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Sports Illustrated

Sport

SI Staff

Meet Team USA: Beijing 2022

Beijing Olympics (Event) United States Team USA Pyeongchang Winter Games California China Colo. Sochi (Event)

Less than six months after the summer edition in Tokyo, the Olympics return on Feb. 4 for the Winter Games, where a total of 109 events in 15 disciplines across seven sports on snow and ice will be held—in a bubble, under COVID-19 protocols—across 12 competition venues in China. Then, one month later, the action will return to Beijing on March 4 for the Paralympics, featuring more than 600 athletes competing over 10 days in 78 events across six sports.

From fresh faces to familiar ones, here are some of the U.S. men and women who will be going for gold in Beijing.

Written by Kristen Nelson, Madeline Coleman, Tess DeMeyer, Lia Assimakopoulos, Claire Kuwana, Mark Bechtel and Jamie Lisanti. Illustrations by Trey Ingram.

BIATHLON

Susan Dunklee

Age: 35
Hometown: Craftsbury, Vt.

Biathlon remains the only Winter Olympic sport in which the U.S. has never won a medal, but Dunklee is hoping to change that. After competing in the Sochi and PyeongChang Games, she became the first U.S. biathlete to win two world championship medals in her career, earning two of the nation's six all-time medals in 2017 and '20. As the team’s de facto captain, she announced she will retire at the end of this season, so Beijing will be her last chance to make history.

BOBSLEIGH

Kaillie Humphries

Age: 36
Hometown: San Diego

After a lengthy dispute with Canadian bobsled officials over claims of verbal abuse, mental abuse and harassment, Humphries won the right to compete for the United States in the upcoming Winter Games. The Calgary native is the most decorated woman in bobsled history with five world championships, 54 World Cup medals and is the only women’s pilot to win two Olympic golds and drive to three medals. Since joining Team USA in 2019, she’s won three world titles, and after finally earning U.S. citizenship in December, she will look to continue her dominance with the United States in Beijing.

Elana Meyers Taylor

Age: 37
Hometown: Douglasville, Ga.

While training for the Olympics has become a part of Taylor’s routine for over a decade now, this year brings a new challenge: motherhood. The three-time Olympic bobsled medalist, who captured silver in the two-woman event in 2018, took the entire '19–20 season off after giving birth to her son, Nico, and has since found that parenting as an Olympian in a pandemic poses a myriad of unique challenges. Since getting back into shape and returning to the sport, she’s become a top contender in monobob, the new solo Olympic event.

SKELETON

Katie Uhlaender

Age: 37
Hometown: Breckenridge, Colo.

There have been only six U.S. Olympic women’s skeleton teams in history, and Uhlaender has now been featured on five of them. After qualifying for Beijing, she became the first American woman from any sliding sport to make five Olympic teams, as one of just three U.S. skeleton racers competing this year. She will lead two rookie racers in hopes of earning her first-ever Olympic medal, surpassing her fourth-place personal best from Sochi.

CURLING

Team Schuster

You may remember Team Shuster from 2018, when they won the U.S.’s first-ever Olympic curling gold medal in PyeongChang. In Beijing, the squad will look slightly different—after the ’18 Games, Tyler George stepped away from curling, and skip John Shuster, 39, offered the spot to Chris Plys, who in '10 was an alternate on the team in Vancouver. “My intention was to go to the Olympics and hopefully get the brooms ready before the game,” he says with a laugh. But during the competition, Shuster struggled mightily and was benched for a match by the coaching staff, an unusual occurrence in the sport. “It was awkward,” Plys, 34, says. “It ... a bit weird.” Joining Plys and Shuster are ’18 gold medalists John Landsteiner, 31, and Matt Hamilton, 32. The team is a favorite to medal in Beijing after finishing fifth in worlds.

Team Peterson

Four years ago, Team Peterson was known as Team Roth before Tabitha Peterson, 32, took over skipping from Nina Roth, who took a hiatus to give birth to her son. When Roth, 33, returned, all parties decided to keep Peterson in charge. The change in leadership has led to little tension and good results—Team Peterson finished third at the 2021 world championships, marking the first medal for a U.S. women’s team in 15 years. The squad also includes second Becca Hamilton, 31, and Peterson's sister and lead, Tara, 30. The last year has been a whirlwind off the ice for the team: Peterson is a pharmacist, putting her squarely on the front lines of the pandemic, while Roth is a full-time nurse at an acute care hospital. “It’s insanely busy, but it’s rewarding,” Peterson says.

