Meryl Davis (West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Charlie White (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) made history on Dec. 8, becoming the first ice dancing team in history to win four consecutive grand prix final titles when they scored a season-best 183.39 points in Sochi, Russia. Meanwhile, Ashley Wagner (Alexandria, Va.) took home the silver medal in the ladies competition.
CONTINUING TO WRITE HISTORY
The U.S. women's cross-country ski team made world-cup history yet again, as Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) and Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) took the first-ever U.S. win in a team sprint on Dec. 8 in Quebec City. A day later, Randall matched the win in the individual freestyle sprint.
BIATHLON
Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.) finished 10th in the 12.5-kilometer pursuit at the IBU World Cup #2 in Hochfilzen, Austria, on Dec. 8. Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) raced to the top U.S. finish in the 10K sprint on Dec. 7, when he took 22nd.
BOBSLED & SKELETON
After winning bronze in women's skeleton at the world cup event in Winterberg, Germany, on Dec. 7, Noelle Pikus-Pace (Orem, Utah) recorded the fastest female skeleton time in the team event (58.24 seconds), as she combined with Kyle Tress (Ewing, N.J.), Elana Meyers (Douglasville, Ga.), Lolo Jones (Des Moines, Iowa), Chris Langton (Melrose, Mass.) and Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.) to finish fourth on Dec. 8. Also that day, Meyers and Katie Eberling (Palos Hills, Ill.) teamed up to earn the silver medal in women's bobsled. Meanwhile, Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) and Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.) finished fifth in the two-man bobsled race, before joining Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas) and Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.) to finish sixth in the four-man bobsled competition.
Rachelle Rasmussen (Belmont, Calif.) led a group of four U.S. athletes with a sixth-place finish at the La Plagne European Cup skeleton race in La Plagne, France, on Dec. 7. The following day, Katelyn Kelly (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Ida Bernstein (Cockeysville, Md.) finished sixth in the women's bobsled competition.
Kimber Gabryszak (Park City, Utah) swept the two women's skeleton races at the Intercontinental Cup in Park City, Utah, on Dec. 8. Her husband, Brad Stewart (Hastings, Minn.), earned bronze in the men's skeleton event on Dec. 7, while Mike Dellemann (Oregon, Wis.) added a bronze in the second men's skeleton race.
The U.S. bobsled team dominated the competition at the North American Cup held Dec. 6-9 in Calgary, Alberta. Bree Schaaf (Bremerton, Wash.) and Kristi Koplin (Cedar City, Utah) swept all three women's bobsled competitions, while teammates Berit Tomten (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Maureen Ajoku (San Jose, Calif.) captured a silver and a bronze as part of an 11-medal haul by the U.S.
BOXING
Bantamweight Gary Salazar (Fresno, Calif.) and lightweight Maliek Montgomery (Macon, Ga.) both advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2012 Youth World Championships in Yerevan, Armenia, before being eliminated from competition.
CURLING
Pete Stolt (Plymouth, Minn.) and Maureen Stolt (Plymouth, Minn.) went undefeated at the USA Curling Mixed Doubles National Championships, held Dec. 6-9 in Bismarck, N.D. The victory qualified the pair for the 2013 World Mixed Doubles Championships, which will take place April 13-20 in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
FENCING
Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.) earned a victory in the division I men's epee at the North American Cup in Milwaukee, Wis., on Dec. 9. Adrienne Jarocki (Middle Village, N.Y.) won the division I women's saber, while Catherine Bouwkamp (Fishers, Ind.) won the wheelchair women's foil.
GYMNASTICS
Elizabeth Price (Coopersburg, Pa.) captured her second world cup title in a week, winning the all-around competition in Glasgow, Scotland, on Dec. 8. Price scored 59.165 points, winning by more than four points over Germany's Elizabeth Seitz.
