Big air. Big victories. Big emotion: They’re all par for the course at any Olympics.

Big winds, on the other hand, are a big problem.

Over the past few days Pyeongchang, home of the 2018 Winter Games, has seen wind gusts up to 45 mph — more than enough to wreak havoc with winter sports that remain on the ground, let alone those where athletes fling themselves into the air.

The high winds prompted the postponement of the women’s giant slalom race, a major downhill event.

But the International Ski Federation, or FIS, still sent female snowboarders to compete in the slopestyle event — a decision that has been much-criticized after the event, as NPR’s Melissa Block reported from Pyeongchang.

The winds created “treacherous conditions,” Melissa says:

“And the slopestyle snowboarders — who fly through the air off jumps and rails — took a pounding. More than 40 of the 50 runs ended with falls.

American Jamie Anderson fared the best, winning gold for her second straight Olympics. … Other Olympians, though, said the race was dangerous, and should have been postponed. Austrian Anna Gasser told reporters, ‘We tried to speak to officials but the Olympics put us under pressure to do it today.’

“And Norwegian Silje Norendal said, ‘All I wanted to do …. was sit up top and cry.’ She finished fourth.”

NBC published a compilation video of women crashing after big jumps in the “challenging weather conditions,” as the network put it.

Sports commentators and fans have shared the athletes’ concerns about their safety.

There were no serious injuries in the park on Monday, but the risk was present, writes Jeff Passan for Yahoo Sports:

“The whipping wind — the same wind that prompted the International Ski Federation earlier in the day to cancel an alpine-skiing event — flung snowboard riders about the course at Phoenix Snow Park and impelled others simply to pull up before jumps, lest they subject themselves to shattered bones or shredded ligaments … the riders were convinced their well-being was sacrificed to the altar of the television networks that pay billions of dollars to program the Olympics.”

Australian snowboarder Tess Coady tore her ACL on Sunday, in a training crash she blamed on high winds, The Guardian notes.

Postponing the high-profile skiing event, but not the snowboarding event, also pokes at long-standing resentments between the two snow sports.

“For snowboarders convinced that their sport will always be treated as an afterthought by FIS, they’ve got plenty of ammunition today,” Barry Petchesky wrote at Deadspin.

Then there’s the question of simple fairness. The intensity of the wind ebbed and flowed, causing British athlete Jenny Jones to call it a “total lottery,” as The Guardian reports:

“Britain’s Aimee Fuller, who finished 17th after crashing on her second run, described conditions as among the [worst] she had ever encountered, saying it was like a sailboat under her board. ‘Unfortunately it wasn’t the best day for our sport,’ she added. ‘We’re flying over 30 metre [100 foot] jumps and if it gusts you’re going to go down. Some people got lucky and I didn’t.’

“And Austria’s Anna Gasser, who entered among the favourites but finished 15th, decried it as a ‘lottery’ before criticising the FIS for their decision. ‘I don’t think it was a fair competition and I’m a little disappointed in the organisation that they pulled through with it.’ “

And finally — if safety, inter-sport anxieties and an even playing field weren’t enough — there were criticisms over the limitation the weather put on a still-developing sport.

Rachel Axon, writing for USA Today sports, notes that women’s snowboarding has “progressed dramatically since it made its debut in Sochi … Not that anyone would know that from watching the Olympic slopestyle final on Monday.”

Instead of pushing boundaries, the competitors were fighting to stay upright — and choosing smaller tricks that they had a better chance of landing in the wind.

Even Anderson’s gold-medal-winning run was clean, but not precisely spectacular. She landed a backside 540 and a cab 540, each with a twist and a half, and one 720, or two full twists. That’s less impressive than her performance at Sochi four year ago — and these days, female snowboarders are routinely landing 900s (two and a half twists), and even 1080s (three twists) and inverted tricks, Axon writes.

“That’s the biggest shame,” Canadian snowboarder Spencer O’Brien told Axon, “is that watching the ladies ride the past season and a half and to know the show we could have put on, I’m just so bummed we didn’t get to do that for the world.”

“I had planned on doing a better run,” Anderson said after her win, as NPR’s Bill Chappell reported from Pyeongchang. She was ecstatic with her victory, she said, but “it’s hard. We have to be so intuitive with the weather, the course, with how you feel … it was really tough conditions today and a lot of people were struggling.”

