In a tragic yet predictable turn of events, time has flown by and the Olympics are already over! It went by in the blink of an eye—which makes sense, because I got approximately that much sleep since they started. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. The Olympics are truly one of my favorite things, and these 2018 Winter Games were nothing short of incredible. I cheered, I danced, I yelled, I happy cried, I sappy cried, I straight up sad cried for no reason at all. And just like the conclusion of any Olympics…I’m already counting down the days until the next one! As of today, there are officially 878 days to go!  See you in Tokyo!

---

The Highlights & the History Makers

To name a few:

• Lizzy Yarnold became the first woman to win two medals in skeleton, as well as the first woman from Great Britain to win back to back gold medals in any Winter Olympic sport.
• Oleksandr Abramenko gave Ukraine their first ever medal in Aerials
• Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian and Carrie Russell debuted Jamaica’s first ever women’s bobsleigh team.
• The US women’s hockey team won gold for the first time in 20 years
• Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall became the first American women to ever medal in cross country skiing.
• Hungary won gold in the men’s 5000m relay, the first Winter Olympic medal in the country’s history.
• By winning gold in both the parallel giant slalom and the Super G, snowboarder Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic became the first woman to ever win gold medals in two different sports.
• John Shuster, Tyler George, Matt Hamilton, John Landsteiner, and Joe Polo won the USA its first ever gold medal in curling.

---

 The Events

(All images belong to https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/)

Alpine Skiing

Women’s Super G

• Gold: Ester Ledecka – CZE 
• Silver: Anna Veith – AUT 
• Bronze: Tina Weirather – LIE 

Men’s Giant Slalom

• Gold: Marcel Hirscher – AUT 
• Silver: Henrik Kristoffersen – NOR 
• Bronze: Alexis Pinturault – FRA 

Women’s Downhill

• Gold: Sofia Goggia – ITA 
• Silver: Ragnhild Mowinckel – NOR 
• Bronze: Lindsey Vonn – USA 

Men’s Slalom

• Gold: Andre Myhrer – SWE 
• Silver: Ramon Zenhaeusern – SUI 
• Bronze: Michael Matt – AUT 

Women’s Alpine Combined

• Gold: Michelle Gisin – SUI 
• Silver: Mikaela Shiffrin – USA 
• Bronze: Wendy Holdener – SUI 

Alpine Team Event

• Gold: Switzerland 
• Silver: Austria 
• Bronze: Norway 

.

Biathlon

Women’s 12.5km Mass Start

• Gold: Anastasiya Kuzmina – SVK 
• Silver: Darya Domracheva – BLR 
• Bronze: Tiril Eckhoff – NOR 

Men’s 15km Mass Start

• Gold: Martin Fourcade – FRA 
• Silver: Simon Schempp – GER 
• Bronze: Emil Hegle Svendsen – NOR 

2x6km Women + 2×7.5km Men Mixed Relay

• Gold: France 
• Silver: Norway 
• Bronze: Italy 

Women’s 4x6km Relay

• Gold: Belarus 
• Silver: Sweden 
• Bronze: France 

Men’s 4×7.5km Relay

• Gold: Sweden 
• Silver: Norway 
• Bronze: Germany 

.

Bobsleigh

Men’s 2-Man 

• Gold (TIE): Canada  & Germany 
• Bronze: Latvia 

Women’s 2-Man

• Gold: Germany 
• Silver: United States of America 
• Bronze: Canada 

Men’s 4-Man

• Gold: Germany 
• Silver: Germany 
• Bronze: Republic of Korea 

.

Cross Country Skiing

Men’s 15km Free

• Gold: Dario Cologna – SUI 
• Silver: Simen Hegstad Krueger – NOR 
• Bronze: Denis Spitsov – OAR 

Women’s 4x5km Relay

• Gold: Norway 
• Silver: Sweden 
• Bronze: Olympic Athletes from Russia 

Men’s 4x10km Relay

• Gold: Norway 
• Silver: Olympic Athlete from Russia 
• Bronze: France 

Women’s Team Sprint Free

• Gold: United States of America 
• Silver: Sweden 
• Bronze: Norway 

Men’s Team Sprint Free

• Gold: Norway 
• Silver: Olympic Athletes from Russia 
• Bronze: France 

Men’s 50km Mass Start Classic

• Gold: Iivo Niskanen – FIN 
• Silver: Alexander Bolshunov – OAR 
• Bronze: Andrey Larkov – OAR 

Women’s 30km Mass Start Classic

• Gold: Marit Bjoergen – NOR 
• Silver: Krista Parmakoski – FIN 
• Bronze: Stina Nilsson – SWE 

.

