In the Olympic women's skating competition, the gold medal goes to first place, silver to second, and bronze to third. If there are 18 skaters, including 8 Americans, in how many ways can the medals be awarded to three of the 18 skaters?

Answer 1

There are 8 choices for the gold medalist, then 7 choices for the silver medalist and 6 choices for the bronze medalist for a preliminary count of $8 \times 7 \times 6 = \boxed{336}$ ways to distribute the medals.