Six days into the Winter Olympics, Team USA has much to celebrate. USA now holds 10 overall medals: 4 gold, 5 silver, and 1 bronze. This puts the USA in 4th place for the amount of gold medals just trailing behind Austria, Norway, and Germany. Check out the newest updates from Beijing curated by the Pure Athlete Team!
Figure Skating Victory
Figure skater Nathan Chen earned his first Olympic gold medal in the men’s free skate with a near flawless word-record-setting short program performance earning 113.97 points. Also known as the “Quad King” for his impressive quadruple jumps, the 22 year-old is the first American since Evan Lysacek in 2010 to win a men’s figure skating gold medal.
Following the win, Chen said, “It means the world. I’m just so happy… It’s a whirlwind right now. I had a blast out there.”
21 year-old Chloe Kim made history Thursday winning gold in the women’s halfpipe finals. She is the first woman in Olympic history to win back-to-back gold medals in this event. On Thursday’s final, Kim won the event with her first-run score of 94, nearly four points higher than the rest of the field.
When Kim reached the bottom of the pipe, she slid to a stop, dropped to her knees, and screamed “Oh my god,” letting out an explosion of emotions. Kim often spoke about the pressures of winning gold, and she has achieved it.
US Makes History
Team USA made history by winning the first ever Winter Olympics mixed team aerials in freestyle skiing. China fell 14 points short, and Justin Schoenefeld’s final jump allowed the US to secure the gold. With China settling for silver and Canada earning bronze, the US is in the Olympic history books as the first ever winners of the competition at the Winter Games.
Women’s Curling Win
The US played Denmark in women’s curling Thursday and won 7-5. The USA women’s curling team is on a roll, bumping their record to 2-0 with the victory over Denmark.
US Win in Men’s Hockey
Team USA opened the Winter Olympics in the men's ice hockey tournament with a victory over China scoring 8-0. What could’ve been a close game turned into a blowout with impressive offensive skill. Forward, Sean Farrell, shot five goals, scoring a hat trick and adding two assists.
Farrell stated, “...We’ve been working really hard in practice and coming together as a group off the ice… It was a great start for us.”
