Category Archives: Olympics

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Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Jimmy Reed moved to Garmisch, Germany as a child while his father worked for the Department of Defense. During his 16 years abroad, he attended Munich International School for high school.

Reed later competed in track and field at the University of Maine alongside now-bobsled pilot Frank Del Duca; during that time, running coach David Cusano often talked about how much fun bobsled was, and implored Reed to give the sport a shot. After graduating college in 2014, Reed did exactly that. He excelled during a bobsled combine test event and joined USA Bobsled days later.

Reed was an alternate during PyeongChang 2018, but did not compete. He has excelled primarily in the four-man discipline: Reed's World Cup results include a silver at the Lake Placid 2016 event and four bronze medals, most recently at the Innsbruck 2020 stop.

He announced via social media that, after 8 years with the sport, Reed would compete professionally for the last time at the 2022 Games.

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Meet the U.S. bobsled team for the 2022 Winter Olympics - NBC Olympics

Two more Mainers are set to compete at the Winter Olympics that begin next weekend in Beijing, China.

Sophia Laukli of Yarmouth is the most recent addition to Team USA, having been nominated to the U.S. Olympic cross country ski team, while Clare Egan of Cape Elizabeth earlier qualified for her second straight Olympic appearance in the biathlon.

Im so so excited, Laukli said after her selection. Its pretty incredible to actually be named to the Olympic team and I still havent fully wrapped my mind around it.

Laukli and Egan join Portland native Emily Sweeney (luge), Bethel resident and University of Maine graduate Frankie Del Duca (bobsled)and fellow University of Maine graduate Jimmy Reed (bobsled)among the 2022 Olympians with Maine connections.

Five current or former University of Maine womens ice hockey players also are bound for Beijing, with a sixth Black Bear an alternate for her countrys Olympic team.

The 21-year-old Laukli was named to the U.S. Olympic team last Thursday, capping a rapid rise from her domination of the Maine high school Nordic skiing scene until her graduation from Yarmouth High School in 2018 she won every race she entered as a senior to her success collegiately, first at Middlebury and now at the University of Utah.

Laukli placed fifth in a 15-kilometer mass start race and was part of a silver medal-winning U.S. relay team at the Nordic Junior World Championships in Germany in March 2020. A week later she earned All-American honors by finishing second in the 5K freestyle at the NCAA Championships in Bozeman, Montana just before the rest of the meet was canceled due to the arrival of COVID-19.

The dual U.S. and Norwegian citizen her father Bjorn was an All-American cross-country skier at the University of Colorado during the early 1990s subsequently was selected for the U.S. cross country ski programs womens development team.

Laukli made her FIS World Cup debut in a 15-kilometer skiathlon in Lahti, Finland, on Jan. 23, 2021, and her best finish on that circuit came earlier this month with a fifth-place effort in a 10-kilometer mass start event at Val di Fiemme, Italy.

She also ranked 23rd in the 2021-22 FIS Tour de Ski standings and was the second-leading American on that circuit behind 2018 Olympic team sprint gold medalist and 2020-2021 FIS World Cup overall champion Jesse Diggins.

Laukli this week was selected to represent the United States at the 2022 FIS Junior and U23 World Cross Country Championships set for Feb. 22-27 in Lygna, Norway, but declined due to her Olympic opportunity.

Even just a year ago, the Olympics seemed far-fetched, so it feels pretty surreal, Laukli said. That being said, I am so excited and grateful for the opportunity. Its definitely a proud moment and Im looking forward to the whole experience and learning a lot from it, and I especially cant wait to see what the U.S. team can do this year.

Egan qualified for Beijing last season and has said that this will be her last year competing for Team USA.

The 2006 graduate of Cape Elizabeth High School is a veteran of the World Cup biathlon scene, having debuted at the sports top level in 2015.

The 34-year-old Egan has scored eight top-10 World Cup finishes during her career and enters the Beijing Games coming off her second-best career finish, a fourth-place effort in a 15-kilometer individual race on Jan. 21 at Antholz-Anterselva, Italy.

