Austin KLEBA

United States of America

Speed Skating

Date of Birth: 27 Jul 1999

Age: 22

Gender: Male

Height (m/ft): 1.68/5'6''

Place of birth: CAMPTON HILLS, IL

Birth Country:

United States of America

Residence: SALT LAKE CITY, UT

Residence Country:

United States of America

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Speed Skating	Men's 500m	27
	Men's 1000m	29

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	National Speed Skating Oval	Men's 500m	Finished
	National Speed Skating Oval	Men's 1000m	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Athlete:

Historical Results

Youth Olympic Games
Rank	Event	Year	Location
2	Team Sprint	2016	Lillehammer, NOR
5	Men's 1500m	2016	Lillehammer, NOR
6	Men's 500m	2016	Lillehammer, NOR
24	Mass Start	2016	Lillehammer, NOR

World Cup
Season	Men's 500m	Men's 1000m	Men's 1500m
2019/20	59	73
2018/19		63	75
2017/18	73

Hobbies:

Recording his own music.

Occupation:

Athlete

Family:

Father, John. Mother, Stephanie. Sister, Madison.

Languages spoken:

English

Coach:

National: Ryan Shimabukuro (USA)

Debut:

2017 World Cup in Salt Lake City (500m B - 31st)

Injuries:

2014: Shoulder injury, causing him to quit playing competitive ice hockey.

2013: Shoulder injury, required surgery. (teamusa.org, 9 Nov 2021)

National team:

2021

Start:

At age 15.

Reason:

He began skating on ice hockey skates as a three year-old. A persistent shoulder injury made him try the transfer to speed skating in 2014. (teamusa.org, 2022)

Ambition:

Qualify for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. (teamusa.org, 9 Nov 2021)

Memorable:

Winning a silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games in 2016 in the mixed gender/mixed country team sprint event. (teamusa.org, 9 Nov 2021)

Hero:

Five-time Olympic champion speed skater at 1980 Lake Placid, Eric Heiden (USA). (teamusa.org, 2022)

Influence:

Speed skater Joey Mantia, his teammate, and three-time World Single Distance champion in mass start (2017, 2019, 2021). (isu.org, 2022)

Philosophy:

"If it doesn't hurt, you're not doing it right." (isu.org, 2022)

General Interest

SWITCHING SPORTS
A recurring shoulder injury required him to give up playing ice hockey. But because he was a fast skater, he wanted to try speed skating, and within a few weeks, he made the transition. "I remember when I had to quit, (hockey) was my life, that was what I did, that was my passion. I really wanted to go to a Division I school and go that route. But I learned a lot from quitting the sport and moving on to something else because even though it wasn’t my first choice at the time it ended up being better, in my opinion." (teamusa.org, 9 Nov 2021)

MUSICIAN
Next to speed skating, Kleba is very busy making his own music. He has self-learned how to play a number of instruments, and records and publishes his own music on SoundCloud. "I love to go jam out with other people, but in most cases I don’t have a full day to find a group of people to play with. Having my own recording stuff I can loop my own sounds and work on my own music." (teamusa.org, 9 Nov 2021)

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event

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