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Lots of the world’s greatest athletes are getting ready for the Beijing Winter Olympics in February. And with all eyes on the Video games, these are a number of the prime ones to look at.
Erin Jackson
The world’s prime feminine pace skater will likely be making her second Olympic look after Staff USA teammate Brittany Bowe gave up her spot. Jackson, 29, is simply months faraway from successful the pace skating World Cup, turning into the primary Black girl to take action. She is presently ranked No. 1 in the women’s 500-meter by the Worldwide Skating Union and can compete in the identical occasion in Beijing.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Will Shiffrin proceed her dominance? She received the last women’s World Cup shalom earlier than the Beijing Olympics. It was Shiffrin’s forty seventh profession slalom win, making her the primary skier in World Cup historical past to win that many races in a single self-discipline. Shiffrin, who received gold within the slalom on the 2014 Sochi Olympics and within the big slalom on the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, is anticipated to be a prime contender on this yr’s Video games.
Shaun White
White will make his fifth Olympics appearance after ending fourth amongst Individuals within the World Snowboard Points checklist earlier than Beijing. He has three gold medals within the halfpipe – from 2006, 2014 and 2018 – making him probably the most adorned male Olympic snowboarder. It should probably be the curtain name for White’s Olympic profession. He instructed Rolling Stone magazine he needs to retire from the Video games after Beijing.
Chloe Kim
The 21-year-old turned heads in PyeongChang 4 years in the past, when, at 17 years outdated, she won gold within the halfpipe, turning into the youngest American to ever medal in snowboarding. Now, she is favored but once more to repeat as Olympic halfpipe champion. Regardless of her success, she recently shared her struggles with psychological well being and the strain of expectations as an Olympian. A part of the explanation she’s comfy going public is as a result of “persons are beginning to change into extra accepting and likewise speaking about these [mental health] points extra,” she mentioned.
Emily Sweeney
After a daunting crash in her remaining run that knocked her out of the Pyeongchang Olympics, the luger will likely be again for the upcoming Olympics. The incident broke her neck and again, and it practically ended her profession. Since then, she has documented her recovery and whereas she admits she will get scared generally, she said Beijing will likely be one other shot at incomes a medal. She’s additionally a part of the Military’s World Class Athlete Program.
Nathan Chen
Chen, 26, just lately received his sixth figure skating championship and is now aiming for gold in Beijing. Anticipated to be a prime contender within the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018, he did not medal within the particular person occasion. Nonetheless, he did earn a bronze medal within the group occasion.
John Shuster
The curling legend will likely be again for this fifth Winter Olympics. After two straight disappointing Olympic appearances in 2010 and 2014, Shuster and his group lastly received gold in 2018, a primary for the Individuals within the occasion. Nobody has ever received multiple gold medals in males’s curling, however Shuster and his group wish to take a stab at it, saying his team is “filled with fighters.”
U.S. girls’s hockey group
USA Hockey introduced its roster for the ladies’s ice hockey group this month, and so they’re able to defend their gold medal in Beijing. Of their 23 gamers, 15 have prior Olympic expertise. Amongst them, ahead Hilary Knight returns for her fourth Olympics. Staff USA’s ongoing rivalry with Canada, who has 4 gold medals within the occasion, will likely be must-see TV in the event that they meet once more within the finals.
This would be the second-straight Winter Olympics with no NHL gamers.
Elana Meyers Taylor
Three-time Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor heads to Beijing as a favourite within the monobob, which makes its Olympic debut in February. Meyers Taylor secured the ladies’s monobob overall world cup title and is aware of her method round a bobsled – she received silver in 2018 and 2014 and captured bronze in 2010 within the two-woman bobsled.
Mariah Bell
The 25-year-old determine skater won a national championship this month, turning into the oldest girl to carry the title since 1927. It was her ninth look at nationwide championships and her first title. Bell, a two-time Olympic medalist, now has her eyes on Beijing, the place no individual woman 25 years or older has determine skated for Staff USA within the Winter Olympics since 1928.
“Age is actually a quantity,” Bell instructed NBC Sports. “It means nothing. When you’ve got a dream, there is no such thing as a restrict on the time you need to obtain that dream, for certain.”
Alex Ferreira
The freestyle skier goes to Beijing and is an Olympic medal favourite. Ferreira, who’s the son of a professional Argentinian soccer player, received silver after his efficiency within the ski halfpipe in PyeongChang and received X Video games Aspen in 2019 and 2020.
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