Team USA, once again, wins women’s medal count at Winter Olympics

Beijing 2022 - Bobsleigh
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While the U.S. finishes the 2022 Winter Olympics ranked fifth in the overall medal count, the women’s medal standings show a very different picture. The United States claimed more medals in women’s events (13) than any other nation, though Dutch women claimed the most gold (6).

MORE WINTER OLYMPICS COVERAGE: The most memorable and historic moments in women’s sports

As the 2022 Beijing Winter Games come to a close, here are a few key takeaways about the performance of U.S. women.

Women are responsible for bulk of Team USA medals

Of the 25 medals earned by U.S. athletes at the 2022 Winter Olympics, women played a role in winning 17 (13 in women’s events, four in mixed gender events). In comparison, just eight medals were won in men’s events.

United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics:

  • Percentage of medals in women’s events: 52%
  • Percentage of medals in men’s events: 32%
  • Percentage of medals in mixed gender events: 16%

This is the second straight Winter Olympics in which a majority of U.S. medals were won by women. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, the U.S. won 23 medals total (12 in women’s events, 9 in men’s events, and two in mixed gender events).

U.S. women are doing more with less

These 2022 Beijing Winter Games have been called the most “gender equal” Winter Olympics in history. But that doesn’t mean they are actually equal.

The current Olympic program includes 46 women’s events compared to 51 for men, plus 12 mixed gender events. A variety of sports and events – including hockey, bobsled, and luge – also have more quota spots for men than women. (A complete guide to gender equity at the 2022 Winter Olympics can be found here.)

So it’s especially notable that the women of Team USA had such notable success given that they still have fewer overall medal and participation opportunities.

ALSO FROM ON HER TURF: How close are the Winter Olympics to being gender equal?

In the lead-up to Beijing, U.S. women actually had more success in international qualification. American woman secured about 84 percent of available quota spots, while U.S. men qualified about 80 percent.

Even still, women were in the minority on the 2022 U.S. Olympic team. The 224-person roster included 108 women, 115 men, and one non-binary athlete. That said, not all 224 athletes competed in Beijing and thus earned the title of “Olympian” (more below).

USA and Canada break Winter Olympic women’s participation record

The U.S. and Canada both broke the record for most women from one nation to compete at a single Winter Olympics. The U.S. sent 108 women to Beijing, while Canada sent 106; ultimately, 105 women from both countries competed on the Olympic stage.

The previous record, 101, was set at the 2018 Winter Olympics – also by the United States and Canada.

The U.S. has now broken the women’s participation record at 11 consecutive Winter Olympics, a streak that began in 1984, according to Olympedia.org.

Team USA Medal Count at the 2022 Winter Olympics:

Medal

Athlete

Sport

Event

Date

Silver Julia Marino Snowboarding Women’s Slopestyle 6-Feb
Silver Jaelin Kauf Freestyle skiing Women’s Moguls 6-Feb
Silver Evan Bates, Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Madison Chock, Zach Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim, Vincent Zhou Figure skating Team Event (Mixed Gender) 7-Feb
Silver Ryan Cochran-Siegle Alpine skiing Men’s Super-G 8-Feb
Bronze Jessie Diggins Cross-country skiing Women’s Individual Sprint 8-Feb
Gold Lindsey Jacobellis Snowboarding Women’s Snowboard Cross 9-Feb
Silver Colby Stevenson Freestyle skiing Men’s Big Air 9-Feb
Gold Nathan Chen Figure skating Men’s Singles 10-Feb
Gold Ashley Caldwell, Christopher Lillis, Justin Schoenefeld Freestyle skiing Mixed Gender Team Aerials 10-Feb
Gold Chloe Kim Snowboarding Women’s Halfpipe 10-Feb
Gold Nick Baumgartner, Lindsey Jacobellis Snowboarding Mixed Gender Team Snowboard Cross 12-Feb
Gold Erin Jackson Speed skating Women’s 500m 13-Feb
Gold Kaillie Humphries Bobsleigh Women’s Monobob 14-Feb
Silver Elana Meyers Taylor Bobsleigh Women’s Monobob 14-Feb
Bronze Zachary Donohue, Madison Hubbell Figure skating Ice Dance (Mixed Gender) 14-Feb
Bronze Megan Nick Freestyle Skiing Women’s Aerials 14-Feb
Bronze Ethan Cepuran, Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman, Joey Mantia Speed skating Men’s Team Pursuit 15-Feb
Gold Alex Hall Freestyle skiing Men’s Slopestyle 16-Feb
Silver Nick Goepper Freestyle skiing Men’s Slopestyle 16-Feb
Silver U.S. Women’s Hockey Team (Cayla Barnes, Megan Bozek, Hannah Brandt, Dani Cameranesi, Alex Carpenter, Alex Cavallini, Jesse Compher, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Brianna Decker, Jincy Dunne, Savannah Harmon, Caroline Harvey, Nicole Hensley, Megan Keller, Amanda Kessel, Hilary Knight, Abbey Murphy, Kelly Pannek, Maddie Rooney, Abby Roque, Hayley Scamurra, Lee Stecklein, Grace Zumwinkle) Hockey Women’s Tournament 17-Feb
Bronze Brittany Bowe Speed skating Women’s 1000m 17-Feb
Silver David Wise Freestyle skiing Men’s halfpipe 19-Feb
Bronze Alex Ferreira Freestyle skiing Men’s halfpipe 19-Feb
Bronze Elana Meyers Taylor, Sylvia Hoffman Bobsled Two-woman 19-Feb
Silver Jessie Diggins Cross-country skiing Women’s 30km freestyle 20-Feb

