The 2018 Winter Olympics (Feb. 9- Feb. 25) of PyeongChang, South Korea came and left within two weeks time, but they managed to leave memories that athletes and fans will remember for the rest of their lives. The Olympics is a time where countries can battle it out and showcase their best athletes, some of the best athletes in the world, and some of the most unique.

It’s not often when fans have an opportunity to watch bobsled, ski jumping, curling, or many other unique winter olympic sports, but PyeongChang gave fans that opportunity and did not disappoint.

Although the United States may have not come away with as many medals as they would have liked, they still managed to place fourth in the overall medal count. Norway dominated the field and won the Olympics with a total of 39 medals followed by Germany and Canada.

Total Medal Count for Top Five Countries

Of course, no Olympics would be complete without the excitement and anticipation that surrounds the opening and closing ceremonies. Host countries always have capturing events that intrigue the viewers and stuns the rest of the world.

South Korea did not disappoint in these winter olympics as they shocked the world with their 1218 drones show. These drones were used first as a skateboarder in the night sky and then they transformed into the Olympic rings that were to be presented at the opening ceremonies, an Olympic tradition. These Intel drones awed the crowd and was the highlight of the opening ceremonies on February 9th.

The drones reappeared in the closing ceremonies, this time with an army of 300, to put a recap on the Olympic games. This time, the drones appeared live in the shape of a white tiger named Soohorang, the PyeongChang Olympic mascot, who was ‘running’ into place and celebrating the athletes.

Enough with the ceremonies, but how exactly did the United States of America fair? Follow along on this journey as we relive the United States Top 10 moments at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

1. Women’s Hockey Avenges Canada

It’s been twenty years since the United States women’s hockey team won the gold medal, when they won the inaugural games for women’s hockey in the Olympics in Nagano, Japan in 1998. Since then, Canada has dominated the field winning every gold medal and has beaten the United States in the gold medal game in 2002, 2010, and 2014. However, 2018 in PyeongChang would be a different story. After going 2-0 in the round robin play, the Americans faced Canada and lost 2-1 in that match right before the medal rounds but were able to earn themselves a by in the first round. In the semifinals they faced Finland on February 19 by a score of 5-0 which would set them up in yet another gold medal game against the Canadians, who defeated the Olympic Athletes from Russia 5-0 in the semifinals. On February 22, the Americans fell behind 2-1 but were able to tie it up at two with under seven minutes left and eventually send it into overtime. In the shootout, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored the go-ahead goal while goalie Maddie Rooney stopped Canada’s Meghan Agosta to clinch the win on the final shot. Therefore, giving the United States a gold medal in women’s hockey and snapping Canada’s streak of four straight gold medals.

2. Shaun White Ends Olympic Career on High Note

In what was his last Olympic winter games, Shaun White, at the age of 31, stunned the world in his final run of the men’s snowboard halfpipe. After winning gold medals in Turin (Italy, 2006) and Vancouver (British Columbia Canada, 2010), White fell in his final run in the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia and came in a disappointing fourth place. In his fourth and final Olympics in PyeongChang, White showed the world that he truly was the best. In the finals he opened up with a big run of 94.25 but was passed in the second round by Ayumu Hirano of Japan. However, in the final run of the evening, White blew away the judges and audience by landing back-to-back 1440s to secure a score of 97.75 to win a gold medal and etch his name in history once again.

3. “HERE COMES DIGGINS”

    One surprising gold medal came for the United States in cross-country skiing in the women’s team sprint. The duo of Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins finished in first in an epic finish after Diggins came from behind to surpass the Norwegians and then the Swedish to win the gold medal. This was the first US Olympic gold medal in cross-country skiing and only the second medal in cross-country skiing in US history for either men’s or women’s.

