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| Opening ceremonies of the 2022 Beijing Olympics were held Feb. 3. |
With competition underway, at least 19 Asian Americans, Pacific Islander Americans and Canadian Americans will be competing in the Winter Olympics in Beijing beginning on February 4 but not all of them will be representing the United States.
Although the spotlight will shine bright on American snowboarder Chloe Kim and the Asian American figure skaters, which includes reigning U.S. champion Nathan Chen, a lot of media attention will focus on Eileen Gu, who was born and raised in California, but will ski for China.
The Peoples Republic of China, in fact, will have seven Asian Americans or Asian Canadians, competing for China.
Following are the Asian Americans, Pacific Islander and Asian Canadians at the Olympic Games. Unless otherwise stated, the athletes are from the USA.
Figure Skating
Nathan Chen
For most athletes, winning an Olympic bronze medal would be a crowning achievement, but for Nathan Chen was disappointed with his performance four years ago in Seoul, South Korea. He was expected to win a gold but he couldn't overcome a couple of stumbles in his short routine.He is the only figure skater to complete four quad jumps in a single routine. After winning all but one international competition in the ensuing four years, the 22-year old Yale student is determined to redeem himself in Beijing. He's off to a great start with a "perfect" short program today. Watch below:
Vincent Zhou
Vincent Zhou made his Olympic debut in 2018 at PyeongChang, where he finished sixth. He made history at those Games, becoming the first skater to land a quadruple Lutz jump in the short program. The 21-year old won his first Grand Prix title in 2021 at Skate America, beating perennial favorite Nathan Chen for the first time.
Keegan Messing (Canada)
Canada's best hope for a medal in men's figure skating is Japanese Canadian Keegan Messing. Born and raised in Alaska, Canada's current No. 1 men's figure skater competed for the U.S. until 2014 when he switched to Canada. The 30-year old is the great, great grandson of Canada's first immigrant from Japan. He was awaiting to be released from COVID-19 restrictions and missed the opening team competition of figure skating.
It's been a long journey for Zhu Yi to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. The 19-year-old will be the sole representative for the People's Republic of China, in the women single figure skating competition. China have not won a medal in the event since Nagano 1998 when Chen Lu won a bronze medal. While Zhu, who was born in Los Angeles, is unlikely to be in medal contention, she admits "the pressure is huge" but insists she will "use the nervousness to perform better" during the Games.
Chloe Kim, a gold medal winner in the women’s snowboard halfpipe in PyeongChang in 2018. With her outgoing personality, she became a media favorite in the U.S. The 21-year old Californian made a name for herself in 2018 when she became the youngest to win a gold medal. Right after the Olympics, she made Times’ 100 most influential people’s list and 25 most influential teens list. She took time off to be a first-year student at Princeton and then took a year off from her studies to concentrate on her training. She says this could be her last Olympics, according to Business Insider and she intends to go out on top. She promises more "tricks." and is a favorite to repeat with a gold medal in the halfpipe.
Hailey Langland
The other snowboarder to watch beside Chloe Kim is Hailey Langland who willl compete in the slopstyle and big air events. The 21-year old is ready for her second Olympic Games and hopes it will go a bit differently than the first one. During her first Olympics in 2018 at the PyeongChang Games, when she was just 17 years old, she placed 6th in slopestyle and 14th in the big-air categories—not quite the result the San Clemente, California, native was hoping for. She's struggled with consistency. The Filipina American finished fourth at the VISA Big Air in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on Dec. 4, 2021 but she was the top American finisher. She finished 12th in the next competition but already had enough points to qualify for the team.
Speed Skating
Eunice Lee
If everything went as planned in Salt Lake City — a big if in the sport of short track — then four women looked like pretty good bets for the Olympic team. The fifth spot, the last spot on the speedskating team, however, was anyone’s guess. Lee, a 17-year-old from Bellevue, Washington, grabbed it. In fact, the teenager is so little known that she doesn't even have a bio on the US Speedskating website yet. After all, she’s not even on the national team. Lee was eyeing the 2026 Olympics but beat all expectations by becoming the youngest member of the U.S. team since 1998 and could compete in a relay.Andrew Heo qualified for Team USA’s men short track team was a surprise. Favorite Brandon Kim fell short of expectation at the trials in Salt Lake City and Heo took advantage and finished second at the 1500 and third in the other two distances. He is from Warrington, PA. The 20-year old is currently ranked just outside the top-50 skaters in the world and has already been a part of three U.S. world cup teams. He says short track – a sport historically dominated by South Korea – has brought him closer to his own Korean heritage as he studies to become fluent in the language.
Asa Miller, who was born in Portland, Oregon, is the Philippines' sole athlete at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The alpine skier will be competing at his second Games after a debut appearance at PyeongChang 2018 when he was just 17. Representing the Philippines, a tropical country where most of its citizenry has never seen snow, is no joke. In qualifying to compete, Miller has incurred several injuries in international competitions in order to represent the Philippines. In Beijing, Miller wants to improve on his results in Korea, and inspire a new generation of skiers. "Ever since I began four years ago at my last Olympics, the (Philippines) ski team has grown like five or six times larger than it was. So I hope to keep on doing that and keep inspiring the next generation of Filipino skiers and snowboarders."
Freestyle Skiing
Eileen Gu (China)
China -- never a powerhouse in winter sports -- has touted Eileen Gu as their golden girl. Her face is plastered on billboards and magazines and fashion and sport sponsors line up for her endorsement. The photogenic Gu, a first-year student at Stanford, has modeled in California, New York and France. Born and raised in San Francisco, she has won three gold medals in her skiing events -- halfpipe, slopestyle and big air -- at the just completed X Games. She is the first athlete to win gold in all three events, noted for its acrobatic twists and turns. Her popularity, Gu, who is fluent in Mandarin, has helped generate interest in skiing in that country.
HockeyJosh Ho-Sang is the lone Chinese Canadian on his country's hockey team. He currently plays for Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
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