This year’s Winter Olympics is being hosted in Beijing, China in their national stadium, and even though it just started, it’s ramping up to be an exciting year. So far, when it comes to gold medals, Sweden is winning with three gold medals, one being in the luge, one in alpine skiing, and their last medal being in the Biathlon. Even though Russia is technically banned from national sporting events, Russian athletes are competing in the Olympics under the acronym of ROC which stands for the Russian Olympic Committee. Despite the fact that their country was banned, they are doing remarkably well this year, taking second overall for now with two gold medals, one in ski jumping, and one in figure skating, three silvers and two bronze medals. Finally, in third place is the Netherlands with two gold medals, one in short track and one in speed skating, two silver medals and one bronze.

“My favorite event is probably snowboard freestyle,” senior, Ella Kalt, said

When it comes to individual efforts from athletes, Z. W. Ren, the Chinese athlete, is killing it. He has two gold medals, both in short track events, one being the Men’s 1000m and mixed team relay. This 1000m was China’s first ever gold in the event, so it was a very special moment for the Chinese team. The finish in the event was absolutely maddening because the first and second place skaters finished at nearly the exact same time. However, Z. W. Ren finished with his skate barely in front of that of the Hungarian skaters.

“Honestly, my least favorite event would have to be figure skating,” sophomore, Caleb Watson, said.

For many people, the Olympics are very exciting and motivational. Watching athletes push past their limits and compete against each other with everything they have till the very finish is very inspiring for many people. Hopefully the US brings home the gold, but that won’t happen without our support. So make sure you keep an eye on the US teams this year.