2022 Winter Olympics

The 2022 Winter Olympics are almost over.  It's hard to believe that they've flown by so quickly!  Eliot and I have been so busy that I haven't had time to write about them until now.  However, being busy hasn't stopped us from watching as much as possible! 

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Honestly, I missed the first few days of the games because we were so busy that I forgot that they had already started.  I also don't think I was as excited about them as I usually am because we just did this last summer.  I think Eliot and I finally turned on the television by Day 3 and from there we were completely drawn in.  The Winter Olympics have basically been the background noise at our house for the past two weeks.  No matter what sport is on, I can't help but get sucked in.

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Eliot and I have watched snowboarding, skiing, ski jumping, speed skating, figure skating, bobsledding, freestyle skiing, biathlon, hockey, curling and alpine skiing.  I think we caught most of them over the two weeks.  We've been bouncing back and forth between NBC Primetime coverage and the all day coverage over on USA, so I don't think there was too much that we missed!

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There have been so many wonderful moments that Eliot and I have witnessed during the 2022 Winter Olympics.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Eliot and I watched the US win it's first gold medal of these Olympics when Lindsey Jacobellis won the snowboard cross event.  I don't remember watching this event before, and it was really stressful, but I was so proud of how she fought and earned that medal.  It was also inspiring to see someone almost my age win a gold.  People talk as if 36 is old... way to show them that "old" can still win gold Lindsey!

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Speaking of old winning gold... a few days later, we also watched as Lindsey Jacobellis and Nick Baumgartner won gold in the mixed snowboard cross event.  We didn't see Nick's run in the individual event, but it's clear that he was really upset afterwards.  I was so happy for him when Lindsey brought it home during that last stretch.  (I think I held my breath!)  It was such a moment of pure joy for both of them.  And since Nick is 40, their combined age is 76... proving again that age is just a number!

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I think the most emotional I was during these games was watching Shaun White in his last Olympics.  I've watched him forever and seeing how emotional he was about it just crushed me.  Eliot and I were both shocked when he crashed on his last run.  (I think the entire US muttered a collective "ugh" at the same time.)  But it was what happened after that made me teary eyed.  He took off his helmet and slid down the rest of the way holding it up as a salute to everyone watching.  You could hear the cheer of the entire crowd.  Then the way his competitors, pretty much kids who grew up idolizing him, all took turns embracing him was a powerful statement.  It was his interview that finally broke me down.  The entire event and sendoff was really touching considering how much he's grown the sport and made it what it is today.

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There were also moments of triumph in new sports.  I really enjoyed watching Kallie Humpheries & Elana Meyers Taylor finish in gold and silver in the first ever monobob event.  I've never really paid that much attention to the bobsledding events, but I enjoyed learning more about both women's stories and what it took for them to get where they are.  I'm so proud to have them represent the USA!

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One of the events that Eliot and I were looking most forward to was women's ice hockey.  We watched at least one of the men's games, but we tried to watch most of the women's games.  Of course, it came down to USA vs Canada for the gold medal match.  In the end, the US took the silver, but our ladies fought for it until the very end.

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I could write an entire post about the figure skating.  It's always my favorite winter sport to watch, similarly to how gymnastics is my favorite summer sport to watch.  I always make sure to watch as much of it as I can.  Unfortunately, due to my tuning into the games late, I missed watching the US win silver in the team event.  But after that, I made sure not to miss any of the other events!

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We enjoyed watching Nathan Chen nail his routine and win gold in the men's event!  I love how he skated to Elton John's "Rocket Man" and Elton tweeted about it!  I was so devastated for him after the 2018 Winter Games; I'm glad he's got his gold medal now!

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I was happy Jason Brown went back to the Olympics.  He's not out there nailing quads like some of the other guys, but I love how artistic and beautiful his programs are!

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Eliot and I really enjoyed watching the ice dance competition.  (About halfway through the first night, Eliot decided that was his favorite part of figure skating.)  We were so happy when Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue won the bronze medal.

