From Alpine skiing to hockey, athletes around the world are preparing for the upcoming Winter Olympics. While typically touted as the ‘Cradle of Quarterbacks,’ Western PA is no slouch in developing remarkable Winter Olympians and Paralympians either, with competitors from the Keystone State earning medals since the first games held in Chamonix in 1924.
See if you can take home the gold in this quiz about Winter Olympians and Paralympians with ties to Western PA.
Take the Quiz!
Hover over (or tap if on mobile) the empty space below each question to reveal the correct answer. Let’s go!
Which Pittsburgh-born Olympian won silver in short-track speed skating at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games?
A) Daniel Barefoot
B) John-Henry Krueger
C) Herb Drury
D) Dan McCoy
B) John-Henry Krueger. Krueger, who graduated from Peters Township High School, took home the silver in the 1,000-meter event at the 2018 Games – the first medal in short- or long-track skating for an American since 2010. Since the 2018 Olympics, Krueger has competed for Hungary, winning a bronze in the 2022 Beijing Games.
Herb Drury is notable for being one of the earliest U.S. athletes to compete in a Winter sport at the Olympics. Which team sport did he help put on the map?
A) Speed skating
B) Ice hockey
C) Figure skating pairs
D) Nordic combined
B) Ice hockey. A defenseman for the both the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets and Pittsburgh Pirates hockey teams, Drury competed in the 1920 Games when ice hockey was still part of the “Summer Games.” Responsible for the majority of Team USA’s goals during the 1920 tournament, Drury returned to the Olympics four years later for the first official Winter Games held in Chamonix, where he repeated his silver medal performance, losing once again to Canada in the gold medal game.
Born in Beaver County, Lauryn Williams was the first American woman to medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. In which Winter event did she medal?
A) Skeleton
B) Bobsled
C) Luge
D) Cross-country skiing
B) Bobsled. A silver medalist in the 100-meter dash during the 2004 Athens Games, Williams switched from sprinting to bobsled, winning silver at the Sochi Games in 2014.
Bridgeville native Suzanne Semanick competed in which Winter Olympics as an ice dancer?
A) 1984 Sarajevo
B) 1988 Calgary
C) 1992 Albertville
D) 1994 Lillehammer
B) 1988 Calgary. While Semanick and her partner, Scott Gregory, won the gold medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships twice, the pair failed to medal at the Olympics, placing sixth overall.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Paralympian Dan McCoy won gold in which sport at the 2014 Sochi Paralympics?
A) Para-snowboarding
B) Sled hockey
C) Wheelchair curling
D) Para-alpine skiing
B) Sled hockey. McCoy, who was born with Spina Bifida, is one of the original players in the Mighty Penguins Sled Hockey organization, where he still competes with the senior team as captain.
Jamie Greubel Poser earned which Olympic medal in bobsled at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games?
A) Gold
B) Silver
C) Bronze
D) Trick question – she didn’t medal
C) Bronze. Greubel Poser’s bronze in the two-woman event alongside her brakeman, Aja Evans, marked Team USA’s third consecutive Olympic medal in women’s bobsled.
A silver medalist at both the 2010 Vancouver and 2014 Sochi Games, Brianne McLaughlin was the goaltender for which collegiate ice hockey team?
A) Penn State University
B) Robert Morris University
C) Chatham University
D) University of Pittsburgh
B) Robert Morris University. Since goalie pads often freeze during games, McLaughlin frequently wore extra layers and warmed her gear between periods at the Games. Her approach worked, with Team USA allowing only eight goals in the entire 2010 tournament – one of their lowest in Olympic history.
Daniel Barefoot, a native of Geistown, PA, is currently preparing to compete in which sport at the 2026 Games?
A) Luge
B) Curling
C) Skeleton
D) Alpine skiing
C) Skeleton. A Penn State graduate, Barefoot is part of the US World Cup team for skeleton, a sport where athletes sprint head-first onto their sleds, reaching speeds over 80 mph while steering only by shifting their shoulders and toes.
Which Pittsburgh Penguins star scored the “Golden Goal” for Team Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics?
A) Jordan Staal
B) Sidney Crosby
C) Kris Letang
D) Mario Lemieux
B) Sidney Crosby. The first Olympic hockey final ever decided in sudden-death overtime, Crosby’s overtime goal is one of the most replayed moments in Olympic hockey history, with Canada topping the U.S. team, 3-2.
Matthew Antoine, a graduate of California University of Pennsylvania, achieved which of the following while competing at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics?
A) First U.S. man to medal in the biathlon
B) Gold medalist in men’s bobsled
C) Bronze medalist in men’s skeleton, ending a 12-year U.S. medal drought
D) Flag bearer for Team USA
C) Bronze medalist in men’s skeleton, ending a 12-year U.S. medal drought. Antoine’s medal was the first U.S. men’s skeleton medal since 2002, when Jimmy Shea won gold.
