Outstanding athletes to watch during the 2018 Winter Games

Excerpted from Time.com, By SEAN GREGORY and ALICE PARK Updated: February 8, 2018 11:31 AM ET

Every Winter Olympics has its breakout stars—the rookie defying the odds to win her first gold medal, the legend defying time to win his last. The 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea has no shortage of candidates on both counts, from teen phenoms like Russian figure skater Alina Zagitova and American snowboarder Chloe Kim, to hardboiled veterans like U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn and the man known as Legend, 45-year-old Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai.

From French figure skaters to Nigerian bobsledders, here’s your GUIDE to the Olympic athletes to watch.

Magnus Kim - South Korea rejoiced when cross-country skiing phenom Kim, 19, announced he would compete for the host country in PyeongChang. Kim’s mother is South Korean, his father is Norwegian and Kim held citizenship in both countries. In 2016, Kim became the first South Korean to win a gold medal at a major international cross-country event, when he took two golds and a silver at the 2016 Youth Winter Olympics. No Asian country has ever won an Olympic cross-country medal. While skiers from Norway, Sweden and Italy provide stiff competition, Kim has home-field advantage—and the hopes of a nation behind him.

From Salt Lake Tribune

Maame Biney - Maame, 18, became the first African-American woman to qualify for a U.S. speedskating team. She moved to Maryland from Ghana at age 5, and took up the Winter Olympic sport when her father spotted a sign offering lessons. Biney started out in figure skating. An instructor, noting how fast she was moving on the ice, suggested Biney try speedskating instead. The high school senior is taking online classes during her intense Olympic year, and is interested in studying chemical engineering in college.

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