There's no doubt that Colorado is one of the best places to prep for the Winter Olympics. Many of the sports can be practiced right in our own back yards. Check out these fun facts about the Colorado athletes who will be competing this month at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
ALPINE SKIING
- River Radamus learned to ski before he could walk in his hometown of Edwards. He is currently creating his own foundation to improve access and affordability to the sport of ski racing.
- Mikaela Shiffrin is from Edwards, where she learned to ski at age 2 in her family's driveway. She is the youngest racer ever to reach 50 World Cup victories.
BIATHLON
- Joanne Reid was born in Madison, Wisconsin, but grew up in Grand Junction. Aside from being a highly decorated athlete with mathematics and engineering degrees, she is known for always breaking things.
BOBSLED
- Sylvia Hoffman recently moved to Colorado Springs to pursue her Olympic dreams. She was recruited to the US Bobsled Team when the coaches saw her on "Scouting Camp: The Next Olympic Hopeful".
CROSS COUNTRY SKIING
- Hailey Swirbul's hometown is Carbondale. She spent her summers mountain bike racing with her brother, Keegan. They started Nordic skiing to stay in shape for biking during the winter, and the rest is history!
FIGURE SKATING
- Mariah Bell grew up in Monument where she began figure skating at just three years old. She became the oldest competitor to ever win the US Figure Skating Championship at age 25.
- Brandon Frazier is headed to the Olympics from Colorado Springs. Frazier and partner Alexa Knierim were forced to petition for a chance to compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics after withdrawing from the US Figure Skating Championships when he tested positive for COVID.
- Alysa Liu is from Colorado Springs and is the first woman to ever land a triple axel and quadruple jump in the same event.
FREESTYLE SKIING
- Aaron Blunck is from Englewood and currently trains in Crested Butte. Aaron is competing is his third Olympic games after being seriously injured landing on the lip of a halfpipe in 2020.
- Hanna Faulhaber from Basalt has dreamed of competing in the X Games and Olympics since she was little. In 2022, she will accomplish both.
- Alex Ferreira, whose hometown is Aspen, took home the silver medal at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang
- Birk Irving is from Englewood and trains in Winter Park. He started young, completing his first 360 at age five and landing his first sponsorship at seven.
- Kai Owens was adopted from China at 16 months old and raised in Vail. The moguls skier is excited to compete in her birth country for her first Olympic games despite getting a black eye at training there this week. Kai was the the youngest American to win the North American Cup at age 14.
- Dylan Walczyk from Blue River has always bucked the system when it comes to the US Ski Team. First, he refused to leave Colorado when he was selected for the team in 2012. This year, he had to compete as an independent when he wasn't selected for the team.
ICE HOCKEY
- Nicole Hensley from Lakewood helped her team win gold at the 2018 Olympics. She also maintained one of the highest GPAs among NCAA athletes and volunteers at a local shelter walking cats and dogs.
- Nick Shore is from Denver, where he and two of his brothers played hockey for the University of Denver. He's known for his ability to win face-offs.
NORDIC COMBINED
- Bryan Fletcher hails from Steamboat Springs. He began skiing at age four with his brother, Taylor, who is also on Team USA. Bryan is also a cancer survivor.
- Taylor Fletcher grew up in Steamboat Springs and is a three time Olympian. He started skiing at age four, with his brother and fellow Olympian, Bryan.
- Jasper Good from Steamboat Springs is also a solider in the US Army, and is a member of the Army World Class Athlete Program.
SKEKETON
- Katie Uhlaender from Breckenridge is the first woman from the US to ever compete in a sliding sport at five Olympics.
SNOWBOARDING
- Chris Corning is from Silverthorne. His snowboarding career began at age seven, and he has participated in multiple World Cups and Olympic games. He loves to cook and hopes to attend culinary school one day.
- Alex Deibold lives in Boulder, where he mountain bikes in the off season. He started snowboarding when he was 4 years old, and won his first competition at age 8.
- Mick Dierdorff calls Steamboat Springs home. He is the youngest person and the first American to win the North American Cup title.
- Lucas Foster grew up in Telluride where there wasn't a local halfpipe to train on. Despite this, he is currently the 2021 Halfpipe US National Champion.
- Stacy Gaskill hails from Golden, where she learned to ski at only 2 years old. She is also a member of the University of Colorado's Women's Ultimate Frisbee A Team and U24 Women's National Team. Her dream is to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Ultimate Frisbee. She is well on her way.
- Red Gerard from Silverthorne has his own trick park at his house and is the youngest Olympic snowboarder to ever win gold.
- Arielle Gold calls Steamboat Springs home, and started snowboarding because her bother (and fellow Olympian) did it. Beijing is her third Olympics. Arielle is a major Denver Broncos fan, and loves to hang with her horses, Sparky and Bugs.
- Taylor Gold grew up in Steamboat Springs with fellow Olympic snowboarder and sister, Arielle Gold. He likes slacklining and trampolining when he can squeeze them in.
- Zoe Kalapos moved to Vail with her dad to chase her Olympic dreams when she was 13. Her mom stayed behind to finish up her teaching career in Michigan, but visited often. A birthday gift of a snowboard when she was one changed her life, but not until she got on it at the age of five.
- Hagen Kearney from Norwood came in 3rd at the 2018 Olympic games in 2018. He was a skateboarder before was a snowboarder, which he began at 9 years old. He plays guitar and rides motorcycles when he isn't training.
- Meghan Tierney calls Eagle home. She started snowboarding at age 10, and came in 17th at the 2018 Olympics. She is also a surfer.
- Cody Winters started a window washing company in his hometown of Steamboat Springs at 18 years old to finance his dream of competing at the Olympics.
Cheer on your favorite Colorado Olympic Athlete's this year from February 4th to February 20th. You can find the schedule here.
