Meet the Only Two Filipino American Athletes Competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics
By Ryan General
February 6, 2018
Two of the 11 Asian American athletes competing for Team USA in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang are of Filipino heritage.
Speed skater John Robert “JR” Celski and snowboarder Hailey Langland will be proudly representing the United States beginning on Friday alongside notable star athletes Nathan Chen and Vincent Zhou, reports NBC news.
A consistent medal winner, 27-year-old Celski has captured three medals so far in the Winter Olympics. He won bronze in the 5000-meter relay and 1500-meter individual event in 2010 in Vancouver and won a silver in the 5,000-meters event in 2014 in Sochi.
Born to a Filipino American mother and a Polish father, the talented short-track speed skater is expected to deliver the goods again this year.
Hailey Langland, 17, will be competing in the women’s snowboarding big air event. It will be the first time Langland is competing in the Winter Games.
The daughter of a Filipino American mother and an American father, Langland has previously represented the U.S. in the Youth Olympics. She also competed in the X Games in 2016 and 2017.
Other Asian American athletes who earned spots on Team USA include Korean American snowboarder Chloe Kim, Taiwanese American figure skater Karen Chen, Japanese American figure skater Mirai Nagasu, Vietnamese American skater Aaron Tran, Korean American skater Thomas Hong, and Japanese American brother-sister duo Alex and Maia Shibutani who will be competing in ice dancing.
Feature Image via Instagram/haileylangland, celskeet
Share this Article
Share this Article
