Olympics

Finland stood atop the men's hockey mountain Sunday in Beijing, Olympic gold medalists following a 2-1 win over the Russian Olympic Committee.

The Finns did not lose one of their six games in the tournament. And their victory not only earned the country its first gold medal in that sport, but it also announced to the world what those paying close attention already knew: Finland is primed to assert its dominance over the sport.

From 2010 to 2020, the country saw a rise in registered hockey players to 65,469, per Statista.

There are 50 Finns in the NHL, the exact same number of Russians suiting up in the league.

Not all that long ago, the idea that there would be that many Finnish players in the top league in the sport would have been astonishing. Now, competitors Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho and Aleksander Barkov are mentioned in the same breath as Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews and other prominent players.

The victory over the ROC will draw attention to the Finns, and rightfully so. Players who may not have been NHL prospects before will have eyes on them as teams look to bolster rosters in the hopes of winning a championship.

Which players on the Finland national team should join their compatriots in the NHL next?

Sakari Manninen

Sakari Manninen is arguabl, Finland's best hockey player not already playing in the NHL.

The 30-year-old has spent parts of the past four seasons competing in the Kontinental Hockey League, one year for Jokerit and the rest for Salavat Yulaev Ufa. He has competed in the playoffs in each of his full seasons in the league, averaging just over four points per postseason.

A considerable threat to score in any game but also willing to deliver an assist when the opportunity calls for it, he was his team's top points scorer during its run to gold at the 2019 IIHF World Championship.

And in Beijing, by amassing four goals and three assists, he tied for first among all players in the tournament.

Manninen did not play against NHL talent, which will create skepticism about his ability to put up similar stats against the best players in the sport, but anyone that can score or assist the way he does would be a valuable asset to an NHL squad.

That he has not already played in the league is somewhat surprising, but Finland's presence in the NHL has not been what it is until recently. Considering his repeated excellence on the grandest stages, with the weight of his country on his shoulders, he has more-than earned a look.

Teemu Hartikainen

Manninen's Salavat Yulayev Ufa teammate Teemu Hartikainen was an assist machine in the Olympics, creating five goals. He also tickled the twine twice, and his seven points tied Manninen's tally.

Hartikainen entered the Olympics looking to build on the momentum he garnered in the 2020-21 KHL season. His 28 goals, 36 assists and 64 points were all career highs.

Unlike Manninen, Hartikainen has NHL experience. Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in 2008, he made his debut during the 2010-11 season. At the time of his departure for the KHL in 2013, he was nowhere near the player he has evolved into.

A better, more rounded winger in the middle of his best stretch as a professional, and someone who has proved himself on the Olympic stage, his offensive threat would make a team willing to take a chance on him very happy.

Finland's men's hockey team defeated the Russian Olympic Committee 2-1 on Saturday (Sunday in Beijing) at National Indoor Stadium to capture its first-ever gold medal at the Winter Games. 

While the Finns went down 1-0 early in the first period, they scored two unanswered goals from Ville Pokka and Hannes Bjorninen to capture gold. Finland dominated the ROC both on-and-off the puck, leading 31-17 in shots and preventing the opposing team from effectively moving the puck through the neutral zone. 

Here's some highlights and reaction from the gold medal game:

The Finns had previously never won a gold medal in the Olympics. They won silver at the 1988 and 2006 Games, in addition to winning bronze in 1994, 1998, 2010 and 2014.

Finland's run to the gold medal game was impressive. The country went 3-0 in preliminary round play with wins over Slovakia, Latvia and Sweden. It clinched a berth in the semifinals with a 5-1 quarterfinal win over Switzerland and earned a spot in the gold medal game with a 2-0 win over Slovakia in the semifinals.

While Finland's win comes as somewhat of a surprise, the country does have several former NHLers on its roster, including Valtteri Filppula, Sami Vatanen, Markus Granlund and Leo Komarov.

As for the ROC, they previously won gold at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. That is their only gold medal at the Winter Games. In addition to winning silver on Saturday, they won silver in 1998 and bronze in 2002.

If NHL players had competed in this year's Olympics, the results could have been very different. Teams like the United States and Canada, which were eliminated in the quarterfinals, likely would have made it deeper in the tournament with NHL players onboard.

There were 11 Alpine skiing events contested at the 2022 Beijing Games; five individual events for men, five for women and one mixed event. 

The action wrapped up Saturday night (Sunday morning in China) with the mixed team event, which had been postponed from Friday night because of high winds. 

The U.S. finished just off the podium in fourth in the mixed event, falling in the bronze medal match to Norway via tiebreaker. However, Mikaela Shiffrin helped the team advance, winning one of her four heats and completing the course cleanly each time. 

Shiffrin competed in all six events at the Beijing Games, the first time she participated in that many.

She was expected to earn multiple medals at these Games, but in her five individual events, she recorded "did not finish" results in the giant slalom, slalom and Alpine combined races. In the super-G and downhill, she finished ninth and 18th, respectively. 

When all was said and done, the United States had a surprising medal haul in the individual events.