FIS has defended its choice, saying that the event was safe even if conditions were “challenging,” AFP reports. “FIS always aims for the athletes to be able to stage their best performances, which some athletes have expressed was not the case today,” the group wrote. “But the nature of outdoor sports also requires adapting to the elements.”

Meanwhile, the event’s race director, Roby Moresi, told Reuters that Olympic officials were told that the weather was not going to see much improvement by Tuesday.

“We played our cards. We evaluated the situation with what we had at that moment,” Moresi told the wire service. “It would always be great if we could shine for the high end spectacular sport it is, but it is not always like that. Sometimes you have to adapt to what Mother Nature gives us.”

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Remember this name: Maame Biney.

The short track speedskater just turned 18; she’s not even out of high school. But she’s already one of the biggest U.S. names at the Winter Olympics.

When Biney won the 500-meter finals at team trials in December, with a personal-best time of 43.161 seconds, she became the first African-American woman ever to qualify for a U.S. Olympic speedskating team. (Twenty-five-year-old Erin Jackson is the second, qualifying in long track.) She is competing this week in the women’s 500- and 1,500-meter races in Gangneung, South Korea.

Biney has a goofy giggle and an electric, nonstop smile. Her game face, though, is something else.

“It’s not this!” she says. “It’s like, ‘Don’t be in my way, ‘cuz I’m probably gonna kill you!'”

And with that, realizing she’s blurted something impolitic, she covers her face with her hands and collapses in laughter.

‘Fierce and strong’

Just about everything Biney says ends with her irrepressible teenage giggle. She has a built-in joyfulness that charms everyone she meets, including the U.S. team head coach Anthony Barthell.

“Even when she’s mad, she’s still smiling,” Barthell says. “That’s just Maame.”

Barthell first saw Biney skate when she was 11, and even then, he realized this girl was special.

“Explosiveness?” he says. “She has a ton of that.”

Biney has the speed and power of a sprinter. It’s her powerful start — thighs like pistons, arms pumping — that makes her so formidable in the 500-meter race.

But ask Biney what makes her great in short track, and she demurs.

“I wouldn’t exactly call myself great,” she says. “I’ll just call myself, like, in there, in the little mix!”

That “little mix,” though, is brutal.

Short track speedskating demands smart, aggressive strategy as the skaters jockey for position on their 111-meter oval track, leaning into tight corners, zooming at speeds up to 30 miles an hour. A false move will send them crashing into the pads.

“I like to call myself fierce,” Biney says. “Fierce and strong and — just go out there!”

Too fast for figure skating

Biney took an unlikely path into her sport. She was born in Ghana, where — her father Kweku jokes — their only use for ice is to chill beer.

Kweku Biney emigrated to the U.S., settling in the Washington, D.C. area. Maame came to visit him when she was five. She ended up staying; her mother and brother still live in Ghana.

One day, driving through the Virginia suburbs, her father saw a sign for a local rink that said “Learn to Skate.”

Maame tried it, and started figure skating — but she was so fast, the teacher steered her to speedskating.

Obviously, it took.

Kweku Biney, who for years took his daughter to her early-morning practices, will be watching from the stands when his daughter competes in the 500-meter race on Tuesday. Maame says he will be holding up the same sign he held at the Olympic trials in December.

“Yes!” she says. “He’s gonna bring that ‘Kick Some Hiney Biney’ sign!”

So, just how good can this young speedskater eventually be? Barthell sees huge potential.

“Once she learns a little more finesse and being able to conserve, she’s gonna be even better,” he says. “I think you guys have seen only a quarter of what she has. Maybe less than that.”

For now, Biney is trying to stay focused and shrug off the pressure of these Games. It’s hard not to feel giddy, though.

“When I get on that line,” she says, “I’ll be like, ‘Holy moly! I’m actually here! This is the Olympics! WOW!'”

But she recognizes that her achievement is bigger than herself.

“That means I get to inspire other kids in the United States, maybe all over the world,” she says, “to just go out there and do what you love, because you never know! You just might accomplish your goal.”

