Drama at the Winter Olympics:A Quick Breakdown

By: Ann Beckwith

This year’s Winter Olympics was a characteristic spectacle of athletic prowess. As always, though, a number of low-stakes controversies followed the competitions—and even interrupted a few. But if you were too busy studying to pay attention to every twist and turn, here’s a quick breakdown of all the minor dramas that took place in Milan over the past few weeks.

Sturla Holm Laegreid of Norway, a 20km individual biathlon bronze medalist, was doing a live interview when he confessed to cheating on his girlfriend three months prior. They had only been dating for six months at the time, and the ex-girlfriend indicated anonymously via Norwegian newspaper VG that she had complicated feelings about his public declaration of love.

The curling teams from Canada and Sweden became embroiled in a heated argument during their match, when Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson accused Canada’s Marc Kennedy of illegally double-touching his stones. Though both sides agreed to let the match results stand, the video footage of the contested shot was hotly debated by fans around the world. And, the following day, Switzerland reported the same Marc Kennedy for the same offense. Olympic officials were deployed for the remaining matches to watch specifically for double-touches.

French skier Julia Simon took first place in the biathlon. What’s controversial about that? Well, prior to the Olympics, in 2022, she was charged with stealing the credit card of her own teammate, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, who came in 80th place in the event. She allegedly spent over $2,000 on online purchases before being caught. Simon crossed the finish line with a finger held to her lips in a shh gesture. In an interview following the match, she asked for people to focus on her performance instead of her past accusations.

And, in lighter news: apparently skiers weren’t alone in the snow this year! During the cross-country skiing event, a Czechoslovakian wolfdog broke free of its handlers and chased a camera over the finish line.

From these facts alone, you’d be forgiven for imagining the Olympics to be a hotbed of controversy and petty drama—but there was plenty to celebrate, too! American figure skater Alysa Liu took home a gold medal in the event, the first American athlete since 2002 to claim the honor. And she did it, according to her, by focusing on the joy of skating instead of training herself to the point of mental and physical exhaustion. Here’s to hoping that all of us will enjoy a similar experience this year!