ICE HOCKEY

Kendall Coyne Schofield

Age: 29
Hometown: Palos Heights, Ill.

The USWNT captain brings experience from two previous Olympics, scoring twice in both PyeongChang and Sochi. Coyne Schofield—who led the gold-medal-winning team with 21 shots on goal in 2018—is also a player development coach with the Chicago Blackhawks. Many hockey fans might recognize her from the '19 NHL All-Star Game, where she was the first woman to participate in a skills event, competing in the fastest skater competition.

Brianna Decker

Age: 30
Hometown: Dousman, Wis.

Known for her physicality and skillful stickhandling, the two-time Olympian led the team in assists with three in 2018 and notched two goals and four assists in '14. Since PyeongChang, Decker has also served as an assistant coach with the U.S. U-18 Women’s National Team. Decker was also part of the '19 NHL All-Star weekend, demonstrating the premier passing event, which she completed faster than any of the men.

Hilary Knight

Age: 32
Hometown: Sun Valley, Idaho

Just the fourth U.S. woman to make four Olympic rosters, Knight has been an integral part of Team USA for more than a decade. She broke the all-time goals record at the World Championships in 2021 and holds the U.S. career points record at the IIHF tournament. With a knack for scoring, especially in big games, the rightwinger also scored the team’s first goal in their gold-medal-winning game at the '18 Olympics.

Abby Roque

Age: 24
Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

One of eight first-time Olympians on the 2022 roster, Roque is part of the next generation of Team USA. The center played college hockey at Wisconsin, where she won a national championship in '19, and she also played on the USWNT that won silver at Worlds last year. Roque—who is a member of the Wahnapitae First Nation, part of the Ojibwe First Nation—is also the first Indigenous player to represent the U.S. in women’s hockey.

LUGE

Summer Britcher

Age: 27
Hometown: Glen Rock, Pa.

Entering her third Olympics, Britcher has yet to make the podium at the Games but is the all-singles leader in U.S. luge history with five World Cup victories. After winning gold in the team relay at the 2012 Youth Winter Olympics, she made her debut in Sochi, where she was the youngest woman on the luge team. As the lone American to make a World Cup podium this season outside of relay, Britcher won a silver medal in the sprint World Cup race in early December, giving the U.S. team its best individual finish in nearly two years.

Chris Mazdzer

Age: 33
Hometown: Salt Lake City, N.Y.

Mazdzer became the only American men’s single luger to medal at the Olympics after earning silver in the PyeongChang Games. The four-time World Cup champion and 10-time medalist enters his fourth Olympic competition this winter. While he’s spent the last four years training for his Olympic return in Beijing, Mazdzer also competed on Dancing With The Stars with pro dancer Witney Carson, advancing to the third of four rounds in the season.

SPEEDSKATING

Erin Jackson

Age: 29
Hometown: Ocala, Fla.

In November 2021, the former inline skating champion became the first Black woman to win a World Cup event in speed skating. Jackson transitioned to the ice just months before her Olympic debut in '18 and nearly missed her chance to complete in next Winter Games in Beijing after a slip during the U.S. Olympic trials in early January. But teammate and long-time friend Brittany Bowe gave up her qualifying spot to let Jackson take her place in the event, ensuring that the top-ranked skater in the 500-meter event will be on the ice for Team USA in February.

Brittany Bowe

Age: 33
Hometown: Ocala, Fla.

A two-time Olympian, Bowe will return to the games to compete in the 1,000- and 1,500-meter events, after relinquishing her spot in the 500-meter to Jackson. A 20-time world champion medalist, including seven golds, Bowe won bronze in the team pursuit in 2018 and was one place short of an individual medal in the 1,000 meters.

SHORT TRACK

Maame Biney

Age: 22
Hometown: Reston, Va.

