Colorado Sends 24 Athletes to 2022 Winter Olympic Games

Jonson Kuhn | North Forty News

Well, as I’m sure you may know by now, the 2022 Winter Olympic Games got started in Beijing earlier this month on February 4, but what you might not know is that this year Colorado is excited and proud to have 24 Coloradans competing on the U.S. Olympic Team???

Just in case you weren’t aware of that fun little fact, it’s totally cool because North Forty has you covered by providing a complete list of every athlete’s names.  And those athletes are: Nina O’Brien, Denver, alpine skiing; River Radamus, Edwards, alpine skiing; Mikaela Shiffrin, Edwards, alpine skiing; Hailey Swirbul, El Jebel cross-country skiing; Brandon Frazier, Colorado Springs, figure skating; Aaron Blunck, Crested Butte, freestyle/freeski; Hanna Faulhaber, Basalt, freestyle/freeski; Alex Ferreira, Aspen, freestyle/freeski; Birk Irving, Winter Park, freestyle/freeski; Dylan Walczyk, Blue River, freestyle/freeski; Nicholas Shore, Denver, ice hockey; Nicole Hensley, Lakewood, ice hockey; Taylor Fletcher, Steamboat Springs, nordic combined; Jasper Good, Steamboat Springs, nordic combined; Chris Corning, Avon, snowboarding; Mick Dierdorff, Steamboat Springs, snowboarding; Lucas Foster, Telluride, snowboarding; Stacy Gaskill, Golden, snowboarding; Red Gerard, Silverthorne, snowboarding; Taylor Gold, Steamboat Springs, snowboarding; Hagen Kearney, Norwood, snowboarding; Meghan Tierney, Eagle, snowboarding; Cody Winters, Steamboat Springs, snowboarding; Decker Dean, Steamboat Springs, ski jumping.

So far, figure skater Brandon Frazier, along with partner Alexa Knierim, are favorites in the figure skating pairs. Though the two train in California, Frazier calls Colorado Springs his hometown.

Frazier tested positive for COVID-19 and had to withdraw from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and then was left with no other option but to petition for a spot at the Winter Games.

Frazier told the Associated Press, “I never imagined it like it actually went down last night,” and when the petition was finally granted he “hugged the crap” out of his pillow in the hotel room. Frazier went on to earn a silver medal in the Figure Skating Team Event.

Freestyle skier, Jaelin Kauf, is a Vail native but now calls Wyoming home.  She competed for the first time in Olympic Games in 2018 in PyeongChang and placed seventh, according to Team USA.

Kauf is a Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club member and an expert in moguls, which should come as no surprise seeing how both her parents were previously on the pro mogul team. Kauf finished second Sunday in freestyle moguls and will bring home a silver medal.

U.S. Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, along with Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) are united in a bipartisan resolution that honors Team USA Olympic athletes competing in the 2022 Winter Games; Bennet and Klobuchar are currently serving as co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Olympic Caucus, and here’s what Bennet had to say about this year’s games and Colorado’s involvement.

“The Olympics are incredibly important to Colorado. Our state not only hosts the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, but also has the second-highest number of athletes representing America this year. As the games begin, the Senate affirms its support for the American delegation and its commitment to excellence, teamwork, and fair competition. We wish them the best of luck.”