A few things we ought not to forget:
Sage Kostenburg's "1620 with a Japan Grab". He'd never tried it before, not even in practice. He'd been having a pretty "meh" season, not doing anything to impress anyone. On his second and final run in his slopestyle event, he suddenly decided to try that move. Just because. And he felt that he would nail it perfectly. He did. And won the Gold.
Skeletoner Noelle Pikus-Pace, a mother of two, comes out of retirement to have another "what the hell" go at it. She won the Silver. "I hope there’s a girl out there, let’s say a 15-year-old girl, who watched and thought 'that skeleton looks cool! I want to do that!'"
Speed skater Emily Scott had to apply for food stamps when her funding was cut. Luger Gregory Carigiet sold his car and then his motorcycle. Figure skater Michael Christian Martinez got zero support from his government, so his mother mortgaged their home. They didn't win medals, but they competed.
In the short program in women's figure skating, Mao Asada tried a triple axel - and blew it. Shaken, she pretty much went through the motions the rest of the way, falling again and missing simple moves. Her score put her in 16th place - awful for the Silver medalist from Vancouver - totally out of contention. The head of the 2020 Tokyo organizing committee added insult to injury, saying that Mao Asada is "always falling at the most critical time." When she came out for the "free skate" portion of the contest, she could have easily played it safe and killed time. But right away, she tried the triple axel again - and made it. With that behind her, she easily made her next jump sequence. Moving more quickly and gracefully, she turned in an amazing performance to the cheers of the crowd. She earned the third best score in the "free skate" program - not enough for a medal, but damned good on its own.
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen collected his 13th Gold, making him the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time. He's 40 years old now....
Evgeny Plushenko got his fourth Olympic medal as part of the Russian figure skating team, after having two spinal surgeries in the past two years. Justyna Kowalczy won the Women's 10km Classic cross-country skiing race on a busted foot.
Vanessa Mae is a world-class violinist. As Vanessa Vanakorn, she represented Thailand on the ski slopes. She came in last in her event, as she expected, but was still thrilled to have competed.
Dominique Gisin and Tina Maze actually tied in the Women's Downhill. They both got Golds.
The
helmets of the skeleton racers.
Dario Cologna won the gold in the Men's 15-kilometer skiathlon and then waited 28 minutes to congratulate last-place finisher Roberto Carcelen and the penultimate finisher Dachhiri Sherpa: