Women to Watch at the 2022 Winter Olympics
It's time for the Olympic games once again! The 2022 Winter Olympics are kicking off with the Opening Ceremony on February 4th and close February 20th. We are excited to watch badass athletes compete, showcase teamwork, and dominate at every turn! There are so many incredible women heading to the Olympics, with Team USA sending over its second-largest female contingent ever at a Winter Games. Here are a few of the female athletes we are excited to watch.
1. Mikaela Shiffrin - Alpine Skiing, USA
Mikaela Shiffrin is one of the most celebrated and decorated athletes in skiing history with an impressive resumé, and is poised to be a top contender at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. This January, she won her 47th World Cup slalom, making her the first skier in World Cup history to win that many races in a single discipline. In past Olympics, she won gold in the slalom at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and in the giant slalom at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. Look out for her going for multiple medals and her third consecutive Gold in Beijing.
2. Chloe Kim - Snowboarding, USA
Chloe Kim is a force in snowboarding. 4 years ago in Pyeongchang, she won gold in the halfpipe at age 17, becoming the youngest American ever to medal in Olympic snowboarding. In the time between, she enrolled at Princeton, took time for mental health, and racked up some more competition wins, winning most recently at the X Games. Now at 21, she is favored to win gold and defend her title as the Olympic halfpipe champion.
3. Erin Jackson - Long-track speed skating, USA
Erin Jackson is the top ranked long-track speed skater in the world for the 500 meter competition. In November 2021, Jackson became the first Black American woman to win a speed skating world cup title and continued her winning streak earning an incredible four 500m world cup wins in the first five races of the 2021 season. She is heading to Beijing after slipping during her qualifying race which threatened to dash her Olympic dreams. However, she gained her spot on Team USA thanks to her friend and fellow skater Brittany Bowe giving Jackson her 500m spot, saying “"Erin has earned her right to be on this 500m team. She is ranked number one in the world, and no one is more deserving than her to get an opportunity to bring Team USA home a medal." We love to see this kind of teamwork and support between athletes, and can’t wait to see Erin race in Beijing!
4. Eileen Gu - Freeskiing, China
Eillen Gu is seriously talented in the world of freeskiing, and has racked up some impressive wins in the past 2 years. At 17, she is skilled in the halfpipe, big air, and slopestyle competitions and is coming into the Winter Games with a string of major wins under her belt including 2021 world championship titles in halfpipe and slopestyle competitions, as well as bronze in big air. She was born and raised in the US and will represent her mother’s native China in competition. In addition to being a professional Skier, she is also a model and will be attending Stanford University. She is sure to make a splash at her first games and is a medal favorite.
5. Natalie Geisenberger - Luge, Germany
Natalie Geisenberger is the most decorated female Olympic luger in history, and will compete at her fourth Games in 2022. She won singles and team relay gold medals in 2018, and at the 2019 World Championships won gold in the sprint and singles competitions. She gave birth to her son, Leo, in May 2020 and returned to take second place in the first eight World Cup races of the 2020-21 season, then won two races. She was crowned the overall World Cup champion in her 2020-2021 return to the circuit. We can’t wait to see what she will do at these upcoming games.
6. Elana Meyers Taylor - Monobob, USA
Elana Meyers Taylor is a 3x Olympic medalist and is heading to Beijing as a favorite in the monobob, an event which makes its Olympic debut in February. Meyers Taylor won the women's monobob overall world cup, and broke a monobob track record in December on her way to winning her third gold out of four monobob world cup events. She also won silver in 2018 and 2014, and bronze in 2010 in the two-woman bobsled.
7. Ireen Wuest - Speed Skating, Netherlands
Ireen Wuest is the most decorated Olympic athlete in her sport since winning gold in the 3000m in 2006, earning 11 Olympic medals across four Olympics and four different events. Watch her compete in her 5th Games in Beijing as she tries to add a few more medals to her collection before she retires at age 35 following the 2022 Games.
