Who’ll Win In Beijing? SI Picks Every Medal at the 2022 Olympics


Who will win in Beijing? SI’s expert predicts the podium for all 109 events at the Winter Games.

Less than six months after the Summer Games in Tokyo, athletes will trade spikes, skateboards and swim caps for skates, snowboards and ski goggles, as the Olympics return for the winter edition in Beijing. Below, Sports Illustrated contributor Brian Cazeneuve predicts the winner for each gold, silver and bronze medal that will be awarded in 109 events on snow and ice, starting on Feb. 4 and running through Feb. 20.

Beijing 2022/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images

ALPINE SKIING

MEN

DOWNHILL

Gold: Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (Norway)
Silver: Dominik Paris (Italy)
Bronze: Beat Feuz (Switzerland)

Kilde is dating U.S. star Mikaela Shiffrin.

SUPER-G

Gold: Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (Norway)
Silver: Matthias Mayer (Austria)
Bronze: Marco Odermatt (Switzerland)

Mayer’s father, Helmut, won silver at the first Olympic Super-G, in 1988.

COMBINED

Gold: Alexis Pinturault (France)
Silver: Riccardo Tonetti (Italy)
Bronze: Marco Schwarz (Austria)

Thanks to his mother, who is from Bergen, Pinturault also has Norwegian citizenship.

Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is a gold-medal favorite in the men’s downhill event.

Thomas Lovelock/SilverHub/Sports Illustrated

GIANT SLALOM

Gold: Marco Odermatt (Switzerland)
Silver: Manuel (Manny) Feller (Austria)
Bronze: Henrik Kristoffersen (Norway)

Odermatt’s emotional win last month in Adelboden broke a 14-year Swiss drought on his storied home cow pasture course.

SLALOM

Gold: Sebastian Foss-Solevåg (Norway)
Silver: Clément Noël (France)
Bronze: Lucas Braathen (Norway)

Foss-Solevåg recorded his first win in December, after Noel blew a huge lead by missing a gate.

WOMEN

DOWNHILL

Gold: Corinne Suter (Switzerland)
Silver: Mirjam Puchner (Austria)
Bronze: Ramona Siebenhofer (Austria)

Italy’s Sofia Goggia crashed badly during a downhill in Cortina, Italy, two weeks before the Games. If she recovers, she’ll be the favorite. U.S. contender Breezy Johnson withdrew from the Games after crashing during training runs in January.

SUPER-G

Gold: Lara Gut-Behrami (Switzerland)
Silver: Federica Brignone (Italy)
Bronze: Elena Curtoni (Italy)

The 30-year-old Gut-Behrami won bronze in the downhill at the Sochi Games.

COMBINED

Gold: Mikaela Shiffrin (U.S.)
Silver: Petra Vlhová (Slovakia)
Bronze: Wendy Holdener (Switzerland)

Holdener has never won a World Cup race but has placed second or third 29 times.

GIANT SLALOM

Gold: Sara Hector (Sweden)
Silver: Mikaela Shiffrin (U.S.)
Bronze: Tessa Worley (France)

One-Question Sara is known for the longest interview answers on tour.

SLALOM

Gold: Petra Vlhová (Slovakia)
Silver: Mikaela Shiffrin (U.S.)
Bronze: Katharina Liensberger (Austria)

Vlhová’s family cooked buffets on slopes where Petra learned to ski.

MIXED

TEAM PARALLEL

Gold: Switzerland
Silver: Germany
Bronze: Austria

Austria leads all nations with 121 Olympic alpine medals and 37 golds. Switzerland is second in both categories.

BIATHLON

MEN

10KM SPRINT

Gold: Quentin Fillon Maillet (France)
Silver: Johannes Thingnes Boe (Norway)
Bronze: Émilien Jacquelin (France)

Fillon Maillet created his own behind-the-scenes web series (En Ligne de Mire) about his career.

12.5 KM PURSUIT

Gold: Émilien Jacquelin (France)
Silver: Quentin Fillon Mailet (France)
Bronze: Sebastian Samuelsson (Sweden)

An enormous talent, Jacquelin is prone to mental blocks and erratic shooting.

