Yilamujiang, 20, hails from the Xinjiang region, where China has been accused of detaining up to one million people in what the U.S. government has deemed "genocide."
"Obviously the opening ceremony is something that the organizing committee put together," Adams said. "We are involved to a certain extent. But I just would go back to what I said earlier, that this is an athlete who is competing here. She has every right – wherever she comes from, whatever her background – to compete. And she has every right – whatever her background, wherever she comes from – to take part in the opening ceremony."
This time she’s 30 years old, expecting to marry her sweetheart Wade Poplawski, maybe in May. Diggins is a veteran of 240 World Cup races and an Olympic gold medalist. She’s a leader of Team USA and hype girl for her youngest teammates.
She’s poised, always with an eye on the big picture, and impressive in everything she does, from skiing to speaking to bridging groups and causes with friends and newcomers.
She’s also something else: Team USA's vulnerable, honest, unfiltered badass. Diggins has written a memoir — "Brave Enough" — in which she details her life and career, including her admission and treatment for disordered eating.
Diggins won Olympic gold in the women's team sprint with her teammate Kikkan Randall in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and competed in six events there: team sprint, pursuit, individual sprint individual start, mass start and relay.
Her first event in Beijing is Saturday's skiathlon, which will air live on USA.
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