U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Announces team for Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024
by USOPC
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee today announced the 2024 U.S. Youth Olympic Games Team that will compete at the Winter Youth Olympic Games from Jan. 19-Feb. 1 in Gangwon, Korea.
USA’s delegation will include 101 total athletes representing ten National Governing Bodies and ranging in age from 13 to 18. Team USA will compete in alpine skiing, cross country skiing, freeski, freestyle dual moguls, snowboard, ski jumping, nordic combined, ice hockey, biathlon, bobsled, skeleton, curling, luge and speedskating over 13 total days of competition. Hailing from 26 states, over half of the country is represented with many athletes representing the U.S.’s cold weather states.
“The Youth Olympic Games offer an incredible opportunity for young athletes of the world to come together in celebration of sport,” said Lynn Wentland, USOPC Director of Games Operations and Chef de Mission for the 2024 Youth Olympic Games. “They gain not only great experience on the field of play, but also the unique and special experience of representing their country in international competition alongside athletes from many other sports.”
The Team USA athletes competing 2024 YOGs are a part of the largest delegation for USA since the event’s inception. Previous events featured 95 (2020), 62 (2016) and 63 (2012) United States athletes. The United States had its most successful Youth Olympic Games showing in Norway in 2016, finishing fourth in total medal standings and tying first for gold count.
This year’s Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) marks the fourth edition of the event and the first of its kind held in Asia, taking place in the province of Gangwon in the Republic of Korea. The event will utilize many of the same facilities constructed for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, affording the athletes the opportunity to compete in the same venues as past Olympic champions and reside in dedicated Youth Olympic Villages. Gangwon will host the largest contingent of youth winter athletes yet, welcoming over 1,900 athletes with equal representation of males and females.
The Youth Olympic Games provides an opportunity for young, standout athletes to compete in elite environments and prepare future Olympic hopefuls. The YOG concept was created by the International Olympic Committee to inspire young people around the world to participate in sport and adopt the principles of Olympism.
Coverage and information on the Youth Olympic Games can be found on the official website for Gangwon 2024.
Alpine Skiing: Annika Hunt (East Burke, Vt.), Christina Winchell (Stowe, Vt.), Jevin Palmquist (Eagan, Minn.), Stewie Bruce (Vail, Colo.), Nicole Begue (Miami, Fla.)
Biathlon: Elias Soule (Anchorage, Alaska), Emily Campbell (Park City, Utah), Molly Maybach (Boise, Idaho), Noa Kam-Magruder (Anchorage, Alaska), Alex Taylor (Lincoln, Mass.), John Lohuis (Anchorage, Alaska)
Bobsled: Liam Mckenna (Lunenburg, Mass.), John Lansing (Lake Placid, N.Y.), Emily Bradley (Sacramento, Calif.)
Cross Country: Rose Horning (Leadville, Colo.), Neve Gerard (Bend, Ore.), Sydney Drevlow (Hopkins, Minn.), Tabor Greenberg (Moretown, Vt.), Benjamin Barbier (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Landon Wyatt (Bozeman, Mont.)
Curling: Ella Wendling, Benji Paral (Eau Claire, Wisc.), Zachary Brenden (Bismark, N.D.), Owen Nelson (Mandan, N.D.), Teagan Thurston (Poynette, Wisc.), Kenna Ponzio (Savage, Minn.)
Figure Skating: Jacob Sanchez (Montgomery, N.Y.), Sherry Zhang (San Jose, Calif.), Olivia Ilin (North Potomac, Md.), Dylan Cain (North Bethesda, Md.), Cayla Smith (Churubusco, Ind.), Jared McPike (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Freeski: Kate Gray (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), Piper Arnold (Lake Tahoe, Calif.), Ben Fethke (Boise, Idaho), Hunter Maytin (Aspen, Colo.), Eleanor Andrews (Northampton, Mass.), Henry Townshend (Park City. Utah), Jack Rodeheaver (Park City, Utah)
Freestyle: Elizabeth Lemley (Vail, Colo.), Abigail McLarnon (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Porter Huff (Longmont, Colo.), Jiah Cohen (Vail, Colo.)
Ice Hockey: Logan Stuart (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Logan Lutner (Maple Grove, Minn.), Luke Schairer (Charlotte, North Carolina), Mikey Berchild (Excelsior, Minn.), Parker Trottier (Edina, Minn.), Shaeffer Gordon Carroll (Midway, Utah), Spencer Thornborough (Boxford, Mass.), Tyler Martyniuk (Washington Township, Mich.), Xavier Wendt (Plymouth, Minn.), Zane Torre (Ladera Ranch, Calif.), Abraham Barnett (Glencoe, Ill.), Alexander Francisco (Hermantown, Minn.), AJ Garcia (Romeoville, Ill.), Cole Bumgarner (Albertville, Minn.), Gavin Weeks (Goffstown, N.H.), Jackson Marthaler (Superior, Wisc.), JP Hurlbert (Allen, Texas)
Luge: Orson Colby (Riverton, Utah), Nathan Bivins (Castleton, N.Y.), Wolfgang Lux (Swanton, Vt.), Sadie Martin (Vermontville, N.Y.), Ellie Kleinheinz (Santa Clara, Calif.), Haidyn Bunker (West Farmington, Ohio), Talia Tonn (Cecil, Wisc.)
Nordic Combined: Anders Giese (Wilmette, Ill.), Kai McKinnon (Lake Placid, N.Y.), Arthur Tirone (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Ella Wilson (Steamboat Springs, Colo.)
Skeleton: Noah Park (Salt Lake City, Utah), Baden Park (Salt Lake City, Utah), Biancha Emery (Bend, Ore.)
Ski Cross: Morgan Shute (Allendale, N.J.), Maggie Swain (Kingfield, Maine), Aiden England (Truckee, Calif.), Walker Robinson (Frisco, Colo.)
Ski Jumping: Sawyer Graves (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Jason Colby (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Estella Hassrick (Madison, Wisc.), Josie Johnson (Park City, Utah)
Snowboarding: Sonora Alba (San Pedro, Calif.), Hanna Percy (Truckee, Calif.), Boden Gerry (Carrabassett Valley, Maine), Mason Hamel (Bethel, Maine), Alessandro Barbieri (Portland, Ore.), Rochelle Weinberg (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Noah Avallone (Montauk, N.Y.), Becca Flynn (Victoria, Minn.), Oliver Martin (Wilcott, Colo.), Bri Schnorrbusch (Monroe Township, N.J.), Brooklyn DePriest (Rocklin, Calif.), Olivia Lisle (Edwards, Colo.)
Speedskating: Kyung Jang (Seoul, Korea), Julius Kazanecki (Bethesda, Md.), Liam Kitchel (Norwich, Vt.), Eliza Rhodehamel (Madison, Wisc.), Sean Shuai (Sandy, Utah), Marley Soldan (Tacoma, Wash.), Max Weber (Little Canada, Minn.)