What to Know
- The swine flu plagued short track speed skater John-Henry Krueger during trials for the 2014 Olympics.
- In his youth, Krueger's family would drive to D.C. often for his skating lessons.
- Krueger was victorious in the men’s 500, 1,000 and 1,500-meter races at the U.S. Olympic Team’s trials.
Team USA short track speed skater John-Henry Krueger's path to Pyeongchang took him through Washington, D.C., where he often participated in skating lessons.
The Pittsburgh native's family would make the hours-long trip to D.C. twice a week in the family’s minivan when he was a kid for elite training sessions, USA Today reported. Krueger says the District is his favorite city.
The swine flu plagued Krueger during trials for the 2014 Olympics, but as soon as he recovered, he turned his focus to 2018.
Krueger was victorious in the men’s 500, 1,000 and 1,500-meter races at the U.S. Olympic Team’s trials. He earned a bronze medal for the 5,000-meter race and secured a top-10 finish in the 1,500-meter race at Seoul in the 2017-18 World Cup.
Krueger has experience training in Salt Lake City and South Korea and also resided in the Netherlands while he skated with a Dutch team, according to his NBC Olympics page.
He has been a member of the Short Track World Cup Team since 2016.
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Krueger, who told NBC Olympics that he aspires to teach English in a different country, emerged as the men’s overall national champion in 2015.
Cole is also a short-track speed skater who now resides in Hungary and competes with the Hungarian National Team.
Krueger was penalized in the men’s 1,500-meter race Saturday and didn’t get beyond the semifinals as a result.
