Sage Kotsenburg of the United States owns the first gold medal of the 2014 Olympics, soaring to victory in the men's snowboarding slopestyle final.

Sage Kotsenburg of the United States competes in the Snowboard Men's Slopestyle Final during day 1 of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics
Sage Kotsenburg of the United States competes in the Snowboard Men's Slopestyle Final during day 1 of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
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Kotsenburg had a score of 93.50 to edge Staale Sandbech of Norway. Mark McMorris of Canada, who barely made the finals, took bronze.

Canadian Max Parrot, who topped qualifiers on Thursday, missed the podium. He washed out at the end of his first run and his second run wasn't quite crisp enough. Parrot finished fifth.

Norway won gold and bronze in the women's 15K Skiathlon, a cross country event. Sweden took the silver.

The U.S. women's hockey team got off on the right foot, defeating Finland 3-1. Hilary Knight scored 53 seconds into the game. Jesse Vetter needed only 14 saves.

Associated Press contributed to this report.

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