FINAL spots on the U.S. men and women’s Alpine, freeski and snowboard squads won’t be decided until two December qualifying events, but the core of next year’s Beijing 2022 Team USA is forming daily and features a star-studded cast of returning Olympians. Between Shaun White, Mikaela Shiffrin, David Wise, Chole Kim, Red Gerard and Jamie Anderson, they have already won 11 Olympic gold medals. But this year, these storied Olympians also have become leaders for the younger athletes to follow. “We’ve got a group of leaders on the slope, who are excellent role models and seriously accomplished Olympians,” said Hannah Megan Harrod, U.S. Alpine Ski Team Communications Manager. This blend of Olympic medalists combined with young, upstart talent, could prove a toxic mix against Olympic competition, as the U.S. ski and snowboard team has been pounding the snow since October preparing for the upcoming Beijing Winter Games. “It’s remarkable to see this much talent training here on the mountain,” Harrod told Xinhua on Monday, of the some 65 Olympic caliber snowboard and skiing professionals who are training at “Copper,” located 115 kilometers west of Denver, the United States, in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. On the men’s side, snowboard fans will be thrilled to see living legend Shaun White, 36, who came out of retirement in 2019 with another Olympic gold medal in his headlights, and upstart Red Gerard, 21. In 2018, Gerard, then 17, became the youngest American man to win gold since 1928, in slopestyle, at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. White, the most decorated athlete in the history of snowboarding, is looking for a fourth Olympic gold in the men’s halfpipe after winning the event in 2006, 2010 and 2018, and now can add to his legacy by mentoring young talent like Gerard, and especially Toby Miller, another superpipe specialist. Miller, 21, is “considered by many to be the next big thing in halfpipe snowboarding,” trains closely with White and was part of White’s entourage at the 2018 PyeongChang Games when White dramatically won gold on his last run, according to Olympics.com. (Xinhua) | 