For some 2018 U.S. Winter Olympians, their origin stories almost seem inevitable.
There is British-born but American-raised freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, who grew up in Telluride, Colorado, one of the skiing capitals of the country, if not the world. It would’ve been more surprising had the 2014 Olympic men’s freestyle skiing silver medalist not begun to ski.
Likewise, there is cross-country skier Jessie Diggins, whose background is quite similar: Raised in chilly Minnesota, where, she says, she “grew up on skis,” Diggins remembers riding in her parents’ backpacks as a child as they cross-country skied themselves.
Nathan Chen was three when he said he wanted to be a hockey goalie, and his mother rented him skates, only she saw the flatter, figure-skating skates and figured that those might be the right starter kit.