The United States has fallen surprisingly short in the total medal count at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeonchang.
Even though Team USA showed up in South Korea with 242 athletes in stars and stripes ready to compete, its largest-ever squad, it’s only won a total of five gold medals, and nine medals in all.
Eight days into the competition and the United States is currently tied for fifth in the medal count with Austria, Japan and Russia.
‘I am, of course, sad to see the US lagging behind the other powerhouse countries in the medal count,’ American David Wise told the Wall Street Journal. He is the defending gold medalist in the ski halfpipe, which will take place Thursday.
Snowboard halfpipe favorites Chloe Kim and Shaun White both brought glory to the United States with spectacular gold-medal wins in the first few days.
And Alpine Skier Mikaela Shiffrin made Americans proud when she won gold in the giant slalom.
But other gold-medal favorites such as skier Lindsey Vonn, who came in fifth in Saturday’s competition, or the US Hockey Team, which lost to Russia 4-0, have fallen surprisingly flat.
Even though Team USA showed up in South Korea with 242 athletes in stars and stripes ready to compete, its largest-ever squad, it’s only won a total of five gold medals, and nine medals in all
Eight days into the competition and the United States is currently tied for fifth in the medal count with Austria, Japan and Russia
Speedskating
The US speedskating team has so far won zero-medals in the 2018 winter games – echoing familiarly in the minds of fans and competitors who watched the team bring none home in the 2014 Sochi games.
Heather Bergsma, who owns the world record for the 1,500 meters speedskating race, finished eighth in the race. She also failed to medal in the 1,000 meters race – again finishing eighth.
Last year Bergsma was projected to be the athlete who would win the most medals of any athlete at the 2018 games, but has fallen short. Though she has one more race, she could leave the Games without a medal for the third straight time.
Figure skating
American figure skater Nathan Chen crashed in his short program and only managed to finish in fifth after a heroic comeback.
The 18-year-old was expected to at least win a bronze medal due to his iconically strong and beautiful quad jumps.
Though he nailed five clean quadruple jumps his efforts just weren’t quite enough to land him on the podium.
Heather Bergsma, who owns the world record for the 1,500 meters speedskating race, finished eighth in the race. She also failed to medal in the 1,000 meters race – again finishing eighth
Last year Bergsma was projected to be the athlete who would win the most medals of any athlete at the 2018 games, but has fallen short. Though she has one more race, she could leave the Games without a medal for the third straight time
American figure skater Nathan Chen crashed in his short program and only managed to finish in fifth after a heroic comeback
Skiing
Lindsey Vonn failed to win a medal during her first event during this year’s Games, after saying going first put her at a ‘disadvantage.’
The 33-year-old US Olympian was a favorite in the Women’s Super-G race but landed herself in sixth place after a stumble on the last turn impacted her time.
Going first during her Super-G race prevented Vonn from seeing how other skiers reacted to problem areas on the course. She told NBC before the race that this was a ‘disadvantage’.
The gold medalist started out fast at the beginning of the race and looked like she had a shot at placing on the podium.
But she skidded on the last turn and almost fell before she reaching the finish line.
Vonn said after the race: ‘Everything lined up except for one turn. That’s all it takes. That’s ski racing and that’s why it’s so difficult to win at the Olympics because literally anything can happen.’
She added: ‘I’m super happy. I left it all on the hill. Hindsight is obviously 20-20, but I wouldn’t change anything.’
This is Vonn’s last Olympic games. She has another shot at winning a medal on Tuesday when she competes in a downhill event.
Mikaela Shiffrin, the most dominant slalom skier in the world, presented a massive upset when she finished fourth Thursday night.
She had thrown up just before the race and said her nerves impacted her performance.
Shiffrin looked fragile at the start of the first run, and finished about half of a second out of the lead. Then, on the second run, she’d already dug herself a hole and failed to get out of it to medal.
She won’t be coming home empty-handed though, after winning gold on Thursday in the giant slalom.
Lindsey Vonn failed to win a medal during her first event during this year’s Games, after saying going first put her at a ‘disadvantage’
The 33-year-old US Olympian was a favorite in the Women’s Super-G race but landed herself in sixth place after a stumble on the last turn impacted her time
Going first during her Super-G race prevented Vonn from seeing how other skiers reacted to problem areas on the course. She told NBC before the race that this was a ‘disadvantage’. She is pictured after the race being comforted by a teammate
Mikaela Shiffrin, the most dominant slalom skier in the world, presented a massive upset when she finished fourth Thursday night
She had thrown up just before the race and said her nerves impacted her performance
Aerials skiing
The all-around favorite to place gold in Aerials skiing Ashley Caldwell failed to make the final round of the competition.
Caldwell, who is known for pushing boundaries of safety, failed to land cleanly on eithe rof her triple-flipping jumps during the qualifiers.
She couldn’t even crack the top 12, and had to watch the finals from the sidelines on Friday.
She didn’t mention it, but harsh winds likely impacted her performance as well. two days before the qualifying run a wind caught her during a practice jump and she landed hard on her shoulder.
‘When you seize the reward, everyone’s all happy, dandy, go-lucky,’ Caldwell told reporters Friday. ‘And when you don’t, either it hurts, or it hurts … physically or emotionally, and this is an emotional pain.’
Hockey
The US Hockey team was embarrassed heartily in a shocking 4-0 loss against Russia on Saturday.
Team USA played team OAR (Olympic Athletes for Russia) in the group stage at the Gangneung Hockey Center in South Korea.
In the second period they let in two goals from the Russia team, and with .2 seconds remaining below intermission Ilya Kovalchuk delivered a big blow that seemed to seal the Americans’ fate.
US coach Tony Ganato was so mad over the defeat he stormed out of the arena and refused to shake hands with Oleg Znarok, the Russian Coach.
During a post-game interview, Granato was asked if he was upset that Znarok pulled the last-second move. ‘Yes,’ the US coach said sternly, the Washington Post reports.
He later added: ‘I thought we played well enough to deserve better than a 4-0 game. I was really happy with the effort and the confidence that we gained in knowing that we could play with them. We just didn’t get the results.’
Team USA will now play in the qualification round on Tuesday, while Russia will move on directly to the quarterfinals.
The all-around favorite to place gold in Aerials skiing Ashley Caldwell failed to make the final round of the competition
The US Hockey team was embarrassed heartily in a shocking 4-0 loss against Russia on Saturday
Team USA played team OAR (Olympic Athletes for Russia) in the group stage at the Gangneung Hockey Center in South Korea