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With the XXIV Olympic Winter Games scheduled to start in Beijing on February 4th, we take a look back on Rhode Islanders who’ve competed in the Olympic Winter Games of years past.
Marissa Castelli
Sport: Figure Skating
Winter Olympics: Sochi 2014
Accomplished pair skater Marissa Castelli was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and graduated from Cranston High School West. She and her former skating partner Simon Shnapir competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. They won a bronze medal in the team event and placed 9th in the pairs event.
Sara DeCosta-Hayes
Sport: Women’s Hockey
Winter Olympics: Salt Lake City 2002, Nagano 1998
Born and raised in Warwick, Team USA Goaltender Sara DeCosta won a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. She was inducted into the Rhode Island Hall of Fame in 2004.
Kelly Clark
Sport: Women’s Snowboarding Halfpipe
Winter Olympics: Salt Lake City 2002, Vancouver 2010, and Sochi 2014.
Newport-born snowboarder, Clark was a member of three Olympic teams. She took home Gold in 2002 and Bronze in 2010 and 2014.
Keith Carney
Sport: Men’s Hockey
Winter Olympics: Nagano 1998
Providence-born hockey player Keith Carney was a member of Team USA for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
Chris Terreri
Sport: Men’s Hockey
Winter Olympics: Calgary 1988
Goaltender Chris Terreri competed in 1988 on Team USA. Terreri played at Providence College and went on to have a successful career in the NHL, playing for the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, San Jose Sharks, and Chicago Black Hawks. He was born in Providence and raised in Warwick.
David Emma
Sport: Men’s Hockey
Winter Olympics: Albertville 1992
David Emma competed for the US at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. He also had a five-year career in the NHL, playing for the New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, and Florida Panthers. He was born on January 14, 1969, in Cranston.
Martha Rockwell
Sport: Women’s Skiing
Winter Olympics: Sapporo 1972, Innsbruck 1976
Legendary women’s cross-country skiing Martha Rockwell competed in two Winter Olympic Games in the 1970s. She was born on April 26, 1944, in Providence. As a member of the USA women’s Olympic Nordic ski team in 1972—the first year U.S. women competed in cross-country skiing in the Olympic Winter Games—she was a pioneer in the sport. She raced in the 5K, 10K, and Nordic relay events at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. Rockwell was also designated “U.S. Nordic Skier of the Year” for 1975 and 1976 by Ski Magazine.
Robert Gaudreau
Sport: Men’s Hockey
Winter Olympics: Grenoble 1968
Robert Gaudreau was a member of the U.S. Hockey Team at the 1968 Winter Olympics at Grenoble, France. He was a stand-out player at Hope High School in Providence, where he made All-State. Later at Brown University, he was selected twice to the All-American Hockey Team as a defenseman. He played in the National Hockey League from 1992 to 1996 with the San Jose Sharks and Ottawa Senators.
Dudley Shaw Richards
Sport: Figure Skating
Winter Olympics: Squaw Valley 1960
Pawtucket resident Dudley “Dud” Shaw Richards was an accomplished figure skater who competed in singles and pairs. With skating partner Maribel Owen, he competed at the 1960 Winter Games at Squaw Valley, California. They finished 10th. On February 15, 1961, at age 29, he was killed in the crash of a Belgian plane with other members of the United States figure-skating team.
Gerald W. Kilmartin
Sport: Men’s Hockey
Winter Olympics: Oslo 1952
Gerry Kilmartin won the silver medal at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway as a member of the U.S. Hockey Team. Kilmartin was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Kilmartin attended Bryant College (now Bryant University) where he played on the hockey team. He died in 1970 as the result of injuries sustained from an assault at a Newport marina.
Ralph A. Warburton
Sport: Men’s Hockey
Winter Olympics: St. Moritz 1948
Ralph Warburton, an All-State hockey selection at LaSalle Academy in 1941, became Rhode Island’s first Olympic hockey player when he was selected to the American Hockey Association team chosen to play in the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. During the USA’s eight Olympic contests, Warburton excelled by scoring 16 goals and 5 assists. Warburton passed away in December of 2021 at age 97.
Geoffrey T. Mason
Sport: Men’s Bobsled
Winter Olympics: 1928 St. Moritz
Geoffrey Travers Mason was a gold-medalist in the five-man bobsled race, the first time the five-man bobsled (skeleton sled) was allowed in the Olympic Games. As the story goes, Mason was doing graduate work in literature at the University of Freiburg in Germany when he saw an ad in the Paris Herald which asked American athletes in Europe to come to St. Moritz and try out for the 1928 bobsled team. Mason tried out, made the team, and won a gold medal just 19 days after seeing a bobsled for the first time. His bobsled career lasted only one month – he never again slid after the 1928 Olympics and returned to the United States where he became a Latin and German teacher. Mason lived in Rhode Island for most of his life and worked as an executive at a Pawtucket steel company. He passed away in East Providence in 1987.