First-Year Olympians: Say Hello to These New Faces on the U.S. Snowboard Team
Published on 07/15/2022 · 6 min readJoin Snowboard Expert James Crosby in welcoming the new snowboarders to Team USA. These young riders are sure to impress at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Tessa Maud at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics. Photo by Martin Rulsch
Ladies, gentlemen, and snowboarders around the globe, follow along this week for an absolute masterclass in contemporary snowboarding. Witness history in incredible displays of athleticism and logic-defying aerial maneuvers. Since 1998, snowboarding has been part of the Winter Olympic Games. The course for the 24th Winter Olympics, designed by Olympic Jump veteran Dirk Scheumann and built under the leadership of Janis Jansons, provides the canvas for a contest to claim the top step of the podium, and a chance for every athlete to captivate the world for 45 seconds.
For more on what to expect from snowboarding at the 2022 Winter Olympics, check out What to Look Out For in Snowboarding.
The global field of first-timers to this year’s Games bring unquestionable style and monster tricks. These riders are poised to defy gravity, stun the world, and make a mark on a new generation of snowboarders. Every contestant will be hucking their heart out on tricks unfathomable to the civilian mind. This year’s Team USA is mentored by the best in the games with an impressive amount of hardware.
Let’s meet the newbies on the team…
Courtney Rummel
- Event: Slopestyle
- Age: 18
- Hometown: West Bend, Wisconsin
- Instagram: @courtneyyrummel
According to the Milwaukee Sentinel, this new Olympic snowboarder is “ready to tackle manmade course where 'it's no different than the snow back in Wisconsin.'” Rummel’s Mid-Western roots prepared her well for the wind and icy hardpack conditions she’s about to face. She explains, “It’s not bad at all. You just don’t want to fall!”
Rummel is no stranger to placing high in a new field. Finishing top ten at the Mammoth World Cup event and finishing 4th at her first Dew Tour, Rummel clearly has her sights set on an O-Show podium. Rummel is kicking off on Saturday in good company with many veteran medalists on the roster.
Sean Fitzsimons
- Event: Slopestyle
- Age: 21
- Hometown: Hood River, Oregon
- Instagram: @seanfitzsimons
Sean’s first World Cup win in slopestyle came last month in January of 2022 with a Gold at the Laax Open. Showcasing impressive skills at the Dew Tour in halfpipe and big air, this kid is ready to go HUGE and leave no corner of this incredible course unmarked, especially the mind-bending off-angle booters. For a tiny taster of this performance, witness the gold medal run at Laax Open 2022 where Fitzsimons becomes the first human to score into the 80s.
Dusty Henricksen
- Event: Slopestyle
- Age: 19
- Hometown: Mammoth Lakes, California
- Instagram: @dustyhenricksen
Bringing heavy steez and copious chill to the Games this year, Henricksen was the first person to land a quadruple cork in a slopestyle competition with his absolutely massive backside quad cork 1800. Keeping it under the radar with a top 20 Dew Tour finish, scroll through young homie’s IG and witness the epiphany of his knuckle drag on a monster rail. The kid’s got undeniable style and a passion for boards, working a lot of surf into his training regimen.
Zoe Kalapos
- Event: Halfpipe
- Age: 24
- Hometown: Vail, Colorado
- Instagram: @zoe_kalapos
Michigan-born Kalapos is another rider familiar with East Coast hardpack, hustling her heart out on Mt. Kalapos—the father-made course in her backyard. Narrowly missing the 2018 roster, Zoe Kalapos is in it to win it for this year’s Olympics. As long as she has her Skëdagø, she’ll be ready to rip. Watch out for women’s halfpipe on Feb 9th and 10th!
Tessa Maud
- Event: Halfpipe
- Age: 18
- Hometown: Carlsbad, California
- Instagram: @tessamaud_
Tessa Maud has been competing with Olympians since she was 8 years old on the Mammoth Mountain snowboard team and hails from Carlsbad, CA with fellow teammate Shaun White. As a 2x silver medalist at Junior World Championships and currently ranked fourth in the nation, Tessa is primed for a podium performance. Turning in notable scores at Laax and finishing close with teammate Zoe Kalapos at Dew Tour, Tessa is in good company with many veteran medalists on the roster.
Lucas Foster
- Event: Halfpipe
- Age: 22
- Hometown: Telluride, Colorado
- Instagram: @lucasfoster_
Competing for years in slopestyle, Lucas brings raw talent and pedigreed snowboarder style to the Games this year. He won second in his first halfpipe appearance last March, following up with top ten finishes in three out of four World Cup events. Without a halfpipe on his home mountain, “Telluride’s Favorite Son” has been a successful on-the-fly competitor, sometimes arriving the day before competition to get a feel for his tricks on an unfamiliar course.
Charging into high levels of competition in 2020 and bagging top ten finishes at X-Games and Laax Open, Foster is hungry for a podium win, currently ranked third on the American men’s team. Men’s halfpipe will compete Tuesday and Thursday night (USTV Time).
Stacy Gaskill
- Event: Snowboard Cross
- Age: 21
- Hometown: Golden, Colorado
- Instagram: @stacy_gaskill
Laying it down for the young guns in snowboard cross, Stacy has been at the sport for almost 10 years out of Winter Park and recently finished 6th at the 2021 World Championships. Watch for snowboard cross on Wednesday, Feb 9th, and keep an eye out for Stacy in the pursuit of the Summer Olympics in Ultimate Frisbee as well!
Cody Winters
- Event: Parallel Giant Slalom
- Age: 21
- Hometown: Steamboat, Colorado
- Instagram: @_cody_winters_
Representing the U.S. in the second of two OG Olympic snowboard events is Cody Winters. According to local legend, Cody’s father was the first to get his hands on a snowboard in Winter’s small hometown of Steamboat, Colorado. This kid is hungry and has the drive to push snowboarding to new heights on snow and off. Cody had to work to make his Olympic dreams a reality, washing windows and building support from his hometown. The tens of thousands of dollars to attend the qualifying events around the world were funded partially by a business he founded. See Cody race head to head with the best in the world on Tuesday, Feb 8th.
At stake this year is not simply gold, silver, and bronze medals. The biggest winner is the global viewing of raw talent. Top contenders often go on to promising careers, and sometimes take the reins of culture itself. How many snowboarders around the world are going to see fresh inspiration in these contestants? Tune in to see history made and futures forged.
Feeling inspired about snowboarding after learning about these new Olympians? Chat with me or another Snowboard Expert here on Curated about all your gear-related needs.
