In case you haven't noticed, we are just a few short days away from the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang! Opening ceremonies take place February 9th, followed by more than two weeks of elite athletic competition. This year, the US is sending its largest athlete delegation in the history of the Olympic Winter Games, comprised of 107 women and 135 men. Since hosting the Games in 2002, the Olympic spirit has, of course, thrived in Utah, and if you take a look at the roster of athletes who will be competing in PyeongChang, you'll notice a quite a few representing Park City. So while we're not lucky enough to be on the ground in South Korea, you can bet we'll be on the edge of our seats cheering on our local Park City Nation athletes!

Out of the 77 athletes with connections to Utah, 54 have close ties to Park City and will be representing not just Team USA, but also Ghana, Ireland, Great Britain, Hungary, and Australia. The previous Olympic delegation for the Sochi Games included 49 Park City athletes who collected 12 medals. Overall, there's a 50 percent increase in native Utahns competing, a true testament to the continued excellence of the state's healthy youth winter sports programming. Many are alumni of the Park City-based YSA (Youth Sports Alliance) supported teams, including Park City Ski & Snowboard Team, Wasatch Freestyle, and the Winter Sports School, to name a few. "The YSA was founded to encourage local youth to get outside to use the venues left as a legacy of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games as well as support opportunities for athletes to shine," said YSA Executive Director, Emily Fisher. "We are thrilled to support so many local athletes along their journeys from the magic carpet to the Olympics."

The mix of Olympic veterans and newcomers will be competing in 16 different sport disciplines, namely aerials, alpine skiing, bobsled, cross-country skiing, figure skating, halfpipe skiing, halfpipe snowboarding, long track speed skating, luge, moguls, Nordic combined, short track speed skating, skeleton, ski jumping, slopestyle skiing, and snowboardcross.  

Below you'll find all the athletes with Utah connections:

2018 U.S. Olympic Team

Native to Utah (names in bold denote Park City natives):

Jerica Tandiman, Long Track Speedskating
Sarah Hendrickson, Ski Jumping
Will Rhoads, Ski Jumping
Abby Ringquist, Ski Jumping
Nathan Chen, Figure Skating
Chris Fogt, Bobsled
Rosie Brennan, Cross-Country Skiing
Nolan Kasper, Alpine Skiing
Ted Ligety, Alpine Skiing
*Steven Nyman, Alpine Skiing 
Jared Goldberg, Alpine Skiing
Megan McJames, Alpine Skiing
McRae Williams, Slopestyle Skiing
Alex Hall, Slopestyle Skiing
Madison Olsen, Aerials
Taylor Morris, Luge

*Nyman was named to the team, but suffered a season-ending injury to his right ACL while preparing for the final pre-Olympic World Cup downhill in Germany. On Monday, January 29, the US Ski & Snowboard team announced he will be unable to compete in PyeongChang. 

Train Primarily in Utah:

Maame Biney, Short Track Speedskating
J.R. Celski, Short Track Speedskating
Lana Gehring, Short Track Speedskating
Thomas Hong, Short Track Speedskating
Aaron Tran, Short Track Speeskating
Brittany Bowe, Long Track Speedskating
Jonathan Garcia, Long Track Speedskating
Erin Jackson, Long Track Speedskating
Mia Manganello, Long Track Speedskating
Joey Mantia, Long Track SpeedSkating
Carlijn Schoutens, Long Track Speedskating
Mitch Whitmore, Long Track Speedskating
Kimani Griffin, Long Track Speedskating
Elizabeth Stephen, Cross-Country Skiing
Faye Gulini, Snowboardcross
Bradley Wilson, Moguls
Emerson Smith, Moguls
Morgan Schild, Moguls
Jaelin Kauf, Moguls
Troy Murphy, Moguls
Keaton McCargo, Moguls
Jonathon Lillis, Aerials
Mac Bohonnon, Aerials
Ashley Caldwell, Aerials
Kiley McKinnon, Aerials
Ben Berend, Nordic Combined
Bryan Fletcher, Nordic Combined
Taylor Fletcher, Nordic Combined
Jasper Good, Nordic Combined
Ben Loomis, Nordic Combined
Kevin Bickner, Ski Jumping
Casey Larson, Ski Jumping
Maddie Bowman, Halfipipe Skiing
 

Spends Time Training in Utah, have previously trained in Utah, or were educated in Utah: 

Tommy Biesemeyer, Alpine Skiing
Jared Goldberg, Alpine Skiing
Megan McJames, Alpine Skiing
Resi Stiegler, Alpine Skiing
Andrew Weibrecht, Alpine Skiing
Jacqueline Wiles, Alpine Skiing
Tim Jitloff, Alpine Skiing
Mark Engel, Alpine Skiing
Alice McKennis, Alpine Skiing
Wiley Maple, Alpine Skiing
Breezy Johnson, Alpine Skiing
Bryce Bennett, Alpine Skiing
Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Alpine Skiing
Jessie Diggins, Cross-Country Skiing
Kikkan Randall, Cross-Country Skiing
Nick Goepper, Slopestyle Skiing
Darian Stevens, Slopestyle Skiing
Alex Ferreira, Halfpipe Skiing
Brita Sigourney, Halfpipe Skiing
Kendall Wessenberg, Skeleton
Sam Michener, Bobsled
Sam McGuffie, Bobsled
Carlo Valdes, Bobsled
Devin Logan, Halfpipe and Slopestyle Skiing
Maggie Voisin, Slopestyle Skiing
Jessika Jenson, Slopestyle Snowboarding
Mick Dierdorff, Snowboardcross
Kelly Clark, Halfpipe Snowboarding

If you are stoked about the Olympics, don't forget to check out the free Team USA Winterfest when it hits Park City on February 10 from 1 to 7 p.m. on Main Street between 7th and 9th street.  The mutli-stop festival will feature interactive experiences, meet and greets with several athletes, a concert, and more. 

And don't forget to tune into NBC, NBCSN, and across the networks of NBC Universal every day of Winter Games for Olympic action. Visit NBCOlympics.com for local listings.