Curling

Men’s

• Gold: United States of America 
• Silver: Sweden 
• Bronze: Switzerland 

Women’s

• Gold: Sweden 
• Silver: Republic of Korea 
• Bronze: Japan 

.

Figure Skating

Men’s

• Gold: Yuzuru Hanyu – JPN 
• Silver: Shoma Uno – JPN 
• Bronze: Javier Fernandez – ESP 

Ice Dance

• Gold: Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir – CAN 
• Silver:  Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron – FRA 
• Bronze: Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani – USA 

Women’s

• Gold: Alina Zagitova – OAR 
• Silver: Evgenia Medvedeva – OAR 
• Bronze: Kaetlyn Osmond – CAN 

.

Freestyle Skiing

Women’s Aerials

• Gold: Hanna Huskova – BLR 
• Silver: Zhang Xin – CHN 
• Bronze: Kong Fanyu – CHN 

Women’s Ski Slopestyle

• Gold: Sarah Hoefflin – SUI 
• Silver: Mathilde Gremaud – SUI 
• Bronze: Isabel Atkin – GBR 

Men’s Ski Slopestyle

• Gold: Oystein Braaten – NOR 
• Silver: Nick Goepper – USA 
• Bronze: Alex Beaulieu-Marchand – CAN 

Men’s Aerials

• Gold: Oleksandr Abramenko – UKR 
• Silver: Jia Zongyang – CHN 
• Bronze: Ilia Burov – OAR 

Women’s Ski Halfpipe

• Gold: Cassie Sharpe – CAN 
• Silver: Marie Martinod – FRA 
• Bronze: Brita Sigourney – USA 

Men’s Ski Cross

• Gold: Brady Leman – CAN 
• Silver: Marc Bischofberger – SUI 
• Bronze: Sergey Ridzik – OAR 

Men’s Ski Halfpipe

• Gold: David Wise – USA 
• Silver: Alex Ferreira – USA 
• Bronze: Nico Porteous – NZL 

Women’s Ski Cross

• Gold: Kelsey Serwa – CAN 
• Silver: Brittany Phelan – CAN 
• Bronze: Fanny Smith – SUI 

.

Hockey

Women’s

• Gold: United States of America 
• Silver: Canada 
• Bronze: Finland 

Men’s

• Gold: Olympic Athletes of Russia 
• Silver: Germany 
• Bronze: Canada 

.

Nordic Combined

Individual Large Hill 10km

• Gold: Johannes Rydzek – GER 
• Silver: Fabian Riessle – GER 
• Bronze: Eric Frenzel – GER 

Team Large Hill 4×5 km

• Gold: Germany 
• Silver: Norway 
• Bronze: Austria 

.

Short Track

Women’s 1500m

• Gold: Choi Minjeong – KOR 
• Silver: Li Jinyu – CHN 
• Bronze: Kim Boutin – CAN 

Men’s 1000m

• Gold: Samuel Girard – CAN 
• Silver: John-Henry Krueger USA 
• Bronze: Seo Yira – KOR 

Women’s 3000m Relay

• Gold: Republic of Korea 
• Silver: Italy 
• Bronze: Netherlands 

Men’s 500m

• Gold: Wu Dajing – CHN 
• Silver: Hwang Daeheon – KOR 
• Bronze: Lim Hyojun – KOR 

Women’s 1000m

• Gold: Suzanne Schulting – NED 
• Silver: Kim Boutin – CAN 
• Bronze: Arianna Fontana – ITA 

Men’s 5000m Relay

• Gold: Hungary 
• Silver: China 
• Bronze: Canada 

.

Skeleton

Men’s

• Gold: Yun Sungbin – KOR 
• Silver: Nikita Tregubov – OAR 
• Bronze: Dom Parsons – GBR 

Women’s

• Gold: Lizzy Yarnold – GBR 
• Silver: Jacqueline Loelling – GER 
• Bronze: Laura Deas – GBR 

.

Ski Jumping

Men’s Individual Large Hill

• Gold: Kamil Stoch – POL 
• Silver: Andreas Wellinger – GER 
• Bronze: Robert Johansson – NOR 

Men’s Team

• Gold: Norway 
• Silver: Germany 
• Bronze: Poland 

.

