December 2nd, 2020
Asian athletes: part 3
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Credits
Author: Jencie Tomasek
Editor: Sophia Mei
Layout: Abigail Jung
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Credits
Author: Jencie Tomasek
Editor: Sophia Mei
Layout: Abigail Jung
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Source: https://events.burton.com/burton-us-open/uso-latest/hailey-langland/
Video link to her Women’s Big Air X Games Aspen 2017: https://youtu.be/97-lQq_Q_wM |
Hailey Langland is an American snowboarder who won a bronze medal in slopestyle at Winter X Games XX. Born in 2000 in California, this 2018 Olympian busted onto the pro snowboarding scene after winning her first US Grand Prix in California back in 2015. Hailey’s skills include spins in all four directions, a unique inverted style, and elite rail skills. Hailey’s mother is Filipino-American and was introduced to snowboarding by her father who moved their family to Big Bear so Hailey could spend more time on the slopes. She was one of the youngest Americans representing the USA at the 2018 Winter Olympics. At the PyeongChang Olympics, Hailey placed 6th in slopestyle and 14th in big air.
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Source: https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/03/26/19/pinoy-dance-group-vpeepz-moves-on-to-next-round-of-world-of-dance-us
Video link to dance to Sunflower: https://youtu.be/cBu2AQAhENU |
VPeepz is a hip-hop dancing group from the Philippines that competed in World of Dance. The group’s ages range from 12 to 17, but their ages didn’t stop them from receiving regional and national titles at the Hip Hop International Philippines 2x since 2016. Becoming a household name in the Philippine dance community, this junior team is tiny but mighty. VPeepz has been awarded the Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honors), a state recognition given by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts under the Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines, for 3 consecutive years. On the World of Dance, the group won the title of Junior Team Divisional Champions. They have even said that they would consider competing on NBC’s World of Dance again. Since then, the team has grown larger in number and continues to compete in places like California.
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Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/dorothy-toy-dazzling-dancer-known-as-the-asian-ginger-rogers-dies-at-102/2019/07/27/73722096-b08b-11e9-bc5c-e73b603e7f38_story.html
Video link to their dance in “Best Wishes”: https://youtu.be/XEhYO4CqMtc |
Dorothy Toy and Paul Wing (duo) were American tap dancers who were known as the “Chinese Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.” Dorothy was of Japanese descent and Paul was Chinese-American. They were the first Asian Americans to enter the tap dancing scene in America. Billing themselves as Toy and Wing, they danced throughout the 1930s into World War II, but experienced much hostility from others because of their race. Performing in various theatres across the country, their talent was seen on some of the biggest stages, like the Paramount in New York and Palladium theatre in London. Eventually the couple married, but when Paul was drafted into the army, performances were stopped until he returned. When Dorothy’s heritage became known, she said that she lost many movie roles and other engagements. At the end of their dance career, Dorothy became a pharmaceutical technician and dance instructor. She turned 100 in May 2017 and has a documentary about her: “Dancing Through Life.”
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Source: https://thisiswod.com/meet-kayla-mak-from-nbc-world-of-dance-season-3/
Video link to her Daily Routine with Teen Vogue: https://youtu.be/ndbmEEysKQo |
Kayla Mak is a dancer who has won the National Mini Female Outstanding Dancer at the New York City Dance Alliance Nationals and the Young Dancer of the Year title at the American Dance Awards. Kayla is of Japanese, Chinese, and Cuban descent, born and raised in New York. Her mother is a former dancer and taught Kayla ballet when she was just 4 years old. Kayla competed on NBC’s World of Dance in the Junior division of contemporary ballet, which gained her more recognition after her dance went viral. She also became a finalist at the Youth American Grand Prix, the world’s largest and most prestigious ballet competition. In her youth she starred as Clara in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and has been seen on the Ellen Show.
