France makes Olympic history with its 1st sweep of a Winter Games event; Norway wins 10th gold
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}For the first time in Olympic history, France has swept the medals at a Winter Games event.
Jean Frederic Chapuis won the gold medal in skicross Thursday to lead the French 1-2-3 finish at the Sochi Olympics. Arnaud Bovolenta won silver and Jonathan Midol captured bronze.
Perennial Winter Games power Norway won the Nordic combined team competition — and its games-leading 10th gold medal. The Norwegians finished third in the ski jump but cross-country specialist Magnus Moan made up the difference in the first leg of the 20-kilometer pursuit race.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Germany, which had the lead after the ski jump, took silver and Austria got the bronze.
Politics continued to intrude on the sports. Bogdana Matsotska, an Alpine skier from Ukraine, withdrew from the games to express her displeasure over President Viktor Yanukovych's handling of anti-government protests back home. At least 18 people were killed in the protests Thursday in Kiev.
On Day 14 at the Sochi Olympics, three other sports were awarding medals: women's ice hockey, women's curling and figure skating.
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FREESTYLE: Midol lost his balance after the final jump, tumbled and then skidded across the line for bronze. The three Frenchmen posed together on the medals podium: Chapuis in his Olympic-issue green bib, Bovalenta in blue, Midol in yellow. They all put hands on their own tricolor — the French flag — and held it aloft.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NORDIC COMBINED: Joergen Graabak, who won gold Tuesday in the individual large hill event, skied the final leg for Norway and outsprinted German rival Fabian Riessle over the final 100 meters to give Norway the victory by 0.3 seconds. Two-time defending champion Austria took the bronze, 3.4 seconds behind.
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CURLING: Britain won the bronze medal in women's curling by beating Switzerland 6-5.