Katie Tannenbaum is representing the U.S. Virgin Islands in an Olympic event on Thursday, Feb. 10, 9:30 p.m. Atlantic time in Beijing, China.
No, these are not the Summer Olympics. Tannenbaum will be competing in the Women’s Skeleton at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. “It is with tears of disbelief streaming down my face and my heart swelling out of my chest with pride that I announce that I will be representing the Virgin Islands at the 2022 Olympic Games”, said Tannenbaum on her Facebook Page.
(Submitted Photo)
Tannenbaum endured and overcame multiple challenges in her quest to represent a Caribbean island at the Winter Olympic Games. One of those challenges happened in Innsbruck, Austria, at the World Cup race. Tannenbaum struck a broom that was on the course. The incident left her battered and bruised, but her safety equipment did its job, and her sled incurred most of the damage. Despite the damages caused to her sled, Tannenbaum displayed her determination by continuing to race during that event.
More recently, at the Beijing Games, Tannenbaum was scheduled to carry the U.S. Virgin Islands flag at the opening ceremonies. But she tested positive for COVID-19 and had to quarantine. She was released from isolation just in time to complete the minimum training runs necessary to compete in the Women’s Skeleton. This is the first time she will be competing in any event with so few runs on the competition track.
Tannenbaum is ready. She has overcome many obstacles to arrive at this point in her career. Now, as she competes, she will have the entire U.S. Virgin Islands force pushing her down the track.
