COLORADANS SHOW METTLE, MEDALS
Eight athletes had great feats, returning home with medals
It may have been a down year for Team USA at the Olympic Games in PyeongChang, but athletes from Colorado represented the Centennial State well. They brought home enough silver and gold to make Yukon Cornelius sing.
Colorado Olympians who won medals in PyeongChang Mikaela Shiffrin
The 22-year-old EagleVail skier was the big winner of the Games for Colorado — she took home gold in the giant slalom and won a silver medal in the alpine combined. Despite her two medals, she was disappointed to miss out on a repeat victory in the slalom, an event in which she was heavily favored. “Every single loss that I’ve ever had, I remember that feeling — ugh — so thoroughly,” Shiffrin said of her disappointment. “It’s like a piece of my heart breaks off and I can never get it back.”
Red Gerard
The 17-year-old from Silverthorne — fresh off a late night Netflix binge-watching session — won the first gold medal for the U.S. during the PyeongChang Games, putting together an amazing final run in the snowboard slopestyle. Gerard became a huge hit, appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and having his hometown unofficially change its name in his honor.
Nicole Hensley
The 23-year-old goaltender was a mem- ber of Team USA’s gold medal-winning hockey team, that defeated Canada to win the first U.S. hockey gold in 20 years. Hensley shut out the Olympic athletes from Russia early in the tournament — and the images on her goalie mask became a talking point. However, the Lakewood native and Green Mountain High School grad did not get the start in the gold medal game.
Alex Ferreira
The 23-year-old halfpipe skier from Aspen claimed the silver medal — although it took a massive performance from fellow American David Wise to edge him out for gold. During the event, Alex’s father, Marcelo Ferreira, recruited 50 school children from Seoul to sing and dance for his son in a magical moment in Phoenix Park.
Lauren Gibbs
In one of the most unlikely Olympic stories, Gibbs was discovered four years ago working out at a Denver gym. A friend told her she’d be good at the bobsled. Turns out Gibbs was great, as she earned a silver medal in the two-person bobsled, along with teammate Elana Meyers Taylor.
Kyle Mack
The 20-year-old first-time Olympian snowboarder from Silverthorne won the silver medal in the Big Air competition — the second medal of the Games for the town of Silverthorne. And he did it by pulling off an incredible front side 1440 one-ofa-kind bloody Dracula grab.
Arielle Gold
It was a comeback story for Arielle Gold, the Steamboat Springs snowboarder who won a bronze medal in the halfpipe. The 21year-old Gold — a.k.a. the biggest Broncos fan at the Olympics — nearly quit snowboarding after suffering an injury during practice for the Sochi Games.
Lindsey Vonn
After one bobble cost her a medal in the super-G, the 33-year-old Vail skier won the bronze medal in what could be her final Olympic downhill race. The medal was some vindication for Vonn, who had been heckled by internet trolls in the lead-up to the Olympics. After her races, Vonn scattered her grandfathers ashes near the downhill course. After the Games, not everyone was convinced Vonn’s Olympic career is over.