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Carlos Cordeiro is the new president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, succeeding his boss, Sunil Gulati, in a final vote over the weekend that concluded a contentious race.

Gulati, who has served as head of the organization since 2006, declined to run for reelection after the U.S. men’s national team failed to qualify this year for the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

Gulati also steps down amid multiple lawsuits between U.S. Soccer — the sport’s official governing body in the U.S. — and the North American Soccer League. The suits are explained here.

There’s also considerable frustration that one of the most promising young players in the U.S., Jonathan Gonzalez, decided recently to sign with Mexico.

Soccerwire.com writes of the vote that it “capped some three days of lobbying and intrigue at the federation’s annual general meeting, where hundreds of delegates from all segments of American soccer gathered.”

But, as ESPN reports, “The win for Cordeiro, whose role as president is effective immediately, deals a blow to those who called for changes in the sport’s national governing body after the World Cup qualifying failure …”

Ahead of the vote, two-time Olympic gold medalist Hope Solo ripped into Cordeiro as representing everything that needed to be left behind if the sport was to move forward.

“For those of you who think the state of soccer today is good enough, then you should vote for more of the same,” Solo said in a speech quoted by Sports Illustrated.

“I was a player for 20 years, and I saw first-hand what Carlos Cordeiro’s idea of change is. You cannot, as a vice president, claim you are the lone voice for change while all of this happened under your watch. And you as delegates cannot buy that,” she said. “He was part of a federation that generated millions of dollars off the backs of its players, and much of it off the back of its women’s players, who have been the economic engine of this federation for years, yet treated like second-class citizens.”

Cordeiro was among eight qualified candidates vying for the post. He’s a former Goldman Sachs executive and “considered one of two business-oriented, establishment candidates…— along with SUM president Kathy Carter — though during his campaign he called for considerable restructuring of the federation,” according to ESPN.

“I think we are at an inflection point in soccer history in this country,” Cordeiro said following his win on Saturday. “I think we have an opportunity to really transform it into a No. 1 sport. I think the demographics favor that.”

Cordeiro is calling for U.S. Soccer to grow the sport at all levels, starting with “[bringing] more young people into our ranks as registered players and [to] focus on Youth Soccer less as a business and more as a way to develop talent on the field and nurture our next generation of young adults,” according to his published platform.

The platform also calls for “collaborating more with adult groups and recognizing that the millions of Youth Soccer players could bolster the ranks of the 250,000 adult players if we invest more in existing tournaments, support new membership drives and better link Adult Soccer programs with Youth Soccer and fans across the country.”

Cordeiro is expected to get to work immediately on a number of pressing issues, including hiring a new men’s national team coach and putting together a combined United States-Canada-Mexico bid to host the 2026 World Cup.

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The life of a top U.S. snowboarder is an expensive one. Some top boarders come from wealthy backgrounds. But Jonathan Cheever, who’s going to his first Olympics this year, has supported himself with a family trade. He’s a plumber.

Snowboard cross is an aggressive sport. Several snowboarders race side-by-side down a twisting course, edging past each other all way to the finish line.

“There’s bumps, jumps, turns,” Cheever says. “Snowboarders reach speeds of up to 65, 70 miles an hour.”

Some Olympians are able to train nonstop, year-round, to be at the top of their game. But others like Cheever also have to have a regular job.

“Right now, we’re standing in the bathroom. To your left is the tub shower you see right here — this is going to be the floor drain,” Cheever says, standing in a Somerville, Mass., construction site that’s still just a skeleton of two-by-fours. Cheever’s family business is doing the plumbing on the site.

Cheever grew up in Saugus, Mass., and started sorting plumbing fixtures for his father’s business when he was 10 years old — about the same time he began snowboarding. Shortly after high school he passed the test for his own plumbing license.

“Plumbing’s, you know, a pretty good living,” his father Mark says. “So if everything else fell apart he could always make a decent living as a plumber, you know, any place in the world.”

Cheever tried college, but gave it up after his freshman year to move to Utah and focus on his real love — snowboarding. Less than six months later, he was on the national team — a dream come true. But the national team doesn’t financially support the snowboarders, and all that travel can add up.

