USA Earns Silver at Winter Youth Olympic Games

February 17, 2016 - 8:26am -- Doug Potter

Team USA captured the silver medal today in mixed team competition at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

It is the first team medal for the U.S. at this event. Team USA’s Luc Violette (Lake Stevens, Wash.), Cora Farrell (Fairbanks, Alaska), Ben Richardson (Issaquah, Wash.), and Cait Flannery (Mankato, Minn.) finished with an 8-2 record after today’s 10-4 loss to Canada’s Mary Fay rink in the gold-medal game at Lillehammer Curling Hall. The team is coached by Tom Violette (Lake Stevens, Wash.).

“This silver medal means the world to us. We are so happy being on the podium representing our country,” said Flannery, 16.

Canada finished the team competition with a perfect 10-0 record. The runner-up finish for the U.S. is the best finish in Under 21 competition since the Americans won gold at the 2008 World Junior Championships. “This week has been amazing; I couldn’t be prouder of the team. They were really playing to their potential this week,” Violette said.

The U.S. team had an uphill battle after giving up five points in the opening end to Canada. The Americans scored two points in the second only to have Team Canada counter with two more to keep the five-point advantage. The U.S. was then held to single points with the last-rock advantage in the fourth and sixth ends as Canada secured the win.

“The first end was tough; I mean some things didn’t go in our way. If the first end had gone better I think it wouldn’t have been the same. I think we played to our potential. It was a good game,” said Richardson, 17.

The gold-medal was an upgrade from the bronze won in 2012 by Canada. The U.S. team finished fifth that year as the event debuted in Innsbruck, Austria.

“I’m really proud of the team. We are happy, because to medal and to be on the podium – is a great feeling,” Farrell said.

Switzerland defeated Russia, 11-3, to win the bronze medal. The Swiss won gold in team competition in 2012.

The U.S. team will now turn their focus to mixed doubles, which begins on Friday morning. The announcement of the team pairings will take place later today. The U.S. team will also take part in an afternoon of education and culture, a key component of the Youth Olympic Games. The athletes will be paired with a curler from another country for the mixed doubles competition, which concludes on Sunday.

stolen from http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=c25268f54c595689f237b4786&id=82e08a9...
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2016-02-16 16:25
Team USA to Play for Gold at Winter Youth Olympic Games

Luc Violette and his American teammates are going for gold after winning their semifinal match today at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

Violette (Lake Stevens, Wash.) and teammates Cora Farrell (Fairbanks, Alaska), Ben Richardson (Issaquah, Wash.), and Cait Flannery (Mankato, Minn.) got past Russia’s German Doronin rink, 8-6, at the Lillehammer Curling Hall to advance to tomorrow’s gold-medal game against Canada. The game will take place at 9 a.m. local time (midnight Pacific Time) on Wednesday.

“I feel amazing. The game was all over the place. Big shots by both teams; big misses by both teams, but we made big shots when it counted and that’s what it was,” said Violette. “There were so many turning points – every end, every shot, almost. It was back and forth, back and forth. I know I had a horrible miss in the first end, but then I made two pistols to get the deuce right back, and we had a huge steal of three in the third. But then I made a horrible shot and gave them three right back. We played really well as a team. The final will be a really good game, and I cannot wait.”

Team USA gave up an early steal to give Russia the advantage at 2-0 but answered with a deuce in the second end to even the score. The Americans then stole three points only to have Russia answer by scoring three in the fourth end to once again tie the game. The U.S. took two points in the sixth end and further put the game in control with a single steal in the seventh end to leave the Russians chasing as the number of rocks remaining dwindled.

The U.S. team (8-1) will have to battle unbeaten Canada (9-0), which defeated Switzerland, 7-5, to advance to the championship final against the Americans.

The winter edition of the Youth Olympic Games debuted in 2012. This will be the first time the U.S. is competing for the gold medal after a fifth-place finish four years ago. After the team competition concludes tomorrow, all competing athletes will be paired with a curler from another country for mixed doubles – and another shot at medals. In addition, a day of cultural learning is on tap for the athletes. The U.S. won a bronze medal in mixed doubles in 2012, marking the first medal won at this event.

Coverage of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games can be found at TeamUSA.org/Lillehammer2016 and via the World Curling Federation website at http://www.worldcurling.org/yog2016/livescores.
NBC is broadcasting a daily, hour-long highlight show of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games from Feb. 12-21. Below is the schedule for each day's show, which can be viewed on NBC Sports Network as well as the NBC Live Extra app.

Date Time
Tuesday, Feb. 16 11:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday, Feb. 17 11:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Feb. 19 12 a.m. ET
Saturday, Feb. 20 12:30 a.m. ET
Sunday, Feb. 21 1 a.m. ET
Monday, Feb. 22 2 a.m. ET

stolen from http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=c25268f54c595689f237b4786&id=0f6908b...
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2016-02-16 08:16
At Winter Youth Olympic Games, Team USA defeats Norway to move to semi-finals

Luc Violette (Lake Stevens, Wash.) and teammates Cora Farrell (Fairbanks, Alaska), Ben Richardson (Issaquah, Wash.), and Cait Flannery (Mankato, Minn.) defeated Norway in an extra end to move on to the semi-finals at 10 am Pacific Time where they will meet Russia.

