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Big Green Olympic Final Tally

The final tally: one gold, one bronze, nine terrific performances

[[{“type”:“media”,“view_mode”:“media_large”,“fid”:“”,“attributes”:{“class”:“media-image size-full wp-image-313 alignleft”,“typeof”:“foaf:Image”,“style”:“”,“width”:“150”,“height”:“68”,“title”:“rings”,“alt”:“Olympic rings”}}]]The XXI Olympic Winter Games are now history, but once again Dartmouth has distinguished itself on the international athletic stage.

Dartmouth’s medal count for the Vancouver Games includes a gold medal shared by Gillian Apps ’06 and Cherie Piper ’06, members of the Canadian women’s hockey team which beat the United States 2-0; and the surprise bronze medal won by Andrew Weibrecht ’09 in men’s Super G skiing.

The hockey gold was the third consecutive for Piper and second straight for her classmate Apps, as Canada continues dominate in the sport it originated. Weibrecht’s bronze was the first skiing medal won by a Dartmouth athlete since Liz McIntyre ’87 won silver in freestyle skiing at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway; it was the first medal by a Dartmouth man since slalom silver won by Chiharu Igaya ’57 at the 1956 Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Other performances by Dartmouth athletes at Vancouver included:

Through the Vancouver Games, Dartmouth has now sent nearly 120 athletes to the Olympics - 46 of them medalists - and Dartmouth has been represented at every Olympic Winter Games since the Games’ founding in 1924.

Sunday, February 28

Koons 46th in men’s cross country 50-k

Ben Koons ’08 finished 46th in the final outdoor event of the XXI Olympic Winter Games, the men’s 50-kilometer classical cross country race. Racing for his native New Zealand, Koons finished the winter equivalent of the marathon 16 minutes behind gold medalist Petter Northug of Norway. Finishing the race ended Koons’ Olympics on a high note: he was a medical scratch from his first race, the 15-kilometer freestyle, and was lapped in the 30-kilometer pursuit.

Friday, February 26

Wall Street Journal: The schools that rule the Winter Games

“We know which countries produce the most Winter Olympic medals,” writes the Wall Street Journal in its Feb. 26 edition. “But which colleges produce the most Olympians?” The Journal features Dartmouth - and Canadian alpine skier Patrick Biggs ’06 and Bermuda’s Olympic flag bearer Tucker Murphy ’04 - prominently in answering the question. Read more ...

Thursday, February 25

Apps, Piper earn hockey gold as Canada tops USA, 2-0

Cherie Piper ’06 won her third consecutive Olympic gold medal and classmate Gillian Apps ’06 (#10, right) earned her second straight as Canada beat the United States 2-0 in the final game of the women’s ice hockey tournament at Vancouver Thursday night. Neither Apps nor Piper scored, but each logged a shot on goal and more than 15 minutes of ice time in the game at Canada Hockey Place. For the tournament, Apps had three goals and four assists while Piper notched five goals and five assists. In addition to 2010, Piper was a member of Canada’s gold-medal-winning teams in 2002 and 2006, Apps joined Piper on the 2006 team in Torino. Read more ...

Wednesday, February 24

Weibrecht is Sports Illustrated cover model

Andrew Weibrecht ’09 is one of four US skiing medalists gracing the cover of this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. Weibrecht is joined by fellow Olympians Lindsey Vonn, Bode Miller, and Julia Mancuso. Read more in Wednesday’s edition of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise ...

Tuesday, February 23

More on Dartmouth’s Olympic tradition: US News & World Report

On the heels of USA Today’s feature Monday on the high number of Dartmouth students and alumni participating in the Olympics, US News & World Report weighs in how and why the College has become the leading Ivy League school when it comes to producing winter Olympians. Current Olympians Laura Spector ’10 and  Sara Studebaker ’07, both of whom competed in biathlon at Vancouver, are featured in the article, as is Dartmouth Director of Skiing Cami Thompson, herself a former US Ski Team member and the sister of three-time Olympic skier Leslie Thompson Hall ’85.

Ford 26th, Biggs 35th in men’s GS

Tommy Ford ’12 and Patrick Biggs ’06 finally got on the snow Tuesday at Vancouver. Ford finished 26th and Biggs, racing for his native Canada, took 35th place in the men’s giant slalom at Whistler Creekside. Ford, in his first Olympics, finished 3.32 seconds behind gold medalist Carlo Janka of Switzerland; Biggs, in his second Games, was seven seconds off the pace.

