The United States experienced their fair share of ups and downs at the 2014 Winter Olympics. The U.S. Olympians finished in the medal count with 28, second only to host country Russia with 33.
The first big disappointment for the American team came when Shaun White withdrew from the Snowboarding Slopestyle event, one in which he was heavily favored.  With White out, the event was left wide-open for many of his rivals from Canada.  Instead, White’s teammate Sage Kotsenburg shocked the world by winning the event, his first ever podium finish.
Meryl Davis and Charlie White finally solidified their “Golden Couple” nickname when they brought the U.S. its first ever Ice-Dancing gold medal.
The win did not come without controversy, however. Immediately after beating their Canadian training partners and rivals, Tessa Virtue and Scott Muir, the U.S. was accused of having a “deal” with Russia in which the Russians would judge the American team less-strictly in return for the U.S. judging less-strictly in another event.
Another medal first for the U.S. came when Erin Hamlin earned a bronze medal in the Luge event, the first in this event for any athlete in American history.
One of the biggest stories from the Sochi Games came from Bode Miller, whose bronze medal in the Super-G quickly became an afterthought.  After the event, Miller was pressed in an interview about his brother, who he lost earlier in the year. Miller broke down and had an incredibly emotional moment on camera.
Many were disappointed with the NBC reporter who continued to question Miller despite his eagerness to move past the question. Miller later called off criticisms by Tweeting, “Please be gentle w christin cooper, it was crazy emotional and not all her fault. #heatofthemoment.”
A great moment for the U.S. came in the men’s Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle with Joss Christensen, Gus Kenworthy and Ken Goepper winning gold, silver and bronze respectively. Many heard stories of Kenworthy’s compassion as he adopted many of Sochi’s stray dogs.
Ski halfpipe was included in the Winter games for the first time this year, with local favorite Maddie Bowman of South Lake Tahoe stealing the gold after battling it out with Canadian Marie Martinod.
One of the biggest lobbyists for women’s ski halfpipe was the late Sarah Burke, whose unrelenting work paved the way for this event. Burke died in a skiing accident in 2012. Her ashes were spread in the mountains of Sochi on Feb. 23.
“I think [Burke] would have been very proud of how all the girls rode tonight,” Bowman said in an interview after her run on NBC. “I sure hope I and everyone else made her proud because we would not be here without her.”
Ski halfpipe was one of twelve new events held in the Sochi Olympics.  Kotsenburg’s gold in the aforementioned Snowboarding Slopestyle and the U.S. men’s sweep of the Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle were both new events.  Americans David Wise and Bowman (Ski Halfpipe) and Jamie Anderson (Snowboard Slopestyle) claimed gold in their respective newly added events as well.
The 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in PyeongChang, South Korea.