The USA finished 5th in the medal count with 8 gold, 10 silver and 7 bronze for a total of 25 medals won. Norway led the medal count with 16 gold, 8 silver and 13 bronze for a total of 37 total medals The ROC was second with 6 gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze for a total of 32 medals. Germany was third in the medal count with 12 gold, 10 silver and 5 bronze for a total of 27 medals won. Canada was 4th with 4 gold, 8 silver and 14 bronze for a total of 26 medals won. The USA won more medals in Beijing with 25 vs the 23 the USA won in Pyeongchang 2018.
The USA Figure Skaters had a successful games. The USA won silver in the team competition behind the ROC who won gold. Nathan Chen scored 10 points in the men's Short Program, Madison Hubbell/Zach Donohue scored 10 points in the Rhythm Dance and Madison Chock/Evan Bates also scored 10 points to lead team USA to a silver medal. Decent Performances by Vincent Zhou with 8 points in the men's Free Skate, Karen Chen, 13 points for the women's Short Program/Free Skate, Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier scored 14 points in the Pairs Short Program/Free Skate. A silver medal is the best ever for the USA in the team competition. Unfortunately, Vincent Zhou contracted COVID 19 and had to withdraw from the men's singles event. Nathan Chen was flawless in the men's singles competition, winning gold by a decent amount over Japanese skaters Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno. Chen's Free skate was unbelievable and at the end really relished the moment he won gold. Jason Brown finished 6th, 50 points behind Chen. Jason Brown was very good as he has great artistic ability but doesn't attempt quads. Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan wasn't as sharp as he usually is and finished 4th, Japan finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th behind Chen of the USA. There was no medal ceremony due to the failed drug test of ROC skater Kamila Valieva.
The USA women Figure skaters finished well behind the Russians Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova and Kaori Sakamoto of Japan. Alyssa Liu finished 7th, Mariah Bell finished 10th and Karen Chen finished 16th. At the end of the women's singles competition Trusova was crying because she thought she should have won gold and I thought that lacked sportsmanship. The USA Ice Dancers Madison Hubbell/Zach Donohue won the bronze medal behind Papadakis/Cizeron of France and Sinitsina/Katsalapov of ROC. Madison Chock/Evan Bates finished a respectable 4th and Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean -Luc Baker finished 11th. The USA Pairs teams Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier and Ashley Cain Gribble/Tim Leduc finished 6th and 8th respectively behind China and the ROC.
ROC skater Kamila Valieva was leading after the short program but fell to 4th place after several falls on ice. These falls were from pressure and turmoil related to a failed drug test that Valieva took around Christmas 2021. The drug in question was trimetazidine. Valieva said she accidently took it from her family medicine cabinet but there were 2 other legal drugs found in her system, Hypoxen and L-Carnatine. When these drugs are taken together they help endurance. The results of the test was not revealed until after the team event. Valieva was originally suspended from competition by the Russian Anti Doping Agency but quickly reinstated by RUSADA and allowed to skate at the games because she tested negative since. There was an emergency hearing held during the games and before the women's singles competition to determine Valieva's eligibility for the Olympics. After a 6 hour hearing with the Court of Arbitration for Sport it was determined that Valieva could skate and the decision was based on that not allowing Valieva to skate would cause mental harm to her. The drama surrounding the failed drug test affected Valieva's performance in the women's free skate. There was validity to the outrage of letting Valieva skate because it was like letting a drug cheater compete at the games and the message to clean athletes was very muddled. American Olympic broadcasters and former skaters Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski both spoke out on the air against letting Valieva perform. I agree wholeheartedly with the message of Weir and Lipinski. The Olympics are about clean athletes and letting tainted athletes perform sends the wrong message. Luckily, Valieva finished 4th because the IOC would have not held a medal ceremony for the women's singles event.
The USA Alpine ski team did ok these games. The reason why I said ok is that USA Alpine ski legend Mikaela Shiffrin skied out of the women's Slalom, Giant Slalom and women's combined, finished 9th in the women's Super G ,18th in the women's Downhill and the USA finished 4th and Shiffrin did not medal in the Mixed Team Parallel. Mikaela skied out in the first 15 seconds of two races and after the second ski out, it was tough to watch Mikaela sit in the snow and cry. Under ordinary circumstances Mikaela would have medaled in at least 3, if not 4 or 5 Alpine ski events, but these were no ordinary circumstances. Mikaela Shiffrin is already a legend in her sport and a few ski outs does not define the legend she currently is. There is so much pressure to compete that athletes (Simone Biles- Tokyo 2021) and now Mikaela Shiffrin in Beijing 2022 hit a mental health wall when competing. It is important to consider mental health as athletes from all countries but especially legends in sport that competing on a high level is almost expected of these athletes and they are human! Ryan Cochran Siegle won silver in the Men's Super G and River Radamus of the USA finished 4th in the men's Giant Slalom. Paula Moltzan is a rising star in women's Alpine Skiing. Moltzan finished 8th in the women's Slalom and finished 12th in the women's Giant Slalom and helped the USA have their best finish ever in the Mixed Team Parallel.
