Meet Team USA: These Athletes Are Representing the United States at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang

Credit: Christophe Pallot/Getty Images; Marc Royce (3)

Meet Team USA: These Athletes Are Representing the United States at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang

They’re at the top of their games — and hope to top Olympic podiums this month in PyeongChang. But first, the United States' finest open up to Us Weekly.

Credit: Marc Royce

Mikaela Shifrin

Hometown: Eagle-Vail, CO

Olympic medals: 1 gold

The youngest slalom skier to ever nab gold (at Sochi in 2014), she cross-trains with tennis and admires Serena Williams “because mentally she’s the strongest.” The 22-year-old’s advice to her younger self? “Even though you’re very awkward right now, you’re actually kind of cool in a strange way. Just stay the course, because it’ll turn out OK.”

Credit: Marc Royce

Jamie Anderson

Hometown: South Lake Tahoe, CA

Olympic medals: 1 gold

In Sochi, this pioneer took home gold in the first-ever women’s slopestyle (think: ramps, rails and impressive air) snowboarding competition. “It feels so empowering to be a female athlete in the Winter Olympics,” the 27-year-old tells Us. “Women athletes have come a really long way from my mother’s day, and I’m just honored to support the movement.”

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Mirai Nagasu, Bradie Tennell and Karen Chen

Hometowns: Arcadia, CA; Carpentersville, IL; Fremont, CA

Olympic medals: None … yet

While Tennell, 20, and Chen, 18, are novice Olympians, 24-year-old Nagasu is chasing a comeback eight years in the making after she was passed over for the 2014 Sochi team. As far as her strategy on the ice, Chen says, “I call myself the quiet assassin. I’m totally shy and really quiet, but especially when I’m on the ice, I’m — or at least I try to be — fearless and fierce and strong and powerful.” 

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Jamie Greubel Poser and Aja Evans

Hometowns: Newtown, PA; Chicago, IL

Olympic medals: 1 bronze

Even before the bobsledders won a medal in Sochi, Greubel Poser, 34, was already eyeing 2018: Her little sis was born in South Korea, so these Games have a “deeper meaning,” she tells Us. When the duo is getting ready to race, “One song that gets me pumped up is a rap song called ‘Push It’ by O.T. Genasis,” says 29-year-old Evans. “The whole song is about basically what I’m doing: pushing a sled!” 

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Gus Kenworthy

Hometown: Telluride, CO

Olympic medals: 1 silver

“I am gay.” For the freestyle skier, tweeting those three words in October 2015 — a year after his Olympic victory — was liberating and “a huge relief, competitively.” The 26-year-old lives by “a Dr. Seuss quote my dad told me when I was a kid. It’s, ‘Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.’”

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Ted Ligety

Hometown: Park City, UT

Olympic medals: 2 gold

When this alpine skier needs a pick-me-up, he relies on 7-month-old son Jax (with wife Mia). The Olympic vet’s favorite activity, he says, is “trying to get him to laugh.” And the 33-year-old still smiles while he’s skiing as well: “I still have fun,” he tells Us. “I want to ski as long as I’m healthy and can ski fast, and feel like I can win races. I’ll be 37 at the next Olympics, so that’s not out of the realm of possibilities.”

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Alex and Maia Shibutani

Hometown: Ann Arbor, MI

Olympic medals: Stay tuned!

The brother-sister ice-dancing pair “soaked up” their first Olympics in 2014, says Maia, 23, and are ready to compete themselves this time around: “Since then our skating has improved so much,” she says.

We were so affected as younger skaters, looking up to legends,” notes 26-year-old Alex. “Many made themselves readily available to us whenever we needed, and we want to do that for the next generation.”

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Nathan Chen

Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT

Olympic medals: He’s a rookie!

The first-time Olympian tells Us he originally wanted be a hockey player, but at 3 years old, the figure skate blade “looked easier” to put on than a hockey skate. Says the 18-year-old of his inspirations, “Michael Jordan is the G.O.A.T., along with Michael Phelps. They’re both in the face of so much pressure. They push through everything, so I think that’s something I really look up to.”