Cheever says some of the boarders come from wealthy backgrounds, but not everyone. “It’s a lot of working-class guys that are just grinding it out, trying to win,” he says.

It was in Utah that he realized his plumbing could help support his snowboarding. “I was like, ‘Oh man, I could use some money,’ and then, you know, people I’m staying with are like, ‘Actually, our friends need their faucet changed or their sink changed,’ or, ‘They just bought a new gas range. Can you install it for them? And they’ll pay you.’ “

He also started doing installations for a Home Depot subcontractor. Cheever says running his own small business also meant he could get a bigger line of credit, which he used to support his snowboarding. “I’m in debt chasing a dream rather than paying off student loans at the moment,” he says. “And I’m comfortable with that.”

These days, training for that dream doesn’t leave a lot of time for plumbing. His brother, Derek, says he’s doing most of the work in the family business.

“He’s one of the best in the world so, I figure he can keep doing that as long as he can, you know stay on top, until he’s an old man and can’t snowboard anymore,” Derek says as his older brother laughs.

Cheever says that in some ways, learning to snowboard was a bit like learning plumbing. “I wasn’t an expert at plumbing right away,” he says. “A lot of it was learning by trial and error. And my father always said I had a lot of brute strength and ignorance. And actually that carried my snowboard career quite far.”

Ignorance, he says, can be a good thing. If you don’t know how dangerous something is, you’re more willing to take the risk.

As he hurtles down a South Korean mountain at his first Olympics, his other life as a plumber will be right there with him. Two of his sponsors are a water heater supplier and a kitchen and bathroom fixtures company.

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Chris Mazdzer has used his runners to etch himself a place in history.

The 29-year-old won silver in singles luge on Sunday, becoming the first American man ever to medal in the event. His podium finish ends a drought that extends to the sport’s Olympic debut back in 1964.

Also on that podium were Austria’s David Gleirscher, who won gold in a shocker of his own, and bronze medalist Johannes Ludwig of Germany.

Noticeably absent from the medal ceremony: Felix Loch, the German powerhouse who won gold at the past two Winter Games. Loch had appeared well on his way to earning his third Olympic gold medal in a row — but a disastrous final run unraveled his bid for a three-peat, knocking him not only out of the top spot but also off the podium entirely.

Loch’s loss translated into big gains for Mazdzer and Gleirscher, who beat out the American by just over two hundredths of a second to become the first Austrian to win the event in five decades.

After the event Sunday, Mazdzer said his silver capped years of struggle.

“It’s 16 years in the making,” Mazdzer, a three-time Olympian, told NBC afterward. “I’ve had a rough last two years, and it just shows: Don’t ever give up. Whenever you lose, keep fighting.”

Indeed, his previous Olympic showings didn’t exactly augur this historic feat. Mazdzer finished both the 2010 Vancouver Games and the 2014 Sochi Games in 13th place.

Wearing a No. 13 bib this time around, Mazdzer set himself up in better position in Pyeongchang with a fifth-place standing after the opening run. But it was only with his second and third runs — which he finished second and first, respectively — that Mazdzer climbed the leader board. His solid final run then shored up his claim on silver.

NPR’s Melissa Block reports he leaped from his sled after that final run, vaulting “into the stands to hug his family and grab an American flag.”

The U.S. had already medaled in women’s singles luge — Erin Hamlin was the first to do so, winning bronze in 2014 — as well as doubles luge. Now that an American has earned a medal in men’s singles luge too, team spokesman Sandy Caligiore said Sunday they’ve got their sights set even higher.

“The men’s medal and then the gold medal, and then we’ll be a happy organization,” Caligiore said. “We like bronze, we like silver. We want gold!”

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She’s not what we expected: not stiff, but smiling. That’s what people are saying in South Korea, as they consider the unprecedented visit by Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has raised her profile dramatically at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Kim has captivated media attention and fascinated the public since her arrival on Friday. Days later, TV news shows in South Korea are still repeatedly airing footage of Kim walking with President Moon Jae-in, often with a placid smile on her face. Hoping to discern what she’s thinking, analysts pored over video of her eyes, and remarked on the tilt of her chin.