Canada, Russia, Switzerland and USA have all made it into the Mixed curling semi-finals at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

The semi-finals will take place in the Curling Hall at the Stampsletta Ice Venues at 18.00 (Central European Time), this evening. Canada and Switzerland will meet, while Russia and USA are drawn together.

In their quarter-final Canada beat Turkey, 10-2 in just six ends. Canada continue their unbeaten run at this event having won all eight of their games. Turkey reached the quarter-finals on their Youth Olympic Games debut after winning a tiebreaker, 6-5, against Italy this morning.

Switzerland were the next team to come off the ice, beating Sweden 7-3, in seven ends. The Swiss had control of the game from the outset, scoring two points in the first end and subsequently in the fifth and sixth ends. Sweden concluded the game with two points in the seventh end, but conceded it at this stage.

Russia were victorious over Great Britain, 9-5. After going 3-1 ahead after the second end, Russia held the lead for the remainder of the game. Great Britain fought hard to bring the score back to within one point at the end of the seventh end, 6-5. However, the Russian vice-skip German Doronin executed a well delivered takeout to score three points and secure the win, 9-6, in the final end.

Finally, USA and Norway were locked into a close game that saw the scores level at the end of the regulation eight ends, 4-4. In the extra end USA scored the single point needed to win the game, after the Norwegian fourth, Michael Mellemseter, played his last stone slightly heavy, leaving the USA with their stone closest to the button and a stone still to play.

They Said It:

Mary Fay; skip Canada (after 10-2 win over Turkey): "We didn’t have too much pressure going into the game. It’s a different feeling going into a sudden-death game, but at the same time we just focussed on one step at a time. We know the other team will bring their A-game, but my team-mates set up some great shots and we were able to get the win. Turkey play with so much spirit and they are in every shot, sweeping their hearts out. They are new to this event and have been fantastic.”

Selina Witschonke; skip Switzerland (after 7-3 win over Sweden): "I am very happy now, and the whole team is happy. But, I'm a bit nervous too, because now we are close to winning a medal. I think we had a better start, we played well, and they had some mistakes. I am very happy!"

Nadezhda Karelina; skip Russia (after 9-5 win over Great Britain): “I’m extremely happy and full of emotions. We had to concentrate, we had to think about the victory and nothing else and each one of us had to do our tasks.”

Luc Violette; skip USA (after 5-4 win over Norway): "I feel pretty good, this is the spot that we wanted to be in. Honestly, they outplayed us at the start of the game, but we just kept grinding all game long and just took one shot at a time. We just believed that we were the better team and we just kept trying as hard as we could."

Partly stolen from http://www.worldcurling.org/yog2016/quarter-finals
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2016-02-15 16:57
Team USA qualifies for playoffs at Winter Youth Olympic Games

After earning wins today against China and Japan, Team USA with Luc Violette and Ben Richardson finished the round robin at 6-1 and advances to the semi-finals tomorrow at 5:30 am Pacific Time!
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2016-02-14 10:06
Team USA now 4-1 at Winter Youth Olympic Games

Luc Violette and the Americans are still in first place despite suffering their first round robin loss today at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

Violette (Lake Stevens, Wash.) and teammates Cora Farrell (Fairbanks, Alaska), Ben Richardson (Issaquah, Wash.), and Cait Flannery (Mankato, Minn.) lost to Russia’s German Doronin in the morning session, but bounced back to defeat New Zealand to keep pace with the top teams.

Russia, Switzerland and the U.S. are tied for first place with 4-1 records with two games remaining in the preliminary round robin.

In the evening session against New Zealand’s Matt Neilson rink, the U.S. gave up a steal of two points in the opening end but bounced back to earn an 8-3 win.

“Obviously, we were a little nervous early but we came back around and had a really good rest of the game,” Violette said. “We were playing really well as a team and we were able to come back from that. Getting pressure games and pressure situations will only help us for later on in the week.”

Next up in the round robin for Team USA is a game against China (1-4) and Japan (1-4). Coverage of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games can be found at TeamUSA.org/Lillehammer2016.

The U.S. team will complete its round robin on Monday with playoffs beginning on Tuesday. The mixed doubles portion, which will combine athletes from varying countries together to compete in three-day medal event, gets underway on Friday.

NBC is broadcasting a daily, hour-long highlight show of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games from Feb. 12-21. Below is the schedule for each day's show, which can be viewed on NBC Sports Network as well as the NBC Live Extra app.
Date Time
Monday, Feb. 15 11:30 p.m. ET
Tuesday, Feb. 16 11:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday, Feb. 17 11:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Feb. 19 12 a.m. ET
Saturday, Feb. 20 12:30 a.m. ET
Sunday, Feb. 21 1 a.m. ET
Monday, Feb. 22 2 a.m. ET

stolen from http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=c25268f54c595689f237b4786&id=46d1c8c...