Colorado athletes competing in the Winter Games
The Centennial State has the secondbiggest contingent behind California
The United States has sent 222 athletes to the Beijing Olympics and the team has a strong Colorado feel to it.
The Centennial State will have 23 athletes, by their recognized hometowns, according to the United State Olympic and Paralympic Committee. It is tied for the second biggest contingent with Minnesota and behind only California (29).
Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin, of Edwards, is the most decorated among the Colorado crew, having won two gold medals (slalom in 2014 and giant slalom in 2018) and a silver (combined in 2018). The two golds are tied for the most all-time among American Alpine racers.
Vail-born skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender will be competing in her fifth Olympic Games, tied for the most on the Americans with Lindsey Jacobelis, John Shuster and Shaun White.
Silverthorne’s Red Gerard returns for his second Olympic Games. In 2018, he became the youngest winter Olympian to win a gold medal at the age of 17, after capturing the slopestyle title in snowboarding. Goaltender Nicole Hensley, of Littleton, will again mind the net as the U.S. women’s hockey team looks to defend its gold. Aspen native Alex Ferriera won silver in the freestyle ski halfpipe in 2018. Alex Deibold won bronze in the snowboard cross in 2014.
Nordic combined racer Taylor Fletcher, of Steamboat Springs, is competing in his fourth straight Olympics, while Aaron Blunck, of Crested Butte, is going to his third. Other Coloradans returning for their second Games, include Taylor Gold (2014), Mick Dierdorff (2018), Alex Deibold (2014), Hagen Kearney (2018), Jasper Good (2018) and Joanne Reid (2018).
Here’s a look at the list of Colorado athletes, including ones not officially listed by the USOC:
Alpine skiing
•Nina O’brien, Denver
•River Radamus, Edwards
•Mikaela Shiffrin, Edwards
Biathlon
•Joanne Reid, Grand Junction
Bobsled
•Sylvia Hoffman, Colorado Springs
Cross country skiing
•Hailey Swirbul, Aspen
Figure skating
•Mariah Bell, Monument
•Brandon Frazier, Colorado Springs
Freestyle skiing
•Aaron Blunck, Crested Butte
•Alex Ferreira, Aspen
•Hanna Faulhaber, Basalt
•Birk Irving, Winter Park
•Kai Owens, Vail
•Dylan Walczyk, Blue River
Hockey
•Nicole Hensley, Littleton
•Nick Shore, Denver Nordic combined
•Taylor Fletcher, Steamboat Springs
•Jasper Good, Steamboat Springs
Skeleton
•Katie Uhlaender, Breckenridge
Snowboarding
•Chris Corning, Silverthorne
•Alex Deibold, Boulder
•Mick Dierdorff, Steamboat Springs
•Lucas Foster, Telluride
•Stacy Gaskill, Golden
•Red Gerard, Silverthorne
•Taylor Gold, Steamboat Springs
•Zoe Kalapos, Vail
•Hagen Kearney, Norwood
•Cody Winters, Steamboat Springs