Olympic Recap: February 13

The United States has won their sixth gold medal of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. On Sunday, Erin Jackson of Ocala, Florida placed first in the women’s 500 metres by posting a winning time of 37.04 seconds.

Jackson won the gold medal by eight one-hundredths of a second over Miho Takagi of Japan, who had a second place time of 37.12 seconds. Many people thought a Japanese speed skater would be in contention, just not Takagi. Nao Kodaira was the reigning Olympic champion from the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, but finished 17th.

The fact that Jackson even competed in the women’s 500 metres is noteworthy. That is because she slipped in the United States Olympic Trials in January, and initially did not make the American team in the 500 metre Olympic event. However, it a noteworthy act of kindness Brittany Bowe gave Jackson her American spot as Jackson had done extremely well in the women’s 500 metres on the World Cup circuit this season. In the end, Bowe was given an opportunity to compete on Sunday as other nations decided not to use up their quota spot according to Abigail Adams of People Magazine.

In men’s hockey, the United States clinched a spot in the quarterfinals after they defeated Germany 3-2 in their final Group A game. The American goal scorers were Steven Kampfer of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Matt Knies of Phoenix, Arizona and Nathan Smith of Tampa, Florida. When you think of American Olympic winter athletes, you would not think of Floridians excelling, but yet on Sunday, you had one Florida native winning an Olympic gold medal, and another scoring a key goal for the United States hockey team.

Also on Sunday, there were six other gold medals presented. We were correct with Marco Odermatt of Switzerland (men’s giant slalom), Quentin Fillon Maillet of France (men’s 12.5 kilometer biathlon pursuit), Marte Olsbu Roeiseland of Norway (women’s 10 kilometer pursuit), and the Netherlands (women’s 3000 metre short track speed skating relay). The other two gold medalists were Shaoang Liu of Hungary, and the Russian Olympic Committee in the men’s 4×10 meter cross country skiing relay.