More than halfway through the 2018 Winter Olympics, the United States Olympic Team finds itself in the midst of another strong performance. Veteran athletes have continued to amaze, while young breakouts are shocking the world again.
The United States wasted no time counting its first two medalists. In men’s singles luge Saturday, American Chris Mazdzer won the silver medal in a narrow loss to Austrian David Gleirscher by less than one-tenth of a second. That same day, 17-year-old Redmond Gerard won the first gold medal of these Olympics in men’s slopestyle snowboarding. Gerard beat out a pair of Canadian medalists with a final score of 87.16. The first Olympic gold of his young career, Gerard became the youngest American to medal in an Olympic snowboarding event.
On Monday, the United States figure skating team won the bronze medal in the team overall category. The United States then earned its second gold medal in slopestyle snowboarding. Jamie Anderson, a medalist at the 2014 Sochi games, earned her second straight women’s slopestyle gold with a score of 83.00.
Tuesday, the women’s halfpipe competition played host to one of the more incredible feats in recent Olympic history. 17-year-old Chloe Kim became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding medal in the games’ history. Kim began her first run with a score of 93.75, only to best that score in her final run with an astounding 98.25. After winning four X-Games golds, Kim cemented herself as a star on the world stage for years to come. Winning the bronze in that same halfpipe competition was American Arielle Gold, who finished with a score of 85.75 en route to her first Olympic medal.
One of the most popular winter Olympians of the last decade has been snowboarder and infamous Mountain Dew fan Shaun White. White, who previously won the men’s halfpipe gold medals in Torino 2006 and Vancouver 2010, earned the third Olympic gold of his career in Pyeongchang on Wednesday. After posting a 98.50 score in qualifying, White finished with a first-place-worthy 97.75 before throwing his helmet off and celebrating his stellar run.
A day after White’s gold, American Mikaela Shiffrin won the United States’ first gold medal of the year on the ski slopes. After previously winning the gold in women’s slalom at Sochi 2014, Shiffrin won the giant slalom competition with a combined time of 2:20.02, three-tenths of a second ahead of Norwegian Ragnhild Mowinckel.
The United States’ latest medal (as of Sunday afternoon) was won by speed skater John-Henry Krueger. In the 1000m short track speed skating competition, Krueger won his qualifying, quarter final and semi final heat matches. After sweeping the first three heats, Krueger was narrowly defeated by Canadian Samuel Girard by less than two-tenths of a second. This silver medal was the 22-year-old Krueger’s first career Olympic medal.
Through the first week, the United States Olympic team sits at fifth in total medals with nine. With a mix of young and old – experienced Olympians and breakout stars – these winter games have provided plenty of excitement to viewers at home. Despite former gold medal-winning skier Lindsey Vonn missing the podium, the United States has proven itself as competitive as ever with plenty of winter-sport prowess on display.
