Maame Biney (born January 28, 2000) is an American

short track speed skater Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the same size as a ...

who competed in the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

in PyeongChang.

Early life

Biney was born in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Ghana. At age five, she relocated to the United States to live with her father. Biney began skating when she was six years old in Northern Virginia. She began figure skating but switched to speed skating on a coach's recommendation.

Career

Biney won the bronze medal in the 500-meters at the 2017 World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships. She made her senior team debut later that year winning the America's Cup at the U.S Speedskating Short Track World Cup Qualifier. On December 16, 2017, Biney qualified for the

2018 Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

by winning the 500-meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials, becoming the second African-born athlete to represent the U.S. at the Winter Olympics, after Madagascar-born biathlete Dan Westover in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. In the

, Biney did not make it past her qualifying heat in the 1500-meters and was ousted from the 500-meter race in the quarterfinals. Coming back from the 2018 Olympics, Biney did well at the

2018 World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships The 2018 World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships took place from 2 to 4 March 2018 in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland. Medal summary Medal table Men's events The results of the Championships: Women's events The results of the Champi ...

, winning gold in the 500-meters, bronze in the 1000-meters, and bronze overall. Biney qualified for 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 ...

at the 2022 US Olympic Team Trials - Short Track Speedskating.

References

2000 births Living people American female short track speed skaters American sportspeople of Ghanaian descent Four Continents Short Track Speed Skating Championships medalists Olympic short track speed skaters for the United States Short track speed skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics Short track speed skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics 21st-century American women {{US-speed-skating-bio-stub