What do you think of when someone mentions “The Olympics?”
If you asked me when I was 12 years old and going on weekend ski trips to Butternut Mountain in Great Barrington, Mass., I would’ve said they’re pretty cool. But I don’t think I would go beyond that. Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White … These were some names that inspired me to keep skiing, but at the end of the day, I wasn’t a devout viewer.
Ask me today at 23 years old and as a writer for NBC Sports – which is the network that handles all of the Olympic madness – and I would tell you that the Olympics are more than “cool.” In fact, they leave me speechless. At the absolute bare minimum, the Olympics are the greatest international sports competition the world has and will ever see.
The quadrennially fluctuating Winter and Summer Games continue to stand the test of time. The Games were only canceled three times (once during World War I and twice during World War II) and postponed once for the COVID-19 pandemic since their inauguration in 1896.
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Simply put, these competitions are miraculous. They combine a diversity of countries, races, ethnicities and ages, and all press together on one single stage in one distinct location. Most recently in Beijing, China.
The 2022 Beijing Olympics were a complete whirlwind. The Games featured 2,871 athletes – ranging from age 15 to 49 – from 91 participating nations competing in 109 events across 15 disciplines in seven different sports. And I got to cover it.
Yes, I was sitting at my desk in my room in a little suburb 30 miles from New York City instead of reporting live from China next to Mike Tirico, but nonetheless, even if it meant waking up at 4 a.m. on the East coast, I was still immersed in the action watching flag bearer John Shuster dominate the ice for Team USA Curling and snowboarder Chloe Kim set records on the slopes.
Sports
What other event in history has created such a diverse cocktail of competition and camaraderie? The Olympics have and always will be the epitome of the world’s love for sports and athletes show that every four years through their relentless dedication, admirable discipline and unwavering support for the countries they represent.
With that, let’s take a look at 10 of the best moments from the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games, or at least the 10 best in my opinion:
1. Erin Jackson makes history in the women’s 500m
Let’s start with this historical performance by the United States’ one and only Erin Jackson. The 30-year-old Florida native’s gold medal made her the first American woman to win any medal in the women’s 500m in speed skating since 1994. Oh, and it doesn’t stop there. Jackson’s gold medal also made record books as she became the first Black woman to win a medal in speed skating.
2. Eileen Gu becomes the youngest freestyle skiing gold medalist in Olympic history
China’s Eileen Gu, 19, is now the first action-sports athlete in Olympic history to win three medals – two gold and one silver – at a single Games. Eighteen at the time, Gu clinched the gold for women’s freeski halfpipe as well as big air and won silver in slopestyle.
Gu’s historical performance at the 2022 Games did not end with her hattrick title. The Chinese skier also became the youngest freestyle skiing gold medalist in Olympic history after her win.
3. Kamila Valieva achieves skating record … and gets embroiled in a scandal
Kamila Valieva is known for two colossal things during her stint at the 2022 Beijing Games. First, the 15-year-old skater became the first woman to land a quad at the Winter Olympics. And second, she was involved in a doping scandal. Yes, you read that correctly.
After helping the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) win the team event, the young star tested positively for a drug called trimetazidine on Dec. 25, and yet, she was cleared to compete in the individual event following the test.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided to clear her due to “exceptional circumstances” because of her age and status as a minor. This of course caused significant upheaval at the Games and ultimately Valieva failed to finish on the podium in the individual event. Commenter Johnny Weir said it was the most mistakes he’d ever seen Valieva make in a free skate.
4. Mikaela Shiffrin stays positive despite “skiing out” three times
Colorado native and alpine skiing great Mikaela Shiffrin enjoyed her last competition despite being faced with three “ski out” circumstances during her 2022 stint at the Games, which left her without an individual medal.
Defending giant slalom gold medalist Shiffrin, 27, didn’t finish three runs throughout her time in Beijing. Instead, she skied out and eliminated herself from medal contention.
And yet, after finishing her run in the Women’s Super-G, Shiffrin took a “glass half full” approach to her performances in Beijing. She told reporters: “I would never have expected, in this moment, severely underperforming in an Olympics… I would never have felt that humans could be so kind. I never would have expected that.”
5. Elana Meyers Taylor’s historical bobsled run(s)
Elana Meyers Taylor was involved in two historical bobsled runs during the 2022 Beijing Games, the first being in the two-woman competition, and the second in women’s monobob.
