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Pyeongchang 2018: A Roundup of the Games One Week In

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It wasn’t all sunshine and glittering snow for the U. S. Olympic Team.
We’re a week into the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and there’s been no shortage of thrilling wins and defeats for Team USA.
Here are the U. S. team’s biggest moments of the past week from the slopes to the podiums.
Red Gerard won the first U. S. medal of the Pyeongchang Olympics in the men’s slopestyle finals. After two underwhelming runs, Gerard posted a phenomenal third run to win gold and defend the U. S. streak in the event.
Chris Mazdzer made history on Sunday by being the first American man to win a medal in men’s singles luge with a silver. “It’s 16 years in the making,” said Mazdzer, according to NBC . “I’ve had a rough last two years, and it just shows: Don’t ever give up. Whenever you lose, keep fighting.”
Jamie Anderson on Monday won the gold in women’s snowboard slopestyle, defending her title from the 2014 games in Sochi. High winds delayed the competition and prompted changes to the event, but Anderson was unfazed.
Mirai Nagasu made history on Monday by being the first U. S. woman to land a triple axel in Olympic competition, leading the U. S. figure skating team to a bronze medal after an equally graceful and focused performance from Adam Rippon .
Chloe Kim astounded judges and audiences alike with a near-perfect score in the women’s snowboard halfpipe. At 17, she was too young to compete at the last Winter Olympics, but proved her mettle as one of the world’s best with an early Pyeongchang gold.
Snowboarding legend Shaun White pulled off a gold medal in the men’s halfpipe for the 100th medal in U. S. Winter Olympics history, and became the only snowboarder ever to win three Olympic golds. White was met with questions about alleged sexual harassment and initially disregarded the claims as “gossip,” but later apologized and said he regretted his past behavior, according to The New York Times.
But it wasn’t all sunshine and glittering snow for the U. S. Olympic Team. After winning a hard-fought gold in the women’s giant slalom after more delays due to high winds, Mikaela Shiffrin failed to make the podium on Thursday in what is considered her best event, women’s slalom. She vomited before the event began and had trouble recovering.
Meanwhile, Nathan Chen, a favorite to win the men’s figure skating short program and a U. S. champion known for spectacular jumps, suffered a disastrous fall that pushed him down to a 17th-place finish.
The U. S. Team currently trails behind several countries in the overall medal count, including Germany and Norway.
And as the athletes look to improve next week as the games continue, high winds and a norovirus outbreak continue to cause problems for Olympians and administrative officials alike.
On the political front, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has invited the South Korean president to visit the country after the two neighbors emphasized a conciliatory approach to diplomacy by uniting under one Korean flag at the Olympics opening ceremony, according to CNN .
But relations between North Korea and the U. S. were not so warm. Vice President Mike Pence ignored the officials from the Kim regime sitting behind him at the opening ceremony, including Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong.
And impersonators of Kim Jong Un and President Trump were kicked out of the ceremony by South Korean officials eager to avoid any unnecessary tension the jokesters might add to the international event, according to NPR .
Finally, Grigory Rodchenkov, the former Russia anti-doping laboratory director and mastermind-turned-whistleblower of the Russian doping program that led to the country’s ban from this year’s games, spoke to The Associated Press and apologized on behalf of Russia.
“I am very sorry to all the clean athletes we cheated,” he said, and added that Russia is still “lying and denying.”
With another week to go, there’s sure to be more astounding athletic feats and other international news coming soon. It all culminates with the official closing ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 25 on NBC.

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