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Sochi roundup: Kaitlyn Farrington's snowboard surprise a bright spot on an otherwise disappointing day

Kaitlyn Farrington to the rescue? Though the 24-year-old Idaho native didn't enter these Games with anything resembling a Q rating, she prevented the Americans from experiencing a gold-less day on Wednesday. Farrington took the top spot in the women's halfpipe, beating out Aussie favorite Torah Bright (silver) and American teammate Kelly Clark (bronze). The U.S. has won three golds in Sochi and all have come in snowboarding. Here's guessing just a few more people know Farrington's name once primetime is over tonight.

[Related: Snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington's family traded in cattle for gold medal]

• Farrington's triumph put a bright exclamation point on what was otherwise a disappointing day for the American team. Speedskater Shani Davis lost his bid for a third straight gold in the 1000m (finishing eighth), the U.S. women's hockey team lost to Canada on a controversial goal and Bob Costas had to delay his return to the studio for yet another day.

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• The Dutch continued to dominate on the speedskating oval, but the best story of the day belonged to Canada. That's because Denny Morrison took silver in the 1000m after teammate Gilmore Junio voluntarily gave him his spot. Morrison said Junio should carry Canada's flag at the Closing Ceremony. We at Fourth-Place Medal couldn't agree more.

• How do two skiers make their way down a mountain in the exact same time, all the way out to the same hundredth of a second and, oh, also have it be the best time that day? We have no idea, but Switzerlands's Dominique Gisin and Slovenia's Tina Maze figured out a way to do it in the women's downhill. Good thing they won't have to share a gold medal.

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• Men's hockey finally kicked off with the Swedes topping the Czechs 4-2 and the Swiss blanking Latvia 1-0. Switzerland got off the hook in epic fashion, scoring a goal with just 7.9 seconds left.

• The Russians got their Burl Ives on, taking silver and gold in pairs figure skating.

"Fourth is the worst position to finish, if you wanted to know. You’ve just missed the podium. I missed it by point two."

— American Hanah Teter, who finished fourth in halfpipe

"Honey, ever get the feeling we're being watched?"

Mickey D Munchies, anyone? 

• Patrick Kane, Jonathan Quick and the United States men's hockey team start their quest for gold with a game against Slovakia at 7:30 a.m. ET. It will be televised live on NBC Sports Network. Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Canada start their journey against Norway at noon. It airs live on USA.

• American skeleton racer Katie Uehlaender takes her first two heats in skeleton starting at 2:30 a.m.

• American figure skaters Jason Brown and Jeremy Abbott will compete in the men's short program starting at 10 a.m.

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Kevin Kaduk

is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kevinkaduk@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!