The USA Freestyle Skiing team did very well in these games. Colby Stevenson won silver in men's Freeski Big Air and two Americans medaled in the men's Freeski Halfpipe. David Wise won silver and Alex Ferreira won bronze. In Men's Freeski Slopestyle, Americans took gold and silver in Alex Hall and Nick Goepper respectively. The USA won gold in the Mixed Team Aerials. Megan Nick won bronze in women's Arials, and Jaelin Kauf won silver in women's Moguls.
The USA women's Snowboard team was very successful at these games. Chloe Kim won gold in women's Snowboard Halfpipe and Lindsey Jacobellis won gold in women's Snowboard Cross. Jacobellis also won gold in Mixed Team Snowboard Cross with Nick Baumgartner. Julia Marino won silver in women's Snowboard Slopestyle. Disappointing performances by Jamie Anderson, finishing 9th in women's Snowboard Slopestyle and finishing 15th in women's Snowboard Big Air. Maddie Maestro finished a disappointing 13th in women's Snowboard Halfpipe. The USA men's Snowboard team did not have the best games. Red Gerard finished 4th in men's Snowboard Slopestyle and 5th in men's Snowboard Big Air, respectable showing but no medals for Gerard. Shaun White finished 4th and Taylor Gold finished 4th and 5th in men's Snowboard Halfpipe. Shaun White, a legend in men's Snowboard retired after a failed 3rd run in the halfpipe. It was amazing watching Shaun White wave to the crowd and the world and then watch him hug his fellow athletes and competitors. Shaun White has passed the torch to a new generation of snowboarders. Shaun White will be missed on the Halfpipe and on a Snowboard!
The USA women's Hockey team lost to Canada but won a silver medal. This was the reverse of 2018 Pyeongchang where the USA women's hockey team beat Canada for gold. The USA men's hockey team finished 5th in Beijing behind the gold medalist Finland, the silver medalist the ROC and the bronze medal Slovakia.
The USA did not win any medals in Skeleton and Luge. The USA women did very well in Bobsleigh. Kaillie Humphries and Elena Meyers Taylor won gold and silver respectively in women's Monobob. Elana Meyers Taylor/Sylvia Hoffman won bronze in 2 women bobsleigh.
The USA did medal in women's Cross Country skiing 30KM Mass Start. Jessie Diggins willed her way to the finish line after having food poisoning to win a silver medal. it was an inspirational moment for Team USA. Diggins also won a bronze medal in the Sprint Free event as well. Rosie Brennan finished 4th in the Sprint Free.
The USA did not medal in Short Track Speed Skating. Kristen Santos finished 4th in the women's 1000M. The USA had better success in Long Track Speed Skating. The USA men's Team Pursuit team of Casey Dawson/Emery Lehman/Joey Mantia won a bronze medal behind gold medalist Norway and silver medalist the ROC. Joey Mantia finished 4th in men's Mass Start. Erin Jackson won gold in the women's 500M ahead of silver medalist Japan and bronze medalist the ROC. Brittany Bowe won a bronze medal in the women's 1000M behind gold medalist Japan and silver medalist from the Netherlands. Mia Kilburg finished 4th in the women's Mass Start.
The US men's curlers could not duplicate the gold medal result of 2018 Pyeongchang. Team Shuster finished 4th behind gold medalist Sweden, silver medalist Great Britain and bronze medalist Canada. USA women Team Peterson finished 6th behind gold medalist Great Britain, silver medalist Japan and bronze medalist Sweden. The USA Mixed Doubles team of Persinger/Plys finished 8th behind gold medalist Italy, silver medalist Norway and bronze medalist Sweden.
The USA did not win a medal in men's or women's Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined and Biathlon.
This was a Olympics full of controversy. NBC started by mentioning how the IOC gave the Olympics to China despite China's human rights abuses of its minorities. What China showed the world was completely different from what the Chinese people are going through, very strict COVID lockdowns, having a Uyghur athlete light the torch while China hides mistreatment of the Uyghur minorities. I did not want to mention any of these issues in my preview of the opening ceremony. It was a spectacular "high tech" opening ceremony showcasing China to the world. At the same time China was hiding human rights abuses of minorities. Beijing, although quite cold in the winter, had mostly man made snow. Man made snow is more treacherous to ski on because it is more Icy. This led to several ski outs by Alpine skiers. The second controversy about ROC doping in figure skating is discussed in previous paragraphs on this post. The third controversy is that during the men's snowboard halfpipe NBC's Todd Richard complained on air about the judging of Japanese snowboarder Ayumu Hirano. Hirano landed a triple cork and only received a 91,75 score. Richards said on air that the score should be so good that the competition should be over and Hirano won hands down. That seemed to be a very low score for Hirano, Richards predicted a 98 score. Richards questioned the judges credibility. Hirano won gold with a third run score of 96.00.
