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Did the U.S. disappoint in the medal count in PyeongChang?

So how does the medal count compare to previous Winter Games?
Bronze medal winner Lindsey Vonn (USA), left, gold medal winner Sofia Goggia (ITA) and silver medal winner Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR) celebrate their victories in the alpine skiing downhill event. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

The second half of the Olympics felt like a slog for the U.S.

After the elation of Shaun White, Mikaela Shiffrin and Chloe Kim quickly winning gold medals on the slopes to start the Winter Olympics, things cooled off. There was a couple day stretch where the U.S. didn't win any medals at the end of the first full week.

But they finished strong. While missing out in medals in the super-G and certain figure skating events, they earned them back in women's hockey and curling, two teams that weren't gold medal favorites going into the Games.

So how does the medal count compare to previous Winter Games?

They're a little behind where they usually are and are trending downward.

As of Sunday at 4 p.m., the U.S. was fourth in the medal count with nine gold medals, eight silver and six bronze. That's a total of 23 medals.

The numbers are similar to the games of Torino in 2006 where the U.S. won 25 total medals. The U.S. has won nine gold medals in each of the last four Olympics.

The difference in the medal count this Olympics compared to previous Games is because of the dramatic drop in silver and bronze medals.

Alan Ashley, the U.S. Olympic Committee's chief of sports performance, said the number of athletes who finished fourth through sixth is 35. He was encouraged by that despite it affecting the medal count.

"It's not as though we were in these situations where you're saying, 'Oh, we're going to do this great achievement,' and then we were 20th, 40th, 70th, whatever," he said. "Instead we had this huge group of athletes that was this far away from being on the podium.”

The AP received internal documents that revealed the USOC had a target goal of 37 medals, 25 at the very least. The U.S. is below both numbers.

“We always want to do better,” Ashley said. "As I sit here today, the last day of the Games, I’m actually probably more encouraged now than I’ve ever been, because even though people would say, ‘You didn’t get your medal count, you didn’t get to the right level,’ look at the depth of our team."

A major area in which the U.S. disappointed was figure skating. The U.S. is only taking home two medals in the sport, both bronze. They are from the team event and the Shibutani's third place finish in ice dancing.

The women fell, Nathan Chan fell even harder. His record six-quad skate was too little too late. The U.S. has fallen behind as Russia and Canada surge ahead.

But in the end, the U.S. is in 4th place in the medal count. That's where they finished in Sochi.

It seems worse than it really is. The U.S. only finished at the top of the medal count at the Winter Olympics in 1932 with 12 total medals. A lot has changed since then.

The only way to improve is to find the next generation of skaters that can compete with the likes of Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medevedeva, speed skaters who can mirror the acceleration and stamina Shani Davis had when he was younger, and cross-country skiers who have the endurance to keep pace with the Nordic.

It's important to acknowledge the gains the U.S. has made. Gold in women's hockey for the first time in 20 years, first curling gold medal ever and domination in the extreme sports. And finally, a cross country skiing medal.

It's a good performance from Team USA. Not terrible. Not exceptional.

Good.

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