A total of 17 athletes – 11 women and six men – will represent the United States on the slopes of the Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center at the 2022 Winter Olympics. The headliner of the group is, of course, two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin. She'll be joined at the 2022 Games by a mixture of experienced veterans and young up-and-comers looking for their first taste of Olympic action. Get to know each of them below.
Women
Mikaela Shiffrin
Age: 26
Previous Olympics: 2014, 2018
Events: Slalom, giant slalom, super-G, downhill, combined
The global face of Alpine skiing is back for her third Winter Olympics at age 26 and plans to be busier than ever. The three-time Olympic medalist (two gold) has never competed in more than three events at any single Games. This time out, she has sights set on all five individual Olympic events, potentially adding the fastest disciplines of super-G and downhill. History suggests Shiffrin will be among the favorites in every competition she enters, and if she manages a podium finish in three of them, she’d tie the record for most Olympic medals won by any female Alpine skier ever.
Breezy Johnson
Age: 26
Previous Olympics: 2018
Events: Super-G, downhill
Following an encouraging Olympic debut in South Korea as a 22-year-old, Breezy Johnson encountered some major speedbumps at the start of the latest four-year cycle. She lost the entire 2019 season to a torn ACL and much of the 2020 season with another knee injury. This season, though, Johnson is showing what she’s capable of when healthy. The Wyoming native enters her second Winter Olympics ranked No. 2 in the world in the downhill. Following Lindsey Vonn’s retirement in 2019, Johnson is unquestionably Team USA’s top medal threat in the speed events.
UPDATE 1/25: Johnson will not compete in Beijing after a January training run crash resulted in a cartilage tear in her right knee.
Paula Moltzan
Age: 27
Previous Olympics: N/A
Events: Slalom, giant slalom
If it wasn’t for the brilliance of Shiffrin, who has more career World Cup slalom wins than anyone in history, Paula Moltzan would carry the Team USA banner into the technical events in 2022. The former NCAA champion Vermont Catamount was still competing in college during the PyeongChang Games in 2018 and is primed for her Olympic debut in February. She’s coming off a 2021 season in which she finished a career-best 11th in slalom and notched her first World Cup podium in the parallel giant slalom. Although the PGS is not included in the Olympic program as an individual event, parallel slalom comprises the format of the team event, where Moltzan could be a factor for the U.S.
Nina O’Brien
Age: 24
Previous Olympics: N/A
Events: Slalom, giant slalom
Another technical discipline specialist, Nina O’Brien finished the 2021 season 17th in giant slalom, best of all Team USA athletes apart from Shiffrin. Although she has yet to capture her first World Cup podium, O’Brien is an eight-time U.S. national champion and a two-time top-10 finisher at World Championships.
Isabella Wright
Age: 24
Previous Olympics: N/A
Events: Combined
The 24-year-old from Salt Lake City is a newcomer to international competition, being named to her first World Cup team in 2021. Wright also competed at the 2021 World Championships, where she impressively placed 14th in the combined competition.
Jacqueline Wiles
Age: 29
Previous Olympics: 2014
Events: Downhill
After placing 26th in the downhill at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics as a 21-year-old, Portland, Oregon native Jacqueline Wiles missed out on the PyeongChang Games in 2018. Now, she finally gets a crack at a second Olympic appearance. Wiles owns five career top-10 World Cup finishes, including two podiums.
Keely Cashman
Age: 22
Previous Olympics: N/A
Events: Giant slalom, super-G
The Strawberry, California native secured qualification to the 2022 Games in January with a top-25 World Cup result in super-G. She is also a 2019 national champion in giant slalom and competed collegiately at the University of Utah.
AJ Hurt
Age: 21
Previous Olympics: N/A
Events: Slalom, giant slalom, super-G
The Squaw Valley, California native got her World Cup career at 17 years old. She is a two-time U.S. Alpine Champion and one of the Team USA’s more versatile prospects. She currently attends Dartmouth University.