At just 18 years old, Biney made history in PyeongChang after she became the youngest skater and first Black woman to make the U.S. short-track team. While her best finish was 14th place in the short track 500 meters, she captured America’s heart with her bold personality and contagious smile. Over the last four years, she’s used her platform to speak out against racial injustice, most notably after George Floyd was killed.

FIGURE SKATING

Karen Chen

Age: 22
Hometown: Fremont, Calif.

Known for her lyrical style and signature spiral, Chen has been one of the top American figure skaters since winning a national title in 2017. She debuted a new short program at the '22 U.S. Championships, clinched a silver medal and punched a ticket to Beijing, marking her second Olympics after she placed 11th at the '18 Games. When she isn’t training, Chen enjoys painting and plans to pursue a career in the medical field. She enrolled at Cornell University in '19 and chose to take time off to prepare for the Olympics after completing her first year.

Joosep Martinson, International Skating Union/International Skating Union/Getty Images

Vincent Zhou

Age: 21
Hometown: Palo Alto, Calif.

After finishing sixth in PyeongChang, Zhou went on to win a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships. Though he struggled during his free skate at the U.S. Championships in January, a win at Skate America in October '21 and his previous international experience earned him a ticket to his second Olympics. Zhou says a familial connection to the site of the '22 Games makes these Olympics feel extra significant. “My parents and my extended family were all born and lived in China, in Beijing actually, so this upcoming Olympics will be very close to home for me,” he explains. “Like a second home almost.”

Mariah Bell

Age: 25
Hometown: Westminster, Colo.

At the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January 2022, 25-year-old Bell won her first national title, becoming the oldest American woman to earn an individual figure skating spot on an Olympic team since 1928. She jokes that she is “ancient” in the skating world because some of her teammates and competitors are still in their teens but says being a bit older gives her opportunities to choose music or choreography that best fits a more mature skater. She’s been training under a coaching staff that includes 2018 Olympic bronze medalist Adam Rippon, and she also practices alongside Nathan Chen, a gold-medal favorite in the men’s event.

Nathan Chen

Age: 22
Hometown: Salt Lake City

To say that Chen has dominated the figure skating world since the last Olympics would be an understatement. For 43 months—from March 2018 to March '21—he went on a winning streak that produced 14 individual titles and included triumphs over reigning Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu. But in October '21, Chen made some uncharacteristic errors during his programs at Skate America, which resulted in a third-place finish and the end of his streak. He bounced back at Skate Canada a few days later to remind the world why he’s favored to win gold in Beijing. He snagged his sixth consecutive national title in January despite two falls in his free skate—one of which he laughed off as it was an unexpected faceplant during the ending dance section of his program—and is expected to improve upon his fifth-place finish in PyeongChang.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates

Age: 29 and 32
Hometown: Redondo Beach, Calif. and Ann Arbor, Mich.

Chock and Bates have competed together since 2011, and Beijing will mark their third consecutive Olympic appearance as a pair. The duo finished eighth in Sochi and ninth in PyeongChang, but strong performances at the start of the '21–22 season suggest Chock and Bates could be medal contenders this year. Their rhythm dance is set to a mix of Billie Eilish songs and includes a unique lift, while their free dance is backed by Daft Punk tracks and tells the story of an alien meeting an astronaut.

SNOWBOARDING

Chloe Kim

Age: 21
Hometown: Torrance, Calif.

Expectations are high for Kim, who has not lost a world cup halfpipe event since 2018—the same year that at 17, she became the youngest female athlete to capture a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in snowboarding. Kim later took a 22-month hiatus from competing, experiencing her first year of college away from the halfpipe at Princeton University, but returned to dominance in '21 to capture her fifth win at the X Games and her second consecutive halfpipe world championship.

Dusty Henricksen

Age: 18
Hometown: Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

The young star shocked the snowboarding world at 17 when he entered his first-ever X Games and won the Knuckle Huck contest, becoming the first American to win men’s slopestyle gold in 12 years. The last snowboarder to do so was Shaun White in 2009, making way for comparisons between the rookie and the three-time Olympic gold medalist—who also happened to be coached by none other than Henricksen’s father, Marko, early in his career.

