won the women’s curling bronze medal, edging out Switzerland 6-5. In the gold medal game, Canada finished out Sweden with one point in the eighth end and then two in the ninth to take the gold medal by a score of 6-3. Sweden received the silver medal for their efforts. The American women did not make it out of the round-robin round.

The full and updated medal count can be found here.