The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing wrapped up on Feb. 20, after two weeks of competition.
Norway came out on top with a total of 37 medals, followed by Germany with 27, and China with 15. Norway was the first country to acquire a gold medal on opening day and did not look back, winning a total of 16 gold medals.
Team USA finished the games in fourth place with a total of 25 medals, eight gold, 10 silver, and seven bronze. The women led the way by capturing 17 out of the 25 medals for the United States, which was a great success as the men outweighed the amount of women participating in the games.
Team USA broke numerous records in Beijing, one of them being the record for most women from one nation to compete at a single Winter Olympics.
Jessie Diggins, who represented Team USA in cross-country skiing, captured bronze in the individual sprint freestyle, making her the first American woman to win a medal in an individual cross-country skiing event in the Winter Olympics.
Team USA’s Lindsey Jacobellis captured a gold medal in snowboard cross after appearing in a record-tying fifth Winter Olympics.
As for the men, US olympic figure skater Nathan Chen won gold in the men’s singles event. Chen came into this year’s Olympics looking to redeem himself after an unexpected performance in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, placing fifth in the men’s single event.
“Something that I’ve learned for the past four years is just to try to stay present, to try not to project too far into the future,” said Chen in an article by CNBC. “So right now, [I want] to live in the moment.”
The women for Team USA made history in different forms throughout the two weeks of Olympic games. Although Team USA did not win the Olympics as a whole, they proved many things to themselves and the nation.
“I feel like the number of female athletes participating in the Olympics and other related sports will always be lower than the men just because the number of people willing to participate usually sides in favor of the men,” said Jett Rosenstein, junior entrepreneurship major. “Moral of the story, both genders have extremely gifted athletes.”
As for the rest of the countries that competed in the games there were great performances all around.
Finland beat Russia 2-1 in men’s hockey to win gold for the first time in Finland’s Olympic history. Canada defeated the long-time rival Team USA in women’s hockey to get the gold.
For Team Germany, they dominated in four-man bobsledding by capturing a gold and silver medal in the event.
There were a total of 109 medals won in Beijing 2022, which is 7 medals higher than the last Winter Olympics in PyeongChang four years ago.
The next Winter Olympics will be held in 2026 in the Italian cities Milano and Cortina.
