Olympic Highlights

Lucy Rados '25 ~ April 2022

Kamila Valieva

Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old figure skater from the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), was a favorite for gold in the singles’ program after her stunning performance in the team event where she placed first. However, she tested positive for three heart enhancing drugs, resulting in a decision from the Olympic committee where she could still compete but there would be no medal ceremony, saying that, as she is 15 (a minor), the damage in not allowing her to compete would cause “irreparable harm.” She ended up, surprisingly, placing 5th overall. This decision resulted in controversy over the apparent double standard in allowing her to compete when Sha’carri Richardson, an African-American sprinter, was barred from competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics this summer after testing positive for marijuana.

Norway wins medal count

The Scandinavian country of 5 million, Norway, had the most medals of all the delegations, with a total of 37, 16 of which being gold medals, compared to the ROC in second place with 32 medals overall, with only six being gold. The second-highest gold medal count went to Germany with 12 gold medals.

Shaun White’s last Olympic run

The American snowboarder and half-pipe legend, Shaun White, finished 4th in the final Olympic Games of his extraordinary career. He won gold medals in 2006, 2010 and 2018, and holds the world record for most X Games gold medals and most Olympic gold medals by a snowboarder. The half-pipe gold was won by Ayumi Hirano of Japan.

Erin Jackson made history

The 29-year-old from the United States, Erin Jackson, made history at the Olympics as the first black woman to win gold in an individual speed skating event. She won the 500m sprint with a time of 37.04 seconds.

Hockey success and disappointment

Canada has always been a huge rival for the U.S. in hockey. The U.S. team emerged victorious in the preliminary round with a score of 4-2, surprisingly, as many had favored Canada to win. The U.S. men went on to beat Germany 3-2, but were later defeated by Slovakia in the quarterfinals. Finland won gold in the end.

The women had more success medal wise, ending with silver; however, they were defeated by the Canadians for gold.

Nathan Chen

American Nathan Chen won gold in the men’s singles skating. He set a world record for his score in the short program, and after an impressive performance in the free skate, won gold with an overall score of 332.60.

Kagiyama Yuma, a renowned figure skater, placed second with a total score of 310.05. This was an especially impressive win for Chen, as in the 2018 Pyeong-Chang, he fell during the short program.

Title Photo: “2022 Winter Olympics cauldron at Yanqing Winter Olympic Cultural Square (20220219134049).jpg” by N509FZ, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0