HOCKEY
Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) turned away eight shots as he and the U.S. National Sled Team shut out Canada to clinch the 2012 World Sledge Hockey Challenge on Dec. 8 in Calgary, Alberta. The victory avenged the only U.S. loss in the tournament, a 2-1 setback to Canada on Dec. 5. The U.S. went 4-1 in tournament play.
JUDO
U.S. junior judokas captured one gold and two bronze medals in Harmes, France, on Dec. 8. Gabrielle Proksa (Dunbarton, N.H.) won two matches by ippon en route to the gold medal at -70 kg.
LUGE
Erin Hamlin (Remsen, N.Y.) and Emily Sweeney (Suffield, Conn.) both scored top-10 finishes at the world cup event on Dec. 8 in Altenberg, Germany. Hamlin placed seventh, while Sweeney finished with a career-best 10th place. Hamlin also helped lead the U.S. to a fifth-place finish in the team relay, while Chris Mazdzer (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) was the top U.S. men's competitor, finishing 15th.
RUGBY
The U.S. men went 2-3 on Dec. 8-9 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The team rebounded from an opening loss to Portugal with back-to-back victories against Canada and Zimbabwe on Dec. 8, before dropping both matches on Dec. 9.
SKI & SNOWBOARD
Testing out the 2014 Olympic Winter Games ski jump on Dec. 8 in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia, Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, Utah) soared to victory at the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup. On day two (Dec. 9), the U.S. placed three women in the top 10. Lindsey Van (Park City, Utah) led the way in sixth, followed closely by Sarah Hendrickson in seventh and Abby Hughes (Park City, Utah) in ninth.
Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) ended his giant slalom winning streak, but still finished on the podium, earning bronze at the FIS Alpine World Cup in Val D'Isere, France, on Dec. 9.
Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, Calif.) posted the best U.S. result in the giant slalom at the FIS Alpine World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Dec. 9. Mancuso came in 21st, while Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.) survived a near midrace crash to come across in 27th.
Nate Holland (Squaw Valley, Calif.) and Hagan Kearney (Telluride, Colo.) rode to victory at the FIS Snowboardcross World Cup team race on Dec. 8 in Montafon, Austria.
SOCCER
Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.) and Sydney Leroux (Los Angeles, Calif.) each netted goals as the U.S. Women's National Team defeated China PR, 2-0, in Detroit, on Dec. 8.
SPEEDSKATING
Heather Richardson (Salt Lake City, Utah) won gold in the group-A 1,000-meter, silver in the group-B 1,000 and bronze in the group-A 500 between Dec. 8-9 at the Essent ISU World Cup in Nagano, Japan. On the men's side, Tucker Fredricks (Janesville, Wis.) picked up his first world cup medal - bronze in the group-A 500.
SWIMMING
Several meet records fell at the 2012 Speedo Winter Junior National Championships, held Dec. 6-8 in Knoxville, Tenn. The meet started with SwimMAC Carolina setting a new short course junior national record in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:32.60.
TAEKWONDO
Team USA secured eight medals between Dec. 6-9 at the 2012 WTF World Poomsae Taekwondo Championships in Tunja, Colombia. The U.S. took gold in the first- ever WTF freestyle video contest to highlight the championships.
TRACK & FIELD
Jacob Riley (Bellingham, Wash.) and Mattie Suver (Boulder, Colo.) bested the field at the 2012 USA Track & Field National Club Cross Country Championships on Dec. 8 in Lexington, Ky. Riley covered the 10-kilometer course in 29:58.36, while Suver ran her 6K course in 20:01.00.
WATER POLO
The U.S. women took fourth place at the FINA Youth World Championships on Dec. 9 in Perth, Australia. The U.S. lost 13-12 in the bronze-medal match to Russia. The women were forced into the bronze-medal match after falling to Greece, 8-3, on Dec. 7. Meanwhile, the U.S. men finished eighth following a 5-4 loss to host-nation Australia after a 17-7 defeat from Croatia.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.