Sarah Dewolfe| Staff Writer
It’s been a long four years for fans of the Winter Olympics, but that doesn’t compare to the wait for almost 3,000 Olympic athletes from 92 countries around the world competing in this year’s games. For some, the road to PyeongChang began when they first learned to ski or snowboard at an early age. All the years of practice, sacrifice, dedication, and more practice have come to a climax as each athlete prepares in what little time they have left before the event they’ve been dreaming of.
The United States sent 244 athletes to South Korea, many Olympic first-timers, with the hopes of bringing home medals for their country. Among those names are some already associated with Olympic glory. Snowboarder Shawn White returned to his fourth Olympic Games competing in his best event the snowboard halfpipe.
American athletes walk into the Opening Ceremony led by flag bearer Erin Hamlin who competed in Luge.
He won gold in this event in 2006 and 2010, but finished just off the podium in 2014. His appearance in his fourth and final Olympics made for a climactic end to his journey of redemption. Despite a horrific crash while training that required over 60 stitches to his face, White was able to secure a spot in the final with the highest score of the day, and from there he did what Shaun White was born to do.
Trailing first place by a single point with one run left in the night, he had to pull out all his tricks and execute them perfectly to complete his comeback. White landed back-to-back 1440°s-for the first time ever-in a picture perfect run to end his career with a third gold medal around his neck. This gold was different for him, as seen by the rare emotional display from Shaun and his family after his record breaking run. The medal was the 100th gold medal for the US in Winter Olympic history as well as Shaun’s third gold medal making him the first Olympic snowboarder to win three.
Another Olympian looking to repeat on her success was alpine skier Lindsey Vonn. She competed in her first Olympics 16 years ago in 2002 at the age of 17 but returned home medal-less. In 2006 her Olympic dreams were again thwarted when she crashed in a training run and was flown by helicopter to the hospital. In the 2010 games she became the first American woman to win gold in the downhill ski event and also won bronze in the super-G.
The USA Olympic Figure Skating Team wins bronze in the team event finals.
Vonn was unable to compete in the 2014 Olympics due to injury, so this year’s games were also an opportunity for redemption for her. At the age of 33, she raced in her final Olympic event, the super-G. Unfortunately for Vonn, she had the disadvantage of racing first and almost swerved off the course, but lost valuable time. She ended up tying for sixth place.
Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin entered her second Olympics being highly favored to walk away with gold in her events. In 2014, she raced in the slalom and at 18-years-old became the youngest gold medalist in Olympic Slalom history. This year she competed and won gold in the giant slalom but finished just off the podium in her favored event, the slalom. Snowboarder Jamie Anderson won her second gold medal in the women’s slopestyle, an event that was offered for the first time in 2014. This made her the only gold medalist in this event as well as the first female snowboarder to win multiple gold medals.
This Olympics also saw several breakout athletes find success in their Winter Games debuts. In his first time competing in the Olympics, Redmond Gerard became the youngest American to medal in a snowboarding event and the first Winter Olympic medalist born in the 2000s when he won the first USA gold medal in the 2018 Olympics in the slopestyle. In her first Olympics, 17-year-old snowboarder Chloe Kim took home gold in the women’s halfpipe final making her the youngest Olympic snowboard medalist. Snowboarder Arielle Gold, who was the youngest member of the halfpipe team in the 2014 Olympics, won her first medal placing third in the halfpipe alongside Chloe Kim.
Shaun White gets overcome with emotion as he gets his gold medal score in the men’s halfpipe finals.
If you aren’t familiar with the US Olympic figure skating team, you should be. The US won bronze in the team event thanks to the combined efforts of each skater. Mirai Nagasu completed her skating program for the team event and became the first American woman to land a triple axle in the Olympics. Nathan Chen, a favorite for the men’s free skate, placed 5th but made history by landing six quadruple jumps in his program. Chris and Alexa Scimeca Knierim stole our hearts when the married couple became the first Americans to land a quad twist in the Olympics-on Valentine’s Day of course. Major relationship goals. And of course, Adam Rippon skated away with our hearts. Rippon is the first openly gay American Winter Olympian to qualify for and win a medal. Besides his overwhelming charisma and relatable reactions to celeb shout-outs, Rippon completed a nearly flawless and energetic free skate program but finished off the podium.
The Winter Olympics are far from over, with many events still yet to commence. So far Team USA stands in 6th place with 10 medals total while Norway leads with 26. There’s plenty of time left for the US to make a run for the lead, so relax, tune into NBC, and brush up on your Curling knowledge.
