Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Jonathan Garcia competes in the Mens 500 meter at the U.S. Olympic Time Trials, long track speedskating at the Olympic Oval in Kearns, Saturday December 28, 2013.
Meet the Olympic athletes with ties to Utah who will be competing in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Alpine skiing
Bryce Bennett • The Lake Tahoe native, a first-year student at Westminster, is one of the most physically imposing athletes at the Winter Games, standing at 6 foot 7. The former BMX racer comes from a ski racing family. His father was a telemark racer while mom worked at Alpine Meadows Resort in Squaw Valley.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle • Comes from Olympic royalty. Mother Barbara Ann won gold in women’s slalom at the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. The sophomore physics major at Westminster also works part time at his father’s maple syrup shop, Cochran’s Slopeside Syrup, back home in Vermont. He is a first-time Olympian.
Ted Ligety • At 33 years old, the Park City-raised star is one of the sport’s most-decorated names. Ligety is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and will be pushing for a third in his fourth Olympic Games. He has endured a series of injury setbacks, including a torn ACL as well as back surgery, since his gold in Sochi in 2014.
Jared Goldberg • A local kid who grew up shredding runs at Snowbird, Goldberg has qualified for his second straight Games. The Skyline High product finished 11th in super combined and 19th in giant slalom in 2014. Goldberg qualified as one of the top two American men in the downhill World Cup standings this season.
Breezy Johnson • When she was 13, Johnson relocated to Salt Lake City from Victor, Idaho, to enroll at Rowland Hall’s Rowmark Ski Academy. She graduated in 2013 and earned a spot on the U.S. Alpine World Cup team two years later. Johnson qualified for his first Olympic Games in 2018.
Wiley Maple • Maple, a history and psychology sophomore at Westminster, grew up in Aspen, Colo. The 27-year-old Alpine skier is a first-time Olympian. His father was a two-time NCAA ski champion at Colorado, where Maple’s sister, Alex, also skied collegiately.
Megan McJames • McJames, 30, was born and raised in Park City and learned to carve on the runs along the Wasatch Back. She was cut by the team in 2012 but refused to quit skiing and helped pave her own path by fundraising efforts to cover expenses. Pyeongchang will be this Utahn’s third Olympics in a row.
Alice McKennis • McKennis attended Rowmark Ski Academy in Salt Lake City from 2006 to 2008. She is back for her first Olympic appearance since the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver after missing out on the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. The 28-year-old from New Castle, Colo., is a part-time student at Utah State.
Jacqueline Wiles • The 25-year-old Wiles finished 26th overall in the women’s downhill event in Sochi in 2014. The Westminster student was selected by Lindsey Vonn as the first-ever athlete ambassador for her foundation; Vonn helped fund Wiles as she continued racing, while Wiles spread the organization’s message.
Men’s bobsled
Chris Fogt • Fogt, who resides in Alpine, served in the military intelligence branch of the U.S. Army, spent a year deployed in Iraq after participating in the 2010 Games and is a former UVU track and field captain. The 34-year-old won bronze in the four-man bobsled with the late Steven Holcomb in Sochi.
Cross country skiing
Rosie Brennan • Brennan, a first-time Olympian, was born and raised in Park City. Brennan, who competes in the 10-kilometer freestyle event, is a two-time World Championship vet. She has a master’s degree in education from Alaska Pacific University and also is a ski instructor for children in Alaska.
Liz Stephen • Originally from Vermont, Stephen trekked West to Utah to live and train. She is one of many Westminster student-athletes on Team USA. The 31-year-old is a three-time Olympian whose highest finish on the world’s stage is eighth in the 4x5 relay at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
Figure skating
Nathan Chen • The 18-year-old figure skating phenom has revolutionized the sport the past few years and is a two-time U.S. national champion and a medal contender. Chen grew up skating on the ice at the Salt Lake City Sports Complex and was a star at Ballet West before relocating to California at the age of 12.
Freestyle skiing
Mac Bohonnon • The 22-year-old Bohonnon is a daredevil aerialist, who grew up idolizing the late Jeret “Speedy” Peterson. Bohonnon, who relocated to Utah and attends the University of Utah part-time, has incorporated Peterson’s famed “Hurricane” maneuver into his trick repertoire ahead of the Games.
Ashley Caldwell • It wasn’t the type of World Cup season Caldwell would have liked, but the American aerialist nonetheless earned a spot at the 2018 Olympics. The 24-year-old is a one-time World Champion and now a three-time Olympian. The Park City resident finished 10th overall in both the 2014 and 2010 Games.
Maddie Bowman • Bowman is a South Lake Tahoe product through and through, but the reigning 2014 Olympic gold medalist in ski halfpipe is one of several U.S. team athletes who attend Westminster. Now 24, Bowman is still one of the top ski halfpipe talents in the world but had to battle injuries post-Sochi.
