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These have been an Olympics of incredible highs — and staggering lows. As we close out the 2022 Beijing Games, we asked our writers what they’ll remember most from the past two-plus weeks:
Redemption song
Alyssa Roenigk: Several moments caused me great FOMO during these Games, but two long-coming gold-medal performances top the list: snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis capturing the gold she left on the course in Torino 16 years ago and Japan’s Ayumu Hirano landing the greatest halfpipe run in history — twice! — to win his first Olympic gold.
Before Beijing, I had watched every heat of Jacobellis’ Olympic career from the bottom of snowboardcross courses in Torino, Vancouver, Sochi and Pyeongchang, and each time, I reported on her heartbreak at coming up short. Jacobellis, 36, is the most dominant athlete in her sport, but she never won on the world’s biggest stage. Until last week, in her record fifth Olympics.
WHAT A MOMENT, @LindsJacobellis!
GOLDEN GOAT. #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/x9g5wWFjXe
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 9, 2022
Jacobellis has said for years that, had she won in Torino at 19, the stress she felt in the lead-up to those Games would have caused her to call it a career. She would have hung up her gold medal next to her snowboard and gone surfing. Losing that race kept her in the sport for nearly two decades and fueled the greatest career in snowboardcross history. I wish I’d seen her finally win an Olympic race — two, actually! — in person. Instead, I’ll remember pantomiming her passes in the warmth of my living room.
The same goes for Hirano, 23, one of the most progressive and exciting riders in halfpipe snowboarding. The past two Olympic contests were so close that gold and silver came down to a call by the judges, and both times, Hirano lost the call. Not this year. It will likely be a while before another rider duplicates Hirano’s frontside triple cork 1440 – cab double 1440 combo, and I wish I’d been there to see him land it from…
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Source : espn