4. Men’s Curling Brings Home the Gold

    In a shocking series of events, everything fell into place for the United States men’s curling team after they defeated Canada in the semifinals 5-3. On Feb. 24, the day before the closing ceremonies, the Americans, led by their skip John Schuster, battled Sweden in a hard fought battle but came out on top 10-7. After being tied 5-5, the US had an incredible 8th as they scored five points to take a 10-5 lead and feeling pretty secure. The other members of that curling team for the United States consisted of Tyler George, Matt Hamilton, John Landsteiner, and alternative Joe Polo. This was the first gold medal in United States men’s curling history.

5. Cleveland Kid Takes Home Gold

    Showing up in the Olympics early on and making a scene was 17 year-old Red Gerard, who was born and raised in Rocky River, Ohio. After moving to Silverthorne, Colorado, Gerard created his own snowboard park in his backyard where he put in all of his practice and hard work. Well kid, that little backyard slopestyle course paid off after he won the gold medal in the men’s snowboard slopestyle event. On his final run, Gerard landed a triple cork 1440 to put him over the top of two Canadians Max Parrot and Mark McMorris to shock the snowboarding world. Gerard won the first gold medal for the Americans at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and became the youngest American to medal in a snowboarding event at the Olympics.

6. Sensation Chloe Kim Did Not Disappoint

    A lot of the excitement for the United States coming into the 2018 Winter Olympics surrounded 17 year-old Chloe Kim, who is a Korean-American and her parents are from South Korea. What better place to shine than a country where most of her family is from, and Kim did not let that moment slip through her hands. She dominated the field in the women’s snowboard halfpipe by scoring a 93.75 in her first run ad breezed by in her second run since nobody was able to surpass her mark. Kim lived up to the hype by capturing the gold medal while fellow American Arielle Gold took home the bronze in the same event.

7. Jamie Anderson Defends Gold in Awful Conditions

    After winning the gold medal in the women’s snowboard slopestyle in Sochi in 2014, Jamie Anderson was ready to compete hard and defend her title in PyeongChang. However, her competition was not her biggest obstacle, after riders just desperately tried to stay on their feet after being beaten by whipping whips. The final runs of the slopestyle event contained some ugly crashes but Anderson was able to finish strong and her score of 83 was enough to win the gold medal on that particular day. Some of her competitors were angry at the judges due to the fact that they were forced to snowboard through those terrible conditions, but Anderson was able to stay upright and bring home the gold.

8. Shiffrin Delivers After Disappointing Olympics

    Twenty-two year-old Mikaela Shiffrin came in as one of the most anticipated American athletes at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. After winning the gold medal in the women’s slalom in the 2014 Sochi Games, Shiffrin said that she wanted to win five gold medals at the next winter games, which was this year in PyeongChang. However, due to harsh weather conditions Shiffrin was not able to make that dream possible. Out of her five events, Shiffrin dropped out of two events due to the schedule changes from the weather conditions because she wanted to focus on the alpine skiing combined event. She competed in the women’s giant slalom on February 15 and took home the gold medal with a time of 1:09.20, winning by four-one hundredths of a second. Later in the Olympics, Shiffrin had one last shot for another gold medal but came up just short when she one the silver medal in the alpine combined event. We will surely see the youngster become a veteran at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

9. Americans Take 1 and 2 in Men’s Halfpipe Freestyle Skiing

    Winning the ninth and final gold medal for the United States was skier David Wise who secured a gold medal in his second run of the finals after scoring a 97.20. He passed fellow American Alex Ferreira who was in first place for most of the competition but was still able to take home the silver medal with a score of 96.40. In the women’s halfpipe freestyle skiing American Brita Sigourney took home the bronze thus giving the Americans near dominance in the halfpipe competitions during the PyeongChang Games.

10. Youngster Looks for Redemption in Beijing

    One final athlete that was highlighted before the Olympics for Team USA was 18 year-old figure skater Nathan Chen. However, Chen had a rather disappointing Olympics by flopping in the team competition and short program. Chen had one more chance to show himself to the world in his first Olympics and he did not fail this time in the men’s free skate. Chen attempted six triple quads and only landed five of them but he became the first man ever to do this. This was enough credibility for Chen to keep his anticipation up and he will be back and ready to go for gold at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

See you in Beijing, China for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.