Jeret "Speedy" Peterson soared through the crisp night air and pulled off his signature trick — the Hurricane, a five-twist, three-flip maneuver — and electrified the spectators. The 28-year-old from Boise tamed it, landed it and reeled in a silver medal.

South Korea's Kim Yu-na took women's figure skating to an ethereal level in winning the gold medal. She obliterated her own world record and looked like she was dancing down Broadway. Has any skater been so far ahead of her opposition since Sonja Henie commanded the sport 70-plus years ago?

Twenty four women dolled up in sequins and heavy makeup competed for Olympic figure skating medals on Thursday night, but most of them were off the ice long before things got really tense. The glamour night of the Games was billed as a two-skater showdown between elegant world champion Kim Yu-Na of South Korea and sensational jumper Mao Asada of Japan, a former world champion.

It's the third straight gold medal for Canada in women's hockey since the United States won the first in 1998. The Americans were the underdogs against a team that had beaten them seven of 10 times in the 2009-10 season.

Billy Demong's victory, along with a second-place finish by teammate Johnny Spillane, capped a historic two weeks for the U.S. in this obscure sport that combines ski jumping with cross-country skiing. The Americans come away from Vancouver with a startling four medals in three events.

The women's giant slalom was finally put to bed Thursday as Julia Mancuso tried to put a few rumors, and her emotional Olympic experience, to rest. Germany, Slovenia and Austria took the medals.

The Russian Federation has had an awful Winter Olympics, now punctuated by what Canada did to its once-mighty hockey team. With only four days of competition left in these Games, the Russian delegation has only 13 medals, three of them gold.

The United States was nowhere close to the medal race. It did, however, have three women in the finals. Lacy Schnoor was ninth, 16-year-old Ashley Caldwell, competing in her first Olympics 10th and veteran Emily Cook finished 11th.

Kim Yu-Na of South Korea leaps, floats, emotes. She combines the presence of Katarina Witt with the technique of Shizuka Arakawa. Five skaters trailing Kim will try to unseat the reigning world champion and record-holder known as "The Queen."

The Canadians hammered the Russians with every early hip check, bodycheck and face plant. They hit everyone wearing red. They threw pucks into the corners and hungrily chased after them. They were a step faster and several shades meaner than Russia.

The U.S. women's hockey team knows exactly what to expect Thursday when it plays Canada for an Olympic medal. The famously polite Canadians suddenly turn mean. Their faces turn as red as the maple leaf on the flags they wave. And the Americans suddenly become "everyone's worst enemy."

For the first time in Olympic history all three medals in a bobsled event went to North American teams. Canada's Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse took gold and Canada's only other sled, Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown, took silver. Erin Pac and Elana Meyers of the United States won bronze.

South Korea had been the metronomic constant in the race, a four-time Olympic champion seeking an unprecedented fifth straight gold in Wednesday's race — and it had one until a disqualification for impeding wiped out their effort. China took the gold.

Skiing bib-to-bib in the Olympic giant slalom, Lindsey Vonn at No. 17 and Julia Mancuso at No. 18, Vonn crashed while flying back-first into a retaining fence, broke her right pinkie finger, and it might have cost Mancuso the chance to defend her gold medal.

Do you believe in good old-fashioned teamwork and patience? The unheralded U.S. Olympic men's hockey team relied on both to finally break Switzerland and dogged goalie Jonas Hiller for a 2-0 quarterfinal win that came down to the final period.

Admit it - you've been drawn in for a few minutes or maybe a few hours by the mesmerizing sport shown nearly 24-7 on NBC's cable networks. Yes, the one with the circles and heavy rocks and awkward delivery. Curling is hot.

Joannie Rochette skated with a broken heart, but somehow she skated, because that is what her late mother would have wanted her to do. She was in third place after Tuesday night's short program, putting her in contention for a medal Thursday.

The precipitous bobsled track punished most sliders Tuesday. They at times careened down the course like a marble in a rain gutter, taking more blows than bobsleds were designed to absorb. Two crewmen in one sled slammed into the sides of the track so hard that the plastic facemasks were blasted off their helmets.

Team USA is putting its exhilarating upset of Canada behind it as the top-seeded Americans prepare to face Switzerland on Wednesday.

The United States' streak of six consecutive Alpine races with at least one medal ended Tuesday when Bode Miller bowed out early in the first run and Ted Ligety came in late for the second run, finishing in ninth place.