The XXIII Winter Olympic Games were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea between Feb. 9 and the 25. There was a time of historic unity with the host country and North Korea, as they participated under a united Korean flag during the opening ceremony and the women’s hockey event.

The Winter Olympics featured 102 events throughout 15 different sports, with Almost 3,000 athletes from 92 nations. Russia’s Olympic committee was banned due to a government-sanctioned doping program, so 168 clean “Olympic Athletes from Russia” performed instead.

17-year-old Red Gerard took home the first American gold medal. At the age of 17, Chloe Kim became the youngest female medalist in snowboarding, with a gold in the halfpipe. Shaun White also secured gold in the men’s halfpipe. Other American gold medals came from the men and women’s snowboarding slopestyle, women’s: ice hockey, skiing giant slalom, and skiing team sprint. American men took gold in the skiing halfpipe and curling. Figure skater Nathan Chen failed to meet golden expectations, but jumped from 17th place after the short program to fifth place overall after a historic free program, becoming the first skater to attempt six quadruple jumps in one program.

The 1000th gold medal in the history of the Winter Olympics was awarded to reigning champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan. He became the first figure skater in 66 years to defend his gold medal and broke Olympic records in the short program score and combined total score. Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir became the most decorated Olympic figure skaters after winning gold in the team and the individual events.

Kaela Alagos ‘18 stated, “Just thinking about the background of each of the Olympians and how much hard work they put into it, and then seeing them finally perform what they had practiced for so long makes the Olympics watching experience even more personal.”

Norway took the lead with their medal count of 39, followed by Germany with 31 and Canada with 29. The U.S. finished in fourth place with 23 medals, nine of them gold. The closing ceremony was held on February 25, featuring performances from singers EXO and CL. Pyeongchang 2018 concluded with the passing of the Olympic flag from Pyeongchang county mayor Shim Jaekook to IOC President Thomas Bach to Chen Jining, the mayor of Beijing. Beijing will host the following Winter Olympic Games in 2022.