8. Arianna Fontana, Short Track Speed Skating, Italy
Arianna Fontana, Italy’s 31-year-old short track star, specializes in the 500m sprint event and could become the most decorated athlete in her sport’s history if she earns a podium finish in the 2022 Olympic games. She currently has eight medals, tied with male skaters Apolo Ohno and Viktor Ahn for the most medals across all competitors.
9. Jamie Anderson - Snowboarding (slopestyle), USA
Slopestyle made its debut at the 2014 Olympics and Jamie Anderson has dominated the scene, winning gold in the event ever since. She has won more slopestyle gold medals at the X Games than any other athlete, and is the most decorated woman in the history of X Games with a total of 20 medals. If history tells us anything, it's that Anderson will bring the heat and the tricks to Beijing as a top medal contender.
10. Mariah Bell - Figure Skating, USA
Mariah Bell won the US national championship this month at age 25, making history by becoming the oldest woman to hold the title since 1927. This year marks her first national championship title and was her ninth appearance at the national championships. She is also a two-time Olympic medalist, and we are excited to see her go on to compete for another medal in Beijing, where no individual woman 25 or older has skated for Team USA in the Winter Olympics since 1928.
11. USA Women’s Hockey Team
USA Hockey’s women’s ice hockey team is looking strong and ready to defend their 2018 gold medal--the first they won in 20 years--in Beijing. 15 out of their 23 team members have prior Olympic experience. Team USA Women’s Ice Hockey has a strong and long standing rivalry with Team Canada, who has four gold medals in the event. Be sure to tune it when the two teams meet during the Games, as it's guaranteed to be an exciting game to watch!
12. Kamila Valieva - Figure skating, Russian Olympic Committee
Kamila Valieva debuted on the international stage in 2019 and has been winning and setting world records with her huge program scores ever since. In her final competition before Beijing 2022, she broke her own short-program world record at the 2022 European Championships. On a stacked Russian Olympic Committee team, 15-year-old Valieva is a sure medal contender and a favorite for gold thanks to both her strong technique and beautiful artistry.
13. Kelly Sidaru - Freeskiing, Estonia
Kelly Sildaru is set to make her first Olympic appearance, after a torn ACL prevented her from debuting at the 2018 Games. She was a heavy favorite for slopestyle gold at just 15 in 2018 before her torn ACL injury. She took the last couple of years to hone and expand her skills in halfpipe and big air, winning medals in all three events at the 2019 X Games, including gold in slopestyle and won gold medals in both slopestyle and halfpipe at the 2020 X Games. Now at 19, she is coming into the 2022 Winter Games as a strong medal contender in all three events.
14. Claudia Pechstein - Long-track speed skating, Germany
Claudia Pechstein will become the oldest Winter Olympian in history when competes on the ice at the 2022 Games at age 49. She has had an incredible career, competing in eight Olympics in which she has won five gold medals and nine medals total. Most of her medals come from the 3,000- and 5,000-meter events. We can’t wait to see her make history and leave everything on the ice.
15. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott - Snowboard Slopestyle/Big Air, New Zealand
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott earned bronze in big air as a teenager at PyeongChang 2018, and won slopestyle contests at three big snowboarding events in 2019: Winter X Games, the FIS World Championships, and the Burton U.S. Open. In the lead-up to this year's Winter Games, she won gold in both slopestyle and big air at the X Games. Now at 20 years old, she is a rising star and is consistently a top medal contender in slopestyle and big air snowboarding.
What events and athletes are you excited to see at the Winter Games? Follow us on Instagram @goalfive and Twitter @GoalFiveApparel and let us know! While we wait for events to kick off, check out our gear that's made to help you train like an Olympian yourself.
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Nancy Carlson
August 09, 2022
I loved your profiles on women Olympic athletes. I followed most Olympic events and this information was outstanding!!!