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Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/shib-sibs-asian-k-pop-olympics_n_5a9dbd19e4b0479c02562672
Video link to their 2018 dance: https://youtu.be/wEVAlMTeyWc |
The Shibutani Siblings, better known as the “Shib Sibs” are Maia and Alex Shibutani: brother and sister skating duo. Born to Japanese descent parents, Alex is older by 3 years. Maia skated first, quickly followed by Alex and since 2004, these siblings have won 2 Olympic bronzes, 2 US Championships, and 3 World Medals. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, they became the first Asian ice dancers to medal at the Olympics. Still, they are the second sibling duo in the history of ice dancing to win a medal. The siblings are sports envoys for the US State Department — allowing them to travel to Japan, Korea, and Singapore to connect with young people. The pair have even published their own children’s book series. The siblings are also YouTube famous with over 5.5 million views, and 66k followers!
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Source: https://gazettereview.com/2018/02/nathan-chen-net-worth/
Video link to New York Times video about him: https://youtu.be/jziRzx_rejw |
Nathan Chen is an Chinese American figure skater, who is most known for participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics and receiving a bronze medal. He is also a 2x Worlds champion, 3x Grand Prix Final champion, and 4x US National champion. Nathen is the first skater to have landed five types of quadruple jumps in competitions, such as the toe loop and Lutz. Nathen began skating in 2002, competing in many junior competitions and quickly working his way up the ranks. Nathen even has a background in ballet and competitive gymnastics, before he ultimately decided to devote his entire life to skating. Nathen is currently training for the 2022 Beijing Olympics and attending competitions to further hone his skills.
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Source: https://usopm.org/kristi-yamaguchi-interview/
Video link to her 1992 performance: https://youtu.be/dozwFZ5NoNs |
Kristi Yamaguchi was the gold medalist in figure skating at the 1992 France Olympics. This Japanese American skating pioneer was a 2x World Champion and US National Champion in 1992. Born in California in 1971, she had club feet and started skating at age 6 as a form of therapy. She won her first US Championship as a pairs skater before switching to singles. After her Olympic win, she toured with Stars on Ice from 1992 to 2002. She is a founder of the Always Dream Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves underprivileged, disabled, and at-risk youth. She has published four books, and is a winner of Season 6 Dancing with the Stars. Inducted into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1998 and the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1999, she currently improving literacy for Pacific Islanders and Latino kids during the pandemic.
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Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/larry-kwong-nhl-s-first-player-asian-descent-dies-94-n858306
Video link to Canucks tribute to Larry Kwong on Chinese new Year: https://youtu.be/g5NH5cdwM0k |
Larry Kwong was a hockey player born in 1923. He became the first Chinese Canadian to play in the National Hockey League (NHL), breaking the color barrier. Larry is the second youngest child out of 15 children. Larry experienced a lot of racism growing up, even being banned from barber shops in his city because he was Chinese. When Larry was 5, his father died, and he spent time in his family’s grocery store watching Hockey Night in Canada on the radio. Next to the store, him and his brothers built a hockey rink by dumping water on an empty lot and letting it freeze over which kickstarted his passion for hockey. Larry begged his mother to buy skates, but they were too big, so he had to grow into them. He started playing at 7, and was one of the best centers in the league. He led the Vernon Hydrophones to the 1939 BC Midget Championship and then the 1941 BC Juvenile Championship. People referenced his ethnicity often by calling him names like “China Clipper” or “King Kwong”. In the 1941-42 season he joined the Trail Smoke Eaters where he scored in numerous games. Larry was drafted in the World War II Army, but instead of fighting overseas, he was instructed to play hockey to entertain the troops. After the war, he was awarded a contract to play with the New York Rangers’ top minor league affiliate as right ring. Larry was only offered one minute of ice time in the NHL which led to him going back to the Valleyfield Braves, where he became the MVP and coached in Europe. Larry said, “There’s not enough [athletes of Asian heritage] that are playing.. I hope there’s going to be more.”
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Source: https://www.today.com/popculture/how-olympic-ice-dancers-madison-chock-evan-bates-fell-love-t122834
Video link to their US Championship dance: https://youtu.be/xeA1CqN_m8A |
Madison Chock is an American figure skater. She is of Chinese-Hawaiian and European descent. She is a 2020 US Champion, 2x Olympian, and 2x World Medalist. In the Summer of 2011, Madison and Evan Bates became the infamous ice dancing duo. Since 2011, the pair have acquired 2 US Silvers, a World Team Title, and won gold in the 2015 Prudential US Figure Skating Championships. Madison designs her own looks on and off the ice, and designs for other skaters as well which align with her interests in art, design, and fashion.
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