On Sunday, Delafield native and Arrowhead High School graduate Alex Cavallini got her first start in goal in Olympic competition for the Team USA women’s hockey team. Cavallini, 30, responded in stellar fashion, recording a shutout in an 8-0 rout of Switzerland.
Cavallini took to Instagram following the game: “I have so much love for my 22 sisters. On to the next one!”
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The Olympics got off to a difficult start for Cavallini’s teammate, Dousman native Brianna Decker, who suffered a serious leg injury in an opening game against Finland on Thursday. The top-line center’s ankle was broken when she was tripped from behind just minutes into the first period. There were initial concerns that Decker had also sustained a knee injury on the play, but tests showed no structural damage.
Decker was removed from the ice on a stretcher.
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On Saturday, Decker took to social media to thank her supporters and pledged to assist her teammates in any way possible even though she won’t return to the ice in Beijing. Decker plans to remain with the team in China until the conclusion of hockey action.
https://twitter.com/Bdecker14/status/1490002824863707137?s=20&t=_s-FSF1ibt5W0OVLViHpig
Cavallini and Decker were members of the squad that captured the gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Decker also played on the silver medal-winning team in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
Cavallini and Decker were teammates on the University of Wisconsin hockey team that won the 2011 national championship.
West Bend teenager Courtney Rummel took part in the snowboarding slopestyle event on Friday, where snowboarders use rails and jumps to perform tricks that are scored by judges. She didn’t qualify for the finals after two initial runs in the event. She will now compete in the big air competition starting on Feb. 14. In big air, riders perform one jump in which they attempt to incorporate their best trick to earn a top score.
Rummel, 18, is making her Olympic debut. She is among a contingent of 26 snowboarders who are representing the United States in Beijing.
On Monday, Pulaski native Deedra Irwin, 29, turned in the performance of her life with a seventh-place finish in the women’s 15-kilometer individual biathlon race at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre northwest of Beijing. It marked the best-ever finish for an American biathlete at the Olympics.
HISTORY MADE!
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) February 7, 2022
Congratulations to @deedrablu for claiming #TeamUSA's best individual Olympic finish in biathlon. #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/TMgBGvUXZw
Irwin’s performance stunned observers of the sport, given that she had never finished better than 36th place in world cup competition.
During an emotional interview with NBC after the race, Irwin put her hand to her mouth and sobbed after being informed her performance ranked as an all-time best for the United States.
Irwin is also seen shedding tears in a post on Twitter immediately after the race.
Just… wow… still crying… OLYMPICS!! #DREAMBIG #BEIJING2022 #TEAMUSA https://t.co/UKKjztrMV1
— Deedra Irwin (@deedrablu) February 7, 2022
Speed skater Jordan Stolz, a native of Kewaskum in Washington County, will make his Olympic debut on Saturday when he competes in the 500-meter competition at The National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing.
Stolz earned a spot on the Team USA speed skating team after winning the 500-meter and 1,000-meter races at the U.S. Olympic Long Track Trials at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee in January. Stolz, 17, set Pettit Center track records in each event.
Stolz will also take part in the 1,000-meter competition on Feb. 18.
The Beijing Games run through Feb. 20.