Snowboarding

Women’s Big Air

• Gold: Anna Gasser – AUT 
• Silver: Jamie Anderson – USA 
• Bronze: Zoi Sadowski Synnott – NZL 

Men’s Big Air

• Gold: Sebastien Toutant – CAN 
• Silver: Kyle Mack – USA 
• Bronze: Billy Morgan – GBR 

Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom

• Gold: Ester Ledecka – CZE 
• Silver: Selina Joerg – GER 
• Bronze: Ramona Theresia Hofmeister – GER 

Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom

• Gold: Nevin Galmarini – SUI 
• Silver: Lee Sangho – KOR 
• Bronze: Zan Kosir – SLO 

.

Speed Skating

Men’s 10,000m

• Gold: Ted-Jan Bloemen – CAN 
• Silver: Jorrit Bergsma – NED 
• Bronze: Nicola Tumolero – ITA 

Women’s 5,000m

• Gold: Esmee Visser – NED 
• Silver: Martina Sablikova – CZE 
• Bronze: Natalia Voronina – OAR 

Women’s 500m

• Gold: Nao Kodaira – JPN 
• Silver: Lee Sang-Hawa – KOR 
• Bronze: Karolina Erbanova – CZE 

Men’s 500m

• Gold: Havard Lorentzen – NOR 
• Silver: Cha Min Kyu – KOR 
• Bronze: Gao Tingyu – CHN 

Women’s Team Pursuit

• Gold: Japan 
• Silver: Netherlands 
• Bronze: United States of America 

Men’s Team Pursuit

• Gold: Norway 
• Silver: Republic of Korea 
• Bronze: Netherlands 

Men’s 1,000m

• Gold: Kjeld Nuis – NED 
• Silver: Havard Lorentzen – NOR 
• Bronze: Kim Tae-Yun – KOR 

Women’s Mass Start

• Gold: Nana Takag – JPN 
• Silver: Kim Bo-Reum – KOR 
• Bronze: Irene Schouten – NED 

Men’s Mass Start

• Gold: Lee Seung-Hoon – KOR 
• Silver: Bart Swings – BEL 
• Bronze: Koen Verweij – NED 

 

---

The Medal Count

		Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway	14	14	11	39
2	Germany	14	10	7	31
3	Canada	11	8	10	29
4	USA	9	8	6	23
5	Netherlands	8	6	6	20
6	Republic of Korea	5	8	4	17
6	OAR	2	6	9	17
7	Switzerland	5	6	4	15
7	France	5	4	6	15
8	Sweden	7	6	1	14
8	Austria	5	3	6	14
9	Japan	4	5	4	13
10	Italy	3	2	5	10
11	China	1	6	2	9
12	Czech Republic	2	2	3	7
13	Finland	1	1	4	6
14	Great Britain	1	0	4	5
15	Belarus	2	1	0	3
15	Slovakia	1	2	0	3
15	Australia	0	2	1	3
16	Poland	1	0	1	2
16	Slovenia	0	1	1	2
16	Spain	0	0	2	2
16	New Zealand	0	0	2	2
17	Hungary	1	0	0	1
17	Ukraine	1	0	0	1
17	Belgium	0	1	0	1
17	Liechtenstein	0	0	1	1
17	Kazakhstan	0	0	1	1
17	Latvia	0	0	1	1

 

Today officially marks the end of the first week of the Olympics, meaning I’ve officially spent a week on the couch watching the Olympics. Aside from a few butt cramps, I’m not complaining. The Olympics are one of my favorite things in the whole world and when they are on, I never want to miss a minute!

That being said, I know there are a number of people out there who 1) don’t have time to watch them, 2) don’t have the means to watch them or 3) don’t really care all that much. While I can’t really help you #3’s out there, fear not, #1’s and #2’s, I’m here to break it down for you. The way I see it, this is a win win because you get the info you’re looking for and I just get to talk about the Olympics, which I never get tired of doing. So let’s dive on in. Here’s what’s happened so far:

The Highlights & the History Makers

To name a few:

• This is the first winter games for South Korea
• Six countries: Ecuador, Eritrea, Kosovo, Malaysia, Singapore, and Nigeria are making their winter Olympics debut
• Mirai Nagasu became the first US woman to land a triple axle at the Olympics
• Chloe Kim became the youngest female to ever win an Olympic snowboarding medal
• Adam Rippon & Gus Kenworthy are the first openly gay winter Olympians
• After crashing and breaking one of his poles at the start of the men’s 30km skiathlon, Norwegian cross-country skier Simen Hegstad Krueger came all the way back and won gold
• After failing to medal in Sochi and then facing a brutal injury at the end of last year, Shaun White won gold in the snowboarding halfpipe, making him the first snowboarder in history to win three gold medals.
• Chris Mazdzer became the first American to medal in luge since 1964
• Sven Kramer of the Netherlands won gold in the men’s 5000m, making him the first male to win 8 gold medals in speed skating
• Russian pairs skaters Aliona Savchenko (skating in her 5th Olympics!!) and Bruno Massot earned the highest score ever recorded in pairs free skate to win the gold medal

