Beijing 2022: abandoned as a baby in China, adopted US skier Kai Owens hopes to return to country of her birth as an Olympian
- Kai Owens was around 16 months old when she was adopted from her birth country and taken to Vail, Colorado in the US
- The teenager is on the verge of earning a spot in moguls for the Winter Games in Beijing, marking an emotional return to her birth country
She was abandoned as a baby in China and adopted by an American couple at around 16 months. Her official FIS profile does not even have an exact birth date, just “2004”. Her Wikipedia page says she may be 17 or 18 years old.
Now, Kai Owens hopes to return to the country of her birth as an Olympian representing the United States of America. Owens was abandoned by her birth parents in a town square and was sent to an orphanage in Anhui province. She was adopted on October 10, 2005, by Amy and John Owens, a date they call “Gotcha Day”.
She grew up in Vail, Colorado and said she would spend time connecting with her Chinese heritage. Owens is now in the mix to return to China in February as part of the US moguls ski team for the Beijing Olympics, possibly to be discovered again.
“I learned some Mandarin,” she told People magazine. “It’s always been an important part of myself for me. And being able to go back [for the Olympics] would be just incredible.”
For decades from the 1980s, China limited most couples to one child – which the Owens family says is as good a guess as any as to why their daughter was left in the town square. Figures from China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs show that in 2012 some 570,000 children, mostly girls, were abandoned.
At around 14, Owens became the youngest American to win a NorAm moguls competition and was named the women’s 2021 moguls rookie of the year as part of the Freeski World Cup Awards. She said it was a special time in her life, especially because it came with a new addition to the family.