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Snowboarder Shaun White
Snowboarder Shaun White (Adam Pretty/Getty)

5 Americans to Watch in the 2018 Olympics

Get ready for these contenders to crush the Winter Games

Published: 
Snowboarder Shaun White
(Photo: Adam Pretty/Getty)

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From five different sports, here's who to root for on Team USA鈥攁nd when to watch them.

Steven Nyman

35, alpine skiing

Nyman, of Park City, Utah, has won three World Cup races and came in third in the only World Cup event run on the South Korean course in 2016. He believes the track suits him. 鈥淚t has lots of little jumps and rolls and wacky, bumpy terrain that I feel comfortable on,鈥 he says. And despite tearing his knee last January, he likes his chances. 鈥淢ost guys I talk to who鈥檝e been through knee injuries say that a year out is when you feel 100 percent,鈥 he says. 鈥淪o these Olympics are good timing.鈥

compete in the downhill on February 10, 8:30 P.M. EST, on NBC.


Lowell Bailey
Lowell Bailey (NordicFocus/U.S. Biathlon)

Lowell Bailey

36, biathlon

About halfway through the Sochi biathlon, Bailey, who lives in Lake Placid, New York, was well positioned to win the bronze. Then he missed a target, dropping him into eighth place and denying the Americans their first ever biathlon medal. That prompted the team to hire Matt Eamons, an Olympic gold-medal shooter, and Gerold Sattlecker, a biomechanics professor at Austria鈥檚 University of Salzburg. Together they used computer analysis to make minute adjustments to various aspects of the team鈥檚 shooting technique. The result was a gold medal for Bailey at the 2017 World Championships, the first by an American. 鈥淥n any given day, there are 50 guys who have a chance of medaling,鈥 says Bailey. 鈥淲inning gave me confidence that I know what it takes.鈥

compete in the sprint biathlon on February 11, 5:45 A.M. EST, on NBC.


Jaime Greubel Poser
Jaime Greubel Poser (Leon Neal/Getty)

Jamie Greubel Poser

34, bobsled

Greubel Poser quit the bobsled after the first time she tried it. 鈥淚 felt like I got put in a tin can and kicked off a cliff,鈥 she says. The former Cornell University track athlete put down her helmet and went to graduate school, earning a master鈥檚 degree in early childhood education. Then she got a call from Phoebe Burns, a driver on the women鈥檚 bobsled team. 鈥淪he knew I had a fast start time and wanted me to help push her,鈥 says Greubel Poser. 鈥淪o I decided to try again.鈥 Good choice. In Sochi, Greubel Poser won bronze with teammate Aja Evans. Now she鈥檚 the top-ranked bobsledder in the world.

compete in the bobsled on February 18, 6:20 A.M. EST, on NBC.


Erin Hamlin
Erin Hamlin (Jan Hetfleisch/Getty)

Erin Hamlin

31, luge

Thanks to a hefty budget and technically advanced sleds, Germans have dominated the luge for years. One bright spot for Americans is Hamlin, a native of Remsen, New York, who won bronze at the Sochi Olympics鈥攖he luge team鈥檚 only medal. Hamlin is now favored to win Team USA鈥檚 first Olympic gold medal in luge, partly because of the squad鈥檚 recent partnership with Dow Chemical and sandpaper manufacturer Norton Saint-Gobain. Using 3-D printing, computer modeling, and advanced aerodynamics, the two companies have manu颅factured sleds with dramatically lower friction and vibration, saving precious tenths of a second. 鈥淏efore, we sort of used homemade equipment,鈥 says Hamlin. 鈥淣ow there鈥檚 a lot more science that goes into it. It makes a big difference.鈥

compete in the luge on February 18, 5:20 A.M. EST, on NBC.


Joey Mantia

31, speed skating

The South Korea Games will mark the debut of mass-start speed skating, a head-to-head鈥攁nd sometimes fist-to-back鈥攔ace that sends up to 28 athletes 16 laps around the 400-meter oval at once. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like Nascar on ice,鈥 says Mantia. 鈥淧eople are grabbing hips and pushing.鈥 Mantia, who is from Ocala, Florida, won 28 World Championship titles in in-line skating before switching to speed skating in 2011. Last year he won the World Championship and is a favorite to take the gold in the new event. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot like in-line, the first to the finish line wins,鈥 he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 right in my wheelhouse.鈥

compete in the mass start on February 24, 5:30 A.M. EST, on NBC.

To learn more, visit . 聽The Olympics begin live on Feb 8.聽

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