{"id":71867,"date":"2022-02-02T20:38:15","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T20:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/02\/02\/here-are-the-troops-competing-in-the-beijing-winter-olympics\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:30:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:30:33","slug":"here-are-the-troops-competing-in-the-beijing-winter-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2022\/02\/02\/here-are-the-troops-competing-in-the-beijing-winter-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"Here are the troops competing in the Beijing Winter Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics officially beginning today and the opening ceremony set for Friday, U.S. service members are among the 225 athletes representing the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are nine service members set to compete, with one Vermont National Guardsman standing by as an alternate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some, like Army Spec. Frank Del Duca, this will be their first time at the games. Del Duca, an infantryman from Maine who enlisted in 2019, said he\u2019s incredibly grateful for the opportunity to represent his country both as a soldier and as an Olympian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt means the world to me to be able to do both,\u201d Del Duca told Military Times. \u201cI can just hope to do my best as a soldier and an athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Competing alongside Del Duca for Team USA\u2019s men\u2019s bobsled team is fellow Army Spec. Hakeem Abdul Saboor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Army Spec. Hakeem Abdul Saboor will be competing in his second Winter Olympics, but his first as part of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program. (Sgt. Michael Hunnisett\/ U.S. Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Abdul Saboor, a biomedical equipment specialist from Powhatan, Virginia, previously competed in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in South Korea, finishing 21st in the two-man event and 19th in the four-man event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will also be the second Winter Olympics for Nordic combined competitors Specs. Benjamin Loomis and Jasper Good. Both Good and Loomis are motor transport operators in the Utah National Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nordic combined, a hybrid sport, is made up of both ski jumping and cross-country skiing, where athletes earn points for distance and style in the ski jump, which then dictate the order for the staggered cross-country race. It is the only winter Olympic sport that is a male-only event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three Vermont National Guardsmen will be competing in the biathalon event, a sport that combines cross-country skiing and riflery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specs. Leif Nordgren and Sean Doherty are both three-time Olympic-competitors, having previously competed in the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nordgren will not only be competing this February, but also welcoming his first-born child, who\u2019s due Feb. 4 \u2014 the day of the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the other National Guard and Army athletes, Nordgren, Doherty and women\u2019s biathalon competitor Sgt. Deedra Irwin are not part of the Army\u2019s World Class Athlete Program, which sponsors soldiers\u2019 Olympic and Paralympic dreams while they continue to serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men\u2019s biathalon team alternate Spec. Vaclav Cervenka will also be in Beijing in case another Team USA athlete has to withdraw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vermont National Guardsman Spec. Leif Nordgren competing in the IBU Biathlon World Cup 2018 in Hochfilzen. (Frank Hoermann\/ AP Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Representing the Air Force is Airman 1st Class Kelly Curtis, who will be competing in one of the three sliding sports held during the winter Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will be Curtis\u2019 first Olympic games, with the cyber security specialist competing as part of Team USA\u2019s smallest skeleton contingent since the sport returned to the Olympics in 2002. The sport was previously considered too dangerous for the games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skeleton events involve an athlete riding head-first, face-down on a flat sled.<\/p>\n\n\n\t