With the closing ceremonies finished and the flag officially lowered, this year’s Winter Olympics are over.  The Olympics are an opportunity for the best athletes from across the globe to come together and compete for a coveted gold, silver or bronze medal. While  usually a mass televised event, this year’s competitions had a record low 10.7 million views, with streaming platforms included it brings the total to 160 million viewers. Even with an underwhelming number of viewers around the world, team USA came in fourth place, when looking at overall gold medal count, with eight gold medals and 25 total medals. They came behind China in third place with nine gold medals and 15 medals overall, Germany in second place with 12 gold medals and 27 overall and Norway in first place with 16 gold medals and 37 overall.

Team USA achieved gold medal status in a variety of winter sports. Skier Alex Hall won gold for Men’s Slopestyle Freestyle Skiing with a score of 90.1. His teammate, Nicholas Goepper, finished second with a score of 86.48. Another gold medal for team USA came from Lindsey Jacobellis in Women’s Snowboard Cross. Jacobellis is the oldest American woman to win gold at the games at age 36. 

Erin Jackson made history with her gold medal win in Women’s Speed Skating 500m. With a time of 37.04 seconds, Jackson is the first American Woman to win the event since the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. 

Team USA welcomed a new athlete this year in Women’s Monobob. Kaillie Humphries, who previously represented her birth country of Canada, won gold this year. This is the first time Monobob has been a sport competed at the Winter Olympics. 

Also debuting at this year’s Winter Olympics was Mixed Team Snowboard Cross. Nick Baumgartner and Lindsey Jacobellis came in first against Canada and two Italian teams, with Meryeta Odine of Canada and Caterina Carpano of Italy crashing into each other during the women’s portion of the race.

Team USA welcomed returning gold medalist Chloe Kim again to compete in Womens Snowboard Halfpipe, where she won another gold medal. Kim finished her run with an impressive 94 point run putting her safely in the gold medal spot with a four point lead, followed by Castellet Queralt of Spain and Tomita Sena of Japan. 

Last but certainly not least, Nathan Chen won gold in Mens Singles Figure Skating. Chen won gold in Mens Singles Figure Skating with a whopping 22 point margin. His routine included five quads cementing his title as the best mens figure skater in the world. It’s safe to say that Team USA had a successful trip to the 2022 Winter Olympics.