Katie Hensien
Age: 22
Previous Olympics: N/A
Events: Slalom
The Denver University computer science major owns one career World Cup top-20, as well as a U.S. Championships victory. She competed at the 2021 World Championships in Cortina, Italy.
Mo Lebel
Age: 23
Previous Olympics: N/A
Events: Downhill
Maureen “Mo” Lebel competes for the University of Utah. She won the 2018 U.S. National Championship in the downhill. Her mother, Lori, was a ski instructor in Lake Tahoe.
Tricia Mangan
Age: 24
Previous Olympics: 2018
Events: Giant slalom
The Buffalo, New York native and Dartmouth engineering major heads to her second career Winter Olympics in 2022. She previously competed in the giant slalom and the team event in 2018.
Alix Wilkinson
Age: 21
Previous Olympics: N/A
Events: Super-G, Downhill
Added to the U.S. team in late January to replace the injured Breezy Johnson. The prior week, Wilkinson scored her first World Cup points with an 18th-place finish in downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Men
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Age: 29
Previous Olympics: 2018
Events: Giant slalom, super-G, downhill
With two top-15 finishes at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and a pair of World Cup podiums – including one win – in the time since, “RCS” arguably represents Team USA’s best medal threat in the men’s events. The Vermont native certainly has winning genes; his mother is 1972 Olympic slalom gold medalist Barbara Ann Cochran, who taught Ryan how to ski at the family’s mountain (Cochran’s Ski Area) in Richmond, Vermont. When taking breaks from training, Cochran-Siegle helps out on his family’ maple syrup farm where they make “Slopeside Syrup.”
Bryce Bennett
Age: 29
Previous Olympics: 2018
Events: Super-G, downhill, combined
The towering, 6-foot-7 California skied the run of his life December 18 in Val Gardena, Italy, capturing not only the first podium of his seven-year career, but the first win. In doing so, he ended a near five-year drought for U.S. men in the downhill, and also announced himself as a dark horse medal threat at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Bennett has Olympic experience to draw on, scoring two top-20 finishes at PyeongChang 2018. Prior to becoming a pro ski racer, Bennett raced BMX.
Travis Ganong
Age: 33
Previous Olympics: 2014
Events: Super-G, downhill
The senior figure on the U.S. Alpine Skiing Team at 33, Travis Ganong brings unparalleled experience to his second Olympic appearance. At his first, in Sochi, he impressively placed fifth in the downhill, missing out on a medal by .31 and beating out six-time Olympic medalist Bode Miller as the top American. A torn ACL cost him a return to the Games in 2018, but found good form once again as he heads toward the 2022 Winter Olympics. Ganong picked up a super-G podium at the World Cup event in Beaver Creek in December.
River Radamus
Age: 23
Previous Olympics: N/A
Events: Slalom, giant slalom, combined
A former teen phenom and the first three-time Youth Olympic Games gold medalist in history, River Radamus is starting to hit his stride as a pro. He notched top-10 finishes in three of the five World Cup giant slalom races ahead of the 2022 Olympics this season.
Luke Winters
Age: 24
Previous Olympics: N/A
Events: Slalom
The appropriately named Luke Winters hails from snowy Gresham, Oregon. His senior-level World Cup experience is limited, though he surprisingly cracked into the top-10 at the first slalom race of 2022 in Adelboden. Winters also owns a bronze medal in super-G from the Junior World Championships in 2018.
Age: 32
Previous Olympics: 2010, 2018
Events: Giant slalom
The final addition to the U.S. men’s squad is also the only American man heading to a third Winter Olympics. Ford, a giant slalom specialist, finished 26th in the event as a 20-year-old in Vancouver, then cracked the top-20 in PyeongChang four years ago. His best World Cup results have all come since then, however, including three giant slalom podiums and one win: 2020 in Beaver Creek.
