NOTE: This information has been updated from the Jan. 26 print edition to include local Olympians named to Team USA after our deadline.
The Winter Games Opening Ceremony is set for Feb. 4, and the Tahoe-Reno region is sending local athletes in pursuit of Gold to Beijing, China, for the XXIV Winter Olympic Games.
For details on the Olympics and the athletes, visit olympic.org or teamusa.org. The Winter Games will be aired on NBC, with coverage also available on the Olympic Channel at olympicchannel.com.
Note: The athletes featured here were officially named to Team USA as of press time for this edition. Some additional athletes may be added to the team before the start of the Games.
Information on athlete bios was provided by Team USA, U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboard Team.
Jamie Anderson
Age: 31
Sport: Snowboarding
Event/Discipline: Slopestyle | Big Air
Hometown: South Lake Tahoe
Home Mountain/Team: Sierra-at-Tahoe
Olympic Experience: 2014, 2018
About: Anderson learned to snowboard at Sierra-at-Tahoe when she was 9 years old. Anderson has garnered 19 career medals and is the most decorated woman in the history of Winter X Games snowboarding history. She has back-to-back slopestyle wins plus a big air silver medal from the 2018 Olympics. The 31-year-old has always been known for her consistency and technicality; her progressive bag of tricks now includes several variations of double corks. Anderson is coming off a 2020-21 season in which she swept the slopestyle and big air events at the X Games and she’ll have medal opportunities in both those disciplines at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Bryce Bennett
Age: 29
Sport: Alpine Skiing
Event/Discipline: Downhill
Hometown: Truckee
Home Mountain/Team: Team Palisades Tahoe
Olympic Experience: 2018
About: Bennett is ranked 7th in the world in downhill. When he is off the slopes, he enjoys spending time with his family, fishing, backpacking, mountain biking and golfing.
Keely Cashman
Age: 22
Sport: Alpine Skiing
Event/Discipline: Super-G | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Parallel Mixed Team
Hometown: Strawberry
Home Mountain/Team: Palisades Tahoe
Olympic Experience: Olympic debut
About: Cashman’s most notable athletic accomplishments are: 4th World Juniors alpine combined, 1st U.S. National Giant Slalom and third in the NorAm Cup overall standings. She plays the guitar and ukulele. When she’s not skiing, she fly fishes, paddleboards, hunts, cooks, road bikes and dirt bikes.
Travis Ganong
Age: 33
Sport: Alpine Skiing
Event/Discipline: Downhill | Super G
Hometown: Alpine Meadows
Home Mountain/Team: Team Palisades Tahoe
Olympic Experience: 2014
About: Ganong is a 2015 World Championship silver medalist. When he isn’t on the slopes, he loves mountain biking, hiking, backpacking and surfing. He also enjoys spending time on Lake Tahoe, where he sails, paddleboards, swims and boats. He loves to cook delicious food and helps run Pacific Crest Coffee Co. in Truckee.
Hannah Halvorsen
Age: 25
Sport: Cross-Country Skiing
Event/Discipline: Cross-Country Cross Freestyle | Sprint Classic | 5-Kilometer Freestyle | Nordic Mixed Team
Hometown: Truckee
Team: Sugar Bowl Ski Team and Academy
Olympic Experience: Olympic debut
About: Halvorsen was introduced to skiing at 2 years old while growing up in Truckee. She started racing at age 11 and has competed in four Junior Nationals, three U18 Nations’ Cups and the Winter Youth Olympic Games. Halvorsen currently lives in Anchorage, Alaska. In 2019 she was hit by a car and suffered multiple injuries including a traumatic brain injury.
Hannah enjoys reading. She volunteers Sunday mornings at Bean’s Café, a homeless shelter in Anchorage.
A.J. Hurt
Age: 21
Sport: Alpine Skiing
Event/Discipline: Slalom | Giant Slalom | Downhill
Hometown: Carnelian Bay
Home Mountain/Team: Team Palisades Tahoe
Olympic Experience: Olympic debut
About: Hurt is a two-time National Alpine Champion. Her father was a ski patroller for Squaw Valley Ski Resort, where she learned to ski. She joined Squaw Valley Ski Team at age 4 and fell in love with skiing. In her free time Hurt loves free skiing, spending time outdoors and hanging out at the beach.
