Meet the Olympians from Minnesota
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Minnesota is a stronghold for winter Olympians, with the third-largest delegation of athletes headed to compete in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in the Winter Olympics.
Twenty athletes who called Minnesota home will compete. Another five are Minnesota natives but currently live elsewhere.
Only Colorado and California will send more athletes to the Olympics, which run from Feb. 7 through Feb. 25.
Team USA has earned six gold medal, three silver medals, and six bronze medals at the 2018 winter Olympic games. Of the Minnesotan Olympians, Jessie Diggins helped secure a gold in the women's cross-country team sprint event, and Lindsey Vonn secured a bronze in the Women's downhill.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
You can watch them compete at NBColympics.com, download the NBC Sports app for Apple or Android devices, or use a VPN and watch from the BBC.
Get to know the athletes from Team USA, (and one from Team South Korea) that have ties to Minnesota.
Alpine Skiing
David Chodounsky
David Chodounsky, 33, is a two-time Olympian (2014, 2018) born in St. Paul and now lives in Crested Butte, Colo. He started skiing at two years old when his parents mounted whittled wooden planks on his feet.
"I fell down, started crying, and that was about it for that year," he said on his website, "so I guess I officially began skiing at the age of [3]."
He joined the ski team at Dartmouth College, and has finished 11th in the giant slalom and 12th in the slalom in the 2017 World Championship.
Wiley Maple
Wiley Maple, 27, is a first-time Olympian born in Minneapolis and lives in Aspen, Colo. Skiing is a family tradition; his father Mike helped the University of Colorado Boulder to two NCAA ski racing titles, and his sister Alex also skied at the same university.
Maple took sixth in the 2009 and ninth in 2010 FIS Junior World Championships in downhill racing.
According to his US Ski Team site, if he's not skiing, he's out hiking, biking and enjoying the mountains of Aspen. Aside from sports, he likes "hanging out with good people and kicking back to a little classic rock or bluegrass."
Lindsey Vonn
Lindsey Vonn, 33, born in St. Paul and lives in Vail, Colo. Vonn is a four-time Olympian with a gold and bronze medal from 2010. She has raced during the games at Salt Lake City, Torino and Vancouver, when she captured a gold in downhill and a bronze in super giant slalom.
Vonn won a bronze in downhill at the 2018 Winter Games. She is the most decorated female downhill skier of all time.
Vonn also has seven medals from the World Championships — two golds, three silvers and two bronzes — while participating in the championships in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Vonn also holds the American record and is ranked second in the world for most International Ski Federation World Cup victories.
Biathlon
Leif Nordgren
Tabitha Peterson
Tabitha Peterson, 28, born in Burnsville and lives in St. Paul, will play on Team Roth as the vice skip. She took home the bronze medalist in both the 2016 World Mixed Doubles and the 2010 World Juniors.
She also was a 2012 U.S. national champion and a two-time U.S. junior national champion, and 2013 Continental Cup champion. She curls out of the St. Paul Curling Club.
In an interview with World Curling TV in 2017, Peterson said she is a fan of "Grey's Anatomy," and told an embarrassing memory as a child during Halloween because her dad is a dentist.
"Every Halloween, we'd be the house that gave out toothbrushes. Some people loved it, some people hated it," Peterson said.
John Shuster
John Shuster, 35, born in Chisholm and attended college at University of Minnesota-Duluth. He has played in three Winter Olympic Games, taking home a bronze in 2006.
He has also placed third in the 2016 World Championships, was the Continental Cup champion in 2016, 2014, and runner-up in 2003. He also won gold in the World University Games in 2007. He lives in Superior, Wis., and plays from the Duluth Curling Club.
Freestyle Skiing
Caroline Claire
Caroline Claire, 18, born in Edina, competes in the Slopestyle event in freestyle skiing. She now calls Manchester Center, Vt., her home. Skiing since she could walk, she won the USASA Nationals in 2014.
Claire took home bronze in the 2017 and 2015 FIS Junior World Championships. This will be her first Olympics competition.
She also competed through the Revolution Tour in 2016, and earned podium finishes in each appearance, including wins at Winter park and Seven Springs.
Hockey
Will Borgen
Will Borgen, 21, was born in Fargo, N.D., and calls Moorhead his hometown. He was named to the 2016 NCHC All-Rookie team in his first season with St. Cloud State University as a defender.
Borgen secured a bronze medal with Team USA at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship. He also was selected in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL Draft by the Buffalo Sabres.
Hannah Brandt
Hannah Brandt, 24, born in Maplewood and calls Vadnais Heights her hometown. She played with the University of Minnesota; the team earned three NCAA national championships when she played as a forward.
She also holds two gold medals from the World Championship in 2017 and 2015, and a silver from the World Championship in 2012. She also holds two golds and one silver from the Four Nations Cup.
