Winter Olympics 2022 – Shaun White’s farewell, Mikaela Shiffrin’s return and

Thursday night had big shoes to fill after Team USA’s electric Wednesday night showing at the 2022 Winter Olympics — which included gold medal-performances from figure skater Nathan Chen and snowboarder Chloe Kim — but a couple of Olympic legends set out to keep the winning energy going.

First, three-time gold medalist Shaun White looked to add a finishing touch to his hardware collection as he competed in his last Olympic snowboard halfpipe competition. Then, two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin, who failed to finish in her first two races of these Games, turned things around in the super-G.

While White gave a heck of an effort and Shiffrin completed her run, neither athlete reached the podium.

But the early slate in Beijing was far from lacking in excitement as eventual gold-medalist, Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, showed out in the biggest way but received a lackluster score from the judges — which sent the internet into a frenzy.

If the aforementioned events weren’t reason enough to lock in, the U.S. women’s hockey team faced off with the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals, and it was a closer game than expected through two periods.

We had you covered with updates of all the action:

White’s last Olympic halfpipe run

Shaun White removed his helmet and waved it in the air, breaking into a big smile. He fell on his third run, and his highest score of 85 on his second run wouldn’t get him to the podium. As he did at the Sochi Olympics, he finished in fourth place.

White stopped at the scoring area, hugging his competitors around him and shedding a few tears. The weight of the moment — of competing for 25 years and changing the landscape of halfpipe — landing on him.

What a moment.

Shaun White’s competitors line up to congratulate him on an incredible career. #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/SJ9kdoHHhE

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 11, 2022

Shaun White after his last ever Olympic halfpipe run. pic.twitter.com/iKz2HhwlN5

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 11, 2022

The end of an era. #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/9xi5tLUqc7

— Team USA (@TeamUSA) February 11, 2022

A gold medal in Torino. A gold medal in Vancouver. A gold medal in Pyeongchang. A legend. — Aishwarya Kumar

Hirano puts on a halfpipe show

Japan’s Ayumu Hirano is the new Olympic halfpipe champion — and wow, was there drama.

In his second run, 23-year-old Hirano dropped what many saw as the greatest run in snowboard halfpipe — which included the toughest halfpipe trick, the triple cork — only to be given the second-best score, after Australia’s Scotty James.

The broadcast’s commentators and social media erupted in fury, with #robbed and #triplegate trending on Twitter.

that is quite possibly the worst judging I’ve ever seen

— Arielle Gold (@arielletgold) February 11, 2022

But Hirano had another chance, and he made the most of it. In his third run, he came back out and landed an even better performance. This time, the judges awarded him a 96.00 — and with it, the Olympic gold.

REDEMPTION FOR AYUMU HIRANO!

After winning silver in 2014 and 2018, Hirano wins gold with an EPIC final run! #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/zgZRiRwOja

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 11, 2022

This is Hirano’s first gold, after winning silver in the last two Olympics. James finished with the silver, and Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer won the bronze medal. — Aishwarya Kumar

Shiffrin finishes super-G

Mikaela Shiffrin won’t medal in the super-G, but she put her Olympic struggles behind her Friday with an impressive performance in Beijing.

After recording two uncharacteristic “Did Not Finish” results in the giant slalom and slalom races earlier in the week, leaving doubt as to the rest of her competition schedule, Shiffrin completed the super-G with a time of 1:14.30.

Shiffrin appeared understandably relieved after she crossed the finish line, and she smiled at the bottom of the hill. She was the 11th of 44 skiers to compete and was in eighth place at the time of her finish.

Mikaela Shiffrin with a solid run in the women’s super-G.#WinterOlympics | #WatchWithUS pic.twitter.com/vSc3oNTnra

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 11, 2022

Shiffrin won the 2019 world championship title in the event but had never competed in it during previous Olympics. She will still have two more chances to win a medal during these Olympic Games — next week’s downhill and combined races. She won silver in the latter in 2018. — D’Arcy Maine

The girl who failed… could also fly. pic.twitter.com/EZJVY03DPc

— Mikaela Shiffrin (@MikaelaShiffrin) February 11, 2022

U.S. women’s hockey wins again

The U.S. survived a scare against the Czech Republic in the Beijing Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament quarterfinals, finally putting them away, 4-1.

The Americans outshot the Czech team 59-6, but the game was tied entering the third period thanks to outstanding goaltending from goalie Klara Peslarova (56 saves). This was the first Olympic tournament for the Czech Republic.