J.R. Celski and Katherine Reutter-Adamek pose for portraits on April 27, 2017 in West Hollywood, Calif.
U.S. short-track speedskaters are one step closer to the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
Three-time Olympic medalist J.R. Celski and two-time medalist Katherine Reutter-Adamek lead the list of 10 athletes (five men and five women) named to US Speedskating’s 2017-18 Short Track World Cup team, which was announced today.
The announcement follows the Short Track Fall World Cup Qualifier over the weekend at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah.
Celski was the overall points leader after winning four of his six individual races in Kearns. John-Henry Krueger, who has won 15 world cup medals in his career, also made the team. Thomas Hong, a world junior championship silver medalist, Ryan Pivirotto and Aaron Tran round out the men’s squad.
Reutter-Adamek, who won a pair of Olympic medals in 2010 and retired from the sport in 2013 before returning last season, is one of three Olympians on the women’s team, along with 2010 Olympic bronze medal-winning teammate Lana Gehring and 2014 Olympian Jessica Kooreman.
They are joined by 17-year-old Maame Biney, who won the women’s overall title at qualifying, and Kristen Santos.
“I was extremely encouraged by the way our athletes raced and handled the stress from this past weekend at Qualifiers,” short track national team coach Anthony Barthell said in a statement. “Our team is filled with international race experience, including four that have reached the biggest stage and have had success. Those individuals will provide valuable insights to the rest of the team as we continue to build towards PyeongChang.”
The team will compete in the first of four world cup races this season Sept. 28-Oct. 1 in Budapest, Hungary. The other world cups take place Oct. 5-8 (Dordrecht, Netherlands), Nov. 9-12 (Shanghai, China) and Nov. 16-19 (Seoul, Korea).
The 2018 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Short Track Speedskating take place Dec. 14-17 at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns.
Gary R. Blockus is a journalist from Allentown, Pennsylvania who has covered multiple Olympic Games. He is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
