Team USANA (athletes who use the USANA products) captured 34 pieces of transition metal—13 Gold, 14 Silver and 7 Bronze. That’s four more than what was collected in 2014.
If you’re wondering how that stacks up against the overall official standings, it stacks up nicely. If Team USANA were a country, USANA athletes would’ve had the second highest tally, right behind Norway.
USANA was founded on science by a microbiologist who loves the periodic table. Which has provided hundreds of thousands of people with top-rated supplements for more than 25 years. But what does the chart of elements, a diagram that most of us haven’t seen since high school, have anything to do with USANA’s sponsored-athletes?
Well, depending on how you look at it, that question could truly be answered in several ways with nutrition being the base of them all. We by no means are indicating or suggesting that the periodic table brought on any of the below accomplishments. But if we narrow it down to three transition metals that sit in column 11—Au, Ag and Cu—and add in the global sporting extravaganza that took place last month in East Asia, you should hopefully get what we’re trying to do here.
KEEPING UP IN KOREA
For 18-days, nearly 3,000 athletes glided, jumped, flipped and twirled for a chance at top honors. Tears of joy and disappointment were shed, historic moments were captured and for some, retirement from the sports they’d dedicated their entire lives too were celebrated.And in the process, Team USANA captured 34 pieces of transition metal—13 Au, 14 Ag and 7 Cu. That’s four more than what was collected in 2014.
If you’re wondering how that stacks up against the overall official standings, it stacks up nicely. If Team USANA were a country, USANA athletes would’ve had the second highest tally, right behind Norway.
Now the big question. Who made history, who double-dipped and who celebrated their final run on the world’s biggest stage?
PODIUM BREAKDOWN
- USA Luge’s Chris Mazdzer captured silver and the first medal in US history in the men’s singles event.
- U.S. Freeskier Alex Ferreira took home silver in his debut in freestyle halfpipe.
- US Speedskating’s Brittany Bowe secured bronze in the team pursuit, while John-Henry Krueger took silver in the men’s 1,000m.
- Teammates Meaghan Mikkelson, Natalie Spooner and Rebecca Johnston earned silver in women’s hockey.
- Canadian bobsledder Alex Kopacz went gold in the two-man event.
- US Ski and Snowboard brought home an additional 14 hunks of metal—7 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze.
- Speed Skating Canada collected seven—2 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze—three of which were captured by short tracker Kim Boutin.
- USANA’s Korean speedskaters walked away with seven honors—3 gold, 4 bronze.
NOTABLE HIGHLIGHTS
- U.S. freeskier Devin Logan became the first female to qualify for two disciplines—slopestyle and halfpipe—finishing 10th and 15th.
- USA Nordic’s Bryan Fletcher completed his second and final Olympic appearance with a top 10 finish in the team event and top 20 finishes in two individual competitions.
- Taylor Fletcher made his third appearance and finished 10th in the team event alongside his brother Bryan, and 35th in the normal hill event.
- Two-time Olympian Matt Antoine finished 14th in the men’s skeleton event.
- Canadian speed skater Ivanie Blondin took to the ice in four events, finishing in the top six in three of them.
- Ski jumper Sarah Hendrickson celebrated her second Olympics with a 19th place finish.
- Elise Christie of Great Britain Short Track was just shy of a podium with a 4th place finish in the 500m event.
- Korean ice dancers Yura Min and Alex Gamelin helped added to a 9th place finish in the team event.
