The state of the union today makes it hard to shout loudly for the Red, White and Blue. The violence unleashed by DHS all around the country, the invasion of Venezuela, and our retreat from cherished alliances have all dampened our national pride on the world stage. But then we remember that America is more than Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, and JD Vance. America is the tens of thousands of people marching in the frigid streets of Minneapolis, dancing with joy to Bad Bunny, and producing world class Olympic athletes. So when we root for Team USA in the Winter Olympics, BPR cheers for the promise of America that has brought the best and brightest to our shores for centuries and remains the single best thing about America. Here is a mighty cheer for Team USA’s immigrant athletes.
Immigrant Athletes Representing Team USA at the Winter Olympics
They include:
- Bobsledder Kaillie Armbruster Humphries – Born in Canada, Humphries became a U.S. citizen in 2021. She took home the bronze for Team USA in the women’s monobob this past weekend. The 40-year-old is one of the most experienced athletes at the games, having competed in four previous Olympics and is now a five-time medalist. (At her first three Olympics, she competed for Team Canada.)
- Ice dancer Vadym Kolesnik – Born in the Ukraine, Kolesnik moved to the United States when he was 15, and became an American citizen last summer. His skating partner, Emilea Zingas, meanwhile, has dual citizenship with Cyprus through her paternal grandparents, and has competed for Cyprus in previous competitions. Between the two of them, they speak five languages. Representing Team USA, the two placed 5th in the ice dancing competition last week.
- Ice dancer Christina Carreira – Born in Montreal, Canada, Carreira received her Green Card in 2020, and became a U.S. citizen in November. To satisfy her residency requirements, she commuted back and forth between Saint Clair, Michigan, where she resides, and Montreal, where she trains, for the past five years. Carreira and her skating partner Anthony Ponomarenko, the son of Russian ice dancers Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, finished in 11th place in the ice dance.
- Luger Chevonne Forgan – Born in Australia, Luger had never seen snow before moving to Massachusetts at age 11 with her family. Press reports do not reveal when she obtained U.S. citizenship, but it is required to compete for Team USA. She and her luge partner Sophia Kirkby placed 5th in the women’s double event last week.
Dual Citizens and Second-Generation Olympians
Others on Team USA have dual citizenship, including biathlete Campbell Wright, who was born in New Zealand to American parents. He competed in the Beijing Games for New Zealand, but is representing the U.S. in Milan. Wright has already competed in several biathlon events, and we will be rooting for him in the Men’s 15km mass start on Friday.
The team at BPR has also been cheering for the many stand-out second-generation Americans competing at the games, especially local ice skating phenom “Quad God” Ilia Malinin, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Uzbekistan in 1998. The 21-year-old Vienna, Virginia, native was the first ice skater ever to land a quadruple axle in international competition. The reigning World Champion and favorite for the gold coming into the games, he wound up placing 8th in the individual skate after falling twice. Malinin did earn a gold medal in the team competition, and we look forward to seeing him skate again at the 2030 games in France.
Stories of Resilience and Family Legacy
Figure skater Maxim Naumov pulled hard on our heartstrings when, after his competition he kissed a photograph of his late parents Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, who immigrated to the U.S. from Russia. The couple, champion skaters-turned-coaches, were killed when American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with a U.S. Army helicopter over the Potomac River last year.
Rooting for Immigrant Athletes This Week
This week, we are rooting for the Blade Angels, in particular Alysa Liu, whose father fled China in 1989 after being involved in the Tiananmen Square protests, and Isabeau Levito, whose mother immigrated to the United States from Milan, Italy in 1997. Liu was the youngest woman to land a triple axle at age 12 and the youngest U.S. champion at age 13. After taking a two-year hiatus from skating, she returned to the ice last year. Levito, meanwhile, is a former women’s ice skating World Junior Champion. She won the U.S. Championships in 2023, and earned the silver in 2024. Levito competed in the short program on Tuesday in front of her mother’s hometown crowd. The competition will conclude with the free skate on Thursday, Feb. 19.
These Olympic games are once again proving that our nation’s diversity is also our strength. Go Team USA!