In South Korea and beyond, commentators are taken with Kim’s surprisingly stylish and relaxed demeanor. Wearing a black coat and with her hair pulled back, she presents a marked contrast to the ceremonial head of North Korea’s government — the often expressionless Kim Yong Nam, 90. Kim Yo Jong is 28 years old, according to the U.S. government.

Most notably, Kim sat directly behind U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at Friday night’s opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, creating the unique image of two top officials whose governments have been locked in a loud argument, suddenly seated just feet away from each other. The two did not interact — although Pence, who arrived late, greeted the other dignitaries around him — prompting criticism of the American vice president.

Kim Yo Jong is the first member of her family to set foot in this country since the north and south were divided and her grandfather, Kim Il Sung, founded North Korea. But rather than presenting herself as a stiff party operative, she has looked engaged and interested during multiple outings in Seoul, Pyeongchang and Gangneung.

It’s by far the most sustained public presence for Kim, who had been something of a mystery to many South Koreans, despite her known role in North Korea’s politburo. Before now, she had been seen mainly in photos, but often in the background, as her brother took center stage. Her visit comes one year after the U.S. Treasury Department placed sanctions on Kim for her role in propaganda and “agitation” as part of her family’s harsh rule over North Korea, and her government’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

It was already known that Kim Yo Jong is an adviser to her brother; now many are interpreting her presence here — and the freedom with which she seems to behave — as new signs of the power she holds.

One telling incident came early. After Kim arrived at Incheon Airport and met with the Korean unification minister, Kim Yong Nam gestured for her to take the center seat at the table — leading many South Korean news outlets to conclude that she’s essentially her brother’s second in command.

Camera flashes; mobs of reporters: Through it all, Kim has maintained a placid smile — and despite Pence’s stated intention to reinforce North Korea’s isolation during his Olympic visit, the sister of the repressive regime’s leader seems to have spent at least as much time with Moon as Pence did.

President Moon hosted Kim at the presidential mansion for lunch on Saturday — a session in which Kim extended an invitation for Moon to visit North Korea later this year. They also made plans to attend a concert together on Sunday, to see a North Korean orchestra perform in Seoul.

Pence left South Korea Saturday night, flying out of Pyeongchang after attending a short-track speedskating event with Moon — who then went to watch ice hockey along with Kim and the North Korean delegation.

At the the Olympics’ opening ceremony on Friday night, Kim Yo Jong sat behind Moon (and Pence) – but Saturday night, she and Kim Yong Nam sat next to Moon and IOC President Thomas Bach as they watched the unified Korean women’s hockey team play their historic first game. After the game, the entire group walked around to the Koreans’ bench to greet them and pose for photos.

Also at that game: the famed cheer squad from North Korea — more than 100 identically dressed women who sing, perform choreographed moves and cheer on their team. They’ve been called an element of the northern regime’s “charm offensive” — a claim that’s also been made against Kim Yo Jong during this visit.

Are these Winter Games having the effect South Korea had hoped, in thawing relations with the north? Will Kim continue her role as a conduit between the two countries, outside of the headline-grabbing language of threats — and beyond the photo-op diplomacy of this weekend? It’s too early to tell (although skeptics are already shaking their heads at all of the above).

Kim’s presence at the Olympics has presented people in South Korea and beyond with something new to know about North Korea. It’s anyone’s guess as to when we might learn what’s behind the facade.

Se Eun Gong contributed to this report.

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The U.S. women’s hockey team opened tournament play with a win on Sunday, defeating Finland, 3-1, in a tense and physical game at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

The U.S. team came out skating at a furious pace, pushing Finland well back into their own end and firing off shots on goal. But Finland eventually built their own momentum, organizing themselves and putting together dangerous possessions. Their defense, led by captain Jenni Hiirikoski, settled in.

In the first period, the Americans had chances but couldn’t get the puck past goalie Noora Raty. It seemed the period would end in a scoreless tie – but then Venla Hovi fired the Finns’ ninth shot on goal, angling the puck inside the far post after a feed from behind the goal line.

After the Finns took a a 1-0 lead, a row of parents and families of the U.S. team let out a groan. They were standing near me in a row behind their seats at the Kwandong Hockey Center — too nervous to sit, a couple of them said.

