Who's winning the Olympics? Not the U.S.!
Red-blooded patriots across America are, one must assume, swinging wildly between impotent rage and abject grief as they grapple with the harsh reality that, after more than a week of competition, Team USA has yet to win a gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the U.S. ranked fourth, with nine golds, eight silvers, and six bronzes.
In Beijing, the U.S. currently sits in 17th place behind New Zealand and the Czech Republic. American athletes have so far won four silver medals — in alpine skiing, figure skating, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding events — and a bronze in cross-country skiing.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
However, it should be noted that of the nine events for which the U.S. team won gold medals in Pyeongchang, six have not yet taken place.
U.S. athletes failed to medal at all in two of the three that have been held. Mikaela Shiffrin, who won gold in the women's giant slalom four years ago, wiped out on her opening run Monday and skied off the course. In the third, women's snowboard slopestyle, American Julia Marino won silver.
The six forthcoming events are women's snowboard halfpipe, men's snowboard halfpipe, cross-country skiing women's team sprint, women's ice hockey, men's freeski halfpipe, and men's curling.
Yahoo Sports reports that, according to BetMGM, the defending champion U.S. men's curling team is only "the No. 5 favorite" with "odds of +1200 to win the gold medal again."
Betting odds do, however, slightly favor the U.S. women's hockey team to repeat its gold-winning 2018 performance, but the team will likely face a championship re-match against Canada, which won't be an easy game. The U.S. lost to its northern neighbor 4-2 in the preliminary round Tuesday.
Except for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, in which American athletes did not participate, the U.S. has never failed to win at least one gold medal since the modern Olympics began in 1896.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
Antony Gormley's Time Horizon – a 'judgmental army' of 100 cast-iron men
The Week Recommends Sculptures are 'everymen questioning the privilege of their surroundings' at the Norfolk stately home
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'King's horses take free rein through London'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is pop music now too reliant on gossip?
Talking Point Taylor Swift's new album has prompted a flurry of speculation over who she is referring to in her songs
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Caitlin Clark the No. 1 pick in bullish WNBA Draft
Speed Read As expected, she went to the Indiana Fever
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
South Carolina ends perfect season with NCAA title
Speed Read The women's basketball team won a victory over superstar Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Iowa's Caitlin Clark breaks NCAA scoring record
speed read College basketball star Caitlin Clark set the new record in Iowa's defeat of Ohio State
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Eight-year-old Brit Bodhana Sivanandan makes chess history
Speed Read Sivanandan has been described as a 'phenomenon' by chess masters
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Watch Simone Biles win her record 8th US gymnastics championship
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Spain beats England 1-0 to win its first Women's World Cup
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
US knocked out of Women's World Cup in stunning exit
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Katie Ledecky surpasses Michael Phelps for most world championship titles
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published