Spector and Studebaker, US relay team 17th in women’s biathlon relay

Sara Studebaker ’07 ran the leadoff leg and Laura Spector ’10 ran the anchor for the United States in Tuesday’s women’s 4x6-kilometer biathlon relay.  Studenbaker shot well, missing only one target, but the rest of the team struggled, resulting in 12 shooting penalties as the team finished 17th behind the Russian Republic. With penalties added in, the US team finished more than five minutes behind the Russians.

Monday, February 22

USA Today: Big Green at the “head of Olympics class”

USA Today has picked up on what the Dartmouth community already knows: when it comes to Olympic tradition, Dartmouth has few equals. In Monday’s edition, the paper notes the high number of participants among students and alumni - 110 athletes through the years, including nine currently at the 2010 Vancouver games, with countless other coaches and officials including British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell ’70 and U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun ’79. Read more ...

Piper, Canada roll to women’s hockey gold medal showdown with USA

Cherie Piper ’06 added another goal to her Olympic resume, helping Canada to a 5-0 semifinal win over Finland in women’s hockey Monday night. Piper got Canada on the board first with her fifth goal of the Olympics, opening the scoring at 5:22 of the first period. With the win, Canada moves into the gold medal game Thursday, facing arch-rival USA at 6:30 EST.

Sunday, February 21

Weibrecht 11th in alpine super combined

Andrew Weibrecht ’09 finished 11th in his final Olympic event, Sunday’s alpine super combined race. Weibrecht, skiing first in the downhill portion of the event, finished 17th, but climbed to 11th based on his results in the slalom race. He finished 2.66 seconds behind gold medalist Bode Miller. The super combined event consists of one downhill run followed by one slalom run using a shorter course.

Two Dartmouth guys talk Olympic skiing

Video: Former US Ski Team member Bryon Friedman ’02 is working in Vancouver as a skiing analyst for Yahoo! Sports. On Friday, Friedman interviewed Super G bronze medalist Andrew Weibrecht ’09 about his surprising finish. Watch.

Saturday, February 20

More on Weibrecht’s bronze medal

Read and watch more about Andrew Weibrecht’s bronze medal-winning performance in Friday’s men’s Super G race at the Vancouver Olympics:

Koons DNF in men’s 30-k pursuit

Ben Koons ’08 sprinted to the front of the pack early, but failed to finish in the men’s 30-kilometer pursuit cross country race at Whistler Olympic Park on Saturday. It was the latest Olympic disappointment for Koons, who was scratched from the 15-kilometer freestyle race on Feb. 15 because of elevated hemoglobin levels, but was cleared to compete in Saturday’s pursuit. Koons is competing for his native New Zealand.

Friday, February 19

Weibrecht takes bronze in men’s Super G

Andrew Weibrecht ’09 became Dartmouth’s latest Olympic medal winner Friday, taking third place and the bronze in the men’s Super G race at Whistler Creekside. Weibrecht, the third racer down the course, took advantage of the early conditions to lead before being overtaken by US teammate and silver medalist Bode Miller. Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal took the gold with a time of 1:30.34; Weibrecht was only three-tenths of a second behind Svindal, and just three-hundredths of a second behind Miller. Weibrecht, an Earth Sciences major from Lake Placid, NY, becomes Dartmouth’s first Olympic skiing medalist since Liz McIntyre ’87 won silver in freestyle skiing in 1994 at Lillehammer, Norway; the last Dartmouth man to win a ski medal was Chiharu Igaya ’57, who won a silver in slalom at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, in 1956.

Thursday, February 18

Studebaker 34th, Spector 65th in women’s 15-k biathlon

Sara Studebaker ’07 continued her impressive showing in her first Olympics, finishing 34th in the women’s 15-kilometer biathlon individual event Thursday. Studebaker again shot well, missing only one of 20 targets in the event; she finished 3:34.5 behind gold medalist Tora Berger of Norway. In an interview with USA Today, Studebaker said she had to “calm down” a bit early in the race, but now sees where she could be in four years: “In four years, one miss — podium,” Studebaker said. “That’s the goal.” Studebaker’s USA teammate Laura Spector ’10 finished 65th in the race.

Weibrecht preps for Friday’s Super G; called “future of US men’s skiing”

After a lot of hurry-up-and-wait, it looks like the Alpine racing program is back on track at Vancouver. Andrew Weibrecht ’09 is slated to compete in Friday’s Super G race at Whistler Creekside, as well as in the Super Combined event - a combination of one downhill run and one slalom - beginning on Sunday. In an article in Monday’s Seattle Times, Weibrecht is called the “future of U.S. men’s skiing.” Read more ...

