US announces 242-member Winter Olympic Team

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) announced a 242-member team that will compete in the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

The team, announced on Friday, comprises of 107 women and 135 men -- the largest athlete delegation for any country and region in the history of the Olympic Winter Game, reports Xinhua.

The United States will be represented in 97 out of the 102 medal events that will be contested in South Korea.

"Once again, Team USA is among the largest teams to compete in the Olympic Winter Games, and we continue to see a spike in excellence from Americans competing in winter sports as the sport programme expands to include more opportunities for our athletes," said Alan Ashley, US chef de mission and USOC chief of sport performance.

"We are primed and ready for another strong showing from our athletes, who have made a long-time commitment to represent us as the best in the US at these Games, and we look forward to cheering for each member of Team USA on the world's greatest stage."

The 2018 US Olympic team features 103 returning Olympians -- including three five-time Olympians, 12 four-time Olympians, 28 three-time Olympians and 60 two-time Olympians.

The slate of veterans features 37 Olympic medalists, including 10 Olympic champions and 15 who have won multiple Olympic medals.

Of the 10 returning Olympic champions, five are looking to defend their titles from Sochi, namely Jamie Anderson (snowboarding slopestyle), Maddie Bowman (freestyle skiing halfpipe), Ted Ligety (alpine skiing giant slalom), Mikaela Shiffrin (alpine skiing slalom) and David Wise (freestyle skiing halfpipe).

--IANS

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