Winter Olympics: Team USA athletes with Florida ties

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics are set to run from Feb. 4-20.

Here are some Team USA athletes with Florida ties to watch:

Brittany Bowe

Born in Ocala, Florida, speed skater Brittany Bowe already holds a bronze medal Team USA’s pursuit in 2018′s Winter Games. The Associated Press confirms that Bowe, a former Division I basketball player at Florida Atlantic University, expects to contend for medals in two individual events: the 1000m, for which she’s the reigning world champion, and the 1500m.

Erin Jackson

Hailing from Ocala, Florida, the world’s top female speed skater will be making her second Olympic appearance after Team USA teammate Brittany Bowe gave up her spot. Jackson, 29, is just months removed from winning the speed skating World Cup, becoming the first Black woman to do so. According to CBS News, she is currently ranked No. 1 in the women’s 500-meter by the International Skating Union and will compete in the same event in Beijing.

Frank Del Duca

Born in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., this will be the first Olympics for Del Duca. The 30-year-old is a graduate of Telstar High in Bethel and the University of Maine. He will drive in the two- and four-man races. Del Duca’s rise through the U.S. national team has been swift, according to the Portland Press Herald. Del Duca joined the bobsled team soon after he graduated from UMaine, attending a tryout camp in 2015. His physical and mental attributes impressed the coaches, and he earned a spot on the U.S. national team, eventually sitting in the second spot on the U.S. No. 1 sled, driven by the late Steve Holcomb.

Josh Williamson

Growing up in Central Florida, Josh Williamson never dreamed of pushing a bobsled at the Winter Olympics. But now he’s set to make his Olympic debut as a bobsledder at the 2022 Beijing Games. It’s been a unique journey for Williamson, 25, yet in a way it’s one he’s been preparing for since he was a kid growing up in Lake Mary and playing lacrosse. While in college, Williamson began following a few bobsledders on Instagram and noticed a lot of the workouts were similar to ones he’d done as a lacrosse player. Williamson eventually signed up for a combine in Park City, Utah. He reportedly stood out enough to earn a spot on “Scouting Camp: The Next Olympic Hopeful,” a 2017 show designed to identify talented athletes from across the country for an opportunity to train with a U.S. national team. One of the sports scouting for talent that year was bobsled.

Mia Manganello Kilburg

Mia Manganello Kilburg is a highly decorated U.S. long distance speed skater and cyclist, competing in the 3000m and mass start events at the Beijing Olympics. The 32-year-old hails from Crestview, Fla. and spoke highly of her fellow Team USA speed skaters in the lead up to the Winter Games: “I’ve been around for a while, and it’s one of the strongest teams I’ve ever witnessed.” This is Kilburg’s second Olympic Games.

Joey Mantia

Joey Mantia, a three-time Olympic speed skater from Ocala, Fla., is also a 28-time world champion and a world record holder in the sport. Mantia, who just turned 36 on Feb. 7, represented Team USA at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. In 2018, he qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team, winning the 1000 m and 1500 m events. And last December, Mantia won his second-straight 1500m World Cup title in Salt Lake City.

>>Check back here for more on local athletes competing in the Beijing Games.

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