Canada Defeats US in Latest Chapter of Olympic Women’s Hockey Rivalry

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Canada and the United States have met in the gold medal game at each of the seven Winter Olympics that women’s ice hockey has been contested, dating back to the 1998 Nagano Games. Canada, after losing to the US in the gold medal final at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and failing to reach the final of the 2019 World Championship, experienced a redemption of sorts as it defeated the US 3-2 in the final of the 2022 Beijing Games. The Canadian women have now won five of the seven Olympic gold medals in women’s ice hockey.

The US ended Canada’s run of four consecutive gold medals in 2018 with a 3-2 shootout victory. After another disappointing result the following year at the 2019 World Championships, Canadian general manager Gina Kingsbury distributed a clock to each player on the team with a countdown displaying the exact seconds until the start of the 2022 Beijing Games. Canada won the 2021 World Championships in August and concluded its redemption tour with a 3-2 victory over the US in Beijing to win its first Olympic gold medal since 2014.

Marie-Philip Poulin led the charge offensively for Canada, which had previously defeated the Americans in the round robin and outscored its opposition 57-10 through its first seven games of the tournament. Poulin scored two goals, including the game-winner, to cement her legacy as Canada’s “Captain Clutch.” Poulin has scored a combined seven goals through four Olympic finals. She scored the overtime winner against the US in 2014 and scored both of Canada’s goals in its 2-0 victory over the Americans in the 2010 Olympic final. She’s the only player (male or female) in Olympic history to score in four Olympic gold medal games.

Canada jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the gold medal game, but the Americans fought back to make it close and ultimately outshot Canada 40-21. Hilary Knight cut the US’ deficit to two goals with a short-handed goal in the second period and Amanda Kessel added a power-play goal with a dozen seconds left in the game to close the gap to one. Canadian goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 38 of the 40 shots she faced to earn the victory.

In addition to the impressive play of Poulin and Desbiens, Canada received contributions from players throughout its lineup. The team scored a record 57 goals in the tournament, surpassing their previous record of 44 in 2010. Sarah Nurse, the first Black woman to win an ice hockey Olympic gold medal, had one goal and one assist in the final and led all players in tournament scoring with 18 points. She now holds the record for most points in a single tournament.

Brianne Jenner, who played on a line with Poulin and Nurse, led all players in goals in the tournament with nine and was named MVP. Canadian defensive player Claire Thompson, meanwhile, scored three goals and added 10 assists to lead all defenders in scoring.

Canada reached the final after recording an 11-0 victory over Sweden and 10-3 win over Switzerland in the quarter-final and semifinal, respectively. The Americans scored 4-1 victories over both the Czech Republic and Finland to advance to the gold medal game. Finland defeated Switzerland 4-0 in the bronze medal game.

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Americans Who Won Medals in Ski and Snowboard Events at Beijing 2022

The United States had its best showing at a Winter Olympics since 2006 at the 2022 Beijing Games. Team USA won 24 medals, including eight gold, and finished fourth on the Olympic medal table behind Norway, Germany, and the People’s Republic of China. American athletes won 14 medals in ski and snowboard events at the Games.

Surprisingly, alpine ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin didn’t contribute to Team USA’s medal count. A three-time Olympic medalist and 73-time winner on the World Cup stage, Shiffrin was disqualified from three of the five individual events in which she participated and narrowly missed out on a bronze medal on the final day of competition in the mixed team parallel. Ryan Cochran-Siegle was the lone American to win a medal in the 30 individual alpine skiing events.

Alex Hall and Nick Goepper won gold and silver, respectively, in the men’s slopestyle skiing event on February 16. Hall, who finished 16th in the event at the Pyeongchang Games in 2018, scored an impressive 90.01 in his first run and remained in first place through the duration of the event. Goepper won his third Olympic medal with his second-place finish.

Team USA also won a pair of medals in aerials skiing. The team of Ashley Caldwell, Christopher Lillis, and Justin Schoenefeld won the gold medal in the mixed team aerials on February 10. The victory was notable not only because it was the Olympic debut of the event, but also because it was the first aerials medal for the US since Jeret Peterson won a silver medal in the men’s event in 2010.

