With the games wrapping up, it’s time to look back on what were the best and worst moments of the Winter Olympics.
The summer and winter Olympics are always full of many best and worst moments that are remembered by many fans. There are moments of underdog athletes coming out on top, nations winning their very first gold medals and sad tears of athletes who worked hard but lost their events. This is true once again for this year’s Olympic Games.
This will be a compilation from the lowest to highest moments in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics that have been reported and shown as of writing this.
Low Moments:
Zhu Yi has been faced with much backlash by Chinese fans due to her fall during a short program of the Women’s Single Skating along with two more falls in that event the next day that put China down to fifth place.
CNN reported that she broke down in tears upon finishing her performance. It was heartbreaking to watch, seeing this young athlete being faced with such pressure and insults.
The other important moment during the Olympics was the controversy surrounding Kamila Valieva who has been faced with a lot of pressure from different people and organizations.
The controversy first arose when it was revealed to the public that the 15-year-old tested positive for a banned drug. Despite having helped her team get first place in the Women’s Single Skating according to NBC Sports, the decision on whether to give the team the gold medal is still being debated.
Inspiring Moments:
Benjamin Alexander made history both for himself and Jamaica.
Alexander is his country’s first skier to qualify for the Alpine Skiing. While he ranked 46th according to the Olympic website, he still performed better than 44 other athletes.
In an interview with BBC News he stated, “I’ve performed better than some of the best in the world, they crashed, and that’s a fact.”
Arif Khan also made history by being the first Indian to qualify in two different sports at the Winter Olympics while also being India’s sole representative.
During the same competition where Benjamin Alexander competed, he ranked in 45th place which was just above Alexander. Despite his low rank, it was the best that India had succeeded in that sport.
In comparison, the first Indian to qualify and compete in the Winter Olympics ranked 65th as Tribune India stated.
High Moments:
Choi Min-Jeoung’s win made history as she now has back-to-back gold wins in the Women’s 1500m.
This is her third medal win in this year’s Olympic Games according to NBC-5-DFW. It also added that her previous winnings were two silver medals in the women’s 1000m and 3000m relay.
As for Erin Jackson’s win, it was a major victory for three reasons.
According to USA Today, the first reason is that this is the first time since 2010 that an American won a medal at the Individual Speed Skating Event. The second is that she is now the first American woman to win a medal in this event since 2002. And the final reason is she is now the first Black woman to win gold at an individual sport in the Winter Olympics. Yahoo! News also reported of the win, which added that during the medal ceremony she was so excited and full of tears that she accidentally put the medal on backwards.
To continue watching the rest of the 2022 Winter Olympics, one can check over at NBC Olympics, Hulu and Peacock for live coverage and moments.