With the late addition of Alice Merryweather ’21 and Tricia Mangan ’19 to the U.S. Alpine ski team, Dartmouth will have 15 athletes and two head coaches marching in tomorrow’s 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the most ever for the College.
And, with Paralympian Staci Mannella ’18 set to compete in Pyeongchang next month, that brings to 18 the total of Dartmouth athletes taking part in the Olympics.
Because South Korea is 14 hours ahead of the East Coast, fans who want to watch the opening ceremony live will have to get up at 6 a.m. Friday and log onto NBC’s website for streaming video. The ceremony will be rebroadcast beginning at 8 p.m. on NBC network stations.
The festivities in the open air Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium could be the coldest on record, with wind chills in the range of -15 to -20, according to Accuweather.com. James Watkins ’84, a U.S. ski team doctor for the women’s training venue at High 1 ski resort in Gangwon-do, South Korea, says the wind has been bitter.
“We were training slalom and giant slalom on the Victoria 3 course at High 1 yesterday,” he says. “The weather is very cold, they use words like ‘Siberian High’ in the forecast.”
Highlights to watch for include athletes from North and South Korea marching together under one flag, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sharing a VIP box at the ceremony, and Dartmouth’s own Tucker Murphy ’04, a Nordic skier representing Bermuda, carrying his country’s flag and perhaps wearing the traditional costume of the island: Bermuda shorts and a blazer.
For a complete schedule of events, venues, and starting times, visit the Pyeongchang 2018 events schedule and for broadcast coverage information, visit the NBC Olympic viewer’s guide.
Here’s the lineup of Dartmouth-affiliated athletes who are competing in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games:
Rosie Brennan ’11 will make her Olympic debut with Team USA in cross-country skiing this year.
Patrick “Paddy” Caldwell ’17 is a first-time Olympian with the U.S. cross-country team.
Sophie Caldwell ’12 raced with Team USA in Sochi in 2014. She will compete in South Korea this year in cross-country.
David Chodounsky ’08 will compete in men’s slalom with Team USA. This is his second Olympics, having also raced in the men’s slalom in Sochi.
Emily Dreissigacker ’11 is a first-time Olympian on the 2018 USA biathlon team.
Susan Dunklee ’08 is a two-time Olympic biathlete. She placed seventh in biathlon relay and eighth in mixed relay with Team USA in Sochi in 2014.
Tommy Ford ’12 will compete in giant slalom with Team USA. He placed 26th in the giant slalom for Team USA in Vancouver in 2010, and returns to Olympic competition this year after a serious injury in 2013.
Annie Hart ’14 is a first-time Olympian with the U.S. cross-country team.
Nolan Kasper ’14 will compete for Team USA in the slalom. This is his third trip to the Olympics having competed in 2010 in Vancouver and in 2014 in Sochi, where he was top American slalom finisher.
Tricia Mangan ’19 is a first-time Olympian who was the final athlete added to the 2018 U.S. team filling an Alpine spot that opened after another team member was injured.
Staci Mannella ’18 returns to Alpine competition with Team USA at the Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang in March. At age 18, she was the youngest member of the U.S. Paralympic Alpine skiing team in the Sochi Paralympics in 2014.
Alice Merryweather ’21 is a first-time Olympian, competing with Team USA in speed skiing. Merryweather, who plans to start classes at Dartmouth in the spring, made the team days before the opening ceremony, taking a spot after a team member was injured.
Tucker Murphy ’04 will represent Bermuda in cross-country skiing for his third Olympics. He raced cross-country in Sochi in 2014 and in Vancouver in 2010, and is the third Bermudan to participate in the Winter Olympics.
Ida Sargent ’11 will be competing at her second Olympics in cross-country skiing. In Sochi in 2014, Sargent finished 19th in the sprint freestyle.
Laura Schuler, Dartmouth women’s hockey coach, has taken a leave of absence to coach Canada’s women’s hockey team as they try for their fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
Laura Stacey ’16, named to Team Canada’s women’s hockey team, was a Dartmouth women’s hockey standout.
Andrew Weibrecht ’09 earned a silver medal in the super-G with Team USA in Sochi 2014, and a bronze in the super-G in the 2010 games in Vancouver. This year, Weibrecht will ski in the slalom and super G.
The winter games run Feb. 9 through Feb. 25. They will be broadcast on NBC, NBCSN, and across the networks of NBC Universal. The opening ceremony will be rebroadcast on NBC stations at 8 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 9. Live coverage will be streamed on Friday through NBC Universal’s networks beginning at 6 a.m. EST (8 p.m. Korean Standard Time.) NBC stations will rebroadcast portions of each day’s events during prime time.
Bill Platt can be reached at william.c.platt@dartmouth.edu.