It could have been worse: at the start of the second period, a Finnish player flipped a spinning puck in a lateral shot at the goal. The puck bounced around on top of the net before being put back in play.

The U.S. broke through midway through the second, on a power play. After team captain Meghan Duggan threaded her way through two defenders in front of the American bench. From there, the puck ricocheted off a shot and reached Monique Lamoureux-Morando, who — miraculously free of a defender — sent it home to tie the score.

Less than a minute later, Kendall Coyne hit a one-timer home for a 2-1 lead, lifted the puck into the top of the net on assists from Hilary Knight and Brianna Decker.

The U.S. nearly scored again midway through the third period, when Coyne’s pass deflected off a Finnish player’s skate and whacked Raty’s facemask.

The Finns then followed with their own chance, with the puck bouncing off of goalie Maddy Rooney and drifting dangerously out into open ice. Throughout the game, there were hard checks and even a shove in the face, as Finnish defender Rosa Lindstedt sent Lamoureux-Morando sprawling backwards to the ice.

Forward Dani Cameranesi removed all doubt with less than a minute left, rushing down to the other end on a breakaway — and with Finland having pulled their goalie, she put it away for a 3-1 lead.

The U.S. outshot Finland, taking 42 shots on goal to 24.

The Americans will next face the Olympic Athletes From Russia, in a game slated for Tuesday, Feb. 13.

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Vice President Mike Pence is facing backlash for his staunch efforts to ignore North Korean officials at the Winter Olympic Games, even as the two Koreas continued their temporary truce, marching and competing as one team.

Pence’s cold demeanor toward the North Koreans at the Pyeongchang games was overshadowed by friendly cooperation between the North and South. The vice president also drew criticism from some openly gay members of Team USA, who questioned his role at the Olympics due to his anti-LGBT views.

Pence continued his tough rhetoric even after South Korean officials announced North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had invited President Moon Jae-in to Pyongyang for talks. He insisted on Saturday that the U.S., South Korea and Japan were united in their goal of isolating North Korea over the country’s nuclear weapons program.

“There is no daylight between the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan on the need to continue to isolate North Korea economically and diplomatically until they abandon their nuclear and ballistic missile program,” Pence told reporters aboard a flight back to the U.S.

In the days leading up to the Olympics, Pence warned that the North was trying to “hijack the message and imagery” of the event with a propaganda campaign, according to Reuters.

Prior to the opening ceremony on Friday night, Pence arrived late to a dinner reception between the two Koreas and greeted everyone at a main table except for Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s nominal head of state, Reuters reports. He left the reception five minutes later.

“South Korea has some difficult homework to solve regarding some countries,” President Moon said in a speech before Pence arrived. “There are some who would not want to be in the same room together if it wasn’t for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. But what is more important than anything is that we are together.”

In a rare public moment, President Moon shook hands with Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister of Kim Jong Un, at start of the opening ceremony. Pence, who was seated just a few feet away from Kim, did not appear acknowledge her. Then when the Korean team entered the stadium under a unified flag, Pence sat stone-faced while Moon and North Korean officials stood together in applause.

A senior White House official said Pence was not trying to avoid the delegation from North Korea but rather ignore them, according to the AP. Asia experts said Pence’s sour conduct toward the North Koreans could be seen as disrespectful to the South Korean hosts, who were demonstrating a moment of harmony with the North.

“The grievances that the world has about North Korea are very legitimate,” Frank Jannuzi, an expert on East Asia at the Mansfield Foundation told the AP. “But the Olympic moment that President Moon is trying to generate here is not a time to nurse those grievances. It’s a time to focus on messages of reconciliation and peace.”

The vice president’s visit was also marked by bad blood between Pence and some U.S. athletes. Openly gay American freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy took a swipe at Pence in an Instagram post, posing with fellow openly gay figure skater Adam Rippon.

“I feel incredibly honored to be here in Korea competing for the US and I’m so proud to be representing the LGBTQ community alongside this amazing guy! Eat your heart out, Pence,” Kenworthy wrote.

In January, Rippon criticized Pence’s role in the Olympics, citing the widespread belief that the vice president supports gay conversation therapy. In an appearance on Ellen earlier this month, Kenworthy called out Pence, saying he has “directly attacked the LGBT community.”

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