With the 2018 Winter Olympics beginning in South Korea this weekend, here are some of the athletes competing in the games from the Chicagoland area.
Three Chicago area ski jumpers are participating, Casey Larson, Michael Glasder and Kevin Bickner. Emery Lehman, Brian Hansen and Lana Gehring are three of the four Chicago area speed skaters racing the games, headlined by gold medalist Shani Davis. Aja Evans is competing in bobsledding after winning bronze in 2014. Alexa Scimeca-Knierim, Bradie Tennell and Jason Brown are three figure skaters hoping to follow the footsteps of 2010 gold medalist and Neuqua Valley graduate Evan Lysacek. Three women’s hockey players from the area will represent the US in Hillary Knight, Kendall Coyne and Megan Bozek.
The strongest Naperville connection in the Olympics comes via the men’s hockey team. Team USA head coach Tony Granato is the cousin of the Neuqua Valley hockey head coach Dan Granato, as well as the Wildcats leading scorer, Ben Granato. Best of luck to everyone this Olympic season!
