Photo: Team USA
Thomas Hong will compete for Team USA at the Pyeongchang Olympics in short track speedskating.
He’s one of three Asian Americans to make the team at the Olympic Trials in Kearns, UT. The others are Olympic veteran JR Celski and Aaron Tran.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Hong,20, was born in Seoul and moved to the United States with his family when he was 5.
He qualified by finishing fourth in the overall classification to earn a spot on the five member team with John-Henry Kruger, Ryan Pivirotto, two-time Olympian Celski and Tran.
“I’m tremendously excited,” Hong said. “I’m extremely familiar with Korean culture. I’ve lived there for parts of my life and I’m excited to go back.”
Team USA photo
Celski, whose mother is Filipino and father is Polish, is a two-time Olympic veteran who won a pair of bronze medals in 2010 in Vancouver in the 1500m and 5000m relay and a silver in the 500M in 2014 in Sochi.
“I’m ecstatic. A lot of up-and-down emotions. I really couldn’t get it together after the first fall today, but I turned it around and I told myself I have to come out and skate and do what I can, so I made it happen,” said Celski to Team USA.
Celski, who qualified by finishing second in the 1500 meter, went to the same middle school as is teammate Tran.
“It’s amazing; he’s a great role model, great leader, and I’ve always been thankful that I’ve been able to skate with him,” Tran said about Celski who he considers his role model. “He’s just a great guy, great skater.”
Tran won the 500M to qualify for the Olympic team.
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