It’s safe to say this region has produced more summer Olympians (e.g., Jackie Joyner-Kersee) than their cold-weather counterparts. The famed 1980 U.S. men’s hockey team, known for its “Miracle on Ice” upset over the Soviet Union, included a dozen players from Minnesota and none from the Show-Me State. More champion skiers hail from the mountains of Utah—where gold medalist Picabo Street honed her skills—than the hills of Missouri. But despite its unfavorable topography and climate, St. Louis has turned out quite a few winter athletes.
At least one speed skater with local ties has been on every Olympic team since 1968. The first to medal was Nikki Ziegelmeyer (now Meyer), who took silver in the 3,000-meter relay in 1992 and bronze in the same event in 1994. J.P. Kepka became the first St. Louis man to medal in speed skating, teaming with media darling Apolo Anton Ohno to take bronze in the 5,000-meter relay in 2006. Four years later, Katherine Reutter won two medals, a silver and a bronze.
Also in 2010, the U.S. men’s hockey team included Blues center David Backes and Colorado Avalanche center Paul Stastny, a grad of Chaminade College Preparatory School. Each contributed a goal and two assists, as the team won silver. At press time, those two, as well as Blues winger T.J. Oshie and Stastny’s high-school teammate Ben Bishop, a goaltender for the Tampa Bay Lightning, were in the running for the 2014 squad, set to compete this month at the 22nd Winter Olympics, in Sochi, Russia.
