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Olympic Games

Top stars to watch at the Winter Olympics

Thousands of athletes will compete at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Here is a look at some of the top athletes to watch in the 2022 Winter Games.

Update:
Top stars to watch at the Winter Olympics

It’s not all about the NFL this month. We also have the Winter Olympics coming up this week! The games take place in Beijing and will begin on February 4th and continue until the 20th. Here are some of the top athletes to watch at the Winter Games 2022.

Ester Ledecká - Czech Republic, Alpine Skiing and Snowboard

Ester Ledecká became the first athlete to ever compete in both snowboarding and alpine skiing in the same Olympic Games four years ago. And four years ago, she won gold in both. Before that, 90 years had gone by since one athlete won gold in two different sports in the same Winter Games. The 26-year old said she loves both sports equally and couldn’t pick just one. This year will be Ledecká’s third time competing at the Olympics, and she’ll be out for the gold yet again.

Johannes Høsflor Klæbo - Norway, Men’s Cross Country Skiing

This 25-year-old Norweigan will try to keep the country’s status as the best in cross-country skiing. He won three gold medals in 2018 in his debut in South Korea as well as several titles at the World Championships. The Olympian with the most gold medals for cross country skiing is Marit Biørgen, who retired after the 2018 Winter Games, so now it’s Johannes who could keep the golds coming.

Yuzuru Hanyu - Japan, Figure Skating

Yuzuru Hanyu has already made a name for himself as one of the best male figure skaters of all time. At 19 years old, he became the youngest Olympic champion since 1948 in the 2014 Sochi Games. Not only the youngest, but also he was the first Asian skater to win the men’s single title. He will set out to Beijing in search of his third consecutive gold medal in singles.

Chloe Kim - United States, Snowboard

Chloe Kim won the gold medal in the snowboard halfpipe in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the young age of 17 as well as in the last two World Championships. She has also been outspoken about mental health issues and how she plans to win again, but this time, on her own terms and without the pressure she had let rule her in the past.

Wu Dajing - China, Short Track Speed Skating

Wu Dajing was the only Chinese athlete to win the gold in the 2018 Winter Olympics and with that win, he also broke a world record in the 500-meter short track race. He was just the second person to ever race in under 40 seconds. At 27 years old, he has won four gold medals in the Olympics.

Nathan Chen - United States, Figure Skating

This 22-year-old American is probably the biggest threat to Yuzuru Hanyu in men’s figure skating. He has won three consecutive world titles and nearly won the gold in the 2018 Olympics, but a stumble landed him in fifth place in the end. He is, however, the only skater to ever land give quadruple jumps in a row. Keep an eye out for this one.

Kamila Valieva - Russian Olympic Committee, Figure Skating

Kamila Valieva is just 15 years old and already setting records and is expected to win the gold in women’s figure skating. She is the national champion in Russia and broke her own world record score in the short program when she won the European title in January. She is also just the fourth female figure skater to land the quadruple jump in a competition and the second to land a quadruple toe loop.

Sui Wenjing and Han Cong - China, Figure Skating

Sui Wenjing and Han Cons started out together in 2007 and have landed quadruple twists and throw quadruple Sachows in competitions. They are the favorites to win gold for China in figure skating pairs. In the 2018 Olympics, they just barely missed the gold, winning silver with just .43 points less, but did manage to win gold at the World Championships in 2019.

Timothy LeDuc - United States, Figure Skating

Timothy LeDuc is going to be the first openly non binary athlete to complete in the Winter Olympics. They will complete in pairs figure skating with their partner, Ashley Cain-Gribble and their hope is to challenge gender stereotypes. "Often we see the 'Romeo and Juliet' narrative or the 'fragile girl and the strong man' narrative, “ LeDuc said. “There is nothing necessarily inherently wrong with people doing a romantic program but sometimes that narrative is centralized in such a way it leaves no room for any other stories to be told, or other narratives or other pair teams are maybe seen as less worthy of points or medals.”

Shaun White - United States, Snowboard

Shaun White is well-known enough now. In fact, he’s become the face of snowboarding, ever since he won the gold in his first year at the Olympics in 2006. Since then, he’s won the gold in the halfpipe four times. This will likely be the last Olympic Games for the 35-year-old and he’ll definitely be hoping to end it with one last gold.