Styrka

So, time for a recap! Hopefully there's still someone in this thread.
 
First of all, these Olympics were spectacular from the very beginning. Ever since the opening ceremony kicked things off, I felt something big was happening. Such a global event and a celebration of sports couldn't have been set in a better location this year. It's great to have the winter edition in Europe once again. Wonderful sceneries and great venues just fueled the atmosphere. I really enjoyed switching from one event to another, admiring the landscapes, just like every other Olympics.
 
The mascots were amazing. They're so adorable. I'm not really an avid collector of Olympic memorabilia, but I feel like I have to get my hands on one of these plushies. Not saying the last mascot was bad, but these stoats are perfect in every sense. The opening sequence rocks, the tune has been stuck in my head for days, it's really catchy. It gives off this dramatic vibe while still keeping a classy coating.
 
Interesting medal table this year! Norway showed up once again. Honestly, Klæbo, you're mad. I'm pretty sure the guy would place in the top ten of the leaderboard if he competed by himself, absolute legend. Both the United States and France recorded their best ever campaigns, very impressive. Some other countries locked in as well, unfortunately, some did not.
 
That brings me to a more subjective review.
 

 
What do we have here? It's not really pleasant to look at, but that's something we all expected. The last Summer Olympics were supposed to be successful, we had plenty of medal hopes before the start. That one was a disappointing campaign. This time, it wasn't that surprising.
 
Just as expected, not a lot to be cheerful about. However, I always try to pick something positive. Even these Olympics brought us some successful and memorable stories. There's definitely stuff to go through:
 
Alpine skiing: This is one of the memorable stories. Petra's comeback is already a victory on its own. It's even more symbolic when you realise the slopes of the Italian Alps marked her return to competitive skiing. Not a disappointing finish from her at all, she even improved her result in the second slalom run. Biathlon: Now this is the sport I'm closely following during the entire year. Well, to say it was disappointing is an understatement. No individual finish in the top twenty is a disaster. No matter how we look at it, it's a failure, especially after all the promising things we've heard during the last few races, building up to the main part of the season. I'm not saying I expected medals, but the results are horrific from every angle. Paula not being able to shoot with less than three misses just sums up the hopelessness of Slovak biathlon in Antholz this year. The women's relay also didn't live up to the expectations. Disappointing. Figure skating: Adam Hagara is the first male competitor to reach the final round since Nagano. Very impressive. Despite not improving afterwards, it's a great debut for him. His time will definitely come, it will be interesting to watch him skate in four years from now. Ice hockey: Now this is where it gets interesting. Again, there wasn't much to expect from us at the Olympics this year compared to the past, but I definitely did not expect hockey to be our best shot at a medal. And what a ride it was! No matter how easy our path to the semifinal was compared to other teams, we rightfully earned it down to the last detail. Damn, winning a group with Sweden and Finland at the best tournament in twelve years feels like a dream. Absolutely surreal. If only we could change the outcome of the last weekend, it was disappointing, although definitely not as painful as Vancouver was, @hckošice definitely remembers that one better than me. In all seriousness, I'm glad we didn't disappoint, fourth place is a pleasant shock, something no one in Slovakia or outside the country predicted to happen. I suppose we know how to move the puck, we don't suck as much as we used to. Ski jumping: This is what I'm looking forward to. I know pretty much nothing about this sport outside of the basics, but Hektor Kapustík looks so promising. He's already reached several milestones of Slovak ski jumping in the last couple of months. I'm very excited to see what the future brings, he's definitely got the potential. I can picture myself watching him being a serious medal contender in a few years, the kid has wings. Ski mountaineering: I don't know, this whole sport was very anti-climatic. Not sure if it's because of the events happening almost at the end, the execution being pretty disappointing, or our athletes being unlucky, that's a Slovak classic. Just as I thought, we could have had a serious medal contender in the women's event if it wasn't for snow getting in the way. Stuff happens.  
Other sports didn't really stand out.
 
There should be a big warning sign coming out of these Olympics for Slovakia. The brightest of our hopes did not come from a working state-sponsored system of support. They had to rely on their families and self-sacrifice plenty of times. There's not much support for young talents, nepotism and corruption are prioritised instead. I know that's something happening not only in Slovakia. Many countries suffer because of this, but it's still not something to be proud of.
 
To end with something more positive, our hockey future is so bright and I'm really excited to watch these young guys improving as time goes by. We've had the youngest squad on average, many of those players are eligible for multiple Olympic tournaments, including the World Championships we're hosting in three years. If these players are already the core of the team in their early twenties, we can only imagine how much glory they can bring in a few years. Finally, it looks like Slovak hockey is not getting worse. Let's keep it that way.