Lillis received the highest individual score of all competitors in the event for his double full-full-double full, and Schoenefeld secured the gold for the Americans by executing a clean back double full-full-full. Megan Nick added a second medal for Team USA in aerials with a third-place finish in the women’s individual event.

David Wise and Alex Ferreira added to the Americans’ medal count on February 19 with a silver and bronze medal, respectively, in men’s skiing halfpipe. Wise, who won gold in the event in each of the past two Winter Olympics, finished with a score of 90.75 in the event. He was 2.25 points back of Olympic champion Nico Porteous of New Zealand. Ferreira, who won silver in 2018, settled for bronze.

Jessie Diggins won a pair of medals in cross country skiing. The American won bronze in the women’s sprint even on February 8, and won a silver in the women’s 30-kilometer mass start on the final day of competition. Colby Stevenson won silver in the men’s big air event and Jaelin Kauf won silver in women’s moguls.

Julia Marino won Team USA its first snowboard medal in the slopestyle event on February 6. It was a redemption of sorts for Marino, who finished 11th in the event four years prior. Lindsey Jacobellis won gold three days later in the women’s snowboard cross. Jacobellis also redeemed a past performance at the Olympics. The 36-year-old cost herself a gold medal at the 2006 Turin Games by showboating near the finish. She won a second gold medal at the Beijing Games with teammate Nick Baumgartner in the debuting mixed team snowboard cross event.

Finally, Chloe Kim won gold in the women’s snowboarding halfpipe on February 10. Kim, who also won gold in 2018, is the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic snowboard halfpipe titles.

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The Process for Obtaining a Class A Skydiving License

The adventure sport of skydiving, which involves jumping from an airplane and deploying a parachute on the way down, provides a rush of adrenaline and an unparalleled perspective of the earth’s surface. When individuals acquire a taste for skydiving, they often pursue a certification, allowing them to jump alone. Due to the potential risks, obtaining a skydiving license involves multiple steps.

The most common certification process involves accelerated freefall (AFF), an industry training standard nationwide. While some skydiving schools offer instructor-assisted deployment (IAD) training, this involves lower jumps and does not offer true freefall potential until around the sixth jump. This type of training is much less common than AFF.

Before embarking on a skydiving course, an individual might consider going on a tandem jump, which can be done with no previous training or experience. During a tandem jump, an individual will partner with an instructor who has undergone rigorous training that likely includes 500 jumps and multiple hours of freefall time. The pre-flight training generally consists of an orientation, some equipment briefing, and a description of what to expect during landing.

A tandem dive before beginning a course can ensure the person wants to pursue certification. That first experience is enough for some jumpers, and they will know this before investing their time and money in a full course. For other people, a tandem jump will only whet their appetite for more. Those individuals can then enroll in a certification course, which likely comprises four to six hours of classroom learning.

During academic training, students learn how to operate skydiving equipment and how to troubleshoot when problems arise. Then, they participate in assisted jumps supervised by an instructor certified through an agency such as the United States Parachute Association (USPA). During an accelerated freefall (AFF) dive course, students practice modern procedures, skills, and maneuvers to ensure their safety.

In addition to packing their parachute, students learn procedures for jumping from a plane at lower altitudes. This allows them to complete dives even when aircraft issues prevent planes from flying higher. Once students have completed their instructor-assisted freefalls, they are ready to jump alone. To receive an “A” license from the USPA, students need to have 25 total dives. Once the instructor clears a student for self-supervision, they will complete the remaining 25 skydives as solo dives.

During this stage of training, students continue practicing the basic flying skills they have learned, this time without the assistance of instructors. Students will plan and execute their dives, demonstrating confidence and competence with skills, equipment, and landing. Once they have completed at least 25 skydives, students must demonstrate various freefall skills and maneuvers on a final “check dive” and pass a final written exam.

An ”A” license with the USPA qualifies skydivers to skydive at any USPA affiliate dropzone around the world. Additionally, they can begin skydiving with friends and even practice building mid-air formations. To enroll in an AFF skydiving certification course, individuals must be at least 18 years old and weigh less than 225 pounds.

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