With the 2022 Winter Olympics nearing its halfway point, several interesting developments have unfolded.
One of the most significant recent headlines of the Olympics is the doping scandal of Russian figure skating star, Kamila Valieva. Kamila made history earlier in the week by being the first woman to land a quadruple jump in competition. She is now waiting to hear if she will be allowed to compete in her next event where she is expected to win gold.

When asked about their favorite athlete of the winter Olympics, many Hingham High students had Chloe Kim and Eileen Gu at the top of their list. Chloe Kim is an American half-pipe snowboarder who took gold earlier this week. Eileen Gu also took gold earlier in the week in the women’s big air freestyle skiing competition.

There was some controversy around the fact that Eileen chose to represent China in the Olympics even though she lives in America and has competed for America in the past. Hingham High school juniors Julia O’Dwyer and Lauren Grady both seemed indifferent to this controversy with Julia stating, “I don’t care whom she represents and it is her choice.”

Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin was another common favorite, however, many have been disappointed with her performances so far. Mikaela failed to finish both her GS and slalom races, her two strongest events. Fortunately, she was able to finish the Super G event, although she was not able to earn a medal.

Many people of Hingham may remember when Hingham native Alice Merryweather represented the USA in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics as an alpine skier. Alice could not make it to the Olympics this time around due to a devastating leg injury that she suffered in a training camp during the fall.

While Alice could not make it to Beijing, Hingham is still represented in these Olympics. 19-year-old Hingham native Matty Beniers is playing for the US Olympic hockey team as the youngest player to make it on the team. He has already scored one goal so far during the men’s first game against China which America won 8-0.

This Olympics will also mark the retirement of halfpipe legend Shaun White. Juniors Sarah O’Reilly and Brenna Moynihan agreed that Shaun White was their favorite athlete at the games. Unfortunately, Shaun could not clinch a medal in these Olympics, however, he will still be remembered as one of the greatest American snowboarders of all time. Sarah O’Reilly explained how “a Japanese snowboarder [Ayumu Hirano] won. Shaun White fell, but he was still really close to getting a medal.”

There is still another week left in the Olympics, and there are many more medals to be won. It should be exciting to watch if the US can climb up in their medal count.