by Nick Cicalese ’18, Staff Writer

Bookended by drones and K-pop, the 23rd Olympic Winter Games have concluded.

Despite some exciting performances and competitions, the winter games were plagued by a number of problems. Early on, brutal weather conditions made it very difficult for some of the skiing events to occur, forcing a congested schedule of skiing events that negatively impacted American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin.

Another key problem for these Olympics was men’s hockey. Normally, the men’s hockey tournament is one of, if not the, best events in the entire Olympics, as fans are given the opportunity to watch the best players in the world, who are mostly NHL players, compete for the glory of their respective countries. However, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman decreed that the NHL would not be taking their normal Olympic break, meaning that NHL players could not compete in the games. This decision was made in order to maintain the continuity of the season, but also as a bargaining chip between the league and the player’s union. This led to the elimination of about 95% of the typical Olympic player pool, leaving only Olympic rosters full of prospects, former NHL players far past their primes, and millions of disappointed fans.

Finally, a major problem for the Olympics was ratings. These were some of the worst rated winter games of all-time. These poor ratings are largely attributed to extreme politicization of the games.

These Olympics were also largely a disappointment for Team USA. Despite sky high expectations heading into the games, the Americans finished with fewer medals (23) than Norway (39), Germany (31), and Canada (29). Lindsey Vonn was especially disappointing these Olympics, walking away with only one bronze medal in what are likely her final games.

However, there were several notable bright spots for the Americans. The first of these is USA snowboarding. American snowboarders enjoyed success at all ages, with 17 year-old Chloe Kim becoming the youngest woman to win a snowboarding medal, and for having a gold-medal-quality Twitter account during these games. Fellow 17 year-old Red Gerard, who won the first gold medal for Team USA, became famous for oversleeping, losing his jacket, cursing (uncensored) on television en route to his Gold medal win. Olympic and X-games superstar Sean White returned to Olympic glory, winning the gold in his signature event, the half pipe.

US Curling (Curling!) had a historic games, as the men’s team upset defending champion Canada in the semi-final, and defeated Sweden in the final to win the first gold medal in their history.

Finally, US women’s hockey had an excellent Olympics. After losing to Canada in each of the last three Olympics in the gold medal match, and losing to Canada this year in the qualifying round, the Americans shocked the world with a come from behind, 3-2 shootout win. Their win was secured with Jocelyne Lamoureux scoring one of the best goals I have ever seen in a hockey game. Link (2:21): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoSWvxeBiWc

Now, we’re on to Beijing, where the next winter games will be held in 2022.