Olympics 2022: NBC spotlights Nathan Chen, Chloe Kim to promote Winter Games and Team USA

Nathan Chen and Chloe Kim will represent the USA at the Beijing Olympics.

In case you've been living under a rock, or you've been living on social media platforms, you've probably missed these promos for NBC's Olympics coverage featuring men's figure skater Nathan Chen and freestyle snowboarder Chloe Kim.

Coming at a time when Asian Americans are being targeted by ignorant haters, NBC's promotion of the athletes as representatives of America is refreshing and ironic at the same time. The message it sends counters the movement hate depicting AAPI as perpetual foreigners.

For the last several years, Chen has been the world's best male figure skater, consistently winning international competitions since his disappointing third-place finish in PyeongChang, South Korea in 2018.

If the 22-year old Yale student can maintain his athletic performance for the Olympics -- he's the only competitor to complete six quads in his long routine -- Chen is almost a lock for a medal.

Kim's skill on the half-pipe snowboard event and her bubbly personality and sense of humor did the 17-year old well after South Korea appearing on talk shows and performing surprisingly well on The Masked Singer.

All the attention and the loss of privacy took its toll, though. To get her head straight, Kim took time off to attend Princeton University trying hard to be just an ordinary college student.

Now 22-years old, Kim took a break from her studies last year to train for this year's  Olympics. She quickly gained her old form, winning three gold medals at the X Games.

Both of these athletes representing the U.S. and AANHPI everywhere, are expected to medal in their respective events in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, which begin Feb. 3.

Chen and Kim are two of the 13 Asian American athletes at the Games representing, not only the U.S. but the Philippines and China, too.

RELATED:

Born and raised in San Francisco, Eileen Gu will represent China

Five AAPI skaters named to USA Figure Skating team.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Watch for more Olympic coverage when the Games start. For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.