Final Dartmouth Olympians Update: Feb. 21

BEIJING — The 2022 Winter Olympics have come to a close, but not before a pair of Dartmouth skiers made one last run at a medal and came oh so close on the final day of competition.

Rosie Brennan '11, skiing in her sixth race of the Olympics, put everything she had into the 30K Free Mass Start on Sunday. A quarter of the way through the race, she trailed the leading pack of four skiers by 27 seconds, but was at the front of the second pack of 11 that was separated by only seven seconds. At the midpoint, Norway's Therese Johaug and Brennan's teammate, Jesse Diggins, had established themselves ahead of the field, while Brennan was fifth overall, 14 seconds behind Sweden's Ebba Andersson for third.

Left to right: Tommy Ford '12, Mikaela Shiffrin and Paula Moltzan huddle during the mixed parallel team event at the 2022 Winter Olympics

Tommy Ford (left) huddles with teammates Mikaela Shiffrin and Paula Moltzan during the mixed parallel team event. (photo: Getty Images)

Third place was still in Brennan's sights at the three-quarter mark as she and her pack (that had dwindled to eight) were 36-41 seconds behind Andersson. With about 5K to go, that gap started to deteriorate with Brennan only 26.5 seconds outside of third. And with 1.3K until the finish line, Brennan closed to within 15 seconds. While Andersson faded and finished eighth, Finnish skier Kerttu Niskanien grabbed the bronze, just 5.4 seconds ahead of Brennan's time of 1:27:32.7, which left her in sixth. The eight-time All-American for the Big Green finished between fourth and sixth in four of her six races, agonizingly close to a medal.

"I felt really good, but it was definitely a frustrating race — sometimes that's how racing goes," Brennan said following the race. "I feel I came here as prepared I could have been and in the best shape I could have been. Those are the things I have control of and I'm proud of that."

Meanwhile, Tommy Ford '12 was teaming up with Mikaela Shiffrin, Paula Moltzan and River Radamus for the mixed team parallel — pitting four skiers (two men and two women) against other teams (racing the same gender) in side-by-side slalom races. Fifteen countries paired up for the match-style event, and the sixth-seeded U.S. team eliminated Slovakia before knocking off third-seeded Italy in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Germany defeated Team USA, relegating the Americans to race Norway for the bronze. They split the four races, making the deciding factor the combined time of the fastest two runs by a team member. Unfortunately, that left the U.S. 0.42 seconds short of earning a medal.

To wrap up our coverage, here are each of the eight Dartmouth Olympians and how they fared in each of their events.

Rosie Brennan '11 (Cross Country Skiing)
Women's Sprint Free	4th
Women's Team Sprint Classic	5th
Women's 4x5K Relay	6th
Women's 30K Free Mass Start	6th
Women's 10K Classic	13th
Women's Skiathlon	14th
Susan Dunklee '08 (Biathlon)
Mixed Relay 4x6K	7th
Women's 4x6K Relay	11th
Women's 7.5K Pursuit	27th
Women's 10K Pursuit	40th
Women's 15K Individual	63rd
Tommy Ford '12 (Alpine Skiing)
Mixed Team Parallel	4th
Men's Giant Slalom	12th
A.J. Hurt '23 (Alpine Skiing)
Women's Slalom	34th
Women's Giant Slalom	DNF
Julia Kern '19 (Cross Country Skiing)
Women's Sprint Free	18th
Women's Skiathlon	53rd
Tricia Mangan '19 (Alpine Skiing)
Women's Alpine Combined	11th
Nina O'Brien '20 (Alpine Skiing)
Women's Giant Slalom	Disqualified (broken leg)
Laura Stacey '16 (Ice Hockey — Canada)
Women's Hockey	GOLD MEDAL