BEIJING, China — For some American star athletes, Tuesday was a huge day at the Beijing Olympics. Chloe Kim and Shaun White snagged spots in their respective finals, Ryan Cochran-Siegle followed in his family’s decades-old footsteps, and Jessie Diggins made history.
But for others — like U.S. superstar Mikaela Shiffrin — the day took a heartbreaking turn. Here’s some moments to know.
Chloe Kim, Shaun White headed for finals
US snowboarder Chloe Kim breezed her way through the women’s halfpipe qualifying, earning her the top spot headed into the final. No big risks. No big tricks. Just another routine day at her office.
Plus, snowboarding superstar Shaun White was among three U.S. men who qualified for the men’s halfpipe final, putting him in the running for one last Olympic medal before retirement.
Heartbreaking day for Mikaela Shiffrin
Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin’s second race at the Beijing Games ended even more quickly than her first. She skidded out of control in the slalom, which she won at the 2014 Sochi Games.
Just like in her first event of these Olympics, the giant slalom, the American racer was done for the day within a matter of seconds.
Prior to Tuesday, Shiffrin failed to finish a slalom run just three times in the last eight years, according to NBC Olympics — although one of them was last month.
Colby Stevenson scores silver
American freeskier Colby Stevenson is a silver medalist after the Olympics’ first men’s freestyle skiing big air event. The 24-year-old jumped back into the extreme sport after a 2016 car crash left him hospitalized for weeks.
Norway’s Birk Ruud won gold, re-emerging as a leader after losing his father to cancer and injuring his knee.
The family business
When Ryan Cochran-Siegle set off for a super-G run that would earn silver at the Beijing Games, he wasn’t just winning the first Olympic Alpine medal for a U.S. man since 2014. He was following in his mom’s footsteps — nearly 50 years to the day.
His mother, Barbara Ann Cochran, came from the “Skiing Cochrans” family of Olympians, and was the slalom champion at the 1972 Sapporo Games.
Jessie Diggins makes U.S. history
When she took bronze Tuesday, Jessie Diggins became the first U.S. athlete to ever medal in an individual cross-country skiing sprint event. It wasn’t her first rodeo, either — Diggins won a historic Olympic gold in a team event at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Travis Pittman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.