The Olympic flame has been extinguished in Italy and thousands of athletes and their medals are returning home — including one gold and a pair of silvers that are on their way back to the Washington region.
As the sports world shifts its focus to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles and the 2030 Olympics in Paris, here’s how nine local athletes fared on the biggest stages in sports.
Ilia Malinin: Malinin arrived in Milan as one of the Games’ biggest stars. He had won 15 straight competitions and incorporated awe-inspiring skills like the backflip and the quadruple axel into his routine.
The 21-year-old George Mason University student saw the endorsement deals pile up as he prepared for his first Olympics.
He started with a strong showing in the team event, helping lead the U.S. contingent to a gold medal. But the solo performance was disastrous.
A near-flawless short program was followed by a disastrous free skate that saw Malinin bail on a planned quadruple axel and fall to the ice twice. He finished in eighth place.
“All I know is that it wasn’t my best skate,” Malinin said, noting on social media that the pressure created an “inevitable crash.” “And it was definitely something I wasn’t expecting. And it’s done, so I can’t go back and change it, even though I would love to.”
Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson: The two Washington Capitals stars secured silver medals with Canada on Sunday after a 2-1 overtime loss to Team USA in the gold-medal match.
Thompson started just one game — a preliminary matchup against Switzerland where he allowed a single goal in a 5-1 victory.
Wilson played on Canada’s first line for much of the tournament, playing alongside superstars like Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini. He made international headlines for securing a Gordie Howe hat trick with a fight, an assist and a goal against France.
Wilson made his impact felt in the final match too, delivering bone-crunching hits to American skaters and nearly delivering a goal.
“He was outstanding, had such a positive impact on the game in so many different ways and just played exactly to his identity. He was so impactful,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “Both guys should be so proud of the way they competed.”
Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary also competed in the Games, though his Slovakian squad fell to Finland in Saturday’s bronze medal match.
Carsten Vissering and Bryan Sosoo: Maryland natives Carsten Vissering and Bryan Sosoo took winding paths to become Olympic bobsledders. Vissering was an All-American swimmer at USC, while Sosoo originally pursued a career in track and field — his Instagram handle is still “@LongJumpLife.”
But the two athletes represented Team USA during the four-man bobsled event on the final day of the Olympics. Vissering pushed for pilot Kris Horn’s team while Sosoo competed with pilot Frank del Duca.
Neither of the American teams cracked the podium, finishing in 11th and 12th place, respectively.
Brandon Kim and Conor McDermott-Mostowy: Speedskaters Brandon Kim and Conor McDermott-Mostowy represented the Washington region in the short and long-track events in Milan.
Kim, who grew up in Fairfax, Virginia, raced in the 500-meter, 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter races for Team USA. He was disqualified after falls in the shorter two races, ultimately landing at 15th in the 1,500.
McDermott Mostowy, who was raised in the District, raced in the 1,000-meter event and finished in ninth place.
Mystique Ro: Skeleton athlete Mystique Ro didn’t know her future would include on-ice races when she was bouncing around Maryland and Virginia during her youth. But the former track athlete started racing skeleton eight years ago and started stacking hardware with gold and silver medals in last year’s world championships.
Her first Olympic runs were less fruitful. The 31-year-old ranked 15th in the women’s skeleton and seventh in the mixed-gender event for the U.S.
• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.
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