15 KM MASS START

Gold: Émilien Jacquelin (France)
Silver: Johannes Thingnes Boe (Norway)
Bronze: Benedikt Doll (Germany)

Boe won three overall world cup titles between 2018–19 and 2020–21.

20 KM INDIVIDUAL

Gold: Sturla Holm Lægreid (Norway)
Silver: Quentin Fillon Maillet (France)
Bronze: Tarjei Boe (Norway)

Tarjei is the older brother of Johannes, the defending champ in this event.

4x7.5 KM RELAY

Gold: Norway
Silver: ROC
Bronze: France

A Norwegian man has been among the top three in the overall world cup biathlon standings for 27 straight years.

WOMEN

7.5 KM SPRINT

Gold: Marte Olsbu Røiseland (Norway)
Silver: Elvira Öberg (Sweden)
Bronze: Dorothea Wierer (Italy)

In 2020, Røiseland became the first biathlete to win seven medals at a world championship.

10 KM PURSUIT

Gold: Marte Olsbu Røiseland (Norway)
Silver: Hanna Öberg (Sweden)
Bronze: Dzinara Alimbekava (Belarus)

Younger by three years, Elvira Öberg could battle big sister Hanna for a medal.

12.5 KM MASS START

Gold: Dorothea Wierer (Italy)
Silver: Kristina Reztsova (ROC)
Bronze: Dzinara Alimbekava (Belarus)

The motto Wierer always carries with her: “I’m a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it.”

15 KM INDIVIDUAL

Gold: Markéta Davidová (Czech Republic)
Silver: Hanna Öberg (Sweden)
Bronze: Lisa Theresa Hauser (Austria)

Davidova’s rifle is decorated with unicorns as a tribute to her love of horses.

4x6 KM RELAY

Gold: Norway
Silver: France
Bronze: Sweden

No U.S. biathlete has ever won an Olympic medal.

MIXED

4x6 KM RELAY

Gold: Norway
Silver: ROC
Bronze: Austria

Favored in PyeongChang, Norway took silver after missing six shots.

BOBSLED

MEN

TWO-MAN

Gold: Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis (Germany)
Silver: Justin Kripps and Cameron Stones (Canada)
Bronze: Johannes Lochner and Candy Bauer (Germany)

Before a 12th-place finish in Latvia on New Year’s Day, Freidrich had been among the top two in every two-man race since September 2017.

FOUR-MAN

Gold: Germany (Francesco Friedrich, driver)
Silver: Canada (Justin Kripps, driver)
Bronze: ROC (Rostislav Gaitiukevich, driver)

Friedrich’s four-man sleds last missed the international podium in January 2018.

Humphries enters her fourth Olympics with two gold and one bronze medal. 

Martin Rose/Getty Images

WOMEN

MONOBOB

Gold: Elana Meyers Taylor (U.S.)
Silver: Laura Nolte (Germany)
Bronze: Kaillie Humphries (U.S.)

Meyers-Taylor tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Beijing. Her participation is pending recovery and clearance. Representing Canada at the last three Olympics, Humphries won two golds and a bronze.

TWO-WOMAN

Gold: Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi (Germany)
Silver: Kim Kalicki and Lisa Buckwitz (Germany)
Bronze: Elana Meyers Taylor and Kaysha Love (U.S.)

In 2014, when Taylor became the first woman to compete internationally in a mixed-gender sled, her husband, Nic, was her brakeman.

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING

MEN

SPRINT FREESTYLE

Gold: Johannes Høsflot Klaebo (Norway)
Silver: Richard Jouve (France)
Bronze: Eric Valnes (Norway)

Klaebo has long been coached by his grandfather, Kare Høsflot.

15 KM CLASSICAL

Gold: Alexander Bolshunov (ROC)
Silver: Johannes Høsflot Klaebo (Norway)
Bronze: Iivo Niskanen (Finland)

Niskanen’s sister Kerttu won two silvers in cross-country at the 2014 Olympics.