Jamie Anderson

Age: 31
Hometown: South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Anderson made waves in her Olympic debut at the 2014 Sochi Games, sweeping the competition to win the inaugural snowboard slopestyle event. She took the gold again in '18 to become the first woman to win two gold medals in snowboarding. Anderson is the most decorated slopestyle athlete in X Games history; she began competing at 13 years old and has won seven snowboard slopestyle gold medals since her start. The snowboarding star also started the Jamie Anderson Foundation, to provide young athletes with equipment and financial assistance to travel and compete in winter sports.

Red Gerard

Age: 21
Hometown: Silver Springs, Colo.

Gerard became an overnight sensation when he won Team USA’s first gold medal of the 2018 Olympics at just 17 years old, and his legacy only grew when the world found out he had overslept on the day of the slopestyle final. Four years later, Gerard is headed to Beijing with some new tricks up his sleeve, including a switch backside 1620 that he stomped down on the last run of the Dew Tour in December. Though the snowboarder says “it’d be really cool” to add another medal to his collection, he says he's going to China to “embrace it all, hopefully meet new people and just have a really great experience.”

Maddie Mastro

Age: 21
Hometown: Wrightwood, Calif.

Since finishing 12th in the halfpipe competition at the PyeongChang Olympics, Mastro has gained more experience and picked up a few podium finishes. At the 2019 Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships, she became the first woman to land a double crippler 900 in competition, outscoring reigning Olympic champion Kim to claim the top spot. A nasty crash at the Dew Tour in December resulted in an ankle injury and forced Mastro to withdraw from the event, but she had the highest score in qualifying and now appears ready to challenge for a medal in Beijing.

PARA SNOWBOARDING

Evan Strong

Age: 35
Hometown: Haiku, Hawai'i

At 17, the Hawai'i native was hit by a drunk driver while riding a motorcycle, which led to the amputation of his left leg. Before the accident, Strong was a sponsored skateboarder on the rise, but he quickly made the transition to snowboarding. Now, Strong’s prestigious resume boasts a Sochi gold medal in the snowboardcross and a PyeongChang silver in the banked slalom, and he also holds four World Championship medals in the same two events.

ALPINE SKIING

Mikaela Shiffrin

Age: 26
Hometown: Edwards, Colo.

The Colorado native has already solidified herself as a legend, winning more world championship medals (11) than any other American skier. Shiffrin is also third for World Cup titles, with 72—and still counting. Much has changed since she last competed in the Olympics in 2018—her father died suddenly in February '20, and she tested positive for COVID-19 in late '21, among other ups and downs throughout a season dismantled by the pandemic. As she enters her third Games, Shiffrin says her views on how she defines Olympic success have changed.

Ryan Cochran-Siegle

Age: 29
Hometown: Starksboro, Vt.

Cochran-Siegle hails from a skiing family, as his mother Barbara Ann won gold at the 1972 Winter Games in slalom. But unlike the rest of his aunts, uncles and cousins, he focuses on speed events (downhill and super-G), in addition to the giant slalom. Cochran-Siegle had a breakthrough moment at the World Cup in December '20, finishing second in a downhill before going on to win the Bormio super-G. It all came to a halt when he fractured his neck in a crash in Kitzbühel, Austria, in January '21. But he has since recovered and aims to bring home a second Olympic medal for the Cochran family.

PARA ALPINE SKIING

Andrew Kurka

Age: 30
Hometown: Palmer, Alaska

Kurka returns for his third Paralympics after winning a gold and silver medal in 2018. Though he started in wrestling and became a six-time Alaska state champion, Kurka has cemented himself as a force in alpine skiing, winning four World Championship medals since he first competed in '13. He documents his monoskiing adventures on his Youtube channel, including his record-breaking ride on the North Face of Mt. Alyeska in Girdwood, Alaska, where Kurka became the first person in a monoski to take the plunge down the Christmas Chute, the mountain's steepest, deepest terrain that features a 1,500-foot-vertical, 45-degree-plus chute.

Thomas Walsh

Age: 26
Hometown: Vail, Colo.