She teamed with fellow Olympians Susan Dunklee, Deedra Irwin and Joanne Reid to finish fifth in the team relay the next day and placed 22nd last Sunday in the 12.5-kilometer mass start race.

Egans best career finish in World Cup competition is third place in a mass start race at the 2019 World Cup final in Oslo, Norway.

She finished 18th overall in the 2018-19 World Cup standings and 36th in the 2020-21 season.

Egan also has competed for the United States in six World Championships as well as the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Egan was elected in 2018 as chair of the International Biathlon Union Athletes Committee, a term that ends this year.

The Winter Olympics are set to run Feb 4-20.

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2 more Mainers are going to the 2022 Winter Olympics - Bangor Daily News

Not only is it the first time a Summer and Winter Olympics have been within six months of each other.But this is the first time ever that the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl, live from Los Angeles and featuring a California team, will take place at the same time.There's a lot to celebrate. Like many Olympics before, there is controversy surrounding the host country.China has a long history of human rights violations.The Games shine a light on these issues and it's an important conversation that shouldn't be dismissed, but the Olympics should also not be dismissed.The thrill of these games has a way of bringing everyone together and bridging so many divides.In a time when we are so divided, and with so much we don't agree on, we can agree on good sportsmanship, the power of grace in the face of agony, that hard work pays off and what it means to achieve your dreams and that is something that brings us together. The Olympics is about heart, determination and hard work, and that's what we're supporting with our coverage of the Winter Games.In honor of our athletes, we're producing our Olympic Zone coverage live from Palisades in Tahoe, home of the 1960 Olympics. Every day that our inspiring local athletes step up to the global Olympics stage in Beijing we're celebrating them from our Olympic stage in Palisades Tahoe.Ariel Roblin is the president and general manager of KCRA 3 and My58. See more of her editorials here.

Not only is it the first time a Summer and Winter Olympics have been within six months of each other.

But this is the first time ever that the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl, live from Los Angeles and featuring a California team, will take place at the same time.

There's a lot to celebrate.

Like many Olympics before, there is controversy surrounding the host country.

China has a long history of human rights violations.

The Games shine a light on these issues and it's an important conversation that shouldn't be dismissed, but the Olympics should also not be dismissed.

The thrill of these games has a way of bringing everyone together and bridging so many divides.

In a time when we are so divided, and with so much we don't agree on, we can agree on good sportsmanship, the power of grace in the face of agony, that hard work pays off and what it means to achieve your dreams and that is something that brings us together.

The Olympics is about heart, determination and hard work, and that's what we're supporting with our coverage of the Winter Games.

In honor of our athletes, we're producing our Olympic Zone coverage live from Palisades in Tahoe, home of the 1960 Olympics. Every day that our inspiring local athletes step up to the global Olympics stage in Beijing we're celebrating them from our Olympic stage in Palisades Tahoe.

Ariel Roblin is the president and general manager of KCRA 3 and My58. See more of her editorials here.

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Ariel Roblin: The Olympics is about heart, determination and hard work - KCRA Sacramento

One was decided by a newspaper poll, one by a public vote and some others through a contest. The most recent was chosen from thousands of global entries of illustrations by children. Over the years, the mascots for the Winter Olympics have been abstract forms, animals and humans.

And they have remained in the public memory.

Bing Dwen Dwen, the cheerful panda, is the official mascot for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, but there were plenty before. Shuss, a man on skis in abstract form, was the first official mascot for a Winter Olympics. He was the mascot for the 1968 Grenoble Games, made in the colors of France: blue, red and white.

Norwegian children Haakon and Kristin, dressed in Viking outfits, were the first mascots in human form. The 1994 Lillehammer mascots are said to have been inspired by historical figures Hkon IV Hkonson, the 13th century king of Norway, and his aunt Princess Kristin.

Schneemandl is said to have been a commercial success and inspired versions of living mascots. Austrian for Snowman, Schneemandl was the mascot for the 1976 Innsbruck Games.

