5. Next Generation of Athletes

This year’s Olympics saw the rise of several young, noteworthy athletes. Seventeen-year-old Ohio native Red Gerard won the first gold medal for the U.S. in men’s slopestyle snowboarding. Gerard caught the nation’s attention after he overslept for his event having spent the night watching Netflix. Gerard had misplaced his jacket that morning and had to borrow his teammates, then cursed on live television following his win. Gerard became the youngest American man to win gold since 1928. Charismatic 17-year-old snowboarder Chloe Kim also turned heads when she won gold in women’s half pipe snowboarding. The Southern California native and daughter of South Korean immigrants was the youngest member of the women’s snowboarding team and began snowboarding at age 4. Kim accumulated about 325 thousand twitter followers over the course of the Olympics and made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.