We’re just some days away from the 2022 Winter Olympics kicking off in Beijing, the place the Bay Space will see 5 athletes born-and-raised right here head to compete.
It’s been lower than six months for the reason that closing ceremony from the coronavirus-delayed 2020 Summer time Olympics occurring in Tokyo, the place dozens of athletes with Bay Space connections competed, and solely 5 months for the reason that 2020 Summer time Paralympics.
Within the time since, sports activities followers right here within the Bay have had the Giants cap off a sensational season by profitable the NL West, the Sharks burst out to their strongest begin in just a few seasons, the Warriors re-claim their perch atop of the NBA and the 49ers make an exhilarating run to the NFC title recreation.
So that you’ll be forgiven for those who forgot that the Winter Olympics weren't simply occurring, however beginning this week, because the Opening Ceremony takes place on Friday morning at 4 a.m. Pacific time. The primary occasion really kicked off right now, with the primary spherical of blended doubles curling beginning at 4 a.m. Pacific.
The game most represented by Bay Space people is determine skating, with three skaters tied to the Bay Space. The function determine skater is Richmond native Alysa Liu, who will compete in her first Olympics at age 16. She beforehand turned the youngest U.S. nationwide champion at age 13 again in 2019, then adopted that up with one other U.S. title the following yr to go back-to-back.
One athlete not listed however with a small Bay Space connection is U.S. girls’s hockey star Hillary Knight, who was born in Palo Alto however moved to the Chicago suburbs when she was 5. She’ll be main the U.S. crew of their try to win their second straight gold medal and maintain off the Canadians, who had gained gold the earlier 4 Olympics in a row.
Right here’s extra on the 5 Bay Space Winter Olympic athletes (in alphabetical order):
KAREN CHEN, Determine Skating
Occasion: Ladies’s singles
Age: 22 — Birthplace/hometown: Fremont — Highschool: Connections Academy (on-line)
Membership: Peninsula Skating Membership — Coach: Tammy Gambill
Olympic expertise: eleventh at PyeongChang in 2018
World Championship expertise: 4th in 2017
Different Profession Highlights: twelfth at 2016 and 2017 4 Continents Championships; eighth at 2015 World Junior Championships; ninth at 2014 World Junior Championships
Private: Has one youthful brother, Jeffrey, who competes in ice dance . . .Started ice skating at age 4 and began competing two years later . . . Choreographed her personal quick program for the 2017 season.
ALYSA LIU, Determine Skating
Occasion: Ladies’s singles
Age: 16 (youngest athlete on the U.S. crew) — Birthplace: Clovis — Hometown: Richmond
Membership: St. Moritz ISC, Dublin — Coaches: Christy Krall, Drew Meekins, Viktor Pfeifer
Olympic expertise: First-time Olympian
World Championship expertise: Was too younger to compete on the 2019, ’20 or ’21 occasions
Different profession highlights: Youngest-ever U.S. girls’s nationwide champion, having gained her first crown in 2019 on the age of 13. Additionally gained in 2020, making her first lady to win back-to-back titles since Ashley Wagner in 2012 and ’13 . . . was the primary junior American lady to efficiently full a triple Axel in worldwide competitors . . . gained her first worldwide competitors on the 2017 Asian Open Determine Skating Trophy in Hong Kong earlier than she turned 12
Private: Appeared on the Right now Present and Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Present after profitable her first U.S. title . . . Oldest of 5 kids, all of whom have been conceived via an nameless egg donor and surrogate moms . . . Her father, Arthur, an Oakland legal professional, emigrated from China in 1989 and raised all 5 kids as a single mum or dad. He graduated from Cal State East Bay earlier than incomes his regulation diploma at UC Hastings School in San Francisco . . . Alysa takes on-line lessons and infrequently did her college work from a cubicle in her father’s Oakland workplace.
NINA O’BRIEN, Alpine Snowboarding
Occasions: Large slalom, slalom
Age: 24 — Birthplace/hometown: San Francisco — Residence: Denver
Highschool: Burke Mountain Academy, Vermont — School: Dartmouth
Membership: Squaw Valley Ski Workforce — Coach: Magnus Andersson
Olympic expertise: First-time Olympian
World Championship expertise: Positioned tenth within the big slalom and parallel slalom on the 2021 World Championship in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. She was twenty eighth within the big slalom in 2019
Different profession highlights: Has gained eight nationwide titles in slalom, super-g, alpine mixed, parallel slalom and big slalom, together with an upset victory within the big slalom on the 2015 nationals when she was 17
Private: An economics main at Dartmouth (taking lessons on-line), she spent the summer season working at a personal fairness agency in Denver, whereas coaching earlier than and after her shifts.
BRITA SIGOURNEY, Freestyle Snowboarding
Occasion: Halfpipe
Age: 31 — Birthplace: Monterey — Hometown: Carmel
School: UC Davis and Westminster School
Olympic expertise: Three-time Olympian (2014, 2018, 2022), profitable bronze at PyeongChang in 2018 and sixth at Sochi in 2014
World Championship expertise: Completed sixth in 2011 and and ninth in 2017, ending sixth
Different profession highlights: First in World Cup standings in halfpipe in 2011 and 2012; High-10 in World Cup standings in halfpipe in 2014-15-16-17; 2011 X Video games silver medal in superpipe; 2015 X Video games bronze medal in superpipe
Private: Started snowboarding on the age of two and joined the freestyle crew at Alpine Meadows on the age of 8 . . . Performed water polo whereas attending school at UC Davis and was on her highschool swim crew . . . left Davis to coach at Park Metropolis, Utah, the place she resumed school at Westminster.
VINCENT ZHOU, Determine Skating
Occasion: Males’s singles
Age: 21 — Birthplace: San Jose — Hometown: Palo Alto
Highschool: Cheyenne Mountain Excessive (Colorado Springs, Colo.) — School: Brown College ‘23
Workforce/Membership: Skating Membership of San Francisco — Coaches: Tammy Gambill, Drew Meekins, Mie Hamada
Olympic expertise: Two-time Olympian (2018 and ’22), was sixth at PyeongChang 2018, the place he turned the primary particular person to efficiently land a quadruple Lutz leap
World Championship expertise: Competed in 2018, ’19 and ’21, profitable bronze in 2019. He was twenty fifth in 2021
Private: Started skating at age 5 at a buddy’s party . . . Graduated from highschool at age 16 and took a niche yr from 2017-2018 to deal with coaching . . . Positioned third at 2018 U.S. championships to earn first Olympic bid, regardless of coming off shoulder dislocation . . . Enjoys writing quick poems . . . His dad and mom, each initially from China, labored in Silicon Valley within the pc science enterprise . . . older sister Vivian is a violinist and diver.
