Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – From dominant victories to close calls, the Games had it all. The Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo ended on Sunday, February 22. The US can look back on the Games with great satisfaction after a highly successful campaign. The Americans claimed gold in twelve events across six different sports.
Breezy Johnson got things started in downhill skiing. The 30-year-old from Wyoming secured the first Olympic gold medal of her career on the fourth day of the Games. After an exciting race in which her teammate Lindsey Vonn suffered a serious accident, Johnson finished 0.04 seconds ahead of Germany’s Emma Aicher. Breezy Johnson celebrated one of the greatest successes of her career. Another special moment was the marriage proposal she received during the Games.
The US celebrated its second gold medal on the same day, February 8. In the figure skating team event, Ilia Malinin’s team won ahead of Japan and Italy. The team event consists of four disciplines that are scored together. Madison Chock and Evan Bates competed in the ice dance. The focus of this discipline is on rhythm and choreography. They achieved the highest score. In pair skating, the US finished in fourth place. Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea had to concentrate primarily on jumps and artistic elements. The team event is completed by the single skating competitions. One woman and one man represent their country in each individual competition. The points count toward the team score. Amber Glenn represented the US in the women’s competition, finishing third in the free skate. Shooting star Ilia Malinin won the men’s singles competition. He even performed a backflip, which had been prohibited until 2024. In the end, the American team won by one point ahead of Japan.
The women’s single figure skating competition was won by 20-year-old Alysa Liu. She managed to beat Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto in the individual competition with a difference of less than 2 points. For Liu it was her first Olympic individual victory. The Californian had already won the world championship title last year.
American athletes were especially successful on the ice at this year’s Games. Speed skater Jordan Stolz added his first two gold medals to his collection. The 21-year-old won the 1000m competition with an Olympic record. He crossed the finish line first on February 11 in 1:06.28. But he didn’t stop there. Just three days later, he was once again the winner in the 500m competition. He set another Olympic record with a time of 33.77 seconds. The previous record was 33.88 seconds.
Elana Meyers Taylor secured her gold medal in the monobob on February 16. In four heats, four hundredths of a second separated her from the runner-up from Germany. It was only in the last run that Meyers Taylor was able to take first place. This was her first gold medal after winning three silver and two bronze medals at previous Olympic Games. The 41-year-old Californian has been representing the US in Olympic competitions since 2010 and is also part of the two-women’s bobsleigh team.
Another highlight happened in freestyle skiing this year. In a close competition, Elizabeth Lemley from Ohio prevailed over Jaelin Kauf from Colorado. It was the 20-year-old’s first appearance at the Winter Olympics. In 2024, she had already secured first place at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in South Korea.
Skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin added another gold medal. In the slalom competition on February 18, she won with a lead of 1.5 seconds after two runs. After finishing fourth in the women’s team combined competition together with Breezy Johnson, she was now able to celebrate her first medal at the Games in Cortina. It was her third Olympic gold medal. Shiffrin had previously won the giant slalom in 2018 and the slalom in 2014. This performance built on her World Cup results, where she recently won the slalom crystal globe. The crystal globe is awarded to the athlete who has earned the most World Cup points in the discipline during the season.
On February 21, the US freestyle skiing team celebrated two more Olympic victories. The mixed aerials team consisting of Kaila Kuhn, Connor Curran, and Christopher Lillis won ahead of Switzerland and the People’s Republic of China. Alex Ferreira from Colorado won the men’s halfpipe competition, completing his Olympic medal collection.
The last two gold medals were added by the ice hockey teams. Canada was the opponent in both matches, which were decided in overtime. In the women’s game, the Canadians led 0-1 for a long time until Hilary Knight equalized in the 58th minute. Megan Keller’s shot ultimately secured the victory in the 5th minute of overtime. The men’s ice hockey team was leading from the 6th minute after a goal from Matt Boldy. Cale Makar equalized for Canada in the 39th minute. The game was decided by a goal from Jack Hughes. He secured the gold medal in the 2nd minute of overtime.
With twelve gold medals, the US concluded the Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo with a sense of accomplishment. With a total of 33 medals, the US finished second on the medal table. Only Norway won more medals over the past 17 days.