Olympic Debut Looming For Moguls Skier From Somers

SOMERS, CT — When the XXIV Olympic Winter Games officially kick off Friday, 223 American athletes will be in Beijing, comprising the second-largest contingent the U.S. has ever sent to the Winter Games. Of those, more than half - 131 - will be making their Olympic debuts.

Among them is 22-year-old Hannah Soar of Somers, who will be nearly 7,000 miles from home as a member of the U.S. freestyle moguls team. She has been readying herself for this moment for about two decades.

She grew up accompanying her family on weekends to the East Coast's largest ski resort in Killington, Vermont. When she was 8, she joined a freestyle skiing team, and was competing for championships by the time she was 12.

Soar attended Killington Mountain School, and made the U.S. national team as a 16-year-old junior. A year later, she participated in her first World Cup competition.

She told usskiandsnowboard.org, "Getting to represent Team USA at the Olympics is a dream; just hearing the Olympic theme song on TV gives me chills! The Olympics have always been bigger than sport for me. I love that the true purpose is to bring the world together over the commonality of sport. I think that is what I am most excited about, I get to do my favorite thing, mogul skiing, all while getting to represent the USA at an event that truly brings the world together."