A wolf isnt an expected character for a mascot but the 1984 Sarajevo Games transformed an animal known to be feared into a friendly image. In Yugoslavian fables, the wolf symbolizes winter. Vuko the wolf was chosen through a contest with hundreds of participants.

Neve and Gliz were the mascots for the 2006 Turin Olympics. Neve is a snowball and Gliz an ice cube.

In Beijing, Bing Dwen Dwen is everywhere on buses, at street corners and hanging from the rafters at some official Olympic venues. He is the face that those in a strict Olympic bubble at the Beijing Games will take back with them.

Check out the Winter Olympics mascots over the years here:

Beijing 2022

via Associated Press

Inflated Beijing Games mascot, Bing Dwen Dwen, tries to squeeze through the door to enter the main media center at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Pyeongchang 2018

via Associated Press

Workers browse their phones next to the mascots for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games near the South Korean booth during the World Winter Sports Expo in Beijing, Sept. 7, 2017.

Sochi 2014

via Associated Press

Robotic mascots perform during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Feb. 7, 2014.

Vancouver 2010

via Associated Press

The mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, from left, Miga, Quatchi and Sumi pose for photographers following their debut to students in Surrey, British Columbia.

Turin 2006

via Associated Press

Children attending the short track skating races in the Palavela Arena cheer with Torino Olympic mascots Neve, left and Gliz at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Salt Lake City 2002

via Associated Press

Supporters of the Austrian ski team make music with Powder, one of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games mascots, in Snowbasin, Utah on Feb. 11, 2002.

Nagano 1998

via Associated Press

Snowlets, the Olympic mascots, walk around the stadium prior to the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics at Minami Nagano Sports Park in Nagano, Japan on Feb. 7, 1998.

Lillehammer 1994

via Associated Press

The wooden mascots of the Winter Olympics watch over one of the main shopping streets on Feb. 8, 1994, in Lillehammer, Norway.

Calgary 1988

via Associated Press

Allison McAbe is framed by all kinds of souvenirs in a Calgary, Alberta, shop on Feb. 7, 1988.

Sarajevo 1984

via Associated Press

Amela Dizdar, 3, poses with a replica of the Winter Olympics mascot named Vucko in Sarajevo in 1984. The mascot was the creation of Joze Trobec, an academic painter from Kranj in Slovenia.

Innsbruck 1976

via Associated Press

Snowmen, mascots of the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

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Winter Olympics Mascots Through The Years - HuffPost

Hilary Knight wrote a book when she was in elementary school, and more than just the words, she also provided the illustrations. It was about a little girl with a special secret and a dream of making it to the top of her sport, and the title was written in pencil crayon: The Magical Hockey Stick.

Knight was a little girl obsessed with hockey but from a family better versed in skiing. She started in a bicycle helmet and ski gloves. As she got faster and stronger, she would keep her hair cut short, hoping to blend in on the ice, reducing the bullying from parents and boys jealous she had taken their spot.

As the book title suggests, the little girl had help on her journey. She made it to the big game in the end, thanks in part to her magic hockey stick. (Knights mother, Cynthia, pulled the book out of storage to show a local television crew a few years ago: A 5-1 final score was prominent on the cover.)

I think my pictures, although theyre not great, Hilary Knight said with a laugh, were probably better than the words.

She has spent the intervening decades backing those words up with action on the world stage, emerging as a driving force for her sport both on and off the ice. She is about to make her fourth appearance at an Olympic Games, where the United States will attempt to defend the gold medal it won four years ago.

When she returns to the U.S., Knight will work as an NHL analyst for ESPN, keeping her on a path that colleagues and former rivals believe will help the 32-year-old drive the very future of womens hockey.

Honestly? I think Hilary could do whatever she wants, said Canadian Olympic hero Jayna Hefford.

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Hilary Knight's story, at the Olympics and beyond, has a lot left to be written - The Athletic

At age 21, Red Gerard is one of the world's few people who have prepared to defend an Olympic gold medal. But if you think he's feeling the pressure, think again.