15KM + 15KM SKIATHLON

Gold: Alexander Bolshunov (ROC)
Silver: Ivan Yakimushkin (ROC)
Bronze: Sjur Roethe (Norway)

Bolshunov’s gold in this event prevented Norway from sweeping six men’s events at the 2021 world championships.

50 KM MASS START FREESTYLE

Gold: Alexander Bolshunov (ROC)
Silver: Iivo Niskanen (Finland)
Bronze: Hans Christer Holund (Norway)

After two hours and 10 minutes, Bolshunov missed world gold in 2021 by less than a second.

TEAM SPRINT CLASSICAL

Gold: Norway
Silver: ROC
Bronze: France

Norway leads all nations with 121 medals and 47 golds in Olympic cross-country skiing.

4x10 KM RELAY

Gold: ROC
Silver: Norway
Bronze: France

With Klaebo anchoring, Norway topped the ROC by nine seconds in PyeongChang.

WOMEN

SPRINT FREESTYLE

Gold: Maja Dahlqvist (Sweden)
Silver: Jessie Diggins (U.S.)
Bronze: Anamarija Lampic (Slovenia)

In 2018, Diggins teamed with Kikkan Randall to win the first U.S. Olympic cross-country gold.

10 KM CLASSICAL

Gold: Frida Karlsson (Sweden)
Silver: Therese Johaug (Norway)
Bronze: Katharina Hennig (Germany)

Johaug won her only gold in 2010 at age 21.

7.5 KM + 7.5 KM SKIATHLON

Gold: Therese Johaug (Norway)
Silver: Ebba Andersson (Sweden)
Bronze: Heidi Weng (Norway)

Weng tested positive for COVID-19, but is expected to recover. She was also a national junior champ in cross-country running.

30 KM MASS START FREESTYLE

Gold: Therese Johaug (Norway)
Silver: Natalia Nepryaeva (ROC)
Bronze: Frida Karlsson (Sweden)

In January, Nepryaeva became the first Russian in history to win the Tour de Ski title.

TEAM SPRINT CLASSICAL

Gold: Sweden
Silver: Slovenia
Bronze: U.S.

Dahlqvist and Jonna Sundling led Sweden to victory by less than a second at the 2021 world championships.

4x5 KM RELAY

Gold: ROC
Silver: Sweden
Bronze: Norway

Johaug’s decisive third leg allowed Norway to pull ahead of the ROC in 2021.

CURLING

MEN

Gold: Sweden
Silver: Canada
Bronze: Great Britain

Swedish skip Niklas Edin and his third, Oskar Eriksson, have each won a record five world titles.

WOMEN

Gold: Switzerland
Silver: ROC
Bronze: Sweden

Swiss skip Silvana Tirinzoni spent seven years as a project manager in a bank.

All of the stones used in competition come from a quarry in Scotland.

MIXED DOUBLES

Gold: Almida de Val and Oskar Eriksson (Sweden)

Silver: Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat (Great Britain)

Bronze: Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten (Norway)

Husband and wife Skaslien and Nedregotten moved up to bronze in 2018 after a Russian curler was banned for doping.

For 43 months, Chen held a winning streak that produced 14 individual titles and included wins over reigning Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu.

Thomas Lovelock/SilverHub/Sports Illustrated

FIGURE SKATING

MEN

Gold: Nathan Chen (U.S.)
Silver: Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan)
Bronze: Yuma Kagiyama (Japan)

Two-time defending champ Hanyu endorses an airline, a video game, vitamins, clothing and tourism.

WOMEN

Gold: Kamila Valieva (ROC)
Silver: Anna Shcherbakova (ROC)
Bronze: Alexandra Trusova (ROC)

Just 15, Valieva has already recorded the highest marks for the short program, free skate and total score.

PAIRS

Gold: Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov (ROC)
Silver: Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov (ROC)
Bronze: Sui Wenjing and Han Cong (China)

In 2021, Mishina and Galliamov became the first pair in 35 years to win gold at their first worlds.

