Two LDS Athletes Compete at Olympics

Latter-day Saint competitors gave fellow Church members some extra reasons to cheer.

Jerica Tandiman skating — Jerica Tandiman competes in the women’s 1,000-meter speed skating event at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Photograph by MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images.

Chris Fogt holding helmet — Chris Fogt poses for a U.S. Olympic Committee Media Summit photo in 2013. The three-time Olympian was brakeman for one of three U.S. four-man bobsled teams at the 2018 Pyeonchang Games. Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images.

Latter-day Saints watching the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, were able to cheer for two fellow members of the Church.

Jerica Tandiman, ladies’ speed skating, 1,000-meter and 500-meter. Jerica, 23, raced in the 1,000-meter event and finished 28th. She also competed in the 500-meter event, with a time of 39.50 seconds. Jerica, from West Jordan, Utah, USA, grew up next to an Olympic skating facility in Kearns, Utah, and has been skating since she was seven.
Chris Fogt, brakeman, four-man bobsled. His team placed 20th in Pyeonchang. Chris, 34, from Alpine, Utah, USA, won a bronze medal in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and competed in the 2010 games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is a returned missionary and the son of a seminary teacher, and he has also served in the military.

There was another LDS connection at the Pyeongchang Olympics. Mormon Helping Hands, the Church’s program for worldwide volunteer community service, ran a center to provide services to support the games. Helping Hands will also assist with the Paralympic Games, with the center remaining open through March 25, 2018.