Credit: Christophe Pallot/Getty Images

Lindsey Vonn

Hometown: Vail, CO

Olympic medals: 1 gold, 1 bronze

After season-ending crashes in 2013, 2014 (the resulting knee injury kept her from Sochi) and 2016, the four-time Olympian says, “I’ve got some good karma coming!” The 33-year-old adds, “My whole career, I’ve never had a problem going to 100 percent. It’s being smart and controlling myself that’s always been a problem. I’ve been taking it easy to make sure that I can make it.”

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Carlo Valdes, Justin Olsen, Evan Weinstock, and Nick Cunningham

Hometowns: Newport Beach, CA; San Antonio, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Monterey, CA

Olympic medals: 1 gold for Olsen

After the abrupt May 2017 death of gold medalist Steven Holcomb, his bobsled teammates tell Us they’ll be carrying on his legacy by aiming for a gold. “It’s going to be weird not seeing him on the hill,” admits 28-year-old Valdes, “but at the same time he wouldn’t want us to stop now. He’d want us to continue to push on.”

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John Daly

Hometown: Smithtown, NY

Olympic medals: None yet!

A heartbroken Daly hung up his skeleton sled and took a job as a sales rep after one disastrous run cost him bronze in Sochi. Now, he’s seeking redemption headfirst. “Right after my crash, my father wiped my face and said, ‘What happened here today will make you the man you are tomorrow,’” the 32-year-old tells Us. “I still love that quote. It was the best thing he could have said to me.”

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Nick Goepper

Hometown: Lawrenceburg, IN

Olympic medals: 1 bronze

The skier was hit with depression and anxiety soon after his team swept Sochi. He credits a 2015 recovery center stay with getting him “back in that happy place.” The 23-year-old tells Us, “Being the intense competitive person that I am, I wanted to win gold. But after the emotional high wore off I was like, ‘OK, this is incredible. I can’t believe I’m part of a historic moment.’”

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Amy Purdy

Hometown: Las Vegas, NV

Olympic medals: 1 bronze

A two-time paralympian, Purdy passed the time between games on Dancing With the Stars season 18, where she finished second as the first double amputee to compete. “We can overcome our circumstances,” says the 38-year-old. “I don’t feel like I do it for myself, I do it for a community of people who are looking up to me and seeing what the possibilities are. So I’m proud to stand for that.”

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Chloe Kim

Hometown: Long Beach, CA

Olympic medals She’s a rookie!

Aside from her tricks on the snow, first-time Olympian Kim brings a useful skill to Pyeongchang: The half-pipe snowboarder is fluent in Korean (and French!). Says the 17-year-old, “My advice to younger athletes would just be to have fun and remember why you started and why you’re still in love with this sport. Keep the smile on your face and you’ll be good.”

Credit: Marc Royce

Adam Rippon

Hometown: Scranton, PA

Olympic medals: His first Games!

His hidden talent? He can really carry a tune: The figure skater and first-time Olympian, 28, has performed to his own rendition of Rihanna’s “Diamonds” in the past. His words to live by are: “‘You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.’ It’s so true. The ice can be slippery, you can make mistakes, but if you don’t give 100 percent you’ll always regret that.”

Credit: Marc Royce

Erin Hamlin

Hometown: Remsen, NY

olympic medals: 1 bronze

Before taking up luge, the three-time Olympian was a gymnast. Watching the Magnificent Seven win gold in 1996, she tells Us, was “really inspiring to me.” And the 31-year-old has had plenty of others to look up to: “I’ve had very positive, strong female role models in my personal life. I’ve never thought, ‘Maybe I can’t do that ’cause I’m a girl.’ It’s always, ‘Yeah, I can absolutely do that.’ I never had any doubt.” 

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Brianna Decker, Hilary Knight, Alex Rigsby, Meghan Duggan, Monique Lamoureux-Morando, Amanda Kessel

Hometowns: Dousman, WI; Lake Forest, IL; Delafield, WI; Danvers, MA; Grand Forks, ND; Madison, WI

Olympic medals: 2 silvers (Knight, Duggan and Lamoureux-Morando medaled in 2010; Decker and Kessel joined them on the podium in 2014)

Seeing double: Forward Lamoureux-Morando’s identical twin, Jocelyne, is also on the team. Known as “The Twins,” the duo, 28, are back for their third Games. Rigsby, 26, shared some wisdom with Us: “There are going to be people who might doubt you, but it’s all about proving them wrong and having the mentality that whatever you set your mind to, you can accomplish.”