Kristen Santos-Griswold (born November 2, 1994) is an American short-track speed skater.

Biography

Santos started figure skating at the age of three and became interested in short-track speed skating when she saw a television commercial featuring Dutch short-track speed skater Wilma Boomstra, who later became her coach. She started the sport at the age of nine in her hometown of

Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Easton, Weston, and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. Located within the New York metropolitan area ...

. After high school, she moved to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

to combine her sport with a degree in kinesiology at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. Santos entered her first professional competition in 2013 and entered the US Olympic qualifying tournament in early 2014 but failed to qualify for the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

in Russia. In 2015, she participated in her first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. In

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, she raced the 500 and 1500 meters and placed 32nd and 28th, respectively. A few days later, she took part in the

2015 Winter Universiade The 2015 Winter Universiade, the XXVII Winter Universiade, was a multi sport winter event held in Granada, Spain and Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia. On 14 March 2009, FISU announced that the host would be Granada because they were the only bid. On 25 J ...

for the United States. In February 2019, Santos was on the podium for the first time in the World Cup. With the mixed relay team, Santos,

Aaron Tran Aaron Tran (born July 24, 1996) is an American short track speed skater. He competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Wi ...

, Jonathan So, and

Maame Biney Maame Biney (born January 28, 2000) is an American short track speed skater who competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Early life Biney was born in Accra, Ghana. At age five, she relocated to the United States to live with her fa ...

won bronze in Turin. Later that year, she became American champion in the 1000 and 1500 meters and therefore also won the all-round classification. In the 2019-20 season, she won her first individual medal in the World Cup: bronze in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

in the 1000 meters. She also won bronze that season with the relay team (Santos, Biney, Julie Letai, and

Corinne Stoddard Corinne Stoddard (born August 15, 2001) is an American short track speed skater. She represented the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Career Stoddard competed at the 2019 Inline World Junior Championship, winning a gold medal in the 1 ...

) in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. Santos experienced her breakthrough in 2021 by finishing eighth in the final standings during the

2021 World Championships 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

in Dordrecht. She was also second in the final standings of the 2021–22 World Cup behind

Suzanne Schulting Suzanne Schulting (; born 25 September 1997) is a Dutch short track speed skater who is also active as a long track speed skater. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, she won the Netherlands' first-ever gold medal in short track speed skating and became ...

due to a third place in Beijing and a win in Nagoya over 1000 meters. In the 1500 meters, she finished fourth in the final standings with a bronze medal over that distance in Beijing. She also qualified for her first Olympics.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santos-Griswold, Kristen Living people 1994 births American female short track speed skaters Four Continents Short Track Speed Skating Championships medalists Olympic short track speed skaters for the United States Short track speed skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Fairfield, Connecticut 21st-century American women World Short Track Speed Skating Championships medalists