As most of you know, the Winter Olympics took place in Beijing this year and the medals came pouring in for the United States National Team. A medal total of 25, which included 8 gold, 10 silver, and 7 bronze. The winningest country was Norway with a whopping 37 medals, 16 of which were gold! Sadly, however, this Winter Olympics also saw the retirement of a United States Olympic legend,Shaun White. White, best known for his red hair and ridiculous snowboarding skills, landing a perfect 100 in the 2012 X-Games, and his extroverted personality, retired from Olympic competition. Placing a respectable fourth in his final and fifth Winter Olympics, the snowboarder has notched 3 gold medals to his name, all coming from the snowboarding halfpipe. Another standout athlete was figure skater Nathan Chen, netting two medals, one gold and one silver, gold in individual free skate and silver in teams. Amidst the Olympics was a controversial decision to let Russian Olympic Committee figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for illegal substances, but was allowed to compete anyways, causing an uproar in the Olympic community for this alleged unfair treatment of Olympians who were competing with clean drug tests. This Olympics was one for the record books, with Swede Nils van der Poel setting a new world record in the mens 10,000 meter speed skate. These games were not only refreshing to watch in a world ravaged by war and disease, but also allowed for an escape for people and a chance to show their national pride.