The greatest Olympic athlete from every U.S. state

Minnesota: Amy Peterson

Sport: Speed Skating

Olympics: Albertville 1992, Lillehammer 1994, Nagano 1998, and Salt Lake City 2002

Speed skating wasn’t recognized as an Olympic sport until 1992 and Amy Peterson took advantage by becoming the most decorated Olympic athlete to hail from Minnesota. Peterson has three medals to her name, one silver, and two bronze. In 1988, she went to Calgary to represent the US even though they didn’t award medals for the event. It was just a demonstration event and Peterson won her first medal in 1992 when she took home a silver in the 3000-meter relay.

Since the Olympics split up the Winter and Summer games, Peterson was able to turn back around in 1994 and represent the United States again where she won her first individual medal in the 500-meter race. Peterson was not able to replicate her feat in the 1998 games because she was suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. Peterson was able to regain some of her form in 2000 when she swept all four distances in the United States short track speed skating championships. By the end of the 2001 season, Peterson had worked her way up to be ranked ninth in the world. She was also top 10 in every single event. She was elected to be the flag bearer for the U.S. in the 2002 Olympic Games and she planned for these Games to be her last. She was unable to capture any medals in individual or relay events and she then failed to qualify for her sixth Olympics in 2005. She remains one of the most decorated female speed skaters in history.

Honorable Mention: Briana Scurry, soccer in Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, and Athens 2004