"With the opening ceremony of the Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games less than two weeks away, Team USA has finalized its list of 232 competitors, the largest contingent ever sent. Though more than 80 athletes live or train in Utah, only 17 of them identified Utah as their home state. Colorado is the state with the most athletes, at 30, and 32 states are sending at least one athlete."
"Perhaps most surprising of all is that the four skiers competing in freestyle skiing are from Ohio, of all places. Though there may be more booters and sidehits on a single run in Utah than in all of Ohio, the Buckeye State is well represented in the women's and men's freestyle aerials event. The Midwest contingent, like its snowpack this year, is far deeper than you might expect, with Indiana's Nick Goepper in the hunt for gold in slopestyle"
"To look for an explanation for the strong freestyle representation from the Midwest, look no further than the ancient rope tow, found in almost every Midwest terrain park, which runs at what feels like a million feet per second and makes it possible to get a hundred rails in before Western skiers even get to the front of the gondola line."
Team USA's Milano-Cortina roster includes 232 athletes, the largest contingent ever. More than 80 athletes live or train in Utah, but only 17 listed Utah as their home state. Colorado has the most athletes (30), and 32 states are represented. The Midwest supplies notable talent: four freestyle skiers hail from Ohio, several athletes come from Michigan and Minnesota, and Indiana's Nick Goepper remains a medal contender in slopestyle. Wisconsin provides half of the biathlon team. Strong freestyle development in the Midwest is attributed to ubiquitous rope tows and frequent terrain-park runs. Snowboarding rosters are concentrated, with half the women from California and half the men from Colorado.
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