DES MOINES, Iowa — With the Beijing Winter Olympics wrapped up, Local 5 is taking a look back at how the athletes with Iowa ties performed.
Norway topped the medal count with 37 total, 16 of them gold. The United States was fifth: they had 25 total medals and eight gold.
Figure skating
Timothy LeDuc (USA)
Cedar Rapids native Timothy LeDuc became the first openly nonbinary U.S. athlete at the Winter Games.
The 31-year-old and pairs partner Ashley Cain-Gribble opened their pairs competition with a strong 7th place finish. Their score of 74.13 points was a season best.
In Saturday's free skate, Leduc and Cain-Gribble scored 123.92, bringing them to 8th overall.
LeDuc was "enamored" by figure skating after watching the 2002 Olympics, and took a school field trip to an ice rink a few weeks later where they fell in love with the movement, according to their website. Now, 20 years later, LeDuc has competed on the world stage and made history.
Men's Hockey
With the NHL not sending its players to the 2022 Olympics, several former Des Moines Buccaneers, Iowa Wild and Cedar Rapids Roughriders players were chosen for the Winter Games.
Team USA
The men's hockey team was stocked with athletes who formerly played in The Hawkeye State.
The team beat China, Canada and Germany before losing to Slovakia in the quarterfinal. The U.S. led for almost half the game before the tying goal when Slovakia pulled its goaltender for an extra attacker to play 6-on-5.
Here are the team members with Iowa ties who competed in Beijing (in alphabetical order:
Sam Hentges (No. 12)
Sam Hentges is originally from New Brighton, Minnesota but played for the Des Moines Buccaneers during the 2017-18 season. During that time, he racked up four goals and eight assists in 16 games.
The 22-year-old forward was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in 2018 before playing collegiate hockey at St. Cloud State University.
Overall stats:
- Games Played: 2
- Goals: 1
- Assists: 0
- Shots on Goal: 2
- Total Time on Ice: 16:40
Steven Kampfer (No. 20)
Steven Kampfer, a Michigan native, played for the Iowa Wild during the 2013-14 season, tallying six goals and 20 assists in 69 games. He also played for the Sioux City Muskateers from 2004-2006 and was named the Muskateers' top rookie his first year.
He was part of the Boston Bruins organization for three seasons (2018-21).
Kampfer played on various NHL teams from 2010-21 before going to the Russian Kontinental Hockey League for the 2021-22 season.
Kampfer was named Player of the Game in the team's win over Germany on Feb. 13.
Overall stats:
- Games Played: 4
- Goals: 1
- Assists: 3
- Shots on Goal: 10
- Total Time on Ice: 84:35
Marc McLaughlin (USA, No. 25)
Marc McLaughlin is originally from Massachusetts but played for the Cedar Rapids Roughriders from 2016-18. He tallied 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) in 81 games and was team captain his second season.
McLaughlin currently skates for Boston College where he is a captain and leads the team with 18 goals.
Overall stats:
- Games Played: 2
- Goals: 0
- Assists: 0
- Shots on Goal: 1
- Total Time on Ice: 12:16
Andy Miele (No. 51)
Andy Miele served as Team USA's captain for the games. He is originally from Michigan but played with the Cedar Rapids Roughriders during the 2005-06 season and part of the 2006-07 season. He totaled 17 goals and 25 assists in 65 games with the Roughriders.
Miele played three seasons in the NHL for the Phoenix Coyotes and has spent the past two seasons skating in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League.
"I’m just sad it’s over," Miele said after Team USA's quarterfinal loss. “Our team battled hard. Sometimes those bounces happen in hockey. Unfortunate it was on our side. We’re just going to wish Slovakia the best of luck the rest of the tournament here.”
Overall stats:
- Games Played: 4
- Goals: 1
- Assists: 3
- Shots on Goal: 7
- Total Time on Ice: 67:40
Nathan Smith (No. 13)
Nathan Smith is originally from Florida but played for the Cedar Rapids Roughriders from 2017-2019. In the 2018-19 season, he led the team with 53 points (18 goals, 35 assists) in 59 games.
Smith was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in 2018 before playing collegiately at Minnesota State University. In the 2021-22 season he led the NCAA with 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists) in 28 games through Jan. 30.
Overall stats:
- Games Played: 4
- Goals: 1
- Assists: 1
- Shots on Goal: 7
- Total Time on Ice: 41:24
Team Canada
Canada beat Germany, lost to the U.S. and beat China before falling to Sweden 2-0 in the quarterfinals.
Eric Staal
Eric Staal played in the NHL for 17 seasons, but did not sign with a team for the 2021-2022 season. He joined the Iowa Wild in January to get back on the ice ahead of the Olympics.
"It's the best to play a game and compete. I've done it my whole life and I still have that itch and desire to do it now," Staal said after his first game with the Wild.
He even scored the game-winning goal for the Wild on Jan. 15.
At 37, he was the oldest player on team Canada. He also served as the team's captain.
“Our team competed hard and there were a lot of moments where we were really solid," Staal said after Canada's quarterfinal loss. "Tonight was just one of those games where we knew that one or two plays could make the difference, and we had chances that we came close to capitalizing on. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way.”
Overall stats:
- Games Played: 5
- Goals: 1
- Assists: 2
- Shots on Goal: 9
- Total Time on Ice: 86:03
TEGNA and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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