Sunday’s Highlights at the Sochi Olympics

RUSSIA’S BIG DAYWith President Vladimir Putin looking on, Russia won its first gold medal of the Sochi Olympics, winning the team figure skating event even before the ice dancers finished their competition. Evgeni Plushenko and 15-year-old Julia Lipnitskaia secured the gold by winning the free skates, thrilling the crowd. Speedskater Olga Graf got the bronze in the women’s 3,000 for Russia’s first medal of any kind at Sochi, then Olga Vilukhina took silver in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint in biathlon and Albert Demchenko picked up another silver in men’s luge.AUSTRIA BACK ON TOPIn skiing’s glamour event, the men’s downhill, Matthias Mayer of Austria beat two competitors he admired as a boy — Bode Miller and Aksel Lund Svindal. Four years ago in Vancouver, Austria was shut out of Alpine medals for the first time.Video: The 18-year-old U.S. figure skating champion, now competing in Sochi, says being on the ice is all about breathing and bending your knees. DUTCH DOUBLEFor the second day in a row, the Netherlands won a gold medal in speedskating. This time, it was Ireen Wust in the women’s 3,000, and it was the third straight Winter Games where she grabbed a gold. Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima were again in the crowd, just as they were the day before when Sven Kramer took gold in the men’s 5,000.MEDALS RACENorway, the Netherlands and the United States have two golds apiece, while the Norwegians have the overall lead with seven total medals. But look out for Russia, which picked up a gold, two silvers and a bronze, all in one day. The host on the Black Sea coast lost a bid to pick up another bronze when its cross-country skiing team lodged an unsuccessful protest in the men’s 30-kilometer skiathlon, claiming Maxim Vylegzhanin was impeded in the final sprint in a tight race against Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway.THE ENGLISHWOMAN WHO WENT UP A HILL AND CAME DOWN A MEDALIST

Coming from a nation that is not well-known for its mountains, Jenny Jones picked up Britain’s first medal on snow in the 90-year history of the Winter Games. Her slopestyle bronze medal came as Jamie Anderson of the United States won the gold in the sport’s Olympic debut.

ANN.Az