A childhood friend of Shiffrin's, Walsh began skiing at 2 and started ski racing at 5. In 2009, Walsh underwent treatment for Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. After treatment, he was declared cancer-free 14 months later and finished fifth in slalom at the ’18 Games. During his recovery, he attended Green Mountain Valley School before heading to Savannah College of Art and Design, where he studied performing arts. Now, he's eyeing a second Paralympics triumph.

PARA NORDIC SKIING

Oksana Masters

Age: 32
Hometown: Louisville

Born in Ukraine, Masters came to the U.S. at 7, suffering from disabilities as a result of birth defects from the Chernobyl Nuclear disaster. Masters made her Paralympic debut in rowing in London 2012 and then returned to compete in cross-country skiing in Sochi '14 after just 14 months of training in the Winter Games event. Fast forward and Masters is now a 10-time Paralympic medalist across four sports. She will aim for more gold after nabbing two in PyeongChang and Tokyo (for cycling) each.

Dani Aravich

Age: 25
Hometown: Boise, Idaho

Born without her left forearm, Aravich finished 10th in the cross-country T47 400 meters last year in Tokyo. Now, just six months later, she'll make her Winter Games debut, after she caught the attention of a U.S. Paralympic Nordic Ski coach who invited her to a training camp in 2019, which sparked her preparation for Beijing. Before she transitioned to training for the Games on a full-time basis in '20, Aravich worked as a community relations associate with the Utah Jazz.

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING

Jessie Diggins

Age: 30
Hometown: Afton, Minn.

In PyeongChang 2018, the Minnesotan made history as she and teammate Kikkan Randall championed their way to Team USA’s first ever gold medal in cross-country skiing, joining 1976 Winter Olympics silver medalist Bill Koch as the only Americans to make the podium in the sport. In January 2021, Diggins captured the most prestigious individual title of her career, becoming the first American to win the multistage Tour de Ski. And there’s more to Diggins than her athleticism and accolades. In her book Brave Enough, she details her career journey and opens up about the eating disorder she suffered as a teenager.

Federico Modica/NordicFocus/Getty Images

Hailey Swirbul

Age: 23
Hometown: El Jebel, Colo.

A three-time medalist at the Junior World Championships, Swirbul is making her Olympic debut in Beijing. The 2020–21 season was a breakout year for the cross-country skier, as she made her first World Cup podium with a third-place finish in the 10-kilometer freestyle race in Davos, Switzerland, and earned a spot on the 4x5-kilometer relay team that placed fourth at the '21 World Championship in Oberstdorf, Germany. Swirbul is a particularly strong skier at altitude, which may give her a leg up on an Olympic course that has an unusually high elevation.

FREESTYLE SKIING

Winter Vinecki

Age: 23
Hometown: Gaylord, Mich.

Don’t let her young age (or the fact that she’s a first-time Olympian) fool you—Vinecki is more accomplished than most 23-year-olds. At 14, Vinecki became the youngest runner to finish a marathon on all seven continents. Three-time Olympian Emily Cook recruited her for aerials, where she'll be a strong contender in Beijing. But while the young star is athletically accomplished, she also founded Team Winter, a nonprofit for prostate cancer research in honor of her late father who died from the disease.

Alex Hall

Age: 23
Hometown: Park City, Utah

An Alaska native who grew up in Switzerland, Hall pulled off a dramatic win at the Grand Prix event in Mammoth, Calif., solidifying his spot on a second Olympic team. A student at the University of Utah, Hall is a top medal contender in the slopestyle and big air events for this year's Games after placing 16th in slopestyle in PyeongChang. Known for his massive tricks and stylish moves during competitions, Hall is primed to put on a podium-worthy performance in Beijing.

SLED HOCKEY

Declan Farmer

Age: 24
Hometown: Tampa

Born a bilateral amputee (his right leg above the knee and his left below), Farmer has played sled hockey since he was 9 and made his first U.S. national team at 14. In PyeongChang, Farmer scored the game-tying goal with 37 seconds left in regulation and the winner in overtime against rival Canada to earn Team USA a third consecutive gold medal. After graduating from Princeton with a degree in economics in 2020, Farmer helped the U.S. beat Canada again in June ’21, this time for a second straight world championship. A three-time Paralympian, Farmer will try for a fourth-straight win in Beijing, where a rematch with Canada is likely in the cards for the U.S.

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