Who’s qualified for Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics?

Kristen Santos races a short track event - Credit: Getty Images

Kristen Santos races a short track event – Credit: Getty Images

The 2022 Winter Olympics are just around the corner, which means that an intense period of Olympic qualifying is already underway.

The qualification process is two-fold: Athletes need to earn quota spots for the United States, and they also need to meet the selection criteria that will allow them to fill those spots at the Olympics. The bulk of the U.S. Olympic team is expected to be revealed in January once the qualifying periods officially wrap up for many sports, but some athletes have already secured places on the roster and more will be nominated in the coming weeks.

Below is a list of athletes that have qualified to represent the U.S. in Beijing, along with information on where the qualification process currently stands for each sport.

Alpine Skiing

A maximum of 22 athletes (11 men, 11 women) can represent each country, with a limit of four athletes entered in any individual event. Quota places will be allocated at the end of the qualification window, which started in July 2019 and runs through January 16, 2022. The top 16 countries in the FIS World Cup Nations Standings will be able to enter a team (two men, two women) in the mixed team event.

The selection period for the U.S. team will take place from October 23, 2021 through January 16, 2022. Priority will be given to athletes with one or more top-three finishes at FIS World Cup events.

Biathlon

Countries can earn up to 12 quota spots (six men, six women) in biathlon. The qualification period ends on January 16, and the exact number of spots each nation receives will be determined by a special quota list that ranks each country as a whole. The list is based on results from the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons.

The first phase of U.S. qualifying took place last winter, and Susan Dunklee and Clare Egan became the first athletes to provisionally qualify for the U.S. Olympic team by virtue of having multiple top-12 finishes at World Cup events during the 2020-21 season. In the second phase of qualifying, two men (Jake Brown and Paul Schommer) were named to the team after having the top individual finishes during World Cup races in November and December. Two more men and two more women will be named to the team on January 9 after the final selection event.

Men
Jake Brown
Paul Schommer

Women
Susan Dunklee
Clare Egan

Susan Dunklee
Susan Dunklee earned a silver medal in the women’s 7.5km sprint at the 2020 Biathlon World Championships.
NBC Olympics

Bobsled

Countries can earn spots for up to three crews each in the four-man, two-man and two-woman bobsled events, as well as two quota spots in women’s monobob. Overall rosters, however, are capped at 13 men and six women per country. The qualification period will end on January 16, 2022, at which time quota spots will be allocated based on the IBSF ranking list from the 2021/22 World Cup season.

For Team USA, pilots will be nominated based primarily on the world rankings. Push athletes will be nominated through discretionary selection, and sled combinations will be formed in consultation with the pilots.

Cross-Country Skiing

Countries can have up to eight men and eight women on the Olympic team, with no more than four athletes entered in each event. An initial batch of quota spots will be allocated based on a nation-ranking list, and then the remaining spots will be allocated on an individual basis. The qualification period ends on January 16, 2022.

The selection period for the U.S. team will run from November 25, 2021 to January 16, 2022, and priority will be given to athletes who earn top-eight individual finishes at a World Cup event. Remaining spots will be filled by a predetermined set of selection criteria.

Curling

The U.S. qualified men’s and women’s teams for the Winter Olympics thanks to its results at the 2021 World Championships. In December, the duo of Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys — champions from the U.S. Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials — went unbeaten at an Olympic qualifying tournament and secured the U.S. a spot for mixed doubles as well.

Olympic Trials were held in Omaha, Nebraska, in November to determine the men’s and women’s teams that will compete at the Games. The men’s team skipped by John Shuster, which won gold at PyeongChang 2018, will once again represent Team USA. Chris Plys is the only member of the current team who didn’t compete at the last Olympics. The women’s team will also look similar to the one from four years ago, though Tabitha Peterson has taken over as skip from Nina Roth, and Tabatha’s sister Tara is a new addition.

Men
John Shuster, Skip
Chris Plys, Third
Matt Hamilton, Second
John Landsteiner, Lead
Colin Hufman, Alternate

Women
Tabitha Peterson, Skip
Nina Roth, Third
Becca Hamilton, Second
Tara Peterson, Lead
Aileen Geving, Alternate

Mixed Doubles
Vicky Persinger
Chris Plys

Team Shuster poses with medals
Team Shuster rallied from a game down in the Olympic Trials finals to secure a spot at the 2022 Winter Games.
Getty Images

Figure Skating

Countries can earn up to three quota spots each in the men’s, women’s, pairs and ice dance events. Earning the maximum number of quota spots would give a country 18 athletes total. The U.S. earned three spots in three disciplines (men’s, women’s, ice dance) and two spots in pairs. As a result, the U.S. has also qualified to compete in the team event.

Athletes will be named to Team USA after the conclusion of the 2022 U.S. Championships (January 3-9). Although the U.S. Championships will be an important event for Olympic selection, it’s just one of several competitions that will be used to evaluate athletes. All spots on the team will be decided by the selection committee.

Freestyle Skiing

Each discipline within freestyle skiing has its own quota allocation process, but the qualification period for all disciplines ends on January 16, 2022. Countries can earn up to four quota spots in each discipline, but due to limits on overall roster size, countries may have to make decisions on which spots to fill and which to leave unused. Each nation can have up to 16 men and 16 women but is capped at 30 athletes total — unless that country has qualified for the aerials mixed team event. (Qualifying for the aerials mixed team event entitles a country to 32 athletes.) Because slopestyle and big air will feature the same athletes, they are treated as one event for qualification purposes. Countries that qualify the requisite number of athletes in aerials are eligible to form a team (three athletes total, at least one per gender) for the new mixed team event.

