Olympics
March 5, 2022
Oyuna Uranchimeg

Minnesotans in Paralympics: How and when to watch our athletes in Beijing

Here's your tracker for Minnesotans in the Paralympics:
Olympics
March 4, 2022
Oyuna Uranchimeg of Burnsville will compete in wheelchair curling at the Beijing Paralympics.

Burnsville woman proud to represent country where she was 'reborn' in Paralympics

Oyuna Uranchimeg thought her life was over in 2000, when she was in a car accident while visiting Minnesota. "I basically died that day. And then, I came back."
Olympics
February 26, 2022
Jessie Diggins was comforted after crossing the finish during the women’s 30km mass start free cross-country skiing competition at the 2022 Winter O

Rested Diggins returning to competition, less than a week after Olympics

Afton's Jessie Diggins, who capped the Beijing Games with a silver medal, says she is recharged and ready for the World Cup circuit. First up: Finland.
Olympics
February 21, 2022
Residents walk by a screen showing Chinese President Xi Jinping wearing a face mask attending the closing ceremony.

Neal: China should have never been allowed to host these Olympics

The experience here was fine, but that's not the point: We should not have been here in the first place. The International Olympic Committee needs a full reboot.
Olympics
February 21, 2022
Fireworks light up the sky over Olympic Stadium during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/

Olympics contrasted success, safety, shortcomings, controversy

As the athletes took part in the Closing Ceremony, they were just grateful the Winter Games made it over the finish line.
Olympics
February 21, 2022
Silver medal finisher Jessie Diggins of Afton celebrates after the women’s 30km mass start free cross-country skiing competition.

Conquering illness, Diggins ends her Olympics with historic silver medal

On the final day of the Olympics, Jessie Diggins of Afton seized her last shot to make more history, despite being sick with food poisoning just hours before the race in the mountains outside Beijing.
Olympics
February 21, 2022
Gold Medalist Erin Jackson of the United States celebrates during the medal ceremony for the speedskating women's 500-meter race at the 2022 Winter Ol

Neal: After covering first Olympics, La Velle 'all-in' and ready for more

From telling stories about many of the 30 Minnesota athletes in Beijing and others, our columnist wonders how many will quality for the 2026 Games. 'Heck, let's hope I qualify again,' he adds.
Olympics
February 20, 2022
Lindsey Vonn’s gold-medal run in the 2010 downhill is the only individual-event gold medal earned by a Minnesota-born athlete in Winter Olympics his

Every medal won by a Minnesotan in Winter Olympics history

Minnesota-born athletes have won 95 medals in the nearly 100 years of the Winter Games. Here's the complete list.
Olympics
February 20, 2022
How'd they do? Meet the 30 U.S. Olympians with Minnesota ties

How'd they do? Meet the 30 U.S. Olympians with Minnesota ties

The contingent with Minnesota connections on Team USA was the largest since Turin in 2006 and included nine gold medalists from four years ago.
Olympics
February 20, 2022
A Team United States supporter cheers during the men’s curling bronze medal match between Canada and the United States at the Beijing Winter Olympic

How Team USA made Beijing Olympics as fun as possible

Athletes cheering for athletes will be one of the joyful memories from an Olympics otherwise tied down tightly by COVID-19 restrictions.
Olympics
February 20, 2022
Residents past near the Paralympic mascot Shuey Rhon Rhon left, and Winter Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen displayed near the iconic Bird’s Nest stadi

What to watch today (and what's coming up) at the Beijing Olympics

An hour-by-hour look at the highlights of what's on TV and being streamed on the web as the Tokyo Games come to an end.
Olympics
February 19, 2022
Giorgia Birkeland of White Bear Laker was happy with her finish at the speedskating mass start semifinals Saturday.

Neal: Minnesota didn't take over the world in Beijing, a reminder of how hard this is

After 2018 and 2021, we got spoiled with Olympics dominance and gold rushes. This time: good not great, but let's not consider our Olympians anything other than excellent.
Olympics
February 19, 2022
Federica Brignone of Italy, right, and Prior Lake's Paula Moltzan race during a quarterfinal of the mixed team skiing event at the 2022 Winter Olympic

Prior Lake's Moltzan just misses bronze in Alpine mixed team event

After falling near the finish line in the semifinals racing Germany, Paula Moltzan bounced back to win her bronze medal match against Norway. But the Norwegian team won on a tiebreaker.
Olympics
February 19, 2022
Giorgia Birkeland of White Bear Lake reacted during the women’s speedskating mass start semifinals at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

White Bear Lake speedskater Giorgia Birkeland reaches Olympic finals

The 19-year-old finished 12th in her first mass start race at the senior international level.
Olympics
February 18, 2022
Jessie Diggins won the bronze medal in the freestyle sprint during the first week of the Beijing Olympics.

One more race for Diggins as a busy Beijing Olympics comes to a close

The Afton cross-country skier will compete in the women's 30-kilometer freestyle race, her sixth event of the Winter Games.
Olympics
February 18, 2022
John Shuster says he’d like to return to the Olympics for a sixth time in 2026.

After loss to Canada for bronze, Shuster already has eye on 2026 Games

John Shuster, 39, won't be bringing home a medal from the Olympics this time. But he still has the fire for curling and is looking at a sixth Olympic appearance at the 2026 games in Italy.
Olympics
February 18, 2022
Switzerland's Daniel Yule, bottom, leads Austria's Marco Schwarz on his way to clinching the gold medal in the alpine team event at the 2018 Winter Ol

Shiffrin, Prior Lake's Moltzan expected to lead U.S. in team Alpine slalom

The parallel slalom event became part of the Olympic program in 2018 in an effort to increase medal opportunities for women.
Olympics
February 18, 2022
Curler Matt Hamilton stood out during Team Shuster’s Olympic run because of his hair, which will get cut for charity.

Neal: Hamilton will cut gold medal quality hair after Olympics for charity

The end of the USA men's curling team's run at the 2022 Olympics means no more viewing Matt Hamilton's marvelous mane of brown hair.
Olympics
February 18, 2022
Columnist La Velle E. Neal III’s long day took him from curling to hockey and back to curling in Beijing.

Neal: A long, long day of difficult defeats — with a Minnesota flavor

From curling to hockey and back for more curling, our columnist's Thursday in Beijing started early in the morning and didn't end until after midnight.
Olympics
February 17, 2022
The United States team watches as Canada players celebrate after winning the women’s gold medal hockey game.

Loss to Canada brings stinging end to Olympics for Team USA women

Four years after they experienced the unabashed joy of dethroning Canada as Olympic champions, the Americans stood glumly on the ice in Beijing to accept silver medals.