Team U.S.A. was sent to Pyeongchang with high expectations of winning medals, but they fell short. They sent a record of 244 Olympians to this winter games, however the high number of athletes did not help them win a high number of medals.
Team U.S.A. sat fourth on the leaderboard with a total of 23 medals won, according to The Guardian, falling short of their 2014 Olympics, when they won a total of 28 medals.
Going into this Winter Olympics, several athletes had been under immense pressure to win gold but ended with nothing. Figure skater Nathan Chen, 18, was expected to end his Olympic debut with a gold medal, but he fell short after a disastrous short program, which led him to end in fifth place. Veteran skier Lindsey Vonn was hoping to finish her Olympics career with a gold medal but placed sixth in the super giant slalom.
Luckily, Team U.S.A. had other Olympians that were expected to win gold and did just that. Shaun White won gold in snowboarding for men’s halfpipe, and Chloe Kim won gold for snowboarding women’s halfpipe. Women’s hockey was also able to fight hard and win gold. The men’s curling team also won gold.Even though Team U.S.A. had certain Olympians to carry them through the games by winning their medals, they were still far from winning the most. According to Team USA, the team won the lowest amount of medals at a Winter Olympics in two decades.