Wednesday, February 17

Canada rolls on; Apps, Piper continue scoring barrage

Gillian Apps ’06 and Cherie Piper ’06 continued their individual scoring streaks and Canada continues to roll over opposition in women’s hockey. Team Canada blasted Sweden Wednesday 13-1, the third straight double-digit win for the defending gold medalists. Piper scored two goals and two assists, while Apps added two goals and an assist in the win. In three preliminary round games, Canada has outscored opponents 41-2; Piper has notched four goals and five assists, while classmate Apps has three goals and four assists.

Tuesday, February 16

Studebaker 46th in women’s 10-k biathlon pursuit

Sarah Studebaker ’07 finished 46th in Tuesday’s 10-kilometer biathlon pursuit race. The only American to qualify for the pursuit, based on her finish in Saturday’s sprint race, Studebaker was 4:44.1 behind gold medalist Magdalena Neuner of Germany. She took only two penalties in the four shooting portions of the race, one in the standing position and one in the prone position. Women’s biathlon resumes Thursday with the 15-k individual race.

Weibrecht, Alpine skiing snowed out

Another wait for Andrew Weibrecht ’09. First it was unseasonably warm weather and rain plaguing the Alpine ski venue at Whistler Creekside. Now heavy snow has forced a postponement of today’s Super Combined event. The combined event consists of one downhill run followed by one slalom run using a shorter course. The times are added together. The fastest total time determines the winner. Weibrecht is scheduled to be the first racer down the course in the downhill, but he’ll have to wait. No new day has been set for the event.

Monday, February 15

Apps, Piper score again as Canada breezes past Switzerland 10-1

Gillian Apps ’06 and Cherie Piper ’06 each found the net as Team Canada scored another easy win Monday night, 10-1 over Switzerland in women’s hockey. Apps notched a goal and an assist and Piper tallied a goal and two assists as Canada ran its record in preliminary round play to 2-0, outscoring opponents 28-1 in two games. Next up for the defending gold medalists is another preliminary round game Wednesday afternoon against Sweden.

Weibrecht 21st in men’s downhill

Andrew Weibrecht ’09 finished 21st in Monday’s men’s downhill at the 21st Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. In his Olympic debut, Weibrecht was 1.43 seconds off the pace of gold medalist Didier Defago of Switzerland. “Tough day at the DH races,” Weibrecht said on his Twitter stream after the race, “that’s how it goes sometimes. Congrats to Bode.” American Bode Miller took the bronze medal in the event; Weibrecht was three-hundredths of a second behind US teammate Steven Nyman in 20th place.

Koons scratched from men’s 15k cross country; Murphy 88th

Ben Koons ’08 was scratched from Monday’s men’s 15-kilometer freestyle cross country race. News reports from New Zealand say that Koons had elevated hemoglobin levels, likely as a result of dehyration and training at altitude, and team doctors held him out of Monday’s race. Koons will also miss Thursday’s classical sprints, but he is expected to return on February 19, in time for the 30-kilometer pursuit and the 50-kilometer mass-start classical race. Meanwhile, Tucker Murphy ’04, skiing for his native Bermuda, finished 88th in Monday’s event. Murphy, a member of Dartmouth’s development ski team while and undergraduate, is the first Bermudan to compete in an Olympic cross country ski race.

Saturday, February 13

Studebaker highest-finishing American in women’s biathlon

2007 Dartmouth graduate Sara Studebaker was the highest-finishing American in the opening day of biathlon competition at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Studebaker finished 45th in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint event at Whistler Olympic Park, two minutes and 10 seconds behind the pace of winner Anastazia Kusmina of Slovakia, who won the event in 19:55.6. Studebaker took only one penalty in the event, in the standing shooting position. Meanwhile, Laura Spector ’10 finished in 77th place in her first Olympic race.

Piper, Apps score as Canada wins big in women’s hockey

Cherie Piper ’06 had a goal and an assist and Gillian Apps ’06 had two assists as Canada blew by Slovakia 18-0 in the preliminary round of women’s ice hockey at Canada Place Saturday night. The defending gold medalists face Switzerland Monday in their next preliminary round game.

Weibrecht’s Olympic debut postponed

Andrew Weibrecht ’09 will have to wait until Monday to make his Olympic debut. Weibrecht is one of four Americans racing in the men’s downhill, one of the marquee events of the Winter Olympics. Sloppy snow conditions at Whistler Creekside Saturday forced race organizers to revise the Alpine race schedule; the men’s downhill will now be run on Monday, February 15.
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