1. Shaun White wins gold after Sochi disappointment
Shaun White, prior to the 2018 Winter Olympics, was a two-time gold medalist from Turin and Vancouver. He missed out on the medal podium in Sochi in 2014, and took 4th place. As a seasoned veteran to the sport of snowboarding, White had high expectations coming into the 2018 games. During his last run in the Men’s half pipe final, he pulled off some extreme tricks back to back, landing everything with perfection. White was extremely satisfied with his performance and emotionally took home the gold. As this was most likely his last Olympic games, he made a lasting impression for many, and set the bar high for future Olympians. In addition, White also earned the USA their 100th winter Olympic gold medal in history.
2. Nathan Chen lands five quads
Nathan Chen, a figure skater representing the United States, had really big potential coming into the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. During his long program, Chen attempted six quad combinations, and cleanly landed five, with a slight glitch on one to complete six. A quad, in figure skating, is the amount of rotations in a single jump; in a quad specifically there are four rotations. The amount of quads that he not only attempted, but also landed, made Olympic history.
3. Chloe Kim wins gold
Chloe Kim is now the youngest woman to win a gold medal in the snowboarding half pipe event. During both qualifying runs she held on to her first place lead, and maintained that in her final run, officially securing gold. What makes her scenario incredible is how high she held the bar the first run, and increased her difficulty as the runs progressed. As a young athlete and first time Olympian, she has a lot of success ahead of her and Team USA.
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4. Ester Ledecka thrives as a two sport athlete
An athlete from the Czech Republic, took home her first Olympic gold medal in extreme surprise in the Women’s Super-G event. She has competed in world races, but has not been a medal contender, until recently. Her main discipline is snowboarding, yet she also competed as an alpine skier this year. She is the only women’s athlete to compete in two different sports in the winter Olympics, as a snowboard competitor and skiing competitor.
5. USA hockey defeats Canada
The United States took on Canada again this past week in the Women’ Hockey Final in a gold-silver rematch after Canada snatched gold in 2014. As long time rivals, this match has been greatly anticipated. In fact, the United States and Canada have faced each other in the finals in all Winter Olympic Games since USA’s win in 1998, except for the 2006 Turin games. This year, the team started out with a strong lead, and was able to maintain it to achieve their goals. With a tie game at the end (2-2), USA snatched the gold in a shootout to break the tie, with a final score of 3-2. Prior to the 2018 Winter Olympic games, the United States last won this event 20 years ago at the 1998 Winter Olympic games in Nagano, Japan.