The Ohio native is set to compete in men's snowboarding slopestyle in the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, which begin next week. No matter what happens, he already made history four years ago: In 2018, Gerard became the youngest male U.S. Olympian to win gold in 90 years, when he took the top spot in men's snowboarding slopestyle at the Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

But even though Gerard tells CNBC Make It that he's focused on his goal of winning a second consecutive gold medal, he says he'll be the first to cheer on his rivals as they vie to beat him. There's extra satisfaction to winning, he says, when your competitors also put up high scores.

Seeing his rivals succeed "is just going to motivate me to land my run better," Gerard says. "It's going to feel a lot better to win when you look at the results, and from fifth place up, everyone landed a run that was dang good and amazing."

Gerard, an avid sports fan, says he sees a level of camaraderie in snowboarding that isn't always present in other sports. He cheers on his friends because "at the end of the day, it's down to me" to perform and score well.

"Almost everyone that I'm competing against, I consider those guys my closest friends," Gerard says. "Especially the ones on the U.S. team and the ones on the Canadian team. Those guys, I'm pretty darn close with."

And, he says, they cheer him on too. "When we're at the top [of the slope] we're always rooting for each other," he says. "I want my competitor to land a run, and I want it to be really good. I just want mine to do better."

On Saturday, Jan. 22, Gerard placed fourth in slopestyle at X-Games Aspen 2022, where he faced off against reigning world champion and Olympic favorite Marcus Kleveland, among other rivals. Both snowboarders are slated to compete in the Olympics slopestyle qualifiers on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 11:30 p.m. EST.

The event's final will take place on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 11:00 p.m. EST.

Disclosure: CNBC Make It parent company NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

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Why Olympic gold medalist Red Gerard always cheers for his opponents: Their success 'is just going to motivate me' - CNBC

The NHL is not sending players to the Beijing Olympics over concerns that the pandemic will disrupt the leagues ability to complete a full season.

Two people with direct knowledge of discussions told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the league informed the NHL Players Association it was exercising its right to withdraw from the Beijing Games because there was a material disruption to the season.

The people spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity because an announcement had yet to be made. An announcement was expected Wednesday.

The decision is an abrupt turnaround from September, when the NHL, union, International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation struck a deal to put the best players in the world back on sports biggest stage after they skipped the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. The fast-spreading omicron coronavirus variant forced the scrapping of those plans.

A week ago, the NHL attempted to halt the spread of the omicron variant by reintroducing more restrictive COVID-19 protocols, which included daily testing and limiting player gatherings, especially on the road.

Then a sudden rash of postponements brought the total to 50 this season, a daunting number to reschedule and complete an 82-game season while taking an Olympic break for more than two weeks in February. The NHLs bottom line is at stake, with the league and players drawing no direct money from competing at the Winter Games.

The decision comes long before the league faced a Jan. 10 deadline to pull out without financial penalty. As a result, the mens Olympic hockey tournament will go on without NHL players for the second consecutive time.

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the likely U.S. Olympic starter, expressed displeasure Tuesday with the decision not to go and called the rash of postponements overkill.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby already was bracing for the possibility of the NHL not participating and, at the age of 34, ending what could be his final chance to represent Canada at the Olympics one more time.

These are opportunities and experiences of a lifetime that you dont get very many of as an athlete, and you might only get one, said Crosby, who won Olympic gold with Canada in 2010 and 2014. It just might happen to fall in your window and if it doesnt happen to work out, its unfortunate.

While the NHL and NHLPA agreed on Olympic participation last year as part of a collective bargaining agreement extension, the deal to go to Beijing was contingent on pandemic conditions not worsening.

Unless the Beijing Games are postponed a year like Tokyos, a generation of stars including American Auston Matthews, Canadians Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, German Leon Draisaitl and Swede Victor Hedman will need to wait until 2026 to play in the Olympic mens hockey tournament for the first time.

Its a thing youve been looking forward to for a very long time, Hedman said. For us to not be able to go, its going to hurt for a while.

