Vancouver, BC (My Sportsbook) - There will be seven gold medals awarded on the final Saturday of the Vancouver Olympics.
The slate includes the last medal event in alpine skiing as Bode Miller of the United States gets one more shot at gold in the men's slalom
Miller has won three medals at these Winter Games, taking gold in super combined, silver in super-G and bronze in downhill. No man has ever won four alpine medals at a single Olympics.
The American can also become the first athlete to claim an Olympic medal in all five alpine skiing disciplines. Miller has five career medals, including a silver in giant slalom eight years ago at Salt Lake City, but has never reached the podium in slalom.
Saturday's race is not a strong event for Miller, but he did turn in one terrific slalom run in winning gold in the combined on Feb. 21. He will need two strong runs at Whistler Creekside to claim gold on Saturday.
The slalom also offers the Austrian men one more chance to claim a medal in Vancouver after being shut out so far on the slopes. The last time the country failed to win a men's alpine skiing medal was at the 1936 Winter Games in Germany.
The Austrians had a clean sweep of the medals in this event at the 2006 Turin Games. Benjamin Raich will be back to defend his gold and will be challenged by fellow Austrian Reinfried Herbst, who won silver in Turin. Bronze medalist Rainer Schoenfelder is not competing in Vancouver due to injury.
The U.S. has an excellent shot at gold when medals are awarded following the third and fourth heats in four-man bobsled. The sled driven by Steven Holcomb set a track record Friday at Whistler Sliding Center and the Americans lead the competition going into the final two rounds.
The team of Holcomb, Steve Mesler, Curtis Tomasevicz and Justin Olsen actually set the track record twice, turning in a time of 50.89 seconds in the first heat before shaving off three-tenths from their previous time to end with a combined time of 1 minute, 41.75 seconds.
The Canada sled piloted by Lyndon Rush finished second in both heats and is .40 seconds off the Americans' blistering pace. The Germans are .04 seconds further back with a sled piloted by four-time gold medalist Andre Lange.
The final medals for speedskating will be awarded Saturday with the completion of the men's and women's team pursuit events.
The United States and Canada will meet in the men's final after both teams won two races on Friday. The Americans knocked off Japan easily in the quarterfinals, then upset a strong Netherlands team in the semis to reach the final.
Meanwhile, Canada's Mathieu Giroux, Lucas Makowsky and Denny Morrison set the Olympic record twice on Friday while beating Italy and Norway. Canada won a silver medal at the 2006 Turin Games when the pursuit event made its Olympic debut. The United States finished a disappointing sixth, but now has a berth in the gold medal race.
Before the gold medal race between the U.S. and Canada, the Netherlands and Norway will meet in the bronze medal race. Italy and South Korea will race for fifth and sixth place, while Japan and Sweden will meet to determine seventh and eighth.
The women's medal race was whittled to four teams after Friday's quarterfinals: the United States, Germany, Japan and Poland.
The Americans upset a favored Canadian team in the quarters and will meet Germany in one of the semifinals. Japan and Poland will meet in the other semifinal. The winners of those two races will skate for the gold medal, while the losers will race for the bronze. Canada will race in the C final against the Netherlands to decide fifth and sixth places, while South Korea and Russia will meet in the D final to decide seventh and eighth places.
The bronze medal game in men's hockey is also set for Saturday with Finland and Slovakia battling it out for a spot on the podium. The Finns were dealt a 6-1 loss by the U.S. in Friday's semifinal, while Slovakia suffered a 3-2 loss to Canada.
Both the gold and bronze medal matches in men's curling will be contested at Vancouver Olympic Center on Saturday. The big match will feature Canada and Norway with the host country getting a shot to defend its gold medal from the Turin Games.
Sweden and the Swiss will compete for bronze on Saturday morning, while the battle for gold will take place in the afternoon.
The final event of the Winter Games at Cypress Mountain is scheduled for Saturday with the running of the men's parallel giant slalom.
The Schoch brothers, Philipp and Simon, won gold and silver, respectively for Switzerland in the PGS at the 2006 Olympics, but only Simon will be in competition at the Vancouver Games. Philipp Schoch won the last two Olympic golds in PGS, but back problems led to him not qualifying for Vancouver.
Simon Schoch is still a gold medal threat as are Canadian boarder Jasey Jay Anderson and Austrians Benjamin Karl, Andreas Prommegger and Siegfried Grabner.
PGS was the only snowboarding event that American men did not win a medal in at the Turin Games and it would be a surprise if the U.S. picked one up on Saturday.
For the first time in Olympics history, the women's 30-kilometer cross-country race will feature a pit stop. Competitors will have a chance to change their skis three times during the race.
Among the top competitors is Norway's Marit Bjoergen, who has already claimed four medals at the Vancouver Olympics, including three golds. Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk will be seeking her third medal in Vancouver, but first gold.
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