ICE DANCING

Gold: Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron (France)
Silver: Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov (ROC)
Bronze: Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (Canada)

Papadakis’ Greek-born father, Emmanuel, now lives in Austin, Texas, where he runs a food truck.

TEAM

Gold: ROC
Silver: U.S,
Bronze: Canada

The event is being contested for the third time. These were the medalists at the two previous Olympics.

FREESTYLE SKIING

MEN

AERIALS

Gold: Maxim Burov (ROC)
Silver: Noé Roth (Switzerland)
Bronze: Sun Jiaxu (China)

Maxim’s older brother, Ilya, won bronze in this event at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang.

BIG AIR

Gold: Birk Ruud (Norway)
Silver: Alex Hall (U.S.)
Bronze: Matěj Švancer (Austria)

Fearless Ruud is also an accomplished cliff diver.

HALFPIPE

Gold: Brendan Mackay (Canada)
Silver: Nico Porteous (New Zealand)
Bronze: Aaron Blunck (U.S.)

A silver medalist in 2018, Aspen’s Alex Ferreira could also reach the podium.

MOGULS

Gold: Mikaël Kingsbury (Canada)
Silver: Ikuma Horishima (Japan)
Bronze: Walter Wallberg (Sweden)

Defending Olympic champ Kingsbury missed part of the 2020–21 season with a fractured vertebrae.

SKI CROSS

Gold: Ryan Regez (Switzerland)
Silver: David Mobaerg (Sweden)
Bronze: Bastien Midol (France)

Regez turned vegan in 2017 while recovering from injury.

SLOPESTYLE

Gold: Birk Ruud (Norway)
Silver: Alex Hall (U.S.)
Bronze: Andri Ragettli (Switzerland)

Alaska-born Hall spent much of his childhood in Switzerland.

Eileen Gu is a California native, but the 18-year-old will compete for China in Beijing.

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

WOMEN

AERIALS

Gold: Xu Mengtao (China)
Silver: Laura Peel (Australia)
Bronze: Kong Fanyu (China)

Now 32, Peel won her first World Cup medal 10 years ago.

BIG AIR

Gold: Tess Ledeux (France)
Silver: Eileen Gu (China)
Bronze: Johanne Killi (Norway)

Just 20, Ledeux has already won this event at the X Games three times since the last Olympics.

HALFPIPE

Gold: Eileen Gu (China)
Silver: Rachael Karker (Canada)
Bronze: Hanna Faulhaber (U.S.)

Eileen Gu was born in San Francisco, but competes for her mother’s homeland.

MOGULS

Gold: Perrine Laffont (France)
Silver: Anri Kawamura (Japan)
Bronze: Jakara Anthony (Australia)

Adopted from a Chinese orphanage, U.S. contender Kai Owens, 17, returns to her birth country.

SKI CROSS

Gold: Sandra Naeslund (Sweden)
Silver: Fanny Smith (Switzerland)
Bronze: Marielle Thompson (Canada)

Naeslund made her Olympic debut at age 17 in 2014.

SLOPESTYLE

Gold: Kelly Sildaru (Estonia)
Silver: Eileen Gu (China)
Bronze: Tess Ledeux (France)

The gold favorite at 15 in 2018, Sildaru missed the PyeongChang Games with a knee injury.

MIXED

AERIALS

Gold: China
Silver: Switzerland
Bronze: ROC

This event is making its Olympic debut in Beijing.

ICE HOCKEY

MEN

Gold: ROC
Silver: Finland
Bronze: Canada

The NHL split its schedule to allow its players to play, but later withdrew participation because of COVID-19 concerns.

WOMEN

Gold: Canada
Silver: U.S.
Bronze: Finland

Canada (11 gold medals) and the U.S. (nine gold) have combined to win all 20 world titles.

Canada and the U.S. are poised for another showdown in women’s hockey in Beijing.

David E. Klutho/Sports Illustrated

LUGE

MEN

SINGLES

Gold: Johannes Ludwig (Germany)
Silver: Wolfgang Kindl (Austria)
Bronze: Felix Loch (Germany)

A tech-savvy police officer who will turn 36 during the Olympics, Ludwig plans a career in business after the Games.

