Watched by hundreds of thousands of people across the globe, the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games has been the central topic of discussion for the past few weeks. On February 4, 2022, the quadrennial games commenced with a grand opening ceremony at the National Stadium of Beijing, commonly known as the Bird’s Nest. This year, due to COVID-19 precautionary measures, the Olympic Winter Games looked a little different, but the performances seen from the dedicated athletes were just as extraordinary—especially from Team USA! Team USA had high hopes, as the United States traveled to Beijing with 305 Winter Olympics medals, the second-highest count in the world. While some American athletes achieved their dreams, others fell short in chasing the gold; however, all athletes represented their country well. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights!

Can you guess which sport is the most viewed Olympic sport? Yep…it sure is ice hockey! Unfortunately, this Winter Olympics, Team USA’s men’s ice hockey team fell in the quarterfinals to Slovakia. During the final minute of regulation, Slovakia scored a goal, tying the game at 2-2, and in the shootout, Slovakia scored the only goal, taking the game with a tight 3-2 win [2]. However, on the brighter side, the women’s team reached the final. In another 3-2 win, Canada claimed the gold, but Team USA was still able to take home the silver! Hopefully, women’s ice hockey will be able to beat its snowy, Canadian rival again in 2026, just like what happened in 2018 [3]. Without a doubt, fans can’t wait!

Luge, luge, luge. Known as the fastest sport in the Winter Olympics, with its athletes lying face-up on a sled as they slide down an icy course, luge is nowhere near as easy-going as it looks on TV. This speedy sport has four events in the Olympics: men’s singles, women’s singles, doubles, and team relay [4]. In men’s singles, Chris Mazdzer was the fastest finisher for Team USA, taking 8th place. Meanwhile, Ashley Farquharson finished 12th in women’s singles. Finally, Team USA finished 11th in doubles and 7th in the team relay [5]. Luge was probably not the strongest showing for the United States, but it was still so entertaining to watch, and our athletes truly rose to the challenge in such a unique sport!

Next, onto… yes, you guessed it: figure skating! As always, United States Figure Skating (USFS) drew a large audience during the Winter Games, and our skaters were able to glide their way into victory! In the team event, Team USA earned the silver medal with a team of 16 awe-inspiring skaters. In the individual competition, most notably, 22-year old Nathan Chen gave the performance of a lifetime to snag the gold in men’s singles skating. His teammates, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, were also able to win the bronze in Ice Dance [6]. And, as a bonus, the artistic costumes did not disappoint!

Do you know which Olympic sport is nicknamed “Chess on Ice”? It’s curling! While the idea of using brooms on ice may seem unusual, this sport requires both strategy and patience in order to succeed and defeat the opposing team. In this Winter Olympics, both Team USA men’s and women’s curling teams fell short of a medal. As for the men’s curling tournament, Team USA fell back after losing to both Great Britain and Canada in the semifinal matchup and bronze medal game respectively. Similarly, during the women’s curling tournament, Team USA started strong with a 3-0 win against Russia, Denmark, and China, but unfortunately, Team USA lost the rest of their games out of the six total rounds [7]. While both teams from the USA did not have a chance to step up onto the podium, athletes from both sides are appreciative of this opportunity to compete with some of the best teams in the world. They gave it their best—that’s the spirit!

These athletes move so fast, that they are a blur on ice…indeed, they are the speed skaters. Composed of fourteen different events, Team USA took home many medals. Team USA men’s team secured the bronze medal after defeating the Netherlands Team by a whole three seconds. Team USA women’s team also experienced many victories. Specifically, athlete Kimi Goetz competed in her first Winter Olympics Games this year and placed seventh overall in the women’s 500m and eighteenth in the 1000m event—a great start to Goetz’s Olympic career. World champion Brittany Bowe also made her debut at the Winter Olympics this year, and at the young age of 33 years old, she claimed her first career individual bronze medal in the women’s 1000 m event. Lastly, Erin Jackson won the gold medal in the women’s 500m speed skating event [8]. Becoming the first Black woman to win an Olympic speed skating medal, Jackson, for sure, made history!. These new and returning athletes definitely showed the world that Team USA was as ready as it could be!

Last but certainly not least, we have snowboarding! At the end of all the snowboarding events, Team USA claimed four total snowboarding medals (three gold and one silver). On Day 2 of the Winter Olympics Games, Jamie Anderson and Julia Marino both made it to the podium in second place after their fantastic slope runs. A few days later, Chloe Kim and Lindsey Jacobellis both secured gold medals for Team USA. At the young age of 21 years old, Chloe Kim became the first to win multiple consecutive golds in women’s halfpipe [9]. Can you believe that?! On a sad note, three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White ended his legendary career a little disappointed after having the fourth-best qualifying score, and then crashing out on his final run. The tricks and flips performed at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games were absolutely insane!

Whether it is ice hockey, luge, figure skating, curling, speed skating, snowboarding, or any of the other sports present in this year’s Winter Olympic games, Team USA made history in a lot of its events, and the countless hours that athletes spend years in advance preparing for these games will be forever remembered! And finally, the 2022 Winter Olympics has officially come to an end. We will now excitedly wait for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games that will be hosted in Paris, France! 

[1] https://www.topendsports.com/world/lists/popular-sport/countries/united- states-winter2010.htm

[2] https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/33297249/winter-olympics-2022- team-usa-men-hockey-eliminated-us-goes-1-2-slopestyle-more-action-beijing

[3] https://www.npr.org/2022/02/17/1081449979/us-womens-hockey-olympics- 2022

[4] https://olympics.com/en/news/luge-rules-equipment-history-winter-olympics

[5] https://www.espn.com/olympics/winter/2022/results/_/view/medalrounds/ discipline/27

[6] https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/noc- medalist-by-sport-united-states.htm

[7] https://www.usacurling.org/press-releases/us-men-place-fourth-in-2022- olympic-games

[8] https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/2022-olympic-speed-skating-review- erin-jackson-nils-van-der-poel-make-history

[9] https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/beijing-winter-olympics/relive-the- best-snowboarding-moments-of-the-2022-winter-olympics/2817494/