#6 What must it feel like to be on top of not just one, but two Winter Olympic sports?  Ester Ledecka became the first woman to ever win gold medals using two different types of equipment, a snowboard and skis, at a single Winter Olympic.  Ledecka is also the first woman to win gold in two separate disciplines at the same Winter Olympic Games.  Anfisa Reztsova previously won gold in two separate disciplines at different Olympics.  Watch her parallel giant slalom win here.

#8 Youth has its advantages. Chloe Kim, at age 17, became the youngest ever female Olympic gold medalist on snow when she won the Halfpipe. Kim's exposure and experience at competitions leading up to the PyeongChang games included being a four-time X Games gold medalist and the first woman to win two gold medals in snowboarding at the Youth Olympic Games. Watch her gold medal performance here.

  

#10 Most Important Moment in Women's Sports 2018

Since our founding in 1997, REAL SPORTS, The Authority in Women's Sports, provides authentic coverage of the diverse world of women's sports. Join us as we make our selections of the Top Moments in Sports for 2018 and name our Sportsperson of the Year.  We welcome our readers engagement and encourage you to share your thoughts regarding our selections as well as your most memorable moments.

#10 There's a sure fire way to capture the imagination of a crowd, nation, and worldwide viewership while also earning the respect of your peers.  


At the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to land a triple axel at the Olympics.  She became the third woman in the history of the Winter games to do so.  Click to watch the athletic accomplishment.

#1 Most Important Moment in Sports for 2014: Women Drivers, It’s No Joke — 4-man Bobsled Goes Gender Neutral

REAL SPORTS Most Important Moments in Sports 2014 edition

It might become necessary to come up with a new name for four-man bobsledding. It was introduced into the Olympics in 1924, and the two-man event followed in 1932. It wasn’t until 2002 that the two-woman event entered the Olympics. In the four-man cars, the drivers have always been men.

A first for 4-man bobsledding. Announcer says: "Let's Go Lady and Gentlemen..."

Video courtesy: Elana Meyers Taylor, USA Bobsled and Skeleton
Video Compilation: Steve Douglass

Fast-forward to 2014, and the sport’s governing body, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (FIBT), announced that women will be allowed to drive four-member sleds. The FIBT calls this new configuration “pilots and push athletes.” This theoretically allows female drivers to compete against male drivers without losing the advantage of the strength and the weight of the of the push athletes. Thus four-man bobsledding – which the FIBT refers to as bobsleighing – is now gender neutral.

Photo courtesy: Elana Meyers Taylor, USA Bobsled and Skeleton 

At the North American Cup in Park City, Utah, in mid-November, this new configuration was used with female pilots. Former Olympic two-woman champion Kaillie Humphries piloted the Canadian four-seat bobsled to a sixth-place finish, and Sochi Games silver-medalist Elana Meyers Taylor was seventh in the U.S. sled. At the North American Cup held on November 23, 2014 in Calgary, Meyers Taylor and her teammates, Dustin Greenwood, Adrian Adams and Carlo Valdes, improved their performances and won two medals, a silver and a bronze.

Elana Meyers Taylor, Dustin Greenwood, Adrian Adams and Carlo Valdes
celebrate their silver medal performance
Photo courtesy: Elana Meyers Taylor, USA Bobsled and Skeleton

Meyers Taylor and Humphries probably will be the only women to compete in this year’s World Cup competitions. Although there is no shortage of women who want to drive four-seaters, there is insufficient time to develop resumes for 2015 cup events. A set number of lower-tier races is required before being allowed to enter World Cup events, and Meyers Taylor and Humphries plan to fulfill the requirements by racing in Canada and France.

So as we embrace a winter wonderland in the northern hemisphere this year, girls and boys all over can jointly embrace sledding and can dream of teaming together for Olympic gold. [RS]

#6 Abiding by Your Principles — International Olympic Committee (IOC) Adds Anti-discrimination Clause to Host City Contracts

REAL SPORTS Most Important Moments in Sports 2014 edition

Shortly before the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, a series of anti-gay “propaganda” laws were announced by Russian authorities. Active and former Olympians began protests before the Games began and continued throughout the events. The athletes cited Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter, which states: “Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement.”

American Apparel partnered with All Out and Athlete Ally to produce and distribute
Principle 6 gear online and in their stores.

The U.S. government joined in the protests, with the Sochi Games becoming the first since 2000 at which the opening ceremonies were not attended by the president, vice president or first lady. President Barack Obama strengthened the protest by naming openly gay athletes to the official United States delegation, which was led by former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Ice hockey player Caitlin Cahow, figure skating legend Brian Boitano and tennis legend Billie Jean King all sat with the delegation at either the opening or closing ceremonies.

In response to the protests and to pressure from organizations including Athlete Ally and Human Rights Watch, the International Olympic Committee announced in September that an anti-discrimination clause based on Principle 6 will be included in the binding contract between the IOC and host cities. The IOC has informed the three finalist cities competing for the 2022 Winter Olympics – Oslo, Norway, Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Beijing – of the change to the final contract.

The move is expected to help avoid a repeat of the furor surrounding the Sochi Olympics, where many athletes and spectators feared an increase in arrests or homophobic attacks. In developing and announcing the anti-discrimination clause, the IOC is putting pressure on other athletic governing bodies to take similar steps when selecting sites for their events. FIFA, soccer’s governing body, has the men’s World Cup scheduled for Russia in 2018, and in Qatar – where homosexuality is illegal – in 2022. Whether it is too late to have an effect on those events is debatable, but the IOC’s move is well received, and we applaud it. [RS]

# 8 Game of firsts — The 2014 Winter Olympics

REAL SPORTS Most Important Moments in Sports 2014 edition

The 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi, Russia, featured a score of multiple-medal performances by outstanding athletes, first medals for countries, and unfortunately, not the first of what has become too many figure-skating judging discrepancies.

Slovenian skier extraordinaire Tina Maze finished tied for the gold in the downhill, earning the first gold medal for Slovenia in any Winter Olympics event, and later, she won a gold medal for the giant slalom.

Belarus’ Darya Domracheva was dominant in the biathlon, entering five events and taking the gold in three to become, like Maze, the first Winter Olympic champion from her nation. Domracheva brought home half of the six medals won by Belarus at Sochi.

Norway’s Marit Bjoergen became the most-awarded female Winter Olympian in history, having won six gold medals out of her total of 10 medals. In 2014, she took gold for the 15-kilometer skiathlon, the 30k freestyle, and in the team sprint.

Dutch speed skater Ireen Wuest entered five events, winning silver in the 1,000-meter, 1,500m and 5,000m events and gold in the 3,000m and in the team pursuit. Wuest became the Netherlands’ most decorated Winter Olympian and has suggested that she may return for the 2018 Games.

However, it wouldn’t be the Olympics without a figure-skating controversy. With a scoring system that is overly complex, a laxness over judges’ potential conflicts of interest (one judge was married to the general director of the Russian figure skating federation) and past misbehaviors on the part of some judges (Ukrainian judge Yuri Balkov has previously been suspended for prejudging events), no winter sport generates more cries of foul than figure skating.

When Russian skater Adelina Sotnikova won the gold over favorite Yuna Kim of South Korea, there were quick accusations of favoritism, followed by equally quick denials from the International Olympic Committee. Inflated scores for Russian skaters became a hot topic of debate, and the makeup of the judging panel was questioned.

The IOC needs to ensure that such controversies are avoided in future events, both to protech its reputation and to ensure fairness to the athletes. Otherwise, the integrity of the sport will continue to be questioned. [RS]

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