The NHL was full go on the Olympics until the delta and omicron coronavirus variants began spreading around North America earlier this month. Before Calgarys outbreak in the first half of December, only five games needed to be rescheduled and one was already made up.

The NHL did not participate in the Olympics until 1998, which started a string of five in a row through Sochi in 2014. The season was not stopped in 2018, leaving mostly professionals playing in Europe and some college players to make up the national rosters in South Korea, where the IOC was reluctant to pay for insurance and expenses.

Russia, which won gold at the Pyeongchang Games, immediately becomes the favorite without NHL players leading the Americans thanks to an influx of homegrown talent playing in the Kontintental Hockey League.

Several NHL players already had expressed hesitations about participating, including Vegas goalie Robin Lehner, who pulled his name out of consideration to represent Sweden. Lehner cited mental health reasons in noting the potentially lengthy quarantines for athletes who test positive during the competition.

Im very disappointed and it was a tough decision for me as its a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Reality is that what have been said about how its going to be is not ideal for my mental health, Lehner wrote in a text.

McDavid referred to the potential five-week quarantine requirement as unsettling.

Im still a guy thats wanting to go play in the Olympics, McDavid said. But we also want to make sure its safe for everybody. For all the athletes, not just for hockey players.

Pittsburghs Mike Sullivan will be missing his first opportunity to serve as coach of the U.S. national team. He had been holding out hope for NHL participation earlier Tuesday.

Were all human beings right. Emotions are a part of it. My hope is that we all have a chance to participate, said Sullivan, who served as an assistant coach on Peter Laviolettes staff at the 2006 Olympics. Its an unbelievable honor to represent your nation in the Olympics, its the honor of a lifetime quite honestly. And so I know I dont feel differently than a lot of people that pull their nations sweaters over their heads.

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AP Sports Writer Will Graves contributed to this report.

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More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/olympic-games and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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AP sources: NHL to withdraw from Olympics after COVID ...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday blamed previous governments for Indias Olympics medal drought in hockey, saying the country had to wait for it for decades due to indifference towards the sport.

Indias mens hockey team had won a Bronze in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo last year, 41 years after the country won a Gold in the category in the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

At a public meeting after laying the foundation stone for Major Dhyan Chand Sports University here, Modi said, The previous governments did not give importance to capabilities of the youth. It was the responsibility of the government that the mindset of society towards sports be changed. But, the opposite happened and a feeling of indifference towards most sports started increasing. The result was this that hockey, in which during the colonial era talented people like Major Dhyan Chand brought laurels to the country, in that we had to wait for decades to win a medal, he said.

Modi went on to say, The world hockey has moved from natural fields to AstroTurf. By the time we woke up, it was too late. And from training to team selection, at every level, there was nepotism, the game of caste, corruption at every step. There was discrimination and there was not an iota of transparency. Hockey is just an example. This was the story with every sport. Previous governments in the country could not prepare an excellent eco-system for evolving technology, changing demands and evolving skills, he said.

Also read: 'Meerut will make local sports talent global': PM Modi lays foundation stone of sports uni

Also read: India will fight Covid-19 pandemic with full caution, vigilance: PM Modi

Click here for IndiaToday.ins complete coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Previous govts to blame for Indias Olympics medal drought ...

An illuminated installation is pictured ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

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Jan 27 (Reuters) - Just a week before the opening ceremony of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, U.S. television viewers can be forgiven for forgetting the date, or even that it is taking place in Beijing, China.

Unlike any Games in recent memory, the nearly 20 official international and national Olympic sponsors have laid low, ducking the press and viewers by holding back on the advertising blitz that typically kicks off months ahead the "let the Games begin" pronouncement.

By Wednesday, only two spots had launched, both of which focus on athletes with no mention of the host country, with which the United States is feuding on diplomatic and economic fronts.

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Over the course of the Games, ad agency executives and advertisers told Reuters that viewers should expect ads to continue to downplay the location and ignore any hint of politics to avoid drawing attention to geopolitical conflict and the hot glare of the Chinese government.

