One year ago, the Olympic cauldron was lit at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games. Despite the flame being extinguished, the memories of the Games remain seared in history.
Remember when Shaun White, the king of the Olympic snowboard halfpipe, made his return; throwing down back-to-back 1440’s, a double McTwist and a frontside 1260 on his way to the top of the podium?
Or when the effervescent Chloe Kim, then just 17 years old, won her first Olympic halfpipe gold medal, or Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins’ historic gold medal for U.S. cross-country skiing?
What about Mikaela Shiffrin’s gold in giant slalom, or Lindsey Vonn battling back to her second Olympics after missing Sochi in 2014 due to injury, to claim bronze in the downhill?
And who could forget the U.S.’ Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson’s “Oops, I did it again” shootout golden goal against Canada in the women’s hockey final, or when Mirai Nagasu’s triple axel not only helped the U.S. win figure skating team bronze, but pushed her sport past what was thought possible.
The highlights of the Games just keep coming; John Shuster and his team of “rejects” winning curling gold, Ester Ledecka, the Czech snowboarder who shocked everyone, herself included, to win Super-G gold and Nathan Chen, bouncing back from a disappointing short program, to perform the Olympic free skate of his life. While Chen’s teammate, Adam Rippon, used his grace on the ice and outspoken charisma off it to wrap the world around his finger.
Look back at these moments and more from those 16 glorious days in South Korea as Olympians of a different sort continue to prepare as their time nears at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad next summer in Tokyo on the networks of NBC.
