3 Olympic Athletes Competing for Different Countries Have 1 Thing in Common: New Jersey

Each Olympic Video games attracts 1000’s of world-class athletes from all corners of the globe, every potential champion aiming to carry house medals for his or her house nation.

This yr’s crop of winter athletes isn’t any exception. Already, they’ve braved intense coaching circumstances amid surging COVID-19 infections, together with rigorous quarantine and security protocols, only for the possibility to compete in opposition to the perfect of their sport.

Amongst these looking for to carry house the gold are a longtime determine skater again from retirement, a flag-bearer who already caught consideration in the course of the opening ceremony, and a skier making historical past as the primary feminine to compete on the Winter Olympics on behalf of her nation.

What do these athletes have in frequent? New Jersey, after all.

Right here’s a have a look at a the handful of medal hopefuls competing at this yr’s video games with ties to the Backyard State:

Nathan Crumpton, flag-bearer for American Samoa, competes in skeleton on the Winter Olympics.

Crumpton was born in Kenya whereas his father was stationed overseas with the U.S. International Service.

He spent his childhood in Africa and Australia earlier than settling in Virginia throughout his highschool years.

Nathan Ikon Crumpton is a two-sport Olympian representing American Samoa in each the Tokyo Summer season Olympics and the 2022 Winter Video games.

Crumpton graduated from Princeton the place he competed within the triple bounce.

He was a four-year monitor and discipline athlete in school and earned All-Ivy League choice within the triple bounce.

Crumpton left because the Tigers third-farthest jumper in Princeton historical past.

Six months after working the 100m on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Video games, he’s competing on the Olympic Winter Video games at Beijing 2022. 

Born in New York, Sarah Escobar is competing within the girls’s alpine snowboarding occasion at this yr’s video games on behalf of Ecuador, making her the primary feminine Winter Olympian within the nation’s historical past.

Escobar attended highschool in New Jersey at Sparta Excessive Faculty. At present, she research at Saint Michael’s Faculty the place she compete on the varsity alpine ski staff.

Whereas she was competing on the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Video games in Lausanne, Escobar turned the primary girl flagbearer for Ecuador.

Her run on the video games that yr additionally made her the primary Ecuador athlete to compete within the Winter Youth Olympic Video games.

“Snowboarding is the way in which I relieve my stress. As soon as I’m racing, coaching or free snowboarding, my thoughts relaxes, and it’s simply me, my skis and the snow,” Escobar stated in Oct. 2021.

The daughter of a determine skating coach, Hailey Kops is competing on the video games on behalf of Israel.

Born in New York Metropolis, Kops now lives and trains within the Backyard State. She and her companion, Evgeni Krasnopolski, practice in Hackensack.

She hung up her skates again in 2019, after a lot success on the worldwide degree, attributable to a number of accidents and a want to take pleasure in life past sports activities. However she answered the decision in 2021 when requested to return to the ice and compete on behalf of Israel.

Kops and her companion skilled collectively for under three months earlier than they certified for the Winter Olympics.

She first tried out for Israel’s Ice Skating Federation, which trains its skaters year-round in New Jersey, at age 13.

“It had at all times been a dream of mine to skate for Israel. As a Jewish spiritual woman raised trendy Orthodox, I do know that Israel is our house. It was at all times a part of my plan to attempt to skate for Israel,” Kops stated late final yr.