Oak Park Native Emery Lehman Bound For Olympics

OAK PARK, IL — One of Oak Park's own will compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics at Pyeongchang. Emery Lehman, a 2014 graduate of Oak Park-River Forest High School, will head to Pyeongchang as a team pursuit specialist for men's speedskating.

This won't be Lehman's first time at the Olympics. The 21-year-old competed in speedskating in Sochi in 2014. There, he came in 10th in the 10,000-meter race and 16th in the 5,000-meter race.

Lehman was unsure of his fate after placing fourth in the mass-start at Saturday's Olympic trials. The athlete told Team USA, he's been on "pins and needles" and that he "had to leave it up to US Speedskating to make the decision."

As it turns out, US Speedskating gave Lehman a spot. He'll have to temporarily withdraw from classes at Marquette University, where he's earning an engineering degree, to pursue gold at this year's Olympics

Lehman is one of several athletes from Illinois who will compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics, which kicks off on February 8.

>>Image credit: Photo by Koki Nagahama/Getty Images