In her fifth career Olympic event, 38-year-old Meyers Taylor won her fifth overall medal after clinching bronze in the team competition with fellow sledder Sylvia Hoffman. This win marked the most of any female bobsled athlete in the history of the Olympic Games.
Soon after, Meyers Taylor and fellow American Kaillie Humphries, who competed in her first Games as a U.S. citizen, both sled for the United States in the debut of women’s monobob at the Olympics. The two American superstars clinched two medals for the United States – a gold and a silver.
6. Shaun White’s final Olympic run
Shaun White – America’s king of the slopes. I don’t think I have to say much about the accolades White has earned over his incredible 27-year career. Not only is the snowboard legend a five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in halfpipe boarding, but he also holds the world record for the most X Games gold medals and most Olympic gold medals by any snowboarder ever.
But to the world’s dismay, White wrapped up his final Olympic run. Earlier in 2022, the now 36-year-old California native announced his retirement from the Games and took his last run during the men’s halfpipe event where he placed fourth, narrowly trailing bronze medalist Jan Scherrer of Switzerland.
At the end of his last halfpipe run, White held his snowboard up to fans with tears in his eyes. His journey “has been a rollercoaster of emotions and [he was] overwhelmed with appreciation,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Yeah, I’m retired, that’s the last of it,” added White, who now plans to focus his time on the next generation of young, promising snowboarders.
7. Nathan Chen: the king of all kings
White will always be America’s king of the slopes, but Nathan Chen has earned a title that seems to have overshadowed any U.S. champion so far. The 23-year-old Utah native is a three-time world champion figure skater (2018, 2019, 2021) and now a defending Olympic champion, having won a bronze medal during the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang as well as a silver and a gold in Beijing.
Chen’s Olympic run in Beijing was like no other. The “Quad King” competed in a plethora of events, including Men’s Singles and the Men’s Team Event, where he took home two sets of hardware, and also set an international figure skating world-record in the men’s short program by scoring a 113.97.
The Olympic gold medalist is the first skater in history to have landed five quadruple jumps in competition as well as eight quadruple jumps across a single competition (the 2018 World Championships), hence his nickname the “Quad King.”
8. Chloe Kim becomes first-ever repeat champion in the history of the women’s halfpipe
Continuing on this snowboarding trend, let’s shift our focus to the other side of the mountain – the females who dominated the competition. The one name that always stays with me is Chloe Kim … not because she is American, but because she is one of the youngest talents who took the trip over to Beijing.
Kim, 22, has two Olympic gold medals under her belt – the first she earned in Pyeongchang in 2018 and the second in Beijing. At the 2018 Games, she became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal when she clinched the gold in women’s halfpipe at merely 17 years old. Yes … 17 years old.
Four years later, we saw Kim take on the slopes in China and obliterate the competition to defend that gold medal in the halfpipe after notching a score of 94.00. And she did so, despite mentioning that she had the “worst practice of her life.”
It’s sad to see White go, but I think it’s safe to say America will be alright … now that we have Kim to take up the mantle.
9. Lindsey Jacobellis becomes the oldest American woman to win a medal at the winter Olympics
Not only did Lindsey Jacobellis, 36, take home the first medal for Team USA at the Beijing Olympics, but she also became the oldest American woman to place at any Winter Games … though Jacobellis prefers to be called “seasoned” (fair enough).
The snowboard queen has been at it for 16 years. She has been to five Winter Olympics and earned two silver medals throughout these Olympic stints, but never got her hands on the gold hardware. But 2022 proved to be Jacobellis’ year when she and teammate Nick Baumgartner clinched gold in the mixed team snowboard cross event.
10. Young Olympian Colby Stevenson wins medal despite recent car accident
Though there were easily hundreds of noteworthy moments from the 2,871 athletes who competed at the 2022 Games, this one tops the charts for me. I think It’s safe to say it’s one of the most inspiring stories.
U.S. freeskier Colby Stevenson not only qualified for the Beijing Olympics, but also clinched the silver medal in men’s Big Air, just a few years after a horrific accident that almost ended his life. The now 25-year-old was driving with a friend back home after a competition when his car flipped over on the side of an Idaho road. Stevenson’s skull fractured in 48 pieces.
It was undoubtedly a journey for Stevenson to get back on the board, or even back on his feet, and yet he came home from Beijing with sparkling hardware on his neck.
Talk about inspiration.