Alex Ferreira • The 23-year-old is a sophomore finance major at Westminster. He is a three-time X Games medalist originally from Aspen, Colo. The first-time Olympian is a one-time mogul skier who transitioned to the pipe. His father, Marcelo, played for one of Argentina’s most storied soccer clubs, River Plate.
Devin Logan • Originally from Vermont, Logan is one of many to relocate to Utah to train full time and attend Westminster. The 24-year-old won silver at the 2014 Games in ski slopestyle and has been one of the most consistent names atop the world’s stage the past five years. Logan qualified for both slopestyle and halfpipe.
Jaelin Kauf • The Park City transplant enters the 2018 Olympics as the No. 1-ranked women’s moguls skier in the world. The 21-year-old dominating should come as no surprise. Kauf’s dad, Scott, is a five-time World Pro Mogul Tour champ. And her mother, Patti, was a two-time World Pro Mogul Tour champ herself.
Keaton McCargo • Part of the impressive wave of talented young mogul skiers, McCargo, originally from Colorado, moved to Utah to train and live full time. She’s roommates with teammate Jaelin Kauf. McCargo sits eighth in the world in moguls. The 22-year-old finished eighth at World Championships in 2017.
Kiley McKinnon • The first U.S. aerialist to punch her ticket to Pyeongchang was McKinnon. The 22-year-old grew up in Madison, Conn., with fellow U.S. aerialist Mac Bohonnon. McKinnon, a part-time Westminster student, won the 2015 World Cup overall title and a silver at World Championships that same year.
Troy Murphy • Murphy, a part-time student at Utah State and University of Utah, is one of four Maine products to make the U.S. team. The men’s mogul skier trains and lives full time in Park City. Now 25, Murphy barely missed the 2014 Olympic team in Sochi and is the top American mogulist in the world.
Madison Olsen • The Park City High School graduate is headed to her first Olympics. The 22-year-old aerialist made an impression on the coaches after finishing fourth at a World Cup in Deer Valley this year. Olsen is a product of the local aerials program Fly Freestyle in Park City and is a student-athlete at Westminster.
Morgan Schild • The 20-year-old was off the snow competing for nearly two years after suffering several torn ligaments in her knee in 2015. Schild cemented her spot on the Olympic team this year with back-to-back podiums at Deer Valley Resort in January. Schild was a full-time student at Westminster during rehab.
Brita Sigourney • Sigourney grew up on the California coastline, but eventually became a standout freestyle skier after repeated trips to Lake Tahoe. The 28-year-old is in the midst of finishing her degree at Westminster. She won a qualifying event in Mammoth Mountain, Calif., to earn her spot in South Korea.
Alex Hall • The 19-year-old has been a world traveler since Day 1. Hall, born in Fairbanks, Alaska, grew up in Switzerland and now calls Park City home base and graduated from the Winter Sports School there. He’s also a part-time University of Utah student. Hall was the 2016 youth Olympic silver medalist.
Darian Stevens • Hailing from Missoula, Mont., Stevens is a graduate of the Park City Winter Sports School. The ski slopestyle athlete is a business major at Westminster and a first-time Olympian. The 21-year-old finished 11th overall at last year’s World Championship event.
McRae Williams • Williams, one of the older members of the team, grew up idolizing freeskiers in Winter X Games. But when freeskiing became an Olympic sport in 2014, he charged toward that next step, only to come up short. Williams, the reigning World Champion, was able to secure a spot on the slopestyle team.
Bradley Wilson • Wilson, originally from Butte, Mont., has called Park City home and is part of a local freestyle ski club that also produced his brother, Bryon, who won a bronze medal at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. Wilson is now a two-time Olympian. He finished 20th overall in men’s moguls in Sochi.
Long-track speedskating
Brittany Bowe • The world-record holding long-track skater dealt with a series of debilitating post-concussion syndrome effects, which kept the Ocala, Fla., native off the ice full time for nearly 18 months. Bowe, who has lived full time in Utah since 2010 and finally is healthy, is inching her way back to her old self.
Jonathan Garcia • The 31-year-old Garcia is an admitted sports fanatic. The Houston product is a devoted Houston sports supporter. He was also the one-time roommate of Real Salt Lake defender Tony Beltran. On the ice, Garcia will be a two-time Olympian. He finished 28th overall in the 1,000-meter event in 2014.
Kimani Griffin • Griffin, originally from North Carolina, relocated to Utah to train full time. The 27-year-old qualified for the men’s 500 meters at the team trials in Milwaukee. Like so many of Team USA’s skaters, Griffin grew up inline skating on the East Coast. He also is a classically trained guitarist who has performed on PBS.
Mia Manganello • As Manganello tuned in from Florida in 2002, Salt Lake City’s Olympics inspired her to drop inline skating and pursue speedskating. After missing out on the 2010 team, she stopped skating and began cycling. She eventually returned to the ice and recently earned a spot on the 2018 team.
