Hey! Snow is Just Frozen Water; Good Luck USA Winter Olympic Team

Largest-ever winter team to compete at Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 from Feb. 8-25

U.S. Olympic Committee Announces 242-Member 2018 U.S. Olympic Team

The United States Olympic Committee today announced the 242-member 2018 U.S. Olympic Team that will compete at the upcoming Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. The team is comprised of 107 women and 135 men – the largest athlete delegation for any nation in the history of the Olympic Winter Games. The United States will be represented in all 15 disciplines across seven sports, and 97 of the 102 medal events that will be contested in Korea.

The USOC revealed the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team during a live announcement show hosted by Jeremy Bloomon the Team USA Facebook channel.

“Once again, Team USA is among the largest teams to compete in the Olympic Winter Games, and we continue to see a spike in excellence from Americans competing in winter sports as the sport program expands to include more opportunities for our athletes,” said Alan Ashley, U.S. chef de mission and USOC chief of sport performance. “We are primed and ready for another strong showing from our athletes, who have made a long-time commitment to represent us as the best in the U.S. at these Games, and we look forward to cheering for each member of Team USA on the world’s greatest stage.”

The 2018 U.S. Olympic Team features 103 returning Olympians – including three five-time Olympians, 12 four-time Olympians, 28 three-time Olympians and 60 two-time Olympians. The slate of veterans features 37 Olympic medalists, including 10 Olympic champions and 15 who have won multiple Olympic medals. Of the 10 returning Olympic champions, five are looking to defend their titles from Sochi – Jamie Anderson (snowboarding slopestyle), Maddie Bowman (freestyle skiing halfpipe), Ted Ligety (alpine skiing giant slalom), Mikaela Shiffrin (alpine skiing slalom) and David Wise (freestyle skiing halfpipe).

In PyeongChang, Team USA will be looking for its 100th gold medal (currently stands at 96) and 300th overall medal (currently stands at 284).

Kelly Clark (snowboarding) and Kikkan Randall (cross-country skiing) become the first female five-time U.S. Olympians at the Winter Games, while Shani Davis (long track speedskating) becomes the first U.S. speedskater to compete in five Olympics. Only six other athletes in U.S. Olympic history have competed in five or more Olympic Winter Games.

Four-time Olympians on the roster include Lowell Bailey and Tim Burke (biathlon); Stacey Cook, Ligety,Steven Nyman and Lindsey Vonn (alpine skiing); Erin Hamlin (luge); Lindsey Jacobellis and Shaun White(snowboarding); Andy Newell (cross-country skiing); John Shuster (curling); and Katie Uhlaender (skeleton).

Davis is the most decorated athlete on the U.S. roster as a two-time champion in the 1,000-meter and a two-time silver medalist in the 1,500. Ligety and White also hold two Olympic titles in their respective disciplines, whileJ.R. Celski (short track speedskating) has three medals (1 silver, 2 bronze). Also with three medals – including one gold – Clark is the most decorated female Olympian on the roster.

Sixteen athletes on Team USA have competed at the Winter Youth Olympic Games – the most ever on a U.S. Olympic Team – and have won a combined 15 Youth Olympic medals. They are highlighted by two-time 2016 Youth Olympic gold medalist snowboarders Chloe Kim and Jake Pates, and 2012 Youth Olympic championsSummer Britcher (luge), Ben Ferguson (snowboarding) and Tucker West (luge).

The 2018 U.S. Olympic Team is the most diverse U.S. winter team on record, with 10 African-Americans, 11 Asian-Americans and the first two openly gay male athletes (Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon) to represent Team USA at the Winter Games. Maame Biney and Erin Jackson will be the first African-American women to represent the U.S. in speedskating, while Jordan Greenway is the first African-American on the U.S. hockey team.

Team USA includes 46 reigning world medalists, including 30 world champions, highlighted by long track speedskater Heather Bergsma, who won 2017 world championship gold medals in the 1,000 and 1,500, and bronze in mass start, which makes its Olympic debut for both men and women in PyeongChang.

