Maame Biney Makes History Becoming the First African American Woman on U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team
We’re about to see a lot more #BlackGirlMagic at the 2018 Winter Olympics! 17-year-old Maame Biney is making history after becoming the first black woman to qualify for a U.S Olympic speedskating team.
On Saturday (December 16), the Ghana native skated her way to victory in the first 500 final at the short track trials and solidified a spot to South Korea. “I can’t believe it, aww geez,” she exclaimed. “It’s a really good feeling, but it has to set in first because it takes me a while. I’m like, ‘holy cow.’” With her father holding a sign that read, “Kick some hiney, Biney” she did just that!
Seventeen-year-old speedskater Maame Biney just punched her ticket to the 2018 Olympics in South Korea. pic.twitter.com/VlrLuQFrMW
— Chris Kamrani (@chriskamrani) December 16, 2017
After crossing the finish line, Biney began to celebrate the victory and took a little tumble on the ice but went down laughing. “When I realized that I made the Olympic team, I started cheering like crazy, and then I made my epic fall,” she said. “So, yeah, you’re welcome.”
Her dad held a sign reading: “Kick some hiney, Biney”
And boy oh boy, did she ever. pic.twitter.com/d9zjf7iUop— U.S. Olympic Team (@TeamUSA) December 17, 2017
According to ESPN, Biney will be the second black speedskater on a U.S. Olympic team. Back in 2002, 19-year-old Shani Davis qualified for the short track team – he later moved to long track and earned four medals, including two golds. Biney beat out fellow Olympians Jessica Kooreman, Lana Gehring, and Katherine Reutter-Adamek.
Congrats Maame!
Photo Credit: Maame Biney/Instagram
