The Winter Games have begun. The 2018 U.S. Olympic Team is comprised of 244 athletes (135 men and 109 women). It is a mix of accomplished vets and excited novices, all going for the gold. Meet a selection of the Americans who are competing.
Mikaela Shiffrin: Alpine Skiing
Shiffrin has 41 World Cup wins in five events, and she hasn’t added the speed disciplines of downhill and Super-G to her routine yet.
Alex Shibutani, Maia Shibutani: Figure Skating
The Shibutani siblings were heavily favored to win their third straight national title, but a slip during the free dance made them lose it. Will the disappoint from that cause them to miss out on the gold?
Matt Mortensen, Jayson Terdiman: Double Luge
The two have been competing together since after the Sochi Olympics. They had a slow but steady rise, and by year three, they were in third place in the final doubles luge standings.
Elana Meyers Taylor, Jamie Greubel Poser, Aja Evans: Bobsled
Meyers Taylor was so close to getting a gold in Sochi, but she skidded on the final run and finished with silver. She recovered to win gold in two of the next three championships. Greubel Poser’s sister was born in Korea and adopted by the Greubel family, and so the Olympics are personal for Greubel Poser this year. Evans used to dream of going to the Olympics, but as a sprinter and shot-putter. Those two skills combined to make her an excellent bobsledder.
Torin Yater-Wallace, Aaron Blunck: Freestyle Skiing
In Nov. 2015, Yater-Wallace came down with a life-threatening case of streptococcus and had to be put in a medically-induced coma. He is healthy once again, and a threat in halfpipe. Blunck has been skiing since he was 18 months old, and made the Olympics team in 2014 at age 17.
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