 

---

 The Events

(All images belong to https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/)

Alpine Skiing

Men’s Alpine Combined Slalom

• Gold: Marcel Hirscher – AUT 
• Silver: Alexis Pinturault – FRA 
• Bronze: Victor Muffat-Jeandet – FRA 

Men’s Downhill

• Gold: Askel Lund Svindal – NOR 
• Silver: Kjetil Jansrud – NOR 
• Bronze: Beat Feuz – SUI 

Women’s Giant Slalom

• Gold: Mikaela Shiffrin – USA 
• Silver: Ragnhild Mowinckel – NOR 
• Bronze: Federica Brignone – ITA 

Men’s Super G

• Gold: Matthias Mayer – AUT 
• Silver: Beat Feuz – SUI 
• Bronze: Kjetil Jansrud – NOR 

Women’s Slalom

• Gold: Frida Hansdotter – SWE 
• Silver: Wendy Holdener – SUI 
• Bronze: Katharina Gallhuber – AUT 

.

Biathlon

Women’s 7.5km Sprint

• Gold: Laura Dahlmeier – GER 
• Silver: Marte Olsbu – NOR 
• Bronze: Veronika Vitkova – CZE 

Men’s 10km Sprint

• Gold: Arnd Peiffer – GER 
• Silver: Michal Krcmar – CZE 
• Bronze: Dominik Windisch – ITA 

Women’s 10km pursuit

• Gold: Laura Dahlmeier – GER 
• Silver: Anastasiya Kuzmina – SVK 
• Bronze: Anais Bescond – FRA 

Men’s 12.5km pursuit

• Gold: Martin Fourcade – FRA 
• Silver: Sebastian Samuelsson – SWE 
• Bronze: Benedikt Doll – GER 

Women’s 15km Individual

• Gold: Hanna Oeberg – SWE 
• Silver: Anastasiya Kuzmina – SVK 
• Bronze: Laura Dahlmeier – GER 

Men’s 20km Individual

• Gold: Johannes Thingnes Boe – NOR 
• Silver: Jakov Fak – SLO 
• Bronze: Dominik Landertinger – AUT 

.

Cross Country Skiing

Women’s 15km Skiathlon

• Gold: Charlotte Kalla – SWE 
• Silver: Marit Bjoergen – NOR 
• Bronze: Kristia Parmakoski – FIN 

Men’s 30km Skiathlon

• Gold: Simen Hegstad Krueger – NOR 
• Silver: Martin Johnsrud Sundby – NOR 
• Bronze: Hans Christer Holund – NOR 

Men’s Individual Sprint

• Gold: Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo – NOR 
• Silver: Federico Pellegrino – ITA 
• Bronze: Alexander Bolshunov – OAR 

Women’s Individual Sprint

• Gold: Stina Nilsson – SWE 
• Silver: Maiken Caspersen Falla – NOR 
• Bronze: Yulia Belorukova – OAR

Women’s 10km Free

• Gold: Ragnhild Haga – NOR 
• Silver: Charlotte Kalla – SWE 
• Bronze: Krista Parmakoski – FIN   & Marit Bjoergen – NOR 

.

Curling

Mixed Doubles

• Gold: Canada 
• Silver: Switzerland 
• Bronze: Olympic Athletes of Russia

.

Figure Skating

Team Event

• Gold: Canada 
• Silver: Olympic Athletes of Russia 
• Bronze: United States of America 

Pairs

• Gold: Aljiona Savchenko & Bruno Massot – GER 
• Silver: Wenjing Sui & Cong Han – CHN 
• Bronze: Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford – CAN 

.

Freestyle Skiing

Women’s Moguls

• Gold: Perrine Laffont – FRA 
• Silver: Justine Dufour-Lapointe – CAN 
• Bronze: Yulia Galysheva – KAZ 

Men’s Moguls

• Gold: Mikael Kingsbury – CAN 
• Silver: Matt Graham – AUS 
• Bronze: Daichi Hara – JPN 

.