WOMEN

Gold: Julia Taubitz (Germany)
Silver: Madeleine Egle (Austri
Bronze: Natalie Geisenberger (Germany)

Before each race, Taubitz listens to the song “Who Always Laughs,” by German duo Stereoact.

OPEN

DOUBLES

Gold: Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken (Germany)
Silver: Andris Šics and Juris Šics (Latvia)
Bronze: Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt (Germany)

The two German pairs have combined to win the last seven world titles.

TEAM RELAY

Gold: Germany
Silver: Austria
Bronze: Latvia

Germany and Austria have won the 22 of the last 23 world titles.

Austria’s Lamparter will be competing in his first Olympics in Beijing. 

Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images

NORDIC COMBINED

MEN

NORMAL HILL

Gold: Jarl Magnus Riiber (Norway)
Silver: Vinzenz Geiger (Germany)
Bronze: Johannes Lamparter (Austria)

Since November 2018, Riiber has been first at 43 events.

LARGE HILL

Gold: Johannes Lamparter (Austria)
Silver: Jarl Magnus Riiber (Norway)
Bronze: Akito Watabe (Japan)

Lamparter won the world title on the large hill in 2021 as a 19-year-old.

TEAM

Gold: Germany
Silver: Norway
Bronze: Austria

Nordic combined is the only remaining sport on the Winter Olympic program with only male competitors.

SKELETON

MEN

Gold: Martins Dukurs (Latvia)
Silver: Axel Jungk (Germany)
Bronze: Alexander Gassner (Germany)

At 37, Dukurs has an older brother on the Latvian team: Tomass, age 40.

WOMEN

Gold: Kimberley Bos (Netherlands)
Silver: Janine Flock (Austria)
Bronze: Tina Hermann (Germany)

Bos started out as a bobsledder, winning a medal at the Youth Olympics in 2012.

SKI JUMPING

MEN

NORMAL HILL

Gold: Karl Geiger (Germany)
Silver: Ryoyu Kobayashi (Japan)
Bronze: Halvor Egner Granerud (Norway)

In 2019, Kobayashi became the third jumper in history to sweep all four events at the prestigious Four Hills Tournament.

LARGE HILL

Gold: Ryoyu Kobayashi (Japan)
Silver: Karl Geiger (Germany)
Bronze: Marius Lindvik (Norway)

The Norwegian men won the first six individual ski jumping golds between 1924 and ’52, but have won just three of 32 events since then.

TEAM

Gold: Norway
Silver: Germany
Bronze: Slovenia

WOMEN

NORMAL HILL

Gold: Sara Takanashi (Japan)
Silver: Katharina Althaus (Germany)
Bronze: Ema Klinec (Slovenia) 

Austrian favorite Marita Kramer is out after testing positive for COVID-19.

MIXED

Gold: Germany
Silver: Slovenia
Bronze: Austria

Apart from a U.S. bronze by Norwegian-born Anders Haugen in 1924, Japan is the only non-European nation to win any of the 147 Olympic medals in ski jumping.

Entering his third Olympics, Canada’s McMorris looks to add to his bronze medals from Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018.

Bob Martin/SilverHub/Sports Illustrated

SNOWBOARD

MEN

BIG AIR

Gold: Mark McMorris (Canada)
Silver: Su Yiming (China)
Bronze: Max Parrot (Canada)

Though his two Olympic medals, both bronzes, came in slopestyle, McMorris won his lone world title in big air in 2021.

HALFPIPE

Gold: Ayumu Hirano (Japan)
Silver: Yuto Totsuka (Japan)
Bronze: Scotty James (Australia)

In December, Ayumu became the first person to land a frontside triple cork 1440 in competition.

PARALLEL GIANT SLALOM

Gold: Stefan Baumeister (Germany)
Silver: Dmitrii Loginov (ROC)
Bronze: Lee Sang-ho (South Korea)

Loginov’s father was a weightlifter. His mother was a volleyball player.

