It may not be possible to catch all the best moments in a single day of the Olympic Games, but we’re going to try. Every day, we’ll award medals for standout achievements at (and around) Pyeongchang 2018 and feats that may or may not be recognized on the podium (and may or may not even be of an athletic nature).
Day 5 of the Olympic Winter Games featured a resilient duo, a bit of hockey history and curling’s biggest fan.
Gold medal for rocking Twitter…
Goes to Mr. T, who has been a great Twitter follow throughout these games so far. The professional pitier of fools has been particularly into curling, and watched as Canada’s Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris captured gold in the brand new mixed doubles event.
Footballer, wrestler, soldier, bouncer, bodyguard, actor … and curler?
Let’s make this happen:
Gold medal for resilience…
Goes to Canadian pairs figure skater Meagan Duhamel, who had quite a day before competing in the short program with partner Eric Radford.
First, she lost her phone (which she tweeted about on an actual computer, you guys).
Then, she almost didn’t make it to the rink. Luckily, German pairs skater Bruno Massot came to the rescue.
Update: the hanger carrying my dress broke from the wind. And I was stepping into the wrong bus but Bruno Massot saved me from going to the wrong venue. Haha! Ok! Im ready to nail this short!
— Meagan Duhamel (@mhjd_85) February 14, 2018
Despite a day filled with distractions, Duhamel and Radford put together a beautiful performance and sit third going into Thursday’s free skate. Massot and his partner, Aljona Savchenko, are just behind them in fourth.
Gold medal for turning heartache into art…
Goes to April Meservy. The Utah-based singer/songwriter recorded a beautiful cover of U2’s hit With Or Without You, to which Radford and Duhamel performed their short program.
Merservy recorded the emotional track while struggling through the heartbreak of an on-again, off-again long-term relationship.
“Every single line of that song felt so true about the feelings I had during that experience,” Meservy told The Washington Post of that time. “For me, I just thought it was helping me process what was going on.”
She decided to finally release the track about one year ago, when the relationship ended for good, and it wasn’t long before Duhamel and Radford’s choreographer discovered it.
What?!? . . . . #howonearth #winterolympics2018 #withorwithoutyou #ilovefigureskating #iwanttocry #someonepinchme
195 Likes, 30 Comments – April Meservy (@aprilmeservy) on Instagram: “What?!? . . . . #howonearth #winterolympics2018 #withorwithoutyou #ilovefigureskating #iwanttocry…”
Meservy, who has now formed a friendship with the skaters, even travelled to Pyeongchang to see them skate live thanks to some anonymous donations to help her get there. This is the first time athletes are permitted to skate to music with lyrics at the Games, which means nice stories like this one get some ice time, too.
My friends– Oh my goodness, I love celebrating all of this with you!! Your expressions of excitement & the support I feel in each one of your thoughtful messages get me all misty-eyed. I treasure your love and support so much! My schedule has been a bit crazy lately with interviews and preparing to head to So. Korea (got my typhoid vaccine a little later than is recommended apparently lol). ;) I want you to know that while I may not be able to respond to messages as quickly as I would like this next little while, I am deeply moved by them. I read every single one (and in full disclosure, ☺️I even read some to my mom, sister, and boyfriend – I’m so touched by your love I can’t help it) ;). Thank you for taking this recent beautiful adventure with me!!! I’ll try to post whenever I get a chance to update you on things. I’m over the moon about getting to see @ericradford85 and @meaganduhamel skate again! (@aaron.edson, thanks again for encouraging me to record this & for adding such beautiful harmony and #friendship to this song! The journey it is now taking feels as unexpected as the actual recording of it was. A genuine #miracle.) . . . #2018pyeongchang #withorwithoutyou #shortprogram #winterolympics #itshappening #vaccinesshouldbescheduledinadvance #youlightupmyheart
152 Likes, 15 Comments – April Meservy (@aprilmeservy) on Instagram: “My friends– Oh my goodness, I love celebrating all of this with you!! Your expressions of…”
Gold medal for a nice little Canadian shoutout…
Goes to men’s double luge gold medallists Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, who demonstrated how tight-knit the sporting community is during a post-race interview. While discussing their own winning run, the German duo also made sure to gave a shoutout to one of their luge peers, Canada’s Alex Gough, whose bronze medal in the women’s event a day ago is Canada’s first-ever Olympic medal in the sport.
Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt just won Germany's 4th medal in luge with a gold in the men's doubles pic.twitter.com/6PvzQM4D1r
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 14, 2018
During my interview with German luge doubles gold medallists @TobiasArlt and @tobiaswendl, they made sure to give a shoutout to Canadian @AlexGoughLuge to congratulate her for her bronze medal #PyeonChang2018 #Luge #Doubles #UpWithCBC @CBCOlympics
— Anson Henry (@ansonhenry) February 14, 2018
Gold medal for hockey history…
Goes to the women’s unified Korean hockey team, who registered their first-ever Olympic hockey goal. It was a pretty cool moment:
Japan also made history, registering the nation’s first-ever women’s hockey victory at the Olympic level. Huge strides were made on both sides of the ice—and for the game.
“This is a historical event,” said Team Japan’s Akane Hosoyamada. “More younger generations are going to see this and want to be part of the program and part of an amazing feat on the Olympic stage.”
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