Luge

Men’s Singles

• Gold: David Gleirscher – AUT 
• Silver: Chris Mazdzer – USA 
• Bronze: Johannes Ludwig – GER 

Women’s Singles

• Gold: Natalie Geisenberger – GER 
• Silver: Dajana Eitberger – GER 
• Bronze: Alex Gough – CAN 

Doubles

• Gold: Tobias Wendl & Tobias Arlt – GER 
• Silver: Peter Penz & Georg Fischler – AUT 
• Bronze: Toni Eggert & Sasha Benecken – GER 

Team Relay

• Gold: Germany 
• Silver: Canada 
• Bronze: Austria 

.

Nordic Combined

Normal Hill 10km

• Gold: Eric Frenzel – GER 
• Silver: Akito Watabe – JPN 
• Bronze: Lukas Klapfer – AUT 

.

Short Track

Men’s 1500m

• Gold: Lim Hyojun – KOR 
• Silver: Sjinkie Knegt – NED 
• Bronze: Semen Elistratov – OAR 

Women’s 500m

• Gold: Arianna Fontana – ITA 
• Silver: Yara Van Kerkhof – NED 
• Bronze: Kim Boutin – CAN 

.

Ski Jumping

Men’s Individual Normal Hill

• Gold: Andreas Wellinger – GER 
• Silver: Johann Andre Forfang – NOR 
• Bronze: Robert Johansson – NOR 

Women’s Normal Hill

• Gold: Maren Lundby – NOR 
• Silver: Katharina Althaus – GER 
• Bronze: Sara Takanashi – JPN 

.

Snowboarding

Men’s Slopestyle

• Gold: Red Girard -USA 
• Silver: Max Parrot – CAN 
• Bronze: Mark McMorris – CAN 

Women’s Slopestyle

• Gold: Jamie Anderson -USA 
• Silver: Laurie Blouin – CAN 
• Bronze: Enni Rukajarvi – FIN 

Women’s Halfpipe

• Gold: Chloe Kim – USA 
• Silver: Liu Jiayu – CHN 
• Bronze: Arielle Gold – USA 

Men’s Halfpipe

• Gold: Shaun White – USA 
• Silver: Ayumu Hirano – JPN 
• Bronze: Scotty James – AUS 

Men’s Snowboard Cross

• Gold: Pierre Vaultier – FRA 
• Silver: Jarryd Hughes – AUS 
• Bronze: Regino Hernandez – ESP 

Women’s Snowboard Cross

• Gold: Michela Moioli – ITA 
• Silver: Julia Pereira Sousa Mabileau – FRA 
• Bronze: Eva Samkova – CZE 

.

Speed Skating

Women’s 3000m

• Gold: Carlijn Achtereekte – NED 
• Silver: Ireen Wust – NED 
• Bronze: Antoinetter De Jong – NED 

Men’s 5000m

• Gold: Sven Kramer – NED 
• Silver: Ted-Jan Bloemen – CAN 
• Bronze: Sverre Lunde Pedersen – NOR 

Women’s 1500m

• Gold: Ireen Wust – NED 
• Silver: Miho Takagi – JPN 
• Bronze: Marrit Leenstra – NED 

Women’s 1000m

• Gold: Kjeld Nuis – NED 
• Silver: Patrick Roest – NED 
• Bronze: Kim Min Seok – KOR 

Men’s 1000m

• Gold: Ted-Jan Bloemen – CAN 
• Silver: Jorrit Bergsma – NED 
• Bronze: Nicola Tumolero – ITA 

---

The Medal Count

		Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Germany	9	2	4	15
2	Norway	6	7	5	18
3	Netherlands	5	5	2	12
4	United States	5	1	2	8
5	Canada	4	5	4	13
6	Sweden	4	2	0	6
7	France	3	2	2	7
8	Austria	3	1	4	8
9	Italy	2	1	3	6
10	Republic of Korea	2	0	1	3
11	Japan	0	4	3	7
12	Switzerland	0	3	1	4
13	OAR	0	2	4	6
14	Australia	0	2	1	3
15	China	0	2	0	2
15	Slovakia	0	2	0	2
17	Czech Republic	0	1	2	3
18	Slovenia	0	1	0	1
19	Finland	0	0	3	3
20	Spain	0	0	1	1
20	Great Britain	0	0	1	1
20	Kazakhstan	0	0	1	1

---

 

In all honesty, I’m really only scratching the surface here. The numbers and names do little to capture the stories behind them. Congratulations to everyone whose hard work earned them the opportunity to represent their country this year, and a special congratulations to those going home with a medal! There have already been so many great moments in the Olympics and I look forward to seeing many more over the next week and a half! If you need me I’ll be on the couch with a remote in my hand, cheering for Team USA!