U.S. Olympic Committee officials have said that they are re-evaluating the USOC's winter sports program after the United States only managed to win 23 medals in Pyeongchang, South Korea, below what the committee was expecting at the least.
According to Fox News, the U.S. managed to win nine gold medals, eight silver medals, and six bronze medal. Making it the smallest haul since the U.S. won 13 medals at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The Associated Press released an internal USOC document that showed the committee had a goal of 37 medals in Pyeongchang and a minimum target of 25 medals.
The record is currently 37 medals which the U.S. won at the Vancouver Games in 2010. The U.S. was topped in the medal count by three other countries: Norway (39), Germany (31) and Canada (29).
USOC reviewing Team USA performance
Time reported USOC Chief of Sports Performance Alan Ashley delivered a closing news conference saying the committee is going to take a hard look at what happened here. Ashley also said we have the incredible medalists and now we must figure out how do we give them what that they need moving forward.
Ashley pointed out the really close finishes and the large group of athletes that were far away from the podium. According to the USOC, America ended up in fourth, fifth, or sixth place, 35 times.
Ashley said he is working to find a way to turn these fourth through sixth places into an athlete's opportunity to stand on the podium.
US Athletes disagrees with USOC expectations
Olympic ski racer Lindsey Vonn won bronze in the downhill and now finishes her career with three medals. Vonn said the USOC expectations of gold medals was out of whack. Vonn said medals are not what the Games are about and that having a medal expectation doesn't respect the athletes and the work they put in to make it to this level.
American women claimed 12 of the 23 medals, while men claimed nine, and two others came from mixed events. Alpine racer Shiffrin, snowboarder Jamie Anderson and ice dancer duo Alex and Maia Shibutani were the only American athletes to win a pair of medals.
In surprise fashion, Team USA's women's hockey team claimed gold after beating Canada in a shootout.
Vonn says that she hopes young girls see this and decide to follow their dreams, whether its athletics or whatever they dream. America found most of its success in the "extreme" sports including snowboarding and freestyle skiing. The U.S. men's alpine coach Sasha Rearick said they are focusing on evaluating the men's ski team, which did not have a great showing.
