Giorgia Birkeland (born June 14, 2002) is an Italian-born American
speed skater
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...
. She competed in the
women's mass start event at the
2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...
.
Speed skating career
Birkeland started speed skating at the age of 8 in her hometown of
White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
In 2020, she made the national long-distance track team and competed at the World Junior Long Track Championships in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, finishing 11th place.
Birkeland later participated at the
AmCup, placing fourth in the mass start event and fourth in the 3000m event.
She made the national team again for the 2021–22 season and placed seventh in the team pursuit event at the World Cup.
At the 2022 US trials, Birkeland won the final qualifying race and was given Team USA's discretionary spot for the
Winter Olympics in
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
At the
women's mass start event, she placed sixth in the second heat and advanced to the finals, where she finished in 12th place.
[ ] It was her first mass start race at the senior international level.
At the
Four Continents Championships
The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (4CC) is an annual figure skating competition. The International Skating Union established it in 1999 to provide skaters representing non-African and non-European countries with a similar competit ...
in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
, Birkeland competed in four events, placing 10th in the 1000m, sixth in the 3000m event, fifth in the 1500m event, and winning the gold medal in the team pursuit event.
Personal life
Birkeland was born on June 14, 2002, in
Scandiano, Italy. She grew up in
White Bear Lake, Minnesota, and attended
Mahtomedi High School
Mahtomedi Senior High School is a four-year public high school located in Mahtomedi, Minnesota, United States. The school houses grades 912 with a total population of approximately 1,146 students. About 22% of this population are from surrounding ...
.
She later moved to
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
to train with the national team, where she attends
Salt Lake Community College
Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is a public community college in Salt Lake County, Utah. It is the state's largest two-year college with the most diverse student body. It serves more than 60,000 students on 10 campuses as well as through onl ...
.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkeland, Giorgia
2002 births
Living people
American female speed skaters
Speed skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics
People from Scandiano
Sportspeople from White Bear Lake, Minnesota
Salt Lake Community College alumni
Sportspeople from the Province of Reggio Emilia
Italian emigrants to the United States
World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships medalists