The 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics brought many highs and lows for the Americans. 

From shocking performances on the snowboard to a heartbreaking men's hockey game that had the Americans eliminated before making the medal round, the United States has seen it all. 

Team USA finished fourth in the medal race behind Norway who had the most medals with 38 (13 gold, 14 silver, 11 bronze), Germany who had 30 (14 gold, nine silver, 7 bronze) and Canada with 29 (11 gold, eight silver, 10 bronze). 

Here are five takeaways from the 2018 Winter Olympics:

1. Women's hockey broke barriers while the men struggled

For the first time in 20 years, Team USA's women's hockey team won Olympic gold, snapping Canada's streak of four consecutive Olympic wins. The U.S. was coming off of a heartbreaking loss in Sochi where they fell to the Canadians and took home the silver, but it was clear in Pyeongchang redemption was on their mind. 

The game came down to a shootout after going into overtime and it was Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson who secured the gold, breaking a 2-2 tie in the sixth round. She pulled out a move that she calls, "Oops, I did it again" and apparently she's been practicing for four years. Needless to say, it's a move that's going to go down in history.

There's no doubt the men's hockey team struggled without a roster full of professional players. The NHL announced in 2017 that the league would not have a break in the schedule to accommodate the Winter Olympics, forcing the athletes to stay home while collegians and players from European leagues represent the U.S. at the highest level in Pyeongchang.

It left the U.S. struggling to compete against international teams they would have easily beaten at any other Olympics. The NHL has participated in every Winter Olympics since 1998 with a total of 706 players attending, but this time in Pyeongchang the men were eliminated in the quarterfinals after a 3-2 shootout loss to the Czech Republic. 

To put that in perspective, the men failed to reach the medal round at the Olympics for the first time since 2008. Even worse than that, Team USA has failed to medal in eight of the 10 Olympic men’s ice hockey tournaments since the "Miracle on Ice" in 1980. 

2. Pressure got the best of Alpine skiers

There's no doubt competing at the Olympics brings a whole new level of nerves, but it's an easy argument that Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin were competing with an added sense of pressure that didn't necessarily work in their favor.

Lindsey Vonn missed out on the 2014 Sochi Games to a knee injury, but won gold in the downhill at Vancouver eight years ago. The stakes were high and she was in conversations as the favorite to win gold in the downhill. She finished sixth in the women's super-G, and then finished third in the downhill. While still impressive, Vonn made mistakes that cost her higher finishes.

There are also the factors like the fact that Pyeongchang was "likely" her last Olympics, and she was competing with a heavy heart for her grandfather who passed away in November. She was emotional throughout her time in South Korea and wore her heart on her sleeve, giving America more reason to fall in love with her.

Shiffrin faced the same type of pressure as she was expected to defend her gold from Sochi in the slalom. She won the giant slalom but was fourth in the slalom, her best event. Bad weather conditions pushed Shiffrin's two best disciplines back-to-back and was just off the podium in the slalom. She threw up before that event and said her nerves got the best of her. She had a few days off before she competed in the Alpine combined where she took home silver. 

3. Americans are a big threat in snowboarding

Team USA's snowboarders accounted for seven of the 23 medals, which was the most from any sport. Of the country's nine gold medals, four of them came from snowboarding. 

When thinking of the Winter Games, many point to Alpine skiing and figure skating as sports with the highest U.S. presence, but snowboarding is quickly becoming part of the mix. Red Gerard kicked things off with the first gold of Pyeongchang, followed by defending champion Jamie Anderson who won the women's slopestyle. Chloe Kim kept the trend going with a win in the women's halfpipe while Shaun White reclaimed a gold in the men's halfpipe.

Anderson was one of only two Americans to defend their gold medals from Sochi. She earned a silver medal in the women's big air ten days after she won gold, making her the first female snowboarder to win two medals at the Olympics. The feat also tied her with White and Kelly Clark as the most decorated American snowboarders of all time with three Olympic medals.

4. Figure skating proved disappointing

If it wasn't for Adam Rippon and the storyline of how he inspires America, there wouldn't be nearly as much to talk about when it comes to figure skating. There were a few historic moves from Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou and Mirari Nagasu in addition to two bronze medals (in ice skating and the team event) that shouldn't go unnoticed, but the majority of the figure skating performances were underwhelming.

The most disappointing skates came during the women's singles program where all three of the Americans fell at least once, if not in both the short program and the free skate. The Americans — Bradie Tennell, Nagasu and Karen Chen — were never in a position to medal as they finished in the middle of the field in 9th, 10th and 11th place.

Falling off the podium is beginning to look like a trend for the Americans as the women haven't won an individual medal since Sasha Cohen's silver in 2006. More than that, the U.S. finished on the podium in every Olympic Games from 1952 to 2006 (with the exception of 1964). Americans used to be the ones to beat in figure skating events back in the Michelle Kwan era, but the sport has seen a steady decline.

5. Team USA has a bright future with teen Olympians

It's always exciting to see new talent come up through the ranks, and this year in Pyeongchang America was introduced to a new crop that gives hope to Team USA in the future. 

Figure skaters Nathan Chen (18) and Vincent Zhou (17) are two other young studs who helped carry the Americans on the ice. Chen already made history this season as the first figure skater to land five quadruple jumps in a single performance, and in Pyeongchang he raised the bar even higher becoming the first to land six in an Olympic Games. Zhou also made history becoming the first American to land a quadruple lutz on Olympic ice. 

Snowboarders Chloe Kim and Red Gerard are both only 17 years old, but they put down two of the best performances for Team USA. Kim and Gerard both had surprising wins as they certainly weren't the favorites, proving the newcomers to the Olympic stage are here to stay.