The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia ended on Sunday. Russia ended up winning the most gold (13) , silver (11) , and total (33) medals. They had a very good last 2 days. Through Friday, the United States was slightly ahead in the total medal count, but ended up 2nd with 28 medals. USA finished with 12 bronze medals, the most for any country, for what that’s worth. Norway finished 3rd with 26 total medals.
Some notable favorites for the Americans didn’t earn a medal, like 2-time Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Shaun White, and the USA hockey team, but the most obvious failure was in long track speed skating. For the first time in 30 years, the United States didn’t earn any medals in long track speed skating. They earned 19 in the past 3 Winter Olympics, which is an average of over 6 medals per Olympics.
Shani Davis was the most notable failure. He is the 2-time defending gold medalist in the 1000 meters, and the 2-time defending silver medalist in the 1500 meters. He was also the world record holder and #1 ranked skater in the world in both events, entering these Olympics. Davis finished 8th in the 1000 meters, 11th in the 1500 meters, and 24th in the 500 meters.
After the first week of the entire American men and women failing to earn a medal in speed skating, the new uniforms begin to receive blame. But after they switched back to their old uniforms the results didn’t improve. It was worth a try. I have a suggestion however. Copy everything the Netherlands does when it comes to long track speed skating.
The Netherlands earned a total of 24 medals in the Sochi Olympics. A record-breaking 23 of them came in long track speed skating. Their only other medal came in short track speed skating, not surprisingly. 8 gold medals, 7 silver medals, and 8 bronze medals in long track, compared to zeros across the board for Team USA. The only reason the Netherlands had so many silver and bronze medals is because they frequently placed behind teammates. Obviously they are the standard bearers in these events.
The future is very bright in several events for the Americans, especially in alpine skiing, with 18-year old Mikaela Shiffrin winning the gold medal in the women’s slalom. As long as Team USA returns at least to where they were in previous Winter Olympics, in long track speed skating, they can earn the most medals again, like in Vancouver in 2010.
The USA hockey team ended on a very disappointing note. Not only did they lose their last 2 games, but after averaging 5 goals a game in their first 4 games, which made them the highest scoring team in the tournament, they proceeded to be shut out in the next 2 games. Losing 1-0 to eventual goal medal-winning Canada wasn’t so bad, but getting thumped for the bronze medal 5-0 by Finland was downright embarrassing.
2 1/2 years from now, the Summer Olympics will occur in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Hopefully, the United States will repeat with the most gold medals, silver medals, and total medals, like they did in London in 2012. Until then, we will focus here on several other sports. Stay tuned.
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Sports With Frank Thomas
