There are ten athletes representing Michigan at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, concentrated in just three sports.

Michigan has always been pretty well represented at the Winter Olympics, what with us being so far north and all, and this year is no exception.

Ten athletes from the Mitten State will be competing for medals and Olympic glory in Beijing.

Two of them have already begun their competition. USA women's team ice hockey players Megan Keller from Farmington Hills and Abby Roque from Sault Ste. Marie already  have two wins under their belt in the round robin tournament that started last Thursday.

The men's team also has some Michigan residents on board. Steve Kempfer from Jackson, Andy Miele from Grosse Pointe Woods and Pat Nagle from Bloomfield Hills will be on the ice when Team USA kicks off their tournament later this week.

Justin Abdelkader from Muskegon, who currently skates for the Grand Rapids Griffins is also on the team, for his third Olympics.

Also on the men's hockey team are three out of state alumni from Michigan college hockey programs, as Strauss Mann, Brendan Brisson and Matty Beniers from the University of Michigan were all named to the team.

In Ice Dancing, Olympic veterans Madison Chock and Evan Bates from Ann Arbor are back to compete for the second straight Olympiad. They've already picked up a medal for their part in the new figure skating team competition which wound up early this morning.

They will compete in their own ice dancing finals later in the week.

The Snowboarding Cross team begins competition Thursday, and they have the final two state representatives on it. Nick Baumgartner returns after his fourth place finish in 2018. He hails from Iron River, where he was also a state wrestling champion and was all-state in football.

Joining him on the snowboard cross team is Jake Vedder from Pinckney. Jake is about to have a comic book released about his national team experiences later this year.

So if you're looking for some Michigan flavor in Beijing this week, just look about you. There are two peninsulas representing!

Michigan Athletes At The Winter Olympic Games

Ten Michigan residents will compete for medals at the 2022 Winter Games.

 

 

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