The NBC Olympics research team contributed to this report. 

Follow Alex Azzi on Twitter @AlexAzziNBC

2023 March Madness: Utah Utes engineer dramatic turnaround for third-ever Sweet Sixteen appearance

Members of the Utah Utes celebrate their win over the Princeton Tigers in the second round of the NCAA Womens Basketball Tournament.
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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The No. 2-seeded Utah (27-4) women’s basketball team held off a pesky 10th-seeded Princeton squad on Sunday, winning 63-56 to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championships for the first time since 2005-06 and just the third time in the program’s history.

“I’m proud of our team,” said eighth-year head coach Lynne Roberts after the second-round win at Utah’s Hunstman Center. “We set out to do this a year ago. We lost in this game at University of Texas and the goal was to be able to host (this year) so that we could have that home-court advantage and it made a difference.”

Utah’s fourth-year junior Alissa Pili backed up her recent second-team All-American honor with another 20-plus-point performance, scoring 28 on 8-for 13 shooting with 10 rebounds and going 11-for 13 on free throws. Sophomore forward Jenna Johnson added 15 points and six rebounds.

There’s been a lot of talk this weekend about how the Utes’ previous few seasons have ended – beginning with a rough 14-17 season that was cut short in 2020 due to the pandemic, followed by an abysmal 5-16 record in 2020-21. But the tide turned last year, as Utah rebounded with a 21-12 season that ended with a 78-56 loss to Texas in Austin in the second round of the NCAA tournament one year ago.

So, what changed?

“Last year, everyone was new to the NCAA tournament, so I think everyone was just experiencing it for the first time,” mused Johnson. “Losing in the second round last year, we’re definitely a lot hungrier this year, and then obviously hosting in Salt Lake, it’s fun just being in your own environment, to be around your own fans. I think it gives us an elevated level of confidence, both knowing what it’s like it play in this tournament and also getting to be at home.”

“Yeah, freshman year was kind of rough,” added third-year sophomore Kennady McQueen, who chipped in nine points Sunday. “We did experience losing a lot. … Coach Roberts, she said we are not going to have another season like that. We all stood behind her — the people that stayed — and brought in great people like starting last year with Jenna and Gi (Gianna Kneepkens) and people like that who have had a huge impact in helping us to where we are today. …

“When you get together a group of people that have the same goal in mind and will do make anything to make it happen, I think that’s where we have seen our success rate going up. This past offseason, we just kept getting better, and of course, the addition of the Alissa Pili really helped. When you bring a group of girls that have the same dream and same goal at the end of the year and doesn’t care about personal stats more than winning, I think we get the season that we have today, and it prepares us for deep run in March.”

In particular, McQueen believe it was Utah’s improvement in their defense that was crucial to the turnaround. “Everyone knows how good we are on offense, but if we can’t get stops, it doesn’t matter how good you are on offense,” she said. “So that’s just been a key the whole past off-season and all of this season — just getting better on defense.”

