The financial services company, a global Olympic partner for more than 30 years and a Paralympic partner since 2003, founded its Team Visa programme in 2000.

It was done with the aim of providing athletes with the tools, resources and support they need to achieve their lifelong dreams, both on and off the field of competition, regardless of their origin or background.

This year's team of Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls is said to represent a diverse group of individuals across a range of sports, from snowboarding and speed skating to ski jumping and figure skating.

Among them are Russian figure skaters Maxim Trankov and Tatiana Volosozhar, despite their country's participation under their own flag still being in doubt.

Two International Olympic Committee-commissioned investigations are currently deliberating on evidence of institutional Russian doping at Sochi 2014.

One of the stand-out names is American Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin, who became the youngest American to win Olympic gold in slalom at Sochi 2014.

Shiffrin is looking to solidify her place in Winter Olympics history by winning more medals than any other female Alpine skier.

She is hoping to compete in four individual events and the team competition at Pyeongchang 2018.

Joining Shiffrin are fellow Americans Chloe Kim, Gus Kenworthy, Oksana Masters and Hilary Knight.

Snowboarder Kim, a first-generation Korean-American, is looking to win her first Olympic gold medal at Pyeongchang 2018 in her parents' home country.

Freestyle skier Kenworthy earned a silver medal in the inaugural Olympic slopestyle event at Sochi 2014, and has his sights set on reaching the podium in both slopestyle and halfpipe at Pyeongchang 2018.

Masters has three Paralympic medals to her name and will be aiming for her first gold at Pyeongchang 2018.

Having missed the women’s six kilometres sitting biathlon medal podium by 3.6 seconds at Sochi 2014, she is bidding to become the first American athlete at the Winter Olympics or Paralympics to medal in the sport.

Knight, meanwhile, was a member of the United States' women’s ice hockey team that won silver medals at Sochi 2014 and Vancouver 2010, and is hoping to bring home her first gold at Pyeongchang 2018.

Other leading athletes on Team Visa are Canada's Mark McMorris, South Korea's Lee Sang Hwa and Poland’'s Kamil Stoch.

McMorris will be looking to bring home the gold medal in the inaugural Olympic big air snowboard event at Pyeongchang 2018, while speed skater Lee will be striving to become just the second Olympian to win a gold medal at three consecutive Winter Games.

Stoch, meanwhile, will be hoping to build on his Sochi 2014 performance, where he became only the third ski jumper in Olympic history to win the sport's two individual events.

Additional Team Visa athletes from around the globe include a further seven Americans.

Four of those are set to compete at Pyeongchang 2018 with ski jumper Sarah Hendrickson, freestyle skiers Maggie Voisin and David Wise and snowboarder Jamie Anderson all represented.

Figure skaters Meryl Davis and Charlie White are the non-competing athletes, while retired ice hockey player Angela Ruggiero also features on the list.

Canada have six competing representatives in freestyle skier Travis Gerrits, short track speed skater Charles Hamelin, Para-Alpine skier Mac Marcoux, figure skaters Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue and snowboarder Spencer O'Brien.

Among the Asian representatives are five Chinese and five South Korean athletes.

China's quintet is made up of Para-cross-county skier