Four additional events will be contested at the Games for the first time, including an alpine skiing team event and mixed doubles curling, plus men’s and women’s snowboarding big air

Beginning at 11 p.m. ET on Feb. 7, NBCUniversal will present more than 2,400 hours of coverage across NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network, the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app – the most ever for a Olympic Winter Games.

Click here to view the full 2018 U.S. Olympic Team roster by sport and state (athletes’ recognized hometowns).

Follow Team USA
Team USA fans can follow the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team at TeamUSA.org/2018Olympics and across Team USA’s social channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. The U.S. Olympic Team microsite will offer Team USA results from the Olympic Winter Games, as well as athlete biographies, sport previews, a history book (published the week of Jan. 29), competition schedules, and facts and figures about the U.S. delegation.

2018 U.S. Olympic Team Fun Facts

Thirty-one states are represented, including 31 athletes from Colorado, 22 from California, 19 from Minnesota, 18 from New York and 16 from Utah. Park City, Utah, is the highest producing city with eight athletes, while seven hail from Anchorage, Alaska; six are from Steamboat Springs, Colorado; and five are from Duluth, Minnesota.
The oldest and youngest Olympians on the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team – ice hockey player Brian Gionta, 39, and figure skater Vincent Zhou, 17 – are separated by 22 years, while the average age is 26.5 years. Zhou will be one of six 17-year-olds on the team and one of eight with a 2000 birth year.
The tallest member of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team is Bryce Bennett (alpine skiing), who stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall. Figure skater Karen Chen and short track speedskater Jessica Kooreman, who both stand 5 feet tall, are the shortest members of Team USA.
Women’s ice hockey players Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morandoreturn as the sole set of twins on Team USA. There are six additional sets of siblings, including cross-country skiers Erik and Sadie Bjornsen, Logan and Reese Hanneman, and Caitlin and Scott Patterson; curlers Becca and Matt Hamilton; figure skaters Alex and Maia Shibutani; and Nordic combined athletes Bryan and Taylor Fletcher.
Pairs figure skaters Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim are the only married couple on Team USA (and the first since 2006).
Twenty-one members of Team USA have children; there are 20 fathers and one mother (Kikkan Randall).
Thirty-six athletes have Olympic family ties, including seven with parents who competed at the Olympic Games.
Thirty-seven athletes speak at least one language in addition to English, including Clare Egan(biathlon), Thomas Hong (short track speedskating) and Chloe Kim (snowboarding), who all speak Korean.
More than three-quarters of Team USA (76 percent) has attended college, at a total of 87 schools. Of those athletes, more than one-third competed collegiately at 48 institutions; sports with heavy collegiate footprints include hockey, bobsled and cross-country skiing.
Seven athletes serve in the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program – including men’s bobsled athletes Nick Cunningham, Chris Fogt, Justin Olsen and Nathan Weber; and luge athletes Taylor Morris, Matt Mortensen and Emily Sweeney.
Sixteen athletes on the U.S. roster have competed at the Winter Youth Olympic Games:
- Codie Bascue (bobsled, 2012)
- Aaron Blunck (freestyle skiing, 2012)
- Summer Britcher (luge, 2012)
- Patrick Caldwell (cross-country skiing, 2012)
- Sean Doherty (biathlon, 2012)
- Ben Ferguson (snowboarding, 2012)
- Arielle Gold (snowboarding, 2012)
- Alex Hall (freestyle skiing, 2016)
- Thomas Hong (short track speedskating, 2012)
- Chloe Kim (snowboarding, 2016)
- Hailey Langland (snowboarding, 2016)
- Casey Larson (ski jumping, 2016)
- Ben Loomis (Nordic combined, 2016)
- Jake Pates (snowboarding, 2016)
- Will Rhoads (ski jumping, 2012)
- Tucker West (luge, 2012)

The 2018 U.S. Olympic Team roster may be adjusted due to injury, illness or exceptional circumstances.

Press release provided by the USOC

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