Russia captured the overall and gold medal titles, with help from American Vic Wild and Korean Victor Ahn. The American snowboarding and freestyle skiing teams were dominant, which I'm not really sure how I feel about. It's great that they helped the overall medal haul, but it's also discouraging to think of how badly the U.S. did in sports that other countries actually do. But still, it's hard to be disappointed in 29 medals, the most ever won by an American team at a non-North American Olympics. And if the men's hockey team had beaten Finland in the bronze medal game, it would've been at least a medal a day for the U.S.
There were plenty of new events, some of which were really awesome. I was skeptical about team figure skating at first, but it was actually pretty cool. Women's ski jumping was long overdue, even if it got the complete shaft from NBC. I didn't get to see the team luge, so I have no opinion there, and I already talked about the new events in the extreme sports.
We were also completely enthralled by the winter sports that we don't pay any attention to for three years and 11 months, then can't get enough of during the Olympics. Curling, the sport that we all think we can do and is our path to the Olympics. Biathlon, which might be the coolest sport in the entire Olympics (Winter or Summer). Cross country skiing, the most difficult sport out there. Short track, roller derby on ice.
I've also got some Olympic superlatives to hand out. Unlike London, where this was divided into three parts, the American and international awards are being combined here.
Best Game: USA-Russia Men's Hockey
No question. This was the hottest ticket in Sochi, and the game didn't disappoint. The Russians probably should've won, but had a goal disallowed in the third period. Then came the shootout. And T.J. Oshie. And T.J. Oshie again. And T.J. Oshie again. This game lived up to its billing and then some.
Biggest Upset: Adelina Soldnitova
Kim Yuna was going to win her second straight gold medal. It wasn't even going to be close. The question was who would win the silver. Then we had Yulia Lipnitskaya and that incredible performance in the team event, and suddenly it might be the Russian teenager who won the gold. Well, it was the Russian teenager who won the gold. Except it wasn't Lipnitskaya. It was Soldnitova.
Best Farewell: Ole Einar Bjoerndahlen
There are so many to choose from. Yevgeny Plushenko and those two incredible performances to help Russia win the gold in the figure skating team event, before he had to bow out of the individual competition with an injury. But I've got to go with Bjoerndahlen. You've never heard of him, but he's the greatest Winter Olympian in history. The 40-year-old Bjoerndahlen tied Bjorn Daehlie's record of 12 medals by winning gold in the first biathlon event of the Games, the sprint, then picked up two more in relays. Even though I would only watch him once every four years, I'm going to miss seeing Bjoerndahlen in the Olympics.
Bjoerndahlen became the most decorated Winter Olympian in history, but it pales in comparison to what Lauryn Williams accomplished in Sochi. She was the silver medalist in the 100 meters at the 2004 Athens Summer Games, and won a gold on the U.S. 4x100 meter relay squad in London. She then took up bobsled and won a silver in her new sport in Sochi, becoming just the fifth athlete ever to win a medal in both the Summer and Winter Games.
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| Williams is on the right with partner Elana Meyers. |
Biggest Disappointment: (tie) Shani Davis and Shaun White
The entire U.S. speed skating team was abysmal. And Shani Davis was the face of that disappointment. He was going for a third straight gold in the 1000 and wanted to leave Sochi as the most decorated male speed skater in U.S. Olympic history. Instead he left Sochi empty-handed. Then there's White. He, too, wanted to make history by winning the same event three straight times. He even withdrew from slopestyle to focus on winning his third straight halfpipe gold...and didn't even make the podium
She entered the Torino Games as the hometown favorite, and the pressure got to her. She entered Vancouver as a former World Champion, and was even worse. In Sochi, she finally got the Olympic medal she's long deserved. A little unexpected, but a bronze that certainly shines as bright as gold for the Italian veteran.
Most Dominant Performance: Dutch Speed Skating Team
Talk about an easy one. I've never seen anything like this in any Olympics, Winter or Summer, period. Of the 36 medals awarded in speed skating, the Dutch won 23, including four podium sweeps. It was truly remarkable. We're probably never going to see anything like this again. Honorable mention to the Canadians, who went 4-for-4 in gold medals in the team sports, sweeping both the men's and women's hockey and curling titles.
Biggest Star: Victor Ahn
He was the only athlete in Sochi to win four medals, taking home three gold and a bronze in short track. But it's the story that's even more remarkable. He was already a star, missed the Vancouver Olympics due to injury, then ended up not able to regain his place on the Korean team. So he changed his name, became a Russian citizen, and won four medals for the home team, including three gold.
Best Country Switch: Vic Wild
The native of Federal Way, Wash., won two gold medals in snowboarding for Russia. Why? Because the American snowboard team wanted to focus on the freestyle events instead of the alpine events, so his funding was cut. So Wild married his Russian girlfriend, moved to Russia, became a citizen and started competing for them. His wife, Alena Zavarzina, won a bronze in the parallel giant slalom minutes before Wild won gold in the same event. Then he added another gold in the inaugural parallel slalom.
Our reigning champion, Tessa Virtue, was back in Sochi and was as gorgeous as ever. If it's possible, she might've even been hotter. But you can't win this award more than once, so she was out of the running. As usual, there was some strong competition for the most prestigious of all my awards, but I'm going with Maze because of her ability to combine her hotness with results. She won two golds, and had a fourth and a fifth. Plus, she's also a pop star in her native Slovenia. Honorable mentions go to British curler Evie Muirhead and Austrian alpine skier Anna Fenninger.
Hottest (American): Jamie Anderson
As the defending gold medalist, Julia Mancuso was ineligible. I also decided to take Gracie Gold and Mikaela Shiffrin out of the running with the expectation of seeing them both again in PyeongChang (and so that I wouldn't have to decide between them). There were others worth considering, but without Gracie, Shiffrin and Mancuso in the running, there were only two real contenders left--Jamie Anderson and Ashley Wagner. Ashley Wagner gave us the McKayla Maroney face of these Olympics, which deserves its own award, but is she hotter than Jamie Anderson? I don't think so. Besides, Anderson got a gold in an individual event, and Wagner only won a bronze in a team event. Wagner wins the silver here. The bronze goes to cross country skier Jessie Diggins.
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