NJ's Only Athletes In The Winter 2018 Olympics Are From Monmouth

RUMSON, NJ — Of the 240 athletes the U.S. is sending to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, only two are from the great Garden State ... and they're each from bucolic little Rumson.

A.J. Muss, of Rumson, NJ, will represent Team USA in snowboarding. A.J. was born in New Brunswick and raised in Rumson. Meghan Tierney, also born in Rumson, and raised in Little Silver, will also compete on the Team USA snowboarding team.

Incredibly, Muss started skiing and snowboarding at the tender age of 3, when he would accompany his mother on business trips she took to Colorado, which lasted for one to two months. Mom Arlette Muss would enroll her toddler son in ski and snowboarding school while she worked.

From there, A.J.'s love of the winter sport took off. He started competing in snowboarding when he was a young child.

Because A.J. showed such a skill level in snowboarding, parents Arlette and Jonathan moved to Colorado for the winter when he was in 5th grade so he could start competing at a higher level, he said on his personal website. He was the youngest snowboarder to claim eight First Place podiums in the 2015/2016 Nor-Am season, according to Community magazine. He graduated from Laurel Springs Academy in Ojai, California in 2013. His sister, Alexa, is a gifted athlete, as well: She's a competitive surfer.

The 2018 Winter Olympics start Friday, Feb. 9. Look for him to compete in the parallel slalom and giant parallel slalom in snowboarding.

Tierney started snowboarding at the age of 10, and her family moved her to Vermont and then Vail, Colorado so she could focus on the sport.

Muss actually almost died in 2014, when he suffered a postoperative pulmonary edema after he needed surgery for a snowboarding injury.

“I had a bad shoulder injury that need to be operated on and that led to a complication after surgery where I was in a coma for a little bit,” Muss told the Asbury Park Press. “I was on life support and my heart stopped. It was a pretty bad complication.”

He went on to recover, and saw the best season of his life in winter 2014/2015.

“For two or three weeks after my injury, I didn’t want to do anything,” he told the APP. “But it also reminded me how short life is, and if you want something, you have to go get it because it can be taken away like that. Everything that I’ve ever worked for was almost taken away from me because of one incident that I had no control over. I want to enjoy the ride for as long as I can and try to accomplish my goals because it can be gone in a second.”

At 24, this will be A.J.'s first time at the Olympics. He's a four-time US Junior National champion and a National Champion for the past four years in a row.

A.J. also enjoys golfing and surfing. He also competes as a Pro-Am drift car racer. Despite their busy schedules, the brother and sister haven't forgotten their Jersey roots, coming back to Rumson at least once a year.

“Whenever I’m not snowboarding, I spend several months a year in Rumson,” Alexa told Community magazine. “Ever since I started traveling, home has become much more special. Rumson is where my heart will always be.”

Photos of Muss used with permission from his publicist/Team USA

You can find AJ's personal page here: https://www.teamusa.org/us-ski... and the entire list of all 240 athletes the U.S. is sending to the 2018 Olympics here: https://www.teamusa.org/pyeong...