MORE FROM ON HER TURF: Alissa Pili revives her love of basketball with record season at Utah

Roberts credits their defensive improvement with a “philosophical mindset change,” explaining, “We worked on [defense] a lot differently, a lot more intentionally. Strategically we made some changes of how we are going to defend, and I won’t bore you with that. But there was a lot, just different things because you have to play to your strengths. You can’t be a run-and-jump pressing team if you don’t have the depth and athletes to do it. You can’t be a zone team if you are not super big. You have to figure out what fits your personnel, and so that’s what we did.”

There’s also the undeniable impact of Pili, a transfer from USC who has found her stride as a Ute, where she recently was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year.

“She kind of is the straw that stirs the drink for us right now,” said Roberts of the 21-year-old Alaska native. “She’s a nightmare to defend because she can shoot the three, and she’s also really athletic and mobile, so it doesn’t matter who we are playing. I think you have to gameplan for her. But then with her three-point shooting, you know, you have to pick your poison.”

But Roberts also gave plenty of kudos to Johnson, whom she describes as “phenomenal.”

“She’s 19 going on 40,” Roberts said of Johnson. “She’s the most mature, even-keeled consistent player we have. What I love about her is she is who she is. She’s confident in who she is. She knows who she is. She also is incredibly busy off the court.

“We were talking as we were getting ready to watch film, just shooting the breeze a bunch of us, we were talking about movies. And she was like, Oh, I don’t watch movies. Why not? I don’t have time. I get bored. What do you mean you don’t have time? Do you watch shows? No, I don’t ever watch TV. It is because she is doing all of these other extracurricular activities.”

As for guiding to the Utes to becoming a championship program, Roberts still sees it as an uphill battle – but one that she and her players are ready for.

“I always use the analogy of pushing the boulder up the hill,” she said. “And doing things for the first time, you have to have that mindset. You have to keep pushing. It’s been incredibly fun to see the support, and I think the swell is a perfect word for it. Most importantly, our players feel it.

“This is why you play, right? And it means so much. I know I say it over and over, but this is not going to be a flash-in-the-pan [season]. This isn’t going to be a ‘Oh, remember that year they had such an incredible year?’ We are going to keep doing it.”

RELATED: 2023 March Madness 2023 — Updated bracket, scores and schedule for NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship

2023 March Madness: Updated bracket, scores and schedule for NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship

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Editor’s note: We’ll keep this page updated, so be sure to check back here for winners, scores and next-round details as the tournament progresses.

The bracket for 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship is officially set and defending champion South Carolina earned the No. 1 overall seed for the second straight season. A total of 68 teams will see tournament action, beginning with the “First Four” games on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by Round 1 play kicking off on Friday.

On Her Turf has compiled the matchups, sites and schedule for the tournament, which culminates Sunday, April 2 with the title game from American Airlines Center in Dallas.

2023 tournament No. 1 seeds:

  • South Carolina Gamecocks
  • Indiana Hoosiers
  • Virginia Tech Hokies
  • Stanford Cardinal

Last four teams in the tournament:

  • Illinois
  • Mississippi State
  • Purdue
  • St. John’s

First four teams out of the tournament:

  • Columbia
  • Kansas
  • UMass
  • Oregon

RELATED: South Carolina nabs No. 1 overall seed in NCAA women’s basketball tournament


‘First Four’ game schedule

Wednesday, March 15

  • 7 p.m. ET: 11. Illinois vs. 11. Mississippi State (South Bend, Indiana)
    • Winner: Mississippi State, 70-56
  • 9 p.m. ET: 16 Southern U vs. 16 Sacred Heart (Stanford, California)
    • Winner: Sacred Heart, 57-47

Thursday, March 16

  • 7 p.m. ET: 11 Purdue vs. 11 St. John’s (Columbus, Ohio)
    • Winner: St. John’s, 66-64
  • 9 p.m. ET: 16 Tennessee Tech vs. 16 Monmouth (Greenville, S.C.)
    • Winner: Tennessee Tech, 79-69

Bracket, schedule* by region 

*Includes scores, game time and TV network, if available

GREENVILLE 1 

Columbia, S.C.

  • Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
    • 1. South Carolina 72, 16. Norfolk State 40
    • 8. South Florida 67, 9. Marquette 65
  • Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
    • 1. South Carolina 76, 8. South Florida, 45

Los Angeles, California

  • Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
    • 5. Oklahoma 85, 12. Portland 63
    • 4. UCLA 67, 13. Sacramento State 45
  • Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
    • 4. UCLA vs. 5. Oklahoma, 10 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

South Bend, Indiana

  • Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
    • 6. Creighton 66, 11. Mississippi State 81 (First Four winner)
    • 3. Notre Dame 82, 14. Southern Utah 56
  • Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
    • 3. Notre Dame 53, 11. Mississippi State 48

College Park, Maryland

  • Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
    • 7. Arizona 75, 10. West Virginia 62
    • 2. Maryland 93, 15. Holy Cross 61
  • Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
    • 2. Maryland 77, 7. Arizona 64

GREENEVILLE 2

Bloomington, Indiana

  • Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
    • 1. Indiana 77, 16. Tennessee Tech 47 (First Four winner)
    • 8. Oklahoma State 61, 9. Miami 62 (FL)
  • Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
    • 1. Indiana vs. 9. Miami, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Villanova, Pennsylvania

  • Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
    • 5. Washington State 63, 12. FGCU 74
    • 4. Villanova 76, 13. Cleveland State 59
  • Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
    • 12. FGCU vs. 4. Villanova, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

  • Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
    • 6. Michigan 71, 11. UNLV 59
    • 3. LSU 73, 14. Hawaii 50
  • Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
    • 6. Michigan vs. 3. LSU, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Salt Lake City, Utah

  • Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
    • 7. N.C. State 63, 10. Princeton 64
    • 2. Utah 103, 15. Gardner-Webb 77
  • Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
    • 2. Utah vs. 10. Princeton, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

SEATTLE 3

 Blacksburg, Virginia

  • Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
    • 1. Virginia Tech 58, 16. Chattanooga 33
    • 8. Southern California 57, 9. South Dakota State 62
  • Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
    • 1. Virginia Tech 72, South Dakota State, 60

Knoxville, Tennessee

  • Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
    • 5. Iowa State 73, 12. Toledo 80
    • 4. Tennessee 95, 13. Saint Louis 50
  • Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
    • 12. Toledo vs. 4. Tennessee, 6 p.m. (ESPN2)

Columbus, Ohio

  • Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
    • 6. North Carolina 61, 11. St. John’s  59 (First Four winner)
    • 3. Ohio State 80, 14. James Madison 66
  • Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
    • 3. Ohio State vs. 6. North Carolina, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Storrs, Connecticut

  • Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
    • 7. Baylor 78, 10. Alabama 74
    • 2. UConn 95, 15. Vermont 52
  • Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
    • 2. UConn vs. 7. Baylor, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN)

SEATTLE 4

Stanford, California

  • Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
    • 1. Stanford 92, 16. Sacred Heart 49 (First Four winner)
    • 8. Ole Miss 71, 9. Gonzaga 48
  • Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
    • 1. Stanford vs. 8. Ole Miss, 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Austin, Texas 

  • Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
    • 5. Louisville 83, 12. Drake 81
    • 4. Texas 79, 13. East Carolina 40
  • Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
    • 4. Texas vs. 5. Louisville, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Durham, N.C. 

  • Round 1 — Saturday, March 18:
    • 6. Colorado 82, 11. Middle Tennessee State 60
    • 3. Duke 89, 14. Iona 49
  • Round 2 — Monday, March 20:
    • 3. Duke vs. Colorado, 9 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

Iowa City, Iowa 

  • Round 1 — Friday, March 17:
    • 7. Florida State 54, 10. Georgia 66
    • 2. Iowa 95, 15. Southeastern Louisiana 43
  • Round 2 — Sunday, March 19:
    • 2. Iowa 74, 10. Georgia 66

Regionals/Final Four schedule, how to watch

Sweet 16: Friday and Saturday, March 24-25; Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, S.C., host: Southern Conference and Furman; and Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, hosts: Seattle and Seattle Sports Commission

Elite 8: Sunday and Monday, March 26-27; Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, S.C., host: Southern Conference and Furman; and Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, hosts: Seattle and Seattle Sports Commission

Final 4: Friday, March 31, 7 p.m. ET and 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN); American Airlines Center, Dallas; hosts: Big 12 Conference and Dallas Sports Commission

Championship Game: Sunday, April 2, 3 p.m. ET (ABC); American Airlines Center, Dallas; hosts: Big 12 Conference and Dallas Sports Commission

MORE FROM ON HER TURF: 2023 March Madness — All about the 32 automatic qualifiers