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I also really enjoyed watching Madison Chock and Evan Bates perform.  I've been watching them for years and I'm so glad that they had great routines even though they didn't medal in their event.  (They still medaled in the team event!)

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We watched pairs figure skating- even though I missed part of the free skate.  I'm so glad the team from China won the gold at the Beijing games.  I can't imagine the pressure they were under!  I enjoyed watching the other countries teams perform as well as watching Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy Leduc from Team USA.

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I really enjoyed watching pairs partners Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier.  (I have followed Alexa's skating since she and her husband Chris skated together.)

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I think the most talked about event of the Winter Games was ladies figure skating.  I won't go into too many details since I'm sure you've already heard it all.  (To recap: ROC and potential doping, 15 year old is allowed to compete since she's a minor, immense pressure to perform, she falls a few times in her free skate routine, and complete chaos ensues at the end of the event.)  Honestly, that was really hard to watch.  I was so happy for the girl from Japan who won the bronze medal; she was thrilled!  The ROC silver medalist had a complete breakdown and it was broadcast for the whole world to see.  (I felt so bad for her.)  Then, the gold medalist from ROC couldn't even celebrate because her team abandoned her to comfort the other two.  In the end, the event felt like it was one big pot ready to boil over.  It was a hot mess.

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There were some good moments though.  I enjoyed how two of the competitors used Disney music in their routines.  I loved cheering on our USA athletes even though I knew none of them were going to medal.  (We watched this event in primetime so I knew Team USA finished off the podium.)  I thought Karen Chen had a wonderful performance even though she didn't seem too pleased about it at the end.

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Mariah Bell was completely glowing at the end of her free skate program.  I was so happy for her.  It sounds like she's tried to make the Olympic team many times before and I'm so thrilled that she had his incredible moment there on the world stage.  I love how she kneeled down to run her hands along the Olympic ice and then took a quick turn back around to soak it in before getting off of it.

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I also love how supportive her coach Adam Rippon was.  (I enjoyed watching him compete a few years ago.)  He was so thrilled for her too!

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I'm also thrilled for Alysa Liu and her free skate performance.  She was overcome with emotion afterwards and it was so refreshing to see how grateful she was for this experience.  You could tell that she was having a blast at the Olympics.

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I think my favorite moment of the entire Winter Games was when Mariah Bell jumped out from behind the "backstage" area and gave Alysa Liu a giant hug in the kiss and cry area.  She probably wasn't supposed to do that, but she was so happy for Alysa and how well she skated that she had to go give her a hug.  This is what the Olympics are about.  I was so proud of the display of camaraderie and friendship that these Team USA women showed when the rest of the women's competition fell apart.

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Aside from our favorite athletes, there was another person who was very popular at the Olympics this year.  The Beijing 2022 panda mascot, Bing Dwen Dwen, was incredibly popular.  Lines for mascot merchandise were longer than 4 hours at some points!  The round panda mascot was also seen at some of the sporting events.  Eliot and I actually spotted him dancing in the background of a few hockey games!

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The United States of America had a great showing.  There were 2,900 athletes in the games and 91 countries represented.  225 of those athletes were from the USA.  We had 57 Team USA medalists- 39 females and 18 males.  Our youngest was 19 and our oldest was 40.  And 34 of them were first time medalists!

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The United States was 5th in the medal count brining home 25 medals.  (We beat our 2018 total!)  Norway took away the most medals.  Germany dominated at the bobsled events winning gold in everything but the women monobob event.  Canada and the Russian Olympic Committee rounded out the top five.

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Overall, I think it was a great event and we really enjoyed watching it!  There were so many other moments during these games that were special as well.  (The ones I wrote about were just the ones that Eliot and I were able to watch!)  I'm so proud of our Team USA athletes.  I was inspired to see so many Olympians break records and barriers!

Congratulations to all of the 2022 Winter Olympians!!!  °o°o°