As NBC Sports' Nick Zaccardi pointed out, in 2022, the United States' one medal in individual Alpine skiing events—Ryan Cochran-Siegle's silver in men's super-G—was its fewest since 1998, when Picabo Street won gold in super-G gold. 

The last time the U.S. earned this few alpine skiing medals without winning a gold was in 1988, Zaccardi observed. 

As the New York Times' Matthew Futterman pointed out, "The Americans have just one medal through eight races, and have failed to have a skier in the top 10 in four races."

The reasons vary; some say it's a lack of organizational clarity, while others point to "unlucky injuries [or] the choice to go all-in on the present rather than invest in the future," Futterman observed. 

When the Alpine skiing events came to a close Saturday night in the U.S., the leader in the medal count was Switzerland, with nine total medals and five golds. Austria came in second, with seven total medals and three golds, and France rounded out the top three, with three total medals and one gold. 

"I get that people will say we came up short," Shiffrin said about the United States' performance in Alpine skiing, per NBCOlympics.com. "But the thing is that, to have this kind of depth on our team coming from the U.S., competing in a European-dominated sport... I can't emphasize enough how unbelievable it is for us to be here and be in the hunt for a medal."

The full medal results of the 11 Alpine skiing events at the Beijing Games can be found below. 

Men's Downhill

Gold: Beat Feuz, Switzerland

Silver: Johan Clarey, France

Bronze: Matthias Mayer, Austria

Men's Super-G

Gold: Matthias Mayer, Austria

Silver: Ryan Cochran-Siegle, United States

Bronze: Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Norway

Men's Giant Slalom

Gold: Marco Odermatt, Switzerland

Silver: Zan Kranjec, Slovenia

Bronze: Mathieu Faivre, France

Men's Slalom 

Gold: Clement Noel, France

Silver: Johannes Strolz, Austria

Bronze: Sebastian Foss-Solevag, Norway

Men's Combined 

Gold: Johannes Strolz, Austria

Silver: Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Norway

Bronze: James Crawford, Canada

Women's Downhill

Gold: Corinne Suter, Switzerland 

Silver: Sofia Goffia, Italy

Bronze: Nadia Delago, Italy

Women's Super-G

Gold: Lara Gut-Behrami, Switzerland

Silver: Mirjam Puchner, Austria

Bronze: Michelle Gisin, Switzerland

Women's Giant Slalom

Gold: Sara Hector, Sweden

Silver: Federica Brignone, Italy

Bronze: Lara Gut-Behrami, Switzerland

Women's Slalom 

Gold: Petra Vihova, Slovakia

Silver: Katharina Liensberger, Austria

Bronze: Wendy Holdener, Switzerland

Women's Combined 

Gold: Michelle Gisin, Switzerland

Silver: Wendy Goldener, Switzerland

Bronze: Federica Brignone, Italy

Team Event

Gold: Austria

Silver: Germany

Bronze: Norway

Figure skating takes center stage at almost every Winter Olympics, but that was especially the case for the 2022 Beijing Games.

While the controversy surrounding Kamila Valieva was the biggest story, these Olympics also meant medals as the culmination of a lifetime of work for a number of athletes. Here is a look at the list of all the figure-skating medal winners in the 2022 Games.

Team Event

Gold: Russian Olympic Committee

Silver: United States

Bronze: Japan

Men's Singles

Gold: Nathan Chen, United States

Silver: Yuma Kagiyama, Japan

Bronze: Shoma Uno, Japan

Ice Dance

Gold: Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron, France

Silver: Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov, Russian Olympic Committee 

Bronze: Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue, United States

Women's Singles

Gold: Anna Shcherbakova, Russian Olympic Committee 

Silver: Alexandra Trusova, Russian Olympic Committee 

Bronze: Kaori Sakamoto, Japan

Pairs

Gold: Sui Wenjing/Han Cong, China

Silver: Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov, Russian Olympic Committee

Bronze: Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov, Russian Olympic Committee

There were plenty of moments that stood out during the Olympics, including Nathan Chen's brilliance on the men's side and the combination of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron taking home gold for France in the ice dancing competition.

Still, the drama surrounding Valieva in the women's singles event made worldwide headlines.

The 15-year-old skater for the Russian Olympic Committee helped lead her side to gold in the team competition and seemed like a lock to do the same in the women's individual competition as the most graceful and skilled figure skater in the world.

And then the controversy struck.

As D'Arcy Maine of ESPN noted Valieva tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine in December during the Russian championship. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled she could still compete, and the situation is still under investigation.

She said the drug entered her system accidentally, but the positive test overshadowed the rest of the competition. Had she won a medal, there would not have been a ceremony.

"I don't even know what to feel or what to think," Tara Lipinski said on the NBC broadcast (h/t Maine). "You're watching [Valieva] go through this pain—she's 15. I blame the adults around her to even be put in this position—and all of the other athletes, what they've gone through this week. The possibility of there being no medal ceremony, or podium—that's what every little girl dreams of when they think of the Olympics."

Alas, she did not win a medal and stumbled during the free skate.

That cleared the way for fellow Russian Olympic Committee competitors Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova to win gold and silver medals in an event that will be remembered more for what happened around the ice than what happened on it.