The 2022 Winter Olympics haven’t even started and the University of Utah has already won gold. When the Winter Games commence on Feb. 4, there will be 38 athletes with ties to the U competing in Beijing, the most of any university in the world. Thirty-one of those Olympians will be representing Team USA.
As one would expect from the reigning (for three years now) NCAA team champion, there’s a big Utah Ski Team presence headed to China. It’s also the source of the U’s international Olympic flavor. Of the 12 current and former U skiers, six of them will be competing for other countries (Argentina, Australia (2), Canada, Estonia and Iceland, to be precise).
But it’s not just on the slopes where U students and alumni will be going for gold. There are seven current students on the U.S. speedskating team. One of the stars of the group is Maame Biney, the U.S. champion in the women’s 500, 1000 and 1500 meter events. Computer engineering student and longtrack specialist Casey Dawson is headed to the Games on a high after being a part of the three-person team that set the world record in the Team Pursuit category in December 2021.
Then there are the athletes who have to rise, literally, to every occasion on the mountain. Those are the ones who flip, bounce, freestyle and sail down the hill. That group includes nine freeskiers, two ski jumpers, one snowboard cross competitor and one snowboard slopestyle competitor. The superstar of this bunch is Alex Hall, dubbed “one of the most stylish skiers currently in the freeski game.” Hall is fresh off an X-Games Gold Medal in the Big Air event, where he became the first person on skis to land a 2160. For those reaching for their phone calculator, that is a total of six rotations in the air. The five-time X-Games champion, not to mention the only person to win four disciplines, will be must-watch TV at this year’s Olympics.
To that end, stay tuned to the University of Utah’s social media, where event times and ways to watch each and every U Olympian will be shared throughout the Winter Games.
U Olympians (alphabetically)
Fayik Abdi | Skiing: Alpine (Suadi Arabia)
Maame Biney | Speedskating
Tomas Birkner | Skiing: Alpine (Argentina)
Kevin Bolger | Skiing: Cross-Country
Ashley Caldwell | Skiing: Freestyle
Keely Cashman| Skiing: Alpine
Ethan Cepuran | Speedskating
Caroline Claire | Skiing: Freeski
Casey Dawson | Speedskating
Mick Deirdorf | Snowboard: Cross
Snorri Einarsson | Skiing: Cross-Country (Iceland)
Sean FitzSimons | Snowboard: Cross-Country
Jasper Good | Skiing: Nordic Combined
Alex Hall | Skiing: Freeski
Marin Hamill | Skiing: Freeski
Andrew Heo | Speedskating
Anna Hoffmann | Skiing: Ski Jumping
Madison Hoffman | Skiing: Alpine (Australia)
Birk Irving | Skiing: Freeski
Luke Jager | Skiing: Cross-Country
Breezy Johnson | Skiing: Alpine
Casey Larson | Skiing: Ski Jumping
Sophia Laukli | Skiing: Cross-Country
Maureen Lebel | Skiing: Alpine
Julie Letai | Speedskating
Novie McCabe | Skiing: Cross-Country
Cole McDonald | Skiing: Freestyle
Megan Nick | Skiing: Freestyle
Katie Parker | Skiing: Alpine (Australia)
Ian Quinn | Speedskating
Roni Remme | Skiing: Alpine (Canada)
Kristen Santos | Speedskating
Jared Shumate | Skiing: Nordic Combined
Stephen Schumann | Skiing: Nordic Combined
Hannah Soar | Skiing: Freestyle
Darian Stevens | Skiing: Freeski/Freestyle
Katie Vesterstein | Skiing: Alpine (Estonia)
Winter Vinecki | Skiing: Freestyle