The hockey finals: I'm cheating a bit here by combining these because both the men's and women's gold medal games were amazing in their own way. The USA vs Canada women's final match-up was a surprise to approximately no one, and it lived up to the hype with a well-played and hard-fought match that went all the way through overtime and into a shootout. I'm not a big fan of the shootout to decide games, but the incredible move by Jocelyne Lamoureux to score for the USA and big save by Maddie Rooney to seal the win was epic. The men's final, on the other hand, was not as expected: Germany vs the-team-who-can't-say-they're-Russian. The Russians were supposed to be there, but the Germans had to beat two powerhouses in Sweden and Canada. Then Germany almost had the gold medal in hand, with a lead inside two minutes left in regulation and even a man advantage, but somehow the Russians came back and tied it, then won in overtime. Crazy and incredibly entertaining games, both of them.
German Madrazo of Mexico finishes last in cross-country skiing: Last place usually isn't newsworthy, but this finish was heartwarming. In the men's 15k cross-country race, Madrazo came in dead last. But not alone, as fans and several of his fellow competitors stayed to cheer him on across the finish line and carry him off in a hero's exit. One of those was Pita Taufatofua, the athlete from Tonga famous for marching shirtless in the opening ceremony, who had finished the race just a few places ahead. The elite athletes with medal chances get the headlines, but there's a lot of others attending and competing, and it's good to sometimes stop and spare a thought for the rest of the field.
Every Olympic Games has a long list of great moments, of course, way too many to attempt to list them all. Nearly every event had something exciting, emotional, incredible, or all of the above. Looking forward to the next installment, in the summer in 2020.