Maureen “Mo” Lebel
Age: 23
Sport: Alpine Skiing
Hometown: Truckee
Home Mountain/Team: Sugar Bowl Ski Team/Mammoth Mountain Ski Team
Olympic Experience: Olympic debut
About: Lebel grew up skiing on the Sugar Bowl Ski Team and later made the move to Mammoth Mountain Ski Team. She was crowned 2018 U.S. National Downhill Champion. “I had skis below my feet at the age of 2 and started racing at age 5. Chasing down my three older siblings on skis was what excited me about skiing. I had to keep up with them in everything we did and when it came to skiing, I actually could keep up,” she says. Off the hill, you can find Lebel mountain biking, surfing (either behind a boat or in the ocean) and golfing.
Nina O’Brien
Age: 24 years
Sport: Alpine Skiing
Event/Discipline: Giant Slalom | Slalom
Hometown: San Francisco
Home Mountain/Team: Palisades Tahoe, Burke Mountain Academy Team
Olympic Experience: Olympic debut
About: O’Brien had the best season of her career in 2020-21, grabbing a career-best ninth in slalom and a top 10 in the giant slalom at the World Championships. She ended up ranked 15th in giant slalom on the World Cup start list. When she is not skiing or studying, she loves hiking, biking, watching documentaries and collaging. She is also involved with Voice in Sport, a community to elevate women’s voices in sport. O’Brien is majoring in economics and learning German at Dartmouth.
JC Schoonmaker
Age: 21
Sport: Cross-Country Skiing
Event/Discipline: Freestyle Sprint
Home: Tahoe City
Home Mountain/Team: Sugar Bowl Ski Team and Academy
Olympic Experience: Olympic debut
About: Schoonmaker is the 2022 U.S. Freestyle Sprint Champion. He was named to the National Collegiate All-Academic Ski Team by the U.S. Collegiate Ski Coaches Association. He finished second in the freestyle and seventh in the classic races at the RMISA Invitational in Utah. When he is not skiing, you might find him swinging from a Donner Lake rope swing, hanging out with friends or playing basketball.
Alix Wilkinson
Age: 22
Sport: Alpine Skiing
Event/Discipline: Downhill | Slalom | Giant Slalom
Hometown: Mammoth Lakes
Home Mountain/Team: Team Palisades Tahoe
Olympic Experience: Olympic debut
About: Wilkinson placed 1st in NAC Downhill and 2nd in NAC Super G in Lake Louise, Canada in 2019. When she isn’t skiing, she’s loves mountain biking, hiking and paddling.
Luke Winters
Age: 24
Sport: Alpine Skiing
Event/Discipline: Slalom | Giant Slalom
Hometown: Gresham, Ore.
Home Mountain/Team: Sugar Bowl Academy
Olympic Experience: Olympic debut
About: Winters scored his first national championship title, landing on the top of the podium in alpine combined at Sugarloaf, Maine. This was followed by his second national title in slalom at Waterville Valley, N.H. He recently earned his pilot’s license.
David Wise
Age: 31
Sport: Freestyle skiing
Event/Discipline: Freeski Pro Halfpipe
Hometown: Reno, Nev.
Olympic Experience: 2014, 2018
About: Wise is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist. He has won six Grand Prix, six World Cups, three X Games and one Freeski World Championship in his skiing career. Wise, a father of two, and Reno native began skiing at age 3. He claimed his first national title at age 15 and turned pro three years later.
EVENT KEY
Alpine Skiing
Alpine skiing (sometimes referred to as downhill skiing) is one of the signature competitions at the Winter Olympics. Competitors regularly reach speeds of up to 152 km/h (95 mph), all while navigating a winding course full of sharp turns and soaring jumps.
There are 11 events in the Alpine competition at the Games, with 33 medals up for grabs.
Cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is one of the original Winter Olympic sports, having been first contested at the inaugural Winter Games in 1924.
The only cross-country events held at those Games in Chamonix were the men’s 50km and 18km competitions, but there will be 12 events in the competition in Beijing, with 36 medals to be won.
Freestyle
After first featuring as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Calgary Games, Freestyle Skiing was introduced to the Winter Olympic in 1992, with ski cross, halfpipe and slope-style added to the competition format over the years.
There are 13 events in freestyle skiing at Beijing 2022, including two new events: men’s and women’s freestyle skiing Big Air and mixed team freestyle skiing aerials.
Snowboarding
Snowboarding is one of the newer events at the Winter Olympics, having been first included at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
There are 11 events in the snowboard competition at Beijing 2022, including mixed team snowboard cross, which will be making its Winter Olympic debut after featuring at the Winter Youth Olympic Games.
~ Courtesy International Olympic Committee, olympics.com
