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Henri Rivers IV, raised in West Babylon and on snow-covered mountain slopes, will ski for Jamaica at the Winter Olympics, with his sisters cheering him on.
Skiing runs deep in Henri Rivers IV’s family.
Long before the Olympic start gate, the West Babylon teenager was raised on snow — taught to ski almost as soon as he could walk, alongside two sisters siblings and a mother and father who made the mountains feel like home.
That familial foundation has carried Rivers, 18, to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, this month.
Rivers earned a spot in men’s slalom as a member of the Jamaican Olympic team. Representing his mom Karen’s home country, he will have his chance to shine on perhaps the sport’s biggest stage.
Rivers’ fellow triplets, Henniyah and Helaina, narrowly missed qualifying for these Olympics but remain locked in on their brother’s run.
In an interview on CNN this weekend, Rivers IV spoke about the pressure and pride that come with representing Jamaica at the Winter Olympics.
“I definitely know I have the entire country rooting me on,” Rivers IV told CNN this weekend. “But it just feels great knowing that I’m able to ski for them.”
Rivers IV is scheduled to compete in the men’s alpine slalom Feb. 16 at the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio, Italy.
A family built on the slopes
Skiing wasn’t an extracurricular activity in the Rivers household — it was the foundation.
Henri Rivers III, a native New Yorker, has spent more than five decades on skis and built a career as a professional instructor, coach, and official. Karen Rivers started hitting the slopes after meeting her husband in the late 1990s.
Together, they committed to raising their children in an outdoor-focused environment, introducing them to skiing about as soon as they could stand. They said exposure, consistency and joy mattered more than pressure.
Born in New York City and later raised in West Babylon, the triplets winters were defined by early mornings, long drives and endless hours on snow, from New York’s Catskills to out-of-state training hubs.
The result: three elite technical skiers — and an ultra-tight bond.
Henniyah Rivers told CNN that the sisters will travel to Italy to support their brother, noting that is an incredibly special moment for all three siblings.
Helaina Rivers said in the same report that the near miss this Olympic cycle has only sharpened their focus. She described the year as a learning experience and said the sisters will train aggressively in the gym and on the snow in pursuit of their own Olympic dreams.
Jamaica on the start list
Henri Rivers IV is no stranger to international competition.
In 2024, he and Henniyah represented Jamaica at the Youth Olympic Games in South Korea, following a year-long process to secure eligibility for their mother’s home nation. Helaina was sidelined from the event because of an injury.
Rivers IV nailed down his Olympic qualification after earning critical points in international FIS races, including strong performances overseas that improved his world ranking enough to meet Olympic standards. Olympics.com reported that the triplets have spent recent seasons racing across multiple continents, balancing school, training and travel while chasing qualification benchmarks.
This Olympic moment however, is about more than results.
Jamaica, long celebrated for its Summer Olympics legacy, remains a rarity on winter start lists. Rivers IV’s appearance in Turin represents another step in expanding that identity — and challenging assumptions about who belongs in alpine racing.
Changing the culture
Henri Rivers III grew up skiing in the Catskills as one of the only people of color on the mountain. Decades later, he now serves as president of the National Brotherhood of Snowsports (NBS), an organization dedicated to introducing people of color to winter sports and building pathways to elite competition.
The organization, under his leadership, has expanded its athlete roster, youth outreach and national footprint — creating space for athletes like his children to thrive in a sport that historically has lacked diversity.
The triplets, who spent much of their childhood training alongside adults in predominantly white spaces, have said their perspective evolved as they grew older and watched more athletes of color enter the sport through programs like NBS.
Excellence off the mountain
The Rivers triplets are defined by more than skiing alone.
Last year, they made history as the first set of triplets in New York — and the first Black triplets in the United States — to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, Scouting’s highest honor. Working together, Newsday TV‘s Virginia Huie reported last spring, they completed a series of service projects that revitalized Brightwaters Village Hall, improving both accessibility and appearance.
All three triplets plan to ski at the collegiate level beginning next fall. Rivers IV is slated to attend Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, while his sisters will attend Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York.
For now, though, the focus is on the slopes in Italy.
Top: Henri Rivers III and Karen Rivers with their triplets Henri Rivers IV (who is representing Jamaica at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy), Henniyah and Helaina. The family lives in West Babylon. (Instagram/@rivers.triplets)
