PORTLAND, Ore. — A total of 222 athletes from the U.S. will go for the gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Among those competing are several athletes from Oregon and Washington who will represent Team USA. They will compete in events including alpine and cross-country skiing, snowboarding and short track.
Below is a look at the athletes with ties to the Pacific Northwest including some first-time Olympians.
The Winter Olympics run from Feb. 4-20, but some events will be held as early as Feb. 2. KGW News will air the Opening Ceremony live at 3:30 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, Feb. 4. It will air again in the evening during primetime.
Oregon
Luke Winters, alpine skiing (slalom)
Luke Winters of Gresham will make his Olympic debut in Beijing. He learned how to ski at Mt. Hood and graduated from Sugar Bowl Academy near Lake Tahoe, California in 2015. The 24-year-old earned his first national championship title in 2019, landing on the top of the podium in alpine combined at Sugarloaf, Maine. He also won a bronze medal in super-G from the Junior World Championships in 2018. Most recently, Winters cracked into the top 10 at the first slalom race of 2022 in Adelboden, Switzerland.
Jacqueline “Jackie” Wiles, alpine skiing (downhill)
Jackie Wiles was born in Portland and attended Canby High School. She was named to Team USA in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and finished 26th in downhill. Wiles had to miss the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang due to an injury. She has five career top 10 World Cup finishes including two podiums. Most recently, Wiles collected her best result in four years by finishing 14th in the downhill race in Italy on Jan. 22.
Tommy Ford, alpine skiing (giant slalom)
Tommy Ford lives in Bend and trains at Mt. Bachelor. He finished 20th in giant slalom in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang and placed 26th in the giant slalom in Vancouver in 2010. Ford is coming back to racing after suffering a serious knee injury at a World Cup Race in Switzerland on Jan. 9, 2021. He has made three giant slalom podiums at World Cup races and one win in 2020 in Beaver Creek, Colorado.
Sean FitzSimons, snowboarding (slopestyle)
Sean FitzSimons of Hood River will make his Olympics debut in Beijing. The 21-year-old most recently earned a World Cup title, placing first In the 2022 Laax Open SS. Despite being on the U.S. slopestyle team, FitzSimons is also talented in the halfpipe and big air. He entered the U.S. Rev Tour competing in all three events in 2018. He is also an avid skateboarder and kiteboarder. FitzSimons attends the University of Utah.
Asa Miller, alpine skiing (slalom and giant slalom)
Asa Miller was born in Portland and went to Lincoln High School. He will be the only athlete representing The Philippines in the 2022 Winter Olympics and will carry the flag during the Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony. Miller finished 70th in giant slalom at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang. He trains at Snowbird in Utah.
Rico Roman, Paralympic Winter Games (sled hockey)
Rico Roman is a two-time Paralympian from Portland. He earned a gold medal in the Paralympic Games in PyeongChang in 2018 and Sochi in 2014. Roman is a retired Army Staff Sergeant that had his left leg amputated above the knee when he was wounded by an improvised explosive device while servicing his third tour in Iraq in 2007.
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Washington
Katie Hensien, alpine skiing
Katie Hensien from Redmond, Washington will make her Olympic debut in Beijing. She was a part of the Junior World Championships team that grabbed second place in the Team Event in Val di Fassa, Italy.
Novie McCabe, cross-country skiing
Novie McCabe of Winthrop, Washington placed 7th in the 10k freestyle event at the World Cup in Val di Fiemme, Italy. She was a member of the 2020 Junior World Championships women's relay team where she earned silver in the 4x3.3k relay.
Corrine Stoddard, short track speedskating
Corrine Stoddard was born in Seattle, Washington. She earned a bronze medal in the B 3000m relay in the 2021 World Championships. Stoddard also competed in the 2019 and 2020 World Short Track Junior Championships, winning silver in the 100m and bronze in the 500m.
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