Winter Olympics: Firsts, Lasts, Surprises
Top left: Chloe Kim. Top middle: Shaun White. Top right: Erin Jackson. Bottom left: Nathan Chen. Bottom middle: Mikaela Shiffrin.
April 5, 2022
The Olympics began with the opening ceremony on February 4. There were a total of 91 countries that marched. Each country entered in alphabetical order of the Chinese language.
This year’s Olympics was a big one for many athletes. Team USA did not get their first medal on day one, but Julia Marino got the first medal on day two, which was silver for the USA team in slopestyle snowboarding. Mikaela Shiffrin for team USA competed in all the alpine skiing events but she crashed three times in three events which resulted in her getting three DNFs (did not finish). Erin Jackson for team USA was the first black woman to get a medal in speed skating and it was a gold medal. Meyers Taylor for team USA became the black person with the most medals in the Olympics. She also became the first woman bobsledder to ever have the most medals in the Olympics. Chloe Kim for the USA team is the first woman to ever win snowboarding halfpipe back to back with gold. Nathan Chen for team USA did amazing this year. He almost did a perfect free skate which got him the gold in men’s figure skating singles.
The women’s USA hockey team met Canada, their rival, again in the finals and lost 3-2, good enough for silver. The men’s team lost in the quarter-finals in overtime to Slovakia, with a final score of 3-2. Team USA had a lot happen with their athletes, both lowlights and highlights.
Team USA had some athletes who will not be competing again after this Olympics. Shaun White finished his Olympic career and will not compete again. He ended without getting any medals this year. Meyer Taylor, a bobsledder, said this might be her last time competing in the Olympics. Jason Brown the figure skater will retire this year and he went out with bronze in the figure skating team event. Hilary Knight, an ice hockey player, is also retiring but she got one last medal with her hockey team which was silver. It is sad to see that most of these people are not going to be competing again, but all of them had great careers and will be remembered for how well they did in the winter Olympics.
This Olympic year was a difficult one for skating. Kamila Valieva for the Russian Olympic committee team tested positive on her drug test. She was a figure skater who competed in many events. This is important because the Russian team has had various problems in the past with drug use which resulted in the Russian team having to be seen at any future Olympics as the Russian Olympic Committee. Valieva placed first in the figure skating team event. Anyone who earned a medal in that event will not receive their hardware until this matter is fully investigated. This circumstance also influenced the Olympic board to finally change the age requirements for skating events to 17 years of age and older.
The next Olympic Games will be the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, France, while the next Winter Games will come in 2026 in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. After that, America will host the Summer Olympic Games in 2028. America last hosted the Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002.
Citations:
Olympic Medal Table | Beijing 2022 (olympics.com)
BRPROUD | Here’s who won Team USA 25 medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics
The highs and lows of the 2022 Winter Olympics – CNN
Ice Hockey – Olympic Schedule & Results | Beijing 2022
Top Team USA moments at the 2022 Winter Olympics (tmj4.com)
Five Olympians Who Are Retiring After the 2022 Beijing Games | RSN (nbcsports.com)
Winter Olympics: Which Olympic Winter Games stars could retire after Beijing 2022?
The Order of Countries at the 2022 Olympics Opening Ceremony | Time
Future Olympic host cities: Countries, locations for Games – Sports Illustrated
Amya • Apr 7, 2022 at 10:24 am
It’s unfortunate that Shawn White won’t be able to participate in the Olymics.