Brandt and her older sister, Marissa, will attend the Pyeongchang games for ice hockey, but for different teams. Marissa will play for team South Korea.
Marissa Brandt (Yoon Jung Park)
Marissa Brandt, 25, born in South Korea and now has South Korean citizenship, but grew up in Vadnais Heights, attended Hill-Murray High School and played hockey for Gustavus Adolphus College as a defender.
Brandt, who will skate under her birth name, Yoon Jung Park, had 13 goals and 21 assists during her career with Gustavus from 2011 to 2015. She also played on the World Championship Division II team in 2017 for South Korea.
Brant has said that in the past, she didn't have a strong connection to her Korean birth country. Now, with her time playing on the national team, she has learned the language and the culture from her new teammates. And the moment her team won the Division World Championship changed her perspective.
"We were lined up and watching the flag being raised. I was, literally, in that moment, so proud to be Korean. I wasn't ashamed about it in anymore," Brandt said. "I realized that it's OK to be Korean and American. And I'm excited to do this with my family, with my team, and with my countries."
Brandt and her younger sister, Hannah, will attend the Pyeongchang game for ice hockey, but for different teams. Hannah plays as a forward for Team USA.
Dani Cameranesi
Dani Cameranesi, 22, born and raised in Plymouth and played for the University of Minnesota in two NCAA national championships as a forward. As a senior, she was named team assistant captain, and in her junior year led the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in scoring.
She also earned a gold at the 2015 World Championship, and received a 2017 Four Nations Cup gold, and a 2014 Four Nations Cup Silver. She also played in two International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Women's World Championships, earning a silver in 2012.
Gigi Marvin
Gigi Marvin, 30, born and raised in Warroad, played for the University of Minnesota, and played professionally as a forward for the Minnesota Whitecaps, the Boston Blades of the Canadian Women's Hockey League, and the Boston Pride for the National Women's Hockey League.
Marvin helped the Boston Pride win the Isobel Cup in the inaugural year of the NWHL in 2015-16, and the Clarkston Cup for the Boston Blades in 2012-13.
She has also earned two Olympic silver medals, and five gold medals and two silver medals in the IIHF World Championships. She also played in eight Four Nations Cups, helping Team USA claim three gold, three silver and one bronze.
Sidney Morin
Sidney Morin, 22, born in Edina and lives in Minnetonka, and helped the Minnetonka High School win three consecutive state titles. She had a career-high 24 points in her senior year of the University of Minnesota Duluth, and was named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year the same season.
Morin also earned a silver in the 2013 IIHF U12 Women's World Championship. She also played a portion of the 2017-18 season with MODO Hockey of the Swedish Women's Hockey League, and was named assistant captain.
Kelly Pannek
Kelly Pannek, 22, was born and lives in Plymouth, and played forward for the University of Minnesota, where in 2016-17 season she led the nation with 62 points and 43 assists in 39 games, and helped the team capture two NCAA national championships. Her freshman season in 2014-15 she led all NCAA freshmen with 44 points, and was named to the All-USCHO Rookie team and the WCHA All-Rookie Team.
She also earned one gold in the IIHF Women's World Championship in 2017, and first in the 2017 Four Nations Cup. She also played in one U18 Women's World Championship for a silver.
Maddie Rooney
Maddie Rooney, 20, was born in Duluth and calls Andover her hometown. She played two years of collegiate hockey as a goalie for the University of Minnesota Duluth, and will be the first female goalie from Minnesota to participate in the Olympics, according to minnesotahockey.org.
In high school, Rooney played her senior season with the boys' varsity team at Andover High School.
In 2017 she held a shutout in her Team USA debut in a preliminary game against Russia in the IIHF Women's World Championship tournament. The team went on to win gold. She also earned gold at the Four Nations Cup the same year.
Ryan Stoa
Ryan Stoa, 30, born in Minneapolis and calls Bloomington his hometown. Stoa played for the Spartak Moskva for two seasons; he was named a 2017 KHL All-Star from the Spartak Moskva - Metallurg Novokuznetsk and Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk in the KHL. He also played for the Washington Capitals in 2013 for three games and the Colorado Avalanche during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.
He also played for the University of Minnesota, and was the WCHA scoring champion with 24 goals and 22 assists in 36 games his senior year in the 2008-09 season, and helped Minnesota win the WCHA championship his sophomore year.
Lee Stecklein
Lee Stecklein, 23, born in St. Paul and calls Roseville home. A member of the 2014 Sochi Olympic games that took home a silver medal, Stecklein plays defense and has participated in the women's IIHF Women's World Championship, winning gold in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, and played in four Four Nations Cups, with two first place finishes, a second place in 2014, and third in 2013.
She also played for the University of Minnesota for four seasons, helping the team win three NCAA Championships, receiving First Team All-American and All WCHA First Team designations.