SLOPESTYLE

Gold: Sébastien Toutant (France)
Silver: Red Gerard (U.S.)
Bronze: Mark McMorris (Canada)

Skiing in the B.C. backcountry in 2017, McMorris fractured his jaw, pelvis, left arm and several ribs. He also ruptured his spleen and collapsed a lung.

SNOWBOARD CROSS

Gold: Alessandro Haemmerle (Austria)
Silver: Martin Noerl (Germany)
Bronze: Eliot Grondin (Canada)

At 16, Grondin was Canada’s youngest male athlete at the 2018 Olympics.

WOMEN

BIG AIR

Gold: Anna Gasser (Austria)
Silver: Reira Iwabuchi (Japan)
Bronze: Kokomo Murase (Japan)

In 2018, Murase, then 13, became the youngest to win X Games gold and the first female to land a 1260 double cork in competition.

HALFPIPE

Gold: Chloe Kim (U.S.)
Silver: Cai Xuetong (China)
Bronze: Queralt Castellet (Spain)

Cai and other Chinese athletes missed 22 months of competition because of COVID-19 restrictions.

PARALLEL GIANT SLALOM

Gold: Sofia Nadyrshina (ROC)
Silver: Ester Ledecka (Czech Republic)
Bronze: Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (Germany)

With golds in the Super-G and PGS in 2018, Ledecka became the first athlete to win both Olympic alpine and snowboard events at the same Games.

SLOPESTYLE

Gold: Kokomo Murase (Japan)
Silver: Jamie Anderson (U.S.)
Bronze: Tess Coady (Australia)

Want a cool name? Check out New Zealand’s medal contender Cool Wakushima.

SNOWBOARD CROSS

Gold: Charlotte Bankes (Great Britain)
Silver: Michela Moioli (Italy)
Bronze: Chloe Trespeuch (France)

Born in the U.K., Bankes originally represented France.

MIXED

TEAM SNOWBOARD CROSS

Gold: Italy
Silver: Austria
Bronze: U.S.

The event will make its Olympic debut in Beijing.

SPEEDSKATING: LONG TRACK

MEN

500 METERS

Gold: Laurent Dubreuil (Canada)
Silver: Wataru Morishige (Japan)
Bronze: Pavel Kulizhnikov (ROC)

Dubreuil’s father Robert was an Olympian in long track; his mother, Ariane, was an Olympian in short track.

1,000 METERS

Gold: Thomas Krol (Netherlands)
Silver: Kai Verbij (Netherlands)
Bronze: Jordan Stolz (U.S.)

At 17, future star Stolz is not quite half the age of teammate Joey Mantia, 35.

1,500 METERS

Gold: Thomas Krol (Netherlands)
Silver: Zhongyan Ning (China)
Bronze: Joey Mantia (U.S.)

Mantia owns a coffee shop at the University of Utah.

5,000 METERS

Gold: Nils van der Poel (Sweden)
Silver: Patrick Roest (Netherlands)
Bronze: Ted-Jan Bloemen (Canada)

Dutch-born Bloemen moved to Canada in 2014.

10,000 METERS

Gold: Nils van der Poel (Sweden)
Silver: Jorrit Bergsma (Netherlands)
Bronze: Ted-Jan Bloemen (Canada)

Bergsma’s wife, North Carolina native Heather Richardson Bergsma, won bronze for the U.S. in 2018.

MASS START

Gold: Bart Swings (Belgium)
Silver: Joey Mantia (U.S.)
Bronze: Lee Seung-hoon (South Korea)

Swings set a world record for 10,000 meters in inline skating.

PURSUIT

Gold: Netherlands
Silver: U.S.
Bronze: Norway

The Norwegians stormed to pursuit gold in PyeongChang.

A Florida native, Bowe will replace Meyers Taylor as the U.S. flag bearer after the bobsledder tested positive for COVID-19 in Beijing.