Best ever Winter Olympics for France, 23 medals and 8 golds, our previous record being 15 medals and 5 golds 
We really need to get better in some disciplines though (looking at speed skating and short track which give LOTS of medals...)

Mixed Relay
Final Results  
France Emily Harrop Thibault Anselmet 26:57.44   Switzerland Marianne Fatton Jon Kistler 27:09.30  
Spain Ana Alonso Rodriguez Oriol Cardona Coll 27:23.94  
Full Final Result HERE
 

Wierer and Preuss saying goodbye. Another generation is coming to a close. 

Women's 12.5km Mass Start
Final Results   Oceane MICHELON 37:18.1(1+0+0+1)   Julia SIMON 37:24.7(0+0+1+0)   Tereza VOBORNIKOVA 37:25.5(1+0+0+0) Full Final Result HERE
 

Gold for the best French woman  
Too bad Simon had to medal again..
 
And medal for the Czechs  Vobornikova getting the win would have been the major surprise, since her best result so far in her career was 5th. 

Michelon's 1st ever victory and it's at the Olympics!!! 
 
Vobornikovaaaa!! 

Better Michelon than Simon  Richard must be fuming back home though 

Czechia 

Podium for Vobornikova

This is a sport that benefits from longer distances (which is true for other sports as well in my opinion, although TV networks seem to push for shorter formats).
 
Longer ski mountaineering competitions also allow for incredible landscapes and can appeal to people who may not necessarily be obsessed with the result.

This sport makes more sense as it gets longer. 3 minute heats seem like a ninja TV programme tbh.

The relay format with two laps seems to make more sense than individual sprint

Men's Halfpipe
Final Results   Alex FERREIRA 93.75   Henry SILDARU 93.00   Brendan MACKAY 91.00 Full Final Result HERE
Full Qualification Results HERE
 

So tomorrow we will be saying goodbye to both Wierer AND Preuss  (Franzi just announced it on Instagram)
This is gonna be an emotional race

Day 13 update
Day 13 2022 => 2026 Figure skating    Women's singles           Ice hockey    Women's   Nordic combined    Team large hill/2 × 7.5 km   Ski mountaineering    Men's sprint --   Ski mountaineering    Women's sprint --   Speed skating    Men's 1500m   Day 14 2022 => 2026 Biathlon    Men's mass start   Freestyle skiing    Men's aerials   Freestyle skiing    Men's halfpipe   Freestyle skiing    Women's ski cross   Short-track speed skating    Men's relay   Short-track speed skating    Women's 1500m   Speed skating    Women's 1500m  

The race for Top 5 is gonna be epic  Everything is possible between nations currently ranked 4-12th
 
  FRA NED SWE SUI GER AUT JPN CAN CHN Current golds 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 4 3 Hockey M               x   Hockey W               x   Curling M       x       x   Curling W     x x       x   Figue Skating W             x     Skicross W x   x x x x   x   Skicross M x   x x x     x   Half-Pipe M                   Half-Pipe W                 x Biathlon MS M x   x             Biathlon MS W x   x             Aerials M       x         x Aerials Mx                 x ST 3000m Relay M               x   ST 1500m W   x           x   SkiMo Relay x     x           SS MS M   x               SS MS W   x           x   SS 1500m W   x         x     Bob 2-women         x         Bob 4-men         x         50km W     x             50km M                                       Possible extra golds 5 4 6 6 4 1 2 9 3

Man Medal showdown：2VS4

I do not see how Maier will not win this, She was the fastest in every run since this early morning. Naeslund in the opposite tend to slowing extremely in the final part of the piste in every run

Same big final as 2022 only this time  Berger Sabbatel over Thompson!

Huge finish from Berger Sabbatel to knock out Galtenbein literally at the finish line here 

L'audace des gens qui vont encore venir nous casser les bonbecs avec les Pays-Bas et le patinage de vitesse 

Disaster for  Bened. France in the penalty loop. Let's see if anyone on the team can replicate Jacquelin's heroics from yesterday

Oh my god, it's been so tough. I've been in a low mood for about 10 days. Today is Su Yiming's birthday. Happy birthday to him—what an amazing birthday present!

And finally, Canada's first gold medal in speed skating. 
 
I imagine the canadians were the favorites in that event, but it's strange to see the Dutch losing almost everything in this sport.