Corporate sponsors and advertisers for the Beijing Olympics, which begin on Feb. 4 and run through Feb. 20, have come under fire for what human rights groups say is the enabling of Chinas alleged abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the country. China denies those allegations.

Global Olympic sponsors were grilled by a bipartisan congressional panel in July, which accused the companies of putting profits ahead of accusations of genocide in China.

The halo is tarnished, said Mark DiMassimo, founder of New York-based ad agency DiMassimo Goldstein, which represents brands that are not official sponsors but plan to air commercials during the Olympics.

He said his clients decided to strip from their campaigns mentions of traditional Olympic themes - friendly competition, global unity and good sportsmanship - shortly after the Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics last month.

Bridgestone Corp (5108.T), an official sponsor of the International Olympic Committee, this month began airing a commercial featuring U.S. figure skater Nathan Chen, an Asian American, who advocates for authentic representation in skating, "no matter who you are or where you come from."

Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N), the official airline of Team USA, is airing two commercials spotlighting skiers, snowboarders and figure skaters who defy gravity in their events.

German financial services firm Allianz will have a film featuring winter athletes that will play on social media in the United States, a spokesperson said. Last year, Allianz filmed a short video about U.S. Paralympic athlete Matt Stutzman.

When Reuters asked the global and Team USA sponsors about marketing plans for the Olympics, only two responded, one of which declined to comment.

BIG DEPARTURE

This years response is a big departure from Olympics past, when advertisers crafted ads that embraced the spirit of the Games and honored the culture of the host country.

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) last year aired a commercial for the Tokyo Olympics in which Japanese citizens showed famous parts of the city such as the Shibuya Crossing over a Teams call, sharing a piece of Tokyo for people who could not be there due to the pandemic.

A Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) ad for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics featured animated birds stealing straws from Coke drinks to build a replica of the famed Birds Nest stadium. But that was then.

With the political controversy and the pandemic once again preventing spectators from traveling to the Games, viewers this time around can expect to see fewer mentions of the host city, said Jeremy Carey, managing director of ad agency Optimum Sports, a unit of Omnicom Media Group.

Its a challenge, quite frankly, he said. The connection isnt as prevalent as it would normally be.

Focusing on the athletes competing on the global stage is considered the safest strategy for brands, experts said.

Were trying to steer clear of the geopolitical implications around (the Olympics), said Chris Brandt, chief marketing officer at Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG.N). Chipotle will run ads during the Olympics promoting real food for real athletes, and feature the preferred orders of competitors like U.S. ice hockey player Hilary Knight.

Any attempt for a brand to associate themselves with the Beijing Olympics could backfire, DiMassimo said. You just dont know. You put (the commercial) on, and it might explode.

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Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas; editing by Kenneth Li and Bill Berkrot

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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What Olympics? Advertisers lie low ahead of Beijing Winter Games - Reuters

Axios on facebookAxios on twitterAxios on linkedinAxios on emailJason Brown of Team USA grew up in Highland Park. Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Team USA

The Chicago area will be well represented in Beijing when the 2022 Winter Olympics begin next week.

Women's hockey: The defending gold medal-winners will include six (SIX!) players from the area, including:

The men's hockey team will not include any Blackhawks, per the NHL prohibiting its players from participating due to COVID-19.

Figure skating (singles): Jason Brown (Highland Park) will participate in Men's Single Skating after winning bronze in the 2014 Olympics at 19 years old. He didn't make the team in 2018.

Figure skating (pairs): Alexa Knierim (Addison) will participate in pair skating.

Speed skating: The U.S. Speed Skating team has high expectations in Beijing. They could take home their most medals in two decades.

Ski jumping: The Chicago area produced three Olympic ski jumpers. Kevin Bickner, Patrick Gasienica and Casey Larson are all from the famed Norge Ski Club in Fox River Grove.

What's next: The Olympic Games begin next Friday, February 4.

Data: TeamUSA; Map: Axios Visuals

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13 Chicago area athletes competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics - Axios