Bob Martin/SilverHub/Sports Illustrated

WOMEN

500 METERS

Gold: Nao Kodaira (Japan)
Silver: Erin Jackson (U.S.)
Bronze: Angelina Golikova (ROC)

A slip at the U.S. trials cost Jackson a place at the Games, until teammate Brittany Bowe relinquished her spot. (After some countries returned Olympic quota spots, the U.S. picked up an extra one, so Bowe will compete in the 500 after all.)

1,000 METERS

Gold: Brittany Bowe (U.S.)
Silver: Miho Takagi (Japan)
Bronze: Jutta Leerdam (Netherlands)

The versatile Bowe won world titles in inline skating and played point guard for the Florida Atlantic Owls.

1,500 METERS

Gold: Miho Takagi (Japan)
Silver: Brittany Bowe (U.S.)
Bronze: Ireen Wüst (Netherlands)

With 11 career medals, Wüst is on her fifth Olympic team.

3,000 METERS

Gold: Irene Schouten (Netherlands)
Silver: Antoinette de Jong (Netherlands)
Bronze: Francesca Lollobrigida (Italy)

On ponies and horses before skates, de Jong once considered an equestrian career.

5,000 METERS

Gold: Irene Schouten (Netherlands)
Silver: Isabelle Weidemann (Canada)
Bronze: Ragne Wiklund (Norway)

Schouten’s family ran a tulip farm 40 miles north of Amsterdam.

MASS START

Gold: Irene Schouten (Netherlands)
Silver: Elizaveta Golubeva (ROC)
Bronze: Marijke Groenewoud (Netherlands)

Though she isn’t a medal favorite, 49-year-old Claudia Pechstein of Germany will become the first female eight-time Winter Olympian.

PURSUIT

Gold: Netherlands
Silver: Japan
Bronze: Canada

Dutchwomen swept four races from 1,000 to 5,000 in 2018, but took silver behind Japan in the pursuit.

SPEEDSKATING: SHORT TRACK

MEN

500 METERS

Gold: Shaolin Sandor Liu (Hungary)
Silver: Wu Dajing (China)
Bronze: Shaoang Liu (Hungary)

Though their father was born in Tianjin, China, the Lius were born in Budapest.

1,000 METERS

Gold: Hwang Dae-heon (South Korea)
Silver: Pascal Dion (Canada)
Bronze: Ren Ziwei (China)

Dion lost a liter of blood after being cut during a competition in 2014.

1,500 METERS

Gold: Ren Ziwei (China)
Silver: Park Jang-hyuk (South Korea)
Bronze: Semen Elistratov (ROC)

Elistratov was suspended for doping in 2016 for taking the banned drug meldonium, but was later exonerated after WADA ruled the amount found in his blood was an “acceptable” low dosage.

5,000-METER RELAY

Gold: Canada
Silver: South Korea
Bronze: Hungary

In 2018, after 45 laps, the three medalists—Hungary, China and Canada—finished within .32 of a second of each other.

WOMEN

500 METERS

Gold: Arianna Fontana (Italy)
Silver: Suzanne Schulting (Netherlands)
Bronze: Kim Boutin (Canada)

In her fifth Olympics, Fontana is tied for the most Olympic short track medals (eight) in history.

1,000 METERS

Gold: Suzanne Schulting (Netherlands)
Silver: Choi Min-jeong (South Korea)
Bronze: Kristen Santos (U.S.)

Santos is a lifelong vegetarian, better known by her nickname Puff.

1,500 METERS

Gold: Lee Yu-bin (South Korea)
Silver: Suzanne Schulting (Netherlands)
Bronze: Courtney Sarault (Canada)

With many nations absent because of COVID-19, Schulting won five golds in all five races at the 2021 Worlds in Dordrecht, Netherlands.

3,000-METER RELAY

Gold: Netherlands
Silver: South Korea
Bronze: China

Korean ace Shim Suk-hee was banned from the squad for sending disparaging texts about teammates.

MIXED

TEAM RELAY

Gold: China
Silver: Netherlands
Bronze: ROC

This event, covering 2,000 meters, will make its Olympic debut in Beijing.

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