Joey Mantia • The Utah transplant one day decided to give long-track skating a shot, packed up his stuff and drove to Salt Lake. He’s been in Utah full time since 2011. Mantia, who turns 32 in a few days, went to his first Games in 2014 in Sochi. One of his favorite hobbies is to bike around Utah’s mountains in the summer.
Carlijn Schoutens • Born in New Jersey to Dutch parents, Schoutens and her family eventually relocated to the Netherlands. After bouncing back and forth between the U.S. and Netherlands, she finally decided to relocate to Salt Lake City at the age of 19. Now 23, Schoutens will represent the U.S. in the women’s 3,000.
Jerica Tandiman • Tandiman began skating at the ice inside the Oval in 2002, when she was 7. She was a five-time junior world team member from 2010 to 2014 before making the senior long-track team in 2014-2015. The 23-year-old earned a spot at the Olympics with her fourth-place finish in the women’s 1,000.
Mitch Whitmore • The 28-year-old from Waukesha, Wis., has been a national team regular for nearly the last decade. The road to Pyeongchang wasn’t easy. Whitmore suffered five fractures in his tailbone during a bike crash in Montana last summer. He won the men’s 500 at team trials in Milwaukee and finished third in the 1,000.
Singles luge
Taylor Morris • The 26-year-old from Salt Lake City made his first Olympic team this cycle after missing out on the 2014 Sochi Games by one spot. Morris joined the U.S. Army in 2011 and is part of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program. Morris’ hobbies include golfing, photography, hiking, boating and video games.
Nordic combined
Bryan Fletcher • Fletcher has lived full time in the Heber Valley while maintaining his spot as one of Team USA’s top Nordic combined athletes. The 31-year-old won the team trials in Park City last month to earn a spot at his second straight Olympics. He attended the Park City Winter Sports School and is a Westminster student.
Taylor Fletcher • Four years younger than brother Bryan, Taylor Fletcher moved to Utah in 2009 when he earned a spot on his first U.S. national team. Pyeongchang will be Fletcher’s third Olympic appearance. The 27-year-old is also a sophomore marketing major at Westminster.
Short-track speedskating
Maame Biney • Biney was born in Ghana and raised by her father, Kweku, in Reston, Va. But when the 17-year-old got serious about earning her spot on this year’s Olympic team, she relocated to Utah, where she lives with a host family and trains. The move has paid off. Biney won the 500-meter race at the U.S. trials.
J.R. Celski • Celski, a three-time Olympic medalist, is the face of U.S. short-track skating. Celski, 27, will be looking for another medal as he competes in the 1,000- and 1,500-meter races in South Korea. He is a native of Federal Way, Wash., but now trains with his teammates at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns.
Jessica Kooreman • Kooreman has been competing on the World Cup circuit for more than a decade and will take aim at her first Olympic medal in her second straight Games appearance. She finished fourth in the women’s 1,000 meters in Sochi. Originally from Michigan, she relocated to Utah to train and compete.
Lana Gehring • Gehring, from Illinois, moved to Utah with the goal of an Olympic spot in mind. She got it at the age of 19, winning a bronze in the relay event at the 2010 Games. After missing out on the team in 2014, she switched to long-track skating, but put in a dominant performance at the team trials in December.
Aaron Tran • Tran grew up in the same town as Celski in the Seattle area. And Tran, like Celski, uprooted himself to move to Utah in pursuit of the Olympic dream. The 21-year-old recalls first tuning into short track at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy. Tran finished second in the men’s 500 meters at the team trials.
Thomas Hong • Hong was born in South Korea after his mother went into labor at an ice rink while his older sister was training. The Hong family moved to Maryland when Thomas was 4. Hong was part of the men’s relay team that broke the world record in November. Hong has lived in Utah the past two years.
Ski jumping
Sarah Hendrickson • Hendrickson has been at the forefront of women’s ski jumping. The Park City resident wore the No. 1 bib in 2014, becoming the first woman to jump in an Olympic Games. Hendrickson’s first trip to the Olympics, however, was hampered by injury. The 23-year-old is healthy this time around.
Abby Ringquist • Part of the famed group of female ski jumpers who pushed for the sport’s eventual inclusion in the 2014 Olympics, Ringquist gets her much-deserved Olympic appearance. Now 28, the Park City High School graduate did not qualify in 2014, but has earned her rings four years later.
Will Rhoads • The 22-year-old, another Park City product who grew up soaring at the Utah Olympic Park, makes his first Games. He won his third large hill national championship in a row last July and is a junior national champion who has competed in four junior world championships.
Snowboarding
Faye Gulini • The Salt Lake native first learned to ride at Snowbird and is off to her third Olympic Games and searching for her first podium finish. Gulini, a Westminster alum, finished 12th overall in the event during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and just missed a medal in Sochi, finishing fourth in 2014.
Snowboardcross
Jonathan Cheever • Cheever, who grew up in Boston, is a part-time plumber who has lived in Park City off and on since 2004. Now 32, Cheever had not been competing as much as he would have liked recently due to poor performance and utilizing his plumbing business to finance his worldwide travel.