Trump names gold-medal athletes to US delegation to Winter Olympics

Trump names gold medalist hockey players and ice skaters as US delegates to the Milan-Cortina Olympics opening ceremony.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced the U.S. delegation to attend the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Olympics, including a handful of gold-medal-winning athletes and a couple of diplomats.

Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance will lead the delegation.

Athletes on the delegation include twins who played on the 2018 U.S. women’s hockey team − Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando − who won the gold medal in South Korea and knocked Canada off its 20-year hold on the top of the Olympics riser.

Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson’s game-winning goal in a shoot-out against Canadian goalie Shannon Szabodos sealed the fifth game. Monique Lamoureux-Morando had scored the game-tying goal in regulation. Both had played on silver-medal teams in 2010 and 2014.

Gold-medal skaters on the delegation are Apolo Ohno, who won in short track speedskating in 2002 and 2006, and Evan Lysacek, who won in figure skating in 2010. Ohno became the most decorated U.S. winter Olympian in 2010, when he added a silver and a couple of bronze medals to his trophy case.

Attendees react as President Donald Trump wears a hat Captain Mike Eruzione gave him on the day he signs a bill to award congressional gold medals to members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team, who went on to win gold after defeating a heavily-favored Soviet Union team in their

Diplomats in the delegation include Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the U.S. ambassador to Italy, Tilman Fertitta, a billionaire businessman who owns Landry’s restaurants, the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casinos and the Houston Rockets basketball team. Fertitta wrote a best-selling book titled “Shut Up and Listen!”

The opening ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 6 in Milan, Italy.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump picks gold-medal hockey players, skaters for Winter Olympics opener

Category: General Sports