Team USA Earns Winter Medal Haul!

Team USA earned more medals in this year’s Milan Cortina Olympics than in any previous Winter Games, bringing home 33 medals: 12 gold, 12 silver, and nine bronze. The only country with more athletes earning more medals was winter-loving Norway, which claimed 41 medals!

Nearly 350 medals were given during this year’s competitions, in everything from bobsledding and curling to skiing and speed skating.

One of the highlights came as the U.S. men’s hockey team defeated Canada 2-1 in the gold medal final, claiming the third men’s title at the Games. It’s the first time the U.S. men’s team has won gold since 1980. But the men were not alone, the women’s hockey team also brought home gold—making it a clean sweep in the sport this year!

The hockey teams weren’t the only successful Olympians in the ice rink. Ice dancing duo Madison Chock and Evan Bates brought home a silver medal, while 20-year-old Alysa Liu brought home gold in women’s figure skating. All three figure skaters were part of the U.S. figure skating team event that brought home the gold medal for the second straight Winter Olympics.

The U.S. was also well-represented by Elana Meyers Taylor in the women’s monobob. Meyers Taylor brought home her first gold medal and her sixth career medal, making her the most decorated Black athlete at the Winter Olympics. At 41, she’s also the oldest American woman to win gold at the Winter Games!

Chloe Kim was on a MISSION to become the first Olympic snowboarder to win three consecutive gold medals, but she ended up bringing home silver behind 17-year-old Choi Gaon of South Korea. The Italian slopes worked out better for Mikaela Shiffrin, who became the most winning skier of all time, winning gold in the women’s slalom event.

The Winter Olympics began in France in 1924 as “International Winter Sports Week” with 16 events. Initially held the same year as the Summer Games, the Winter Olympics moved to a separate, alternating two-year schedule in 1994.