U.S. Olympic Committee Announces 87-member 2018 U.S. Youth Olympic Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic Committee today announced the 87-member U.S. Youth Olympic Team that will compete at the Summer Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 from Oct. 6-18 in Argentina. The 12-day competition for athletes between the ages of 15 and 18 will feature 32 sports and 36 disciplines. More than 4,000 athletes from 206 nations are expected to participate.

Representing Team USA in women’s freestyle are 2018 Cadet World champion Emily Shilson of Maple Grove, Minn. at 43 kg/94.5 lbs; and 2018 Cadet World bronze medalist Tiare Ikei of Honolulu, Hawaii at 49 kg/108 lbs. The U.S. athletes in men’s freestyle wrestling are Robert Howard of Cranford, N.J. at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Carson Manville of Kingston, Pa. at 65 kg/143 lbs. Both Manville and Howard were on the 2018 Cadet World Team.

The U.S. wrestling team will be coached by Sam Barber of Colorado Springs, Colo., who is currently the head wrestling coach at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He enters his fifth season as head coach for Air Force, and was an assistant coach there for the five previous years. Barber is a former Manager of Coaches Education for USA Wrestling. He has been a head coach for Augsburg College (Minn.) and Upper Iowa University (Iowa). Barber has coached numerous international teams for USA Wrestling, including Cadet and Junior Pan American teams.

“We are thrilled to support this talented group of athletes as they represent Team USA in Buenos Aires,” said USOC CEO Sarah Hirshland. “The Youth Olympic Games are more than a competitive opportunity: these Games are vital in advancing the Olympic values and providing opportunities for the next generation of Olympians to build relationships with their peers from around the world. I wish all of our athletes a successful and fulfilling Games experience, both on and off the field of play.”

The Youth Olympic Games are an international multi-sport event held every two years, consistent with the current format of the Olympic Games. A hallmark of the event is a unique culture and education program – Learn & Share – that is designed to equip athletes with the skills they need to succeed in sports and in their daily lives.

The 87-member U.S. roster is comprised of 47 men and 40 women, participating in the first Olympic event to feature an equal number of male and female athletes. Team USA will be represented in 21 sports.

In addition to the Youth Olympians, there are several other American athletes from Team USA travelling to Buenos Aires. Ty Walker, a 2014 Olympic snowboarder and Brown University student, will serve as a Young Change-Maker at the Buenos Aires 2018 Games. She is the first athlete selected by the U.S. to fill the position. Additionally, Americans Clarissa Chun (wrestling), Daryl Homer (fencing), Morghan King (weightlifting), Josh Levin (climbing), Danell Leyva (gymnastics) and Moy Rivas (sport dancing) are among the 54 athletes selected by the International Olympic Committee to serve as Athlete Role Models in Buenos Aires.

Coverage of the 2018 U.S. Youth Olympic Team can be found at TeamUSA.org/BuenosAires2018 and on Team USA’s social channels with the hashtags #GoTeamUSA and #BuenosAires2018.

The Games will be broadcast on Olympic Channel every night, beginning with the Opening Ceremony on Oct. 6. In addition, OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app will offer a 24/7 channel with live streams, replays and highlights.

Click here to view the complete 2018 U.S. Youth Olympic Team roster.

Buenos Aires 2018 – By the Numbers

• 4,000 athletes (50 percent male and 50 percent female representation)
• 206 National Olympic Committees
• 241 events
• 32 sports
• 36 disciplines
• 800 educational activities
• 468 sport initiative activities
• 12 competition days
• 4 parks
• 29 competition venues
• 8,000 volunteers

Team USA Notes

• The 2018 U.S. Youth Olympic Team includes 87 athletes (47 men, 40 women).
• Team USA will be competing in 24 disciplines across 21 sports.
• A total of 28 states are represented (by hometown) on the U.S. roster; California leads with 23 athletes.
• Team USA includes 55 athletes who speak Spanish.
• The youngest and oldest members on the team are 14-year-old rhythmic gymnast Elizabeth Kapitonova (Dec. 31, 2003; Brooklyn, New York) and 18-year-old boxer Roma Martinez (Jan. 1, 2000; Houston, Texas). All participating athletes must be between the ages of 15-18 as of Dec. 31, 2018.
• Pat McCaffery (basketball; Iowa City, Iowa) was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2014 during his freshmen year of high school. He has since won his battle with the disease and signed a national letter of intent with the University of Iowa, where his father, Fran McCaffery, is the head basketball coach.
• Golfer Lucy Li (Redwood Shores, California) became the youngest player in history to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open at age 11. She also won the 2016 Junior PGA Championship at age 13.
• Kanak Jha (table tennis; Milpitas, California) competed for Team USA at the Olympic Games Rio 2016. He has since been crowned the U.S. men’s singles national champion twice in 2016 and 2017.
• Seven members of the U.S. Youth Olympic Swim Team have already committed to swimming in college: William Barao (Hingham, Massachusetts) – University of Notre Dame; Madelyn Donoho (Annandale, Virginia) and Katherine Douglass (Pelham, New York) – University of Virginia; Ethan Harder (Billings, Montana) – University of Texas; Jake Johnson (Lincoln University, Pennsylvania) – Harvard University; Kaitlynn Sims (Montgomery, Texas) – University of Michigan; and Rhyan White (Herriman, Utah) – University of Alabama.
• Two Team USA athletes are the children of foreign relations officials. Kayaker Robert Healy (Chevy Chase, Maryland) is the son of Rebecca Pasini, a diplomat for the U.S. Department of State, and sailor Dominique Stater (Miami, Florida) is the daughter of Timothy Stater, an officer at the U.S. Embassy in Argentina.
• Ty Walker, a 2014 Olympic snowboarder and Brown University student, will serve as a Young Change-Maker at the Buenos Aires 2018 Games. She is the first U.S. athlete to assume the role, which had previously been held by a staff or administrator from the USOC or National Governing Body. 
• Olympians and elite athletes Clarissa Chun (wrestling; Honolulu, Hawaii), Daryl Homer(fencing; Bronx, New York), Morghan King (weightlifting; Seattle, Washington), Josh Levin (climbing; Sunnyvale, California), Danell Leyva (gymnastics; Homestead, Florida) and Moy Rivas (sport dancing; Houston, Texas) are among the 54 athletes who were selected by the International Olympic Committee to serve as Athlete Role Models at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games.