Ice Dancing

Meryl Davis and Charlie White have been training together for 17 years and earned their first gold medal in ice dancing after setting a record score of 195.52. They are coached by the same coach as the Canadian ice skaters who settled with a silver medal. Sochi marked the first American gold medal in ice dancing ever. Their gold helped push the United States to a bronze medal in the team figure skating event.

Slopestyle Skiing

Joss Christiansen with gold, Gus Kenworthy with silver, and Nicolas Goepper with bronze all found success in Sochi in the Slopestyle Skiing event. These were the first Olympic medals for each of these athletes. This marks the first time that Americans have been able to take home all of the medals in an event this Olympics.

Luge

Erin Hamlin missed gold by about two tenths of a second, but was able to make the podium with a bronze medal. Though some may think bronze is no cause for celebration, as it was only third place, they would be wrong. This was a big deal for the U.S. as it has not achieved a medal in the luge event in 50 years. This was Hamlin’s first Olympic success as she only placed 10th in 2006 and 16th in 2010.

Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe

The freestyle skiing halfpipe was one of the new additions to the Olympic schedule and David Wise was able to capture that first historic gold medal. Though this is his first Olympics, he has been able to obtain gold at the past three Winter X Games in the superpipe event. Wise was able to add himself to the number of other Americans who were able to obtain medals in brand new Olympic sports.

Slopestyle Snowboarding

Jamie Anderson and Sage Kotsenburg achieved gold for the first time in both of their careers in slopestyle snowboarding in their respective genders. Both Kotsenburg and Anderson had found success in the X Games previously, but this was their first Olympic appearances. This was also the first year the event was part of the Olympic program.