Five members of the USA Alpine Skiing team have ties to Vermont this year.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Home: Vail, Colorado
Age: 22
Olympic history: Won gold in slalom and finished fifth in giant slalom in 2014 at Sochi, becoming the youngest slalom winner in Olympic history.
Career highlights: Has won 41 World Cup victories ties the mark for most for a skier under the age of 23. She has seven WC wins this season, including her first in downhill and five consecutive firsts in slalom. Has won three gold and one silver medal at the World Championships.
Backstory: Raised in Vermont and New Hampshire, Shiffrin honed her talents at Burke Mountain Academy, from which she graduated in 2013.
She could potentially compete for five gold medals in Pyeongchang as the slalom events have been moved ahead of the speed races in the Olympic schedule.
Andrew Weibrecht
Home: Lake Placid, N.Y.
Age: 31
Olympic history: Won silver medal in giant slalom in 2014 in Sochi, and bronze in Super G in 2010 in Vancouver
Career highlights: 9th in downhill at 2015 World Championships, a second and a third in Super G World Cup events in 2016
Backstory: Nicknamed “The Warhorse,” Weibrecht had never placed higher than 10th in a World Cup race before winning bronze in the 2010 Olympics.
Grew up in Lake Placid, where his parents still own a hotel and cafe. He and wife, Deja, recently welcomed daughter Addy to the family.
Nolan Kasper
Home: Warren, Vermont
Age: 28
Olympic history: 13th in slalom in 2014 in Sochi and 24th in slalom in 2010 in Vancover.
Career highlights: 15th in 2011 slalom at World Championships and 2nd in a 2011 World Cup Slalom.
Backstory: A Burke Mountain Academy graduate, Kasper missed the 2016 and 2017 seasons recovering from knee surgery.
He used that time to earn an economics degree from Dartmouth and returned to training last October.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Home: Starksboro, Vermont
Age: 25
Olympic history: First Olympics
Career highlights: Won gold in downhill and combined at 2012 World Junior Championships but suffered serious knee injury in 2013 that cost him most of the next two years.
Made his World Cup debut in 2016 and had three top-5 finishes in 2017 U.S. Alpine championships.
Backstory: Graduated from Mount Abraham Union High School. Cochran-Siegle’s mother is 1972 Olympic slalom gold medalist, Barbara Ann Cochran.
Cochran-Siegle says he doesn't mind that his family's ski history and his mother's gold medal are always mentioned along with his own.
"It just shows what she's been able to accomplish and how successful she was as a ski racer, for her to have been able to do that," he said.
Read our full interview with Cochran-Siegle, here.
He is working toward a dual degree in physics and mechanical engineering at Westminster College.
Tommy Biesemeyer
Home: Keene, New York
Age: 29
Olympic history: First Olympics
Career highlights: 13th in World Championship super-G in 2013, 11th in 2016 World Cup super-G and 29th in 2017 WC downhill.
Backstory: Born in Plattsburgh, he grew up skiing Whiteface Mountain and attended the University of Vermont while recovering from torn knee ligaments in 2014.
He speaks fluent German.
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