Beijing Olympics profiles – Syndication Server

5 international athletes to watch at the 2022 Winter Olympics

Who are the athletes to watch from around the globe in Beijing?

The Winter Olympics serve a very important purpose for many sports fans.

Beyond proving who the best athletes in the world truly are, the Games shine a light on sports that get limited run most of the time. In three Februarys out of four, ski jumping and nordic combined and curling are typically relegated to fringe channels lumped into a cable package no one truly wants.

But every four years, the tangled masses get to watch the excruciating effort of cross country skiing or the unassuming precision of curling on a national spotlight.

That’s the backdrop that makes people like Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall guests on the TODAY show and allows a quintet of dad-bodded goofballs to throw out the first pitch at a Major League Baseball game.

There’s so much more to watch than just Team USA in this year’s event in Beijing. Here are the names you should be familiar with from teams outside the 50 states at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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Get to know Timothy LeDuc: 5 facts about the figure skater and first openly nonbinary Winter Olympian

Get to know the pairs figure skater before the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

For the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, For The Win is helping you get to know some of the star Olympians competing on the world’s biggest stage. Leading up to the Opening Ceremony, we’re highlighting 15 Team USA athletes we think you should get to know. Up next is figure skater Timothy LeDuc.

LeDuc may be making history as the first openly nonbinary Winter Olympian, but they want to make sure that’s not the only focus, as they and figure skating pairs partner Ashley Cain-Gribble — the reigning U.S. champions — get set to compete in Beijing.

“My hope is that when people see my story, it isn’t focused on me and saying, ‘Oh, Timothy is the first out non-binary person to achieve this level of success in sport,'” they said, via NBC Sports earlier this month. “My hope is that the narrative shifts more to, ‘Queer people can be open and successful in sports.’ We’ve always been here, we’ve always been a part of sports. We just haven’t always been able to be open.”

Here are some things to know about LeDuc ahead of the 2022 Games.

Beijing Olympics: Meet some of Team USA’s best athletes ahead of the 2022 Winter Games

For The Win is helping you get to know some Team USA athletes competing at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

It’s rare to get two Olympic Games about six months apart, but here we are. Although to some, it may seem like the Tokyo Summer Olympics just ended, the Beijing Winter Olympics are nearly here with the Opening Ceremony set for Feb. 4.

In the weeks leading up to the Winter Games, we here at For The Win are rolling out a ton of Olympics content to help get you ready, including spotlighting some Team USA’s top athletes.

And we’ve got them all right here in one handy place.

Get to know Kai Owens: 5 facts about Team USA’s rising star in Olympic moguls skiing

Meet the teenage phenom headed to the Beijing Olympics for Team USA.

A trip to the Olympics is special for every athlete who is able to make it to the Games, but it’s likely even more special for Kai Owens, a 17-year-old freestyle skier who will compete in moguls for Team USA.

Owens’ personal story is pretty incredible. She was born in China and was left in a town square by her birth parents before being adopted from an orphanage when she was just 16 months old. Her parents, Amy and John Owens, raised her in Vail, Colorado, and now Owens is headed back to China for a moment that she has called “just incredible.”

Let’s get to know more about Owens, who is competing in her first Games.

Get to know Erin Jackson: 5 facts about the world No. 1 speedskater and Olympic gold-medal favorite

Here are a few things to know about Erin Jackson, who’s ranked No. 1 in the world in the 500-meter long track speedskating event.

American long track speedskater Erin Jackson enters her second Olympic Games in a very different spot compared with her first. The 29-year-old skater from Ocala, Florida went to the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics after only a few months of training on the ice, and now, she’s headed to the Beijing Games on top of the world — literally.

So ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, here are five things to know about Jackson.

Get to know Alex Ferreira: 5 facts about the freestyle ski star going for his first Olympic gold medal

Alex Ferreira is going for his first Olympic gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Alex Ferreira has been on a mission since his first Olympic Games in 2018 in Pyeongchang.

The freeskier from Aspen, Colorado managed to nab the men’s halfpipe silver medal then, but he’s going for gold in 2022. He had a pretty solid shot at a first place finish in 2018 before fellow American David Wise snatched away from him.

Now, Ferreira is headed back to the Olympics again with another opportunity to take home a gold medal. Can he do it? We’ll see, but he’s currently ranked No. 2 in the International Ski Federation’s World Cup halfpipe standings.

In the meantime, here’s everything you need to know about the 27-year-old freestyle skier.

Get to know Jamie Anderson: 5 facts about the decorated Olympic snowboarder with a shot at history

Meet Jamie Anderson, a Team USA women’s snowboarding star.

Jamie Anderson is one of the biggest names in the snowboarding scene ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics. Specializing in slopestyle (a course with a variety of obstacles such as ramps and rails) and big air (one big jump off a ramp), Anderson will have the chance to make Olympic history in Beijing.

At 31 years old, the California native will be competing in her third Olympics as one of the most successful women snowboarders in history. Anderson is known for her large variety and complexity of moves showcased in the slopestyle event, but has been known to bust out a trick or two on big air.

Here are five things to know about Anderson ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Get to know Abby Roque: 5 facts about the rising hockey star looking to help Team USA defend gold

Meet Abby Roque, an up-and-coming Team USA women’s hockey star.

Abby Roque will have the chance to help the United States women’s hockey team defend its gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

At 24 years old, Roque is a newcomer to the Olympic stage after making the cut as one of the 23 players selected to the roster. The Michigan native — and a forward — is one of eight first-time Olympians on Team USA, supported by long-time Olympians and fan-favorites in Hilary Knight and Amanda Kessel.

Though this is Roque’s first time at the Olympics, she is no stranger to tough competition and big stages.

Here are five things to know about Roque ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Get to know Nathan Chen: 5 facts about the Olympic figure skating gold-medal contender

Here are a few things to know about three-time world champ Nathan Chen.

Nathan Chen is the Quad King.

Like, that’s actually his nickname because of his incredible range of quadruple figure skating jumps and the number of them he often packs into his routines. What he does on the ice — and particularly above it when he’s soaring through the air — is so incredible that it’s almost impossible to look away.

But despite the 22-year-old skater’s multiple world and U.S. championships, he’s still looking for his first individual Olympic medal, which he could earn at the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February.

From Salt Lake City, Chen is also a statistics and data science major at Yale, but he paused his academics to train full time for the Beijing Games with his longtime coach, Rafael Arutunian, in Irvine, California, according to Team USA. And he’s hoping his second Olympics go better than his first in 2018 in Pyeongchang.

So ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, here are five things to know about Chen.