Pittsburgh Native Speed Skater Heading To 2018 Olympics

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A Pittsburgh native speed skater is heading to the 2018 Olympics in South Korea.

Twenty-two-year-old John-Henry Krueger, originally from Peters Township, qualified during Friday night's Olympic team trials. He is the first member of the men's Olympic U.S. Speedskating short track team.

Krueger posted a photo on Instagram on Friday night, saying, "Tonight I accomplished one of my two most important goals as an athlete. Tonight I became an Olympian."

Tonight I accomplished one of my two most important goals as an athlete. Tonight I became an Olympian. There are so many people to thank since I have encountered so many in my skating career. But the ones who deserve the most recognition is my family. I have not seen any other family support and fight through so many adversities for so long. I can with complete confidence say that accomplishing this dream of mine would not be possible without them.

A post shared by John-Henry Krueger (@johnhenrykgr) on Dec 15, 2017 at 8:39pm PST

Team USA says Krueger came down with swine flu during the Olympic trials for the 2014 Olympic team when he was 18 years old and had to withdraw from the 500-meter final.

This will be Krueger's first Olympics.

Speedskating