- Nathan Chen, figure skating short program
United States figure skater Nathan Chen earned a score of 113.97 in his short program, a world record. The previous record holder was figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan.
- Kelly Curtis — the first black us skeleton to compete in the Olympics
Curtis finished 21st in the women’s skeleton event, her run at the Beijing Games ending Saturday. The result isn’t why she’ll be remembered. Curtis was the first Black athlete to represent USA Skeleton at the Winter Olympics — and she hopes her presence at the Games will open more doors to her sport.
- Erin Jackson – first Black woman to win speed skating medal at the Winter Olympics
A 29-year-old Florida native and lifelong rollerblader became the first Black woman to win Team USA a gold medal in speed skating Sunday.
Erin Jackson earned her first Olympic medal in the women’s 500- meter speed skating race at the Beijing Games, an event Team USA has not won since 1994. Jackson finished her lap in a mere 37.04 seconds.
She was the first Black woman to make it on to Team USA as a speed skater.
- Team USA’s Jessie Diggins has won an Olympic bronze in cross-country skiing, the first-ever sprint medal for Americans in the sport.
Diggins finished the race with a time of 3:12:84 and secured third, beating out teammate Rosie Brennan at the National Cross-Country Skiing Center in Zhangjiakou, China. Sweden’s Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist came in first and second, respectively.
- Abby Roque – the first Indigenous woman to compete in Olympic ice hockey for Team USA
When Roque, a Michigan native from the Wahnapitae First Nation, took the ice in Team USA’s first ice hockey game of the Games, history was made. The 24-year-old forward became the first Indigenous woman to play Olympic ice hockey for the United States. Number 11 helped her team — the defending gold medalists — with an assist to take the team’s first W, beating Finland 5-2. The U.S. will next play Finland in the semifinals on February 14.
According to nbcnewyork.com;nbcnews.com; teamusa.org. Source of photo: internet
