PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — UPDATE 10:03 p.m.
Shaun White wins GOLD, making this the 100th medal for Team USA in the history of Winter Olympics!
UPDATE 9:08 p.m.
Japan's snowboarder Yuto Totsuka falls during the halfpipe completion. Medics removed him on a stretcher.
ON CHANNEL 11 RIGHT NOW:
- Figure skating (Pairs' short program)
- Women's alpine skiing (Slalom, first run) (POSTPONED UNTIL FRIDAY)
- Men's snowboarding (Halfpipe gold medal final)
The U.S. women’s hockey team is off to a promising start in the 2018 Winter Olympics, beating Finland and Russia in their first two games.
Amanda Kessel -- whose last name is familiar in Pittsburgh because of her brother Phil Kessel, of the Pittsburgh Penguins -- credits her Team USA teammates with motivating her.
[ PYEONGCHANG WINTER OLYMPICS ]
“I love my teammates. It's what makes it, what makes the sport so great I think. I said I give a lot of credit to people that are in individual sports. I can't imagine the motivation that they have to have for themselves. I'm lucky I go to work every day and I get to be with my best friends,” Kessel said.
Kessel won a silver medal with Team USA in the Sochi Winter Games. She was soon sidelined for years because of a concussion she sustained just before the games.
“Being out of the sport for two years just kind of showed me how passionate I am about the game still, and how much I love it and, like, what you really do miss out on,” Kessel said.
Kessel and her teammates defeated Russia 5-0 Tuesday in their second game of the 2018 Olympics, securing a spot in the semifinals. Team USA first beat Finland 3-1.
Another Olympic athlete with a Pittsburgh connection, speed skater John Henry Kreuger, won his heat Tuesday morning in the men’s 1000m. He advances to Saturday’s prelim.