Feb. 20 marked the end of competition at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics—with Team USA finishing fifth.
The United States experienced highs and lows during the competition. Nathan Chen won gold in men's individual figure skating (with queer skater Jason Brown finishing sixth), while the U.S. squad took silver in the team contest. The U.S. Alpine ski team came close to a medal of its own, USA Today noted. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin went to Beijing with the possibility of winning six medals but failed to earn any.
The women's hockey team came up short in the gold-medal game against Canada; however, the men's squad failed to make it to the medal round at all, falling to Slovakia in what was seen as a massive upset in the quarterfinals. On the other hand, cross-country skier Jessie Diggins won two medals—but five-time Olympian snowboarder Shaun White, in his last Olympic competition, fell just short.
Overall, when the 109 events were completed, Norway led the way with 37 medals (16 gold, eight silver and 13 bronze). The Russian Olympic Committee, or ROC, had 32 medals (six gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze); Germany had 27 (12 gold, 10 silver and five bronze); Canada had 26 (four gold, eight silver and 14 bronze) and the United States wound up with 25 (eight gold, 10 silver and seven bronze).
—LGBTQ+ competitors at the Winter Olympics did well, snagging nine medals overall (including team awards), per out.com .
Among the highlights were Dutch speedskater Ireen Wust, who added to her haul by becoming the first athlete in history to win individual gold medals in five straight Olympics; four-time world champion and five-time European champion ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron grabbing the gold in the ice-dancing competition with his longtime partner, Gabriella Papadakis; and U.S. speedskater Brittany Bowe, who took the bronze medal in the women's 1000-meter event.
Earlier, Bowe made headlines for relinquishing her spot on the U.S. team in the 500-meter event to teammate Erin Jackson; Jackson went on to become the first Black woman to win a speedskating medal—and it was gold.
