Long Island Triplets Aim For Winter Olympics

After changing into the primary Black triplets in the USA to realize the celebrated Eagle Scout rank, Helaina, Henniyah, and Henri Rivers IV are setting their sights on one other outstanding milestone — competing within the 2026 Winter Olympics as alpine skiers representing Jamaica.

The 17-year-old siblings from Lengthy Island, New York, are at the moment coaching in Argentina, a step towards fulfilling a aim that’s been within the works for almost 20 years.

“My mother got here to the U.S. when she was younger, so she clearly didn’t develop up snowboarding, however she discovered how you can ski when she met my dad,” Helaina instructed PEOPLE, talking about their Jamaican-born mom, Karen, and American father, Henri. Each mother and father are actually licensed ski instructors and alpine race coaches.

Launched to snow sports activities at only a yr previous, the triplets started racing by age 5. “We grew up snowboarding, and we’ve been snowboarding ever since,” Helaina mentioned.

“We’ve cherished it.” The household’s early years in Brooklyn included loads of snowtubing, sledding, and snowboarding earlier than the youngsters targeted on aggressive alpine racing as members of the Windham Race Manufacturing facility within the Catskills.

“We began out within the kids’s studying heart… after which we progressed as much as the Windham Race Manufacturing facility,” Helaina recalled. “That’s actually what kick-started our racing profession.”

By age 14, snowboarding had develop into a six-day-a-week dedication at specialised boarding faculties. For Henri IV, the game is central to his identification. “With out snowboarding, I don’t actually have a complete objective in life… That is my one aim in life,” he mentioned throughout a name from Argentina.

Two of the triplets have already represented Jamaica on the 2024 Youth Olympic Video games in South Korea, and their father believes the perfect is but to return. “They’re going to be phenomenal racers for years to return,” he mentioned. “However what’s finest is that they’re nice people… I’ve carried out my job.”

Their self-discipline extends past the slopes. For his or her Eagle Scout service initiatives, the siblings labored collectively to beautify a public area in Brightwaters, New York. Helaina changed a deteriorating picket flagpole with a 25-foot fiberglass one, Henniyah put in paving stones and cement pathways, and Henri added flower bins and benches overlooking the realm.

Now, as they stability school plans with Olympic coaching, the Rivers triplets are proving that their drive for excellence reaches far past the mountains.

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