The Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea reached conclusion this past Sunday, Feb. 25. The closing ceremony was one highlight for the otherwise meagerly-watched games, with an estimated 15.1 million viewers in the United States, according to NBC — up six percent from the Sochi 2014 closing ceremony. The average viewing during the Games was 19.8 million, which is the lowest viewing that any Olympics in recent history has received — with low ratings throughout. This is not to say that the Games were uneventful for the United States Team, nor that the worldwide performances were exceptionally lackluster.
Norway broke the record for most medals won at the Winter Olympics — previously held by the United States — with 38 total medals won, 14 of which were gold. Following Norway in medal count for this Olympics was Germany in second with 31 medals, 14 gold; Canada in third with 29 medals, 11 gold; the United States in fourth with 23 medals, nine gold; and Netherlands in fifth with 20 medals, nine gold. Czech athlete Ester Ledecka also made history by winning gold in both skiing and snowboarding at the same Winter Olympics, making her the first athlete to ever do so.
The United States succeeded in a number of notable wins, despite placing lower overall than previous Winter Games and having a larger overall Olympic team than many of the other leaders. The U.S. Team beat the reigning world champion, Sweden, in curling to bring home the United States Team’s first curling gold. This win took place after a series of two wins and four losses in the early games, which many had predicted would lead to failure. The United States Team was ridiculed after their poor finishes in the Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 Games, making this win significant for both the United States record and the individuals in the men’s curling team.
United States downhill skier Lindsey Vonn broke the record for the oldest female alpine skiing medalist, with her bronze medal win at 33 years old. The U.S. Team also made gold in the women’s team sprint freestyle ski race, thanks to competitors Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins. This was the first cross-country ski medal — in any category — for the United States since Bill Koch won silver in the 1976 Games.
Also at the forefront of some viewers’ — and competitors’ — minds was the doping scandal involving the Russian Olympic team. In December of last year, following information released in 2016, the Russian team was exposed for a substantial state-sponsored doping program over the course of the last number of Olympic Games. In an attempt to discourage such programs and the cheating they involve, Olympic officials decided to ban Russia from participating in the Pyeongchang 2018 Games as a nation. Athletes who were shown to not be involved with the doping operation were permitted to participate in the Games under the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” (OAR) designation, with none of the earned medals/records being attributed to the country, but rather only to the individuals.
The OAR team placed seventh overall, with two gold medal wins. Neither the Russian flag nor national anthem were present at the Olympics, nor was Russian national insignia on the team uniforms. All OAR athletes were required to submit to drug testing at the beginning of the Games.
Nonetheless, two athletes from the OAR delegation — bronze curling winner Aleksandr Krushelnitckii and bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva — were later found to have been using banned substances. After testing the rest of the team and finding no more evidence of drug use, the International Olympic Committee ruled yesterday afternoon that Russia will be allowed back into the Olympic movement, active immediately.