The U.S. has a selection process in which up to three athletes per discipline can qualify through objective criteria using a combination of the FIS points lists and designated selection events. Up to two athletes per discipline (with the exception of halfpipe) were able to qualify for the Olympic team based on their world ranking, provided they were in the top six as of December 22. (Halfpipe skiers can qualify via the world rankings on January 6.) Any remaining objective criteria spots can be filled by athletes who get a podium result at one of the selection events. The final spots will be decided by discretionary selection.

Men’s Halfpipe
TBD

Women’s Halfpipe
TBD

Men’s Slopestyle/Big Air
Colby Stevenson
Mac Forehand

Women’s Slopestyle/Big Air
TBD

Men’s Moguls
TBD

Women’s Moguls
Jaelin Kauf
Hannah Soar

Men’s Aerials
Justin Schoenefeld
Chris Lillis

Women’s Aerials
Megan Nick
Winter Vinecki

Men’s Ski Cross
TBD

Women’s Ski Cross
TBD

Colby Stevenson portrait in front of American flag
After collecting medals at X Games and the FIS World Championships in recent years, Colby Stevenson is headed to his first Winter Olympics.
Getty Images

Hockey

The U.S. has qualified men’s and women’s hockey teams for the Winter Olympics via its world rankings. USA Hockey had initially named three NHL players to the men’s team, but after a surge in COVID cases in December disrupted the league’s schedule, the NHL announced that it would not send players to the Olympics, leaving the roster for Beijing uncertain. Final rosters are due in early January.

Luge

Countries can earn a maximum of eight quota spots — three for men’s singles, three for women’s singles and two for doubles. Quota spots will be allocated based on World Cup rankings after January 10.

The qualification period for the U.S. Olympic team will run from the start of the World Cup season until January 10. Priority will be given to athletes who achieve top-five finishes. Summer Britcher has pre-qualified for a spot on the team thanks to a top-six finish at last year’s world championships and could now verify her spot with a top-five finish at a World Cup event this winter.

Nordic Combined

Counties can earn up to five quota spots, though no more than four men from one country can compete in any of the events. Quota spots will be allocated based on a list that uses two seasons’ worth of World Cup results. The qualifying period ends on January 16, 2022.

The winner of Olympic Trials (December 24-25) is guaranteed a spot on the U.S. team, while much of the remaining squad will be selected through a set of objective criteria.

Short Track

The U.S. earned Olympic spots for five women and two men, with only the women qualified for the relay event. Olympic Trials were held December 17-19 in Salt Lake City to decide the U.S. roster. Maame Biney is the only team member with past Olympic experience, while Kristen Santos is the highest-ranked skater internationally.

Men
Andrew Heo
Ryan Pivirotto

Women
Maame Biney
Eunice Lee
Julie Letai
Kristen Santos
Corinne Stoddard

Meet the U.S. short track team for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Meet the U.S. short track team for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Imagn

Skeleton

Countries can earn up to three quota spots in both the men’s event and the women’s event. The qualifying period ends on January 16, 2022, at which time quota spots will be allocated based on the IBSF ranking list from the 2021/22 World Cup season.

U.S. athletes will be nominated to fill those quota spots based primarily on the IBSF world rankings.

Ski Jumping

Quota spots will be allocated at the end of the qualifying period on January 16, 2022 and will be based on two seasons’ worth of results. Countries can qualify up to nine athletes (five men, four women), though the number of athletes that can be entered in any event is four. Any nation that qualifies a minimum of two men and two women will be eligible to compete in the new mixed team event.

The winners of Olympic Trials (December 24-25) are guaranteed a spot on the U.S. team, while much of the remaining squad will be selected through a set of objective criteria.

Snowboarding

Each discipline within snowboarding has its own quota allocation process, but the qualification period for all disciplines ends on January 16, 2022. Countries can earn up to four quota spots in each discipline, but due to limits on overall roster size, countries may have to make decisions on which spots to fill and which to leave unused. Each nation can have up to 14 men and 14 women but is capped at 26 athletes total. Because slopestyle and big air will feature the same athletes, they are treated as one event for qualification purposes. Countries that qualify at least one man and one woman in snowboard cross are eligible to compete in the new mixed team event.

The U.S. has a selection process in which up to three athletes per discipline can qualify through objective criteria using a combination of world rankings and designated selection events. Up to two athletes per discipline were able to qualify for the Olympic team based on their world ranking, provided they were in the top six as of December 22. Any remaining objective criteria spots can be filled by athletes who get a podium result at one of the selection events. The final spots will be decided by discretionary selection.

Men’s Halfpipe
TBD

Women’s Halfpipe
Chloe Kim
Maddie Mastro

Men’s Slopestyle/Big Air
Red Gerard
Dusty Henricksen

Women’s Slopestyle/Big Air
Jamie Anderson

Men’s Snowboard Cross
TBD

Women’s Snowboard Cross
Faye Gulini

Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom
TBD

Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom
TBD

Red Gerard poses outside with his snowboard
Red Gerard has remained one of Team USA’s top slopestyle riders.
NBC Olympics

Speed Skating

Quota spots will be allocated based on World Cup events scheduled for November and December. Countries can have up to nine skaters if they qualify for the team pursuit and earn the maximum number of quota spots in every individual event.

The criteria for making the U.S. team varies by event, but the full team will be named after Olympic Trials, which will be held January 5-9, 2022 in Milwaukee.

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