My predictions for these games were a mixed bag. I was off by only one bronze medal and just one total medal in the USA's medal count. I correctly predicted the USA placement in the total medal count at 5th place. I predicted the USA would win 8 gold, 10 silver and 8 bronze for a total of 26 medals won. Actually, the USA won 8 gold, 10 silver and 7 bronze for a total medal count of 25. I correctly picked Norway to lead the medal standings but was incorrect on the total number. I was off by just one gold on Norway's gold total, 17 predicted vs. 16 actual. I predicted Norway to win 39 total medals when they actually won 37 total medals. I was incorrect on the amount and medal standing placement of the ROC, I predicted the ROC would finish 4th in the medal standing count when they were actually 2nd. I predicted the ROC would win 27 total medals when the ROC actually won 32 total medals. I was only two total medals won on Canada's total, 28 predicted vs. 26 actual. I was off by one spot for Canada in the medal placement standings 3rd predicted vs 4th actual.
As for Individual and team medal predictions I was correct on Nathan Chen winning gold in men's singles figure skating and Chloe Kim winning gold in women's snowboard halfpipe. I was correct in predicting Lindsey Jacobellis would medal in the women's snowboard cross. Jacobellis won gold. I was correct in predicting Joy Mantia would medal. Mantia won a bronze in men's long track speed skating team pursuit. I was also correct in predicting Jessie Diggins would medal in women's cross country skiing. Diggins won two medals. I was correct that the ROC would win gold in the figure skating team competition although the medal may be stripped because of the Valieva doping scandal.
I was incorrect on the medal the USA would win in the team figure skating competition. I predicted bronze and the USA actually won silver. I predicted Japan would win silver in the figure skating team competition when Japan actually won bronze. Japan may move up to silver if the ROC is stripped of the gold medal. I was incorrect in predicting that Madison Chock/Evan Bates would win silver in Ice dance. Chock/Bates actually finished 4th. I incorrectly predicted that Shaun White would medal in the men's snowboard halfpipe. White finished 4th in the halfpipe. I was incorrect in predicting that the ROC would sweep the podium in women's singles figure skating. The ROC won gold and silver and Japan won bronze. I was incorrect in predicting Red Gerard would medal in men's snowboard Slopestyle big air. Gerard finished 5th. I was incorrect in predicting Brittany Bowe would win gold in long track speed skating. Bowe won bronze in the women's 1000. I was incorrect in predicting that Team Shuster would medal in men's curling. Team Shuster finished 4th. I was incorrect in predicting that the USA women's hockey team would beat Canada for gold. The USA women's hockey team lost to Canada and won a silver medal. I was incorrect in predicting that Chris Mazdzer would medal in men's luge. Mazdzer finished 8th. I was incorrect in predicting that Katie Uhlaender would medal in women's skeleton. Uhlaender finished 6th. I was incorrect in predicting Kaillie Humphries would medal in women's two man bobsleigh. Humphries finished 7th. Lastly, I was incorrect in predicting that Mikaela Shiffrin would medal in Alpine Skiing, Shiffrin did not medal.
NBC's coverage of the Olympics was decent. Without the now defunct NBC Sports Network which played a big role in broadcasting previous games, CNBC and the USA Network were two of the cable channels besides NBC to broadcast the games. Peacock TV held several live events as well. The same duplication of events on two different cable channels and the broadcast day between 8 pm and 9 am eastern time made watching these games a bit difficult. Two events on at the same time on two different channels and watching programs at 12 midnight, 2 am and 4 am was difficult. Luckily NBC's 2-6 pm broadcast caught up the viewers on missed events from the overnight before. Mike Tirico was an excellent prime time studio host. Tirico hosted from Beijing for the first few days of the games then he flew to Los Angeles to host NBC's Super Bowl coverage. Craig Melvin of NBC filled in nicely for a few days. Maria Taylor hosted late nights and Rebecca Lowe hosted days. I was most impressed by speed skating host Bill Spaulding and speed skater analyst Joey Cheek. Leigh Diffey and Erin Hamelin were good on Luge coverage. Coverage of the opening ceremony was good but I did miss some of the live version because I had DVR'd the coverage which was scheduled for two and a half hours. I decided to DVR the live opening ceremony and watch it later in the day. The DVR broadcast cut out the last 30 minutes of the opening ceremony so I watched the taped version in the evening. The opening ceremony evening taped version was edited from its live version but not overly so, The closing ceremony started at 8:30 pm and aired until 10:30 pm. From 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm NBC aired Beijing gold, an hour Olympic highlight show. The ratings for NBC's coverage of the games were it's lowest ever. The audience for NBC's coverage dropped 40 percent of the 2018 Pyeongchang games. The games averaged 11.4 million viewers a night. The 2018 Pyeongchang games averaged 19.8 million viewers a night. I had been turned off by too many commercials in previous games, that wasn't the problem here. NBC got smart, finally splitting the screen between the games coverage and the commercial with the audio attached. But during prime time that didn't happen as much. The pandemic and the host country China's human rights record as a whole coupled with limited US ticket sales due to the pandemic led to lower ratings. For the first time NBC's production staff was based mostly in the USA instead of Beijing. NBC kept their reporters in Beijing but held back their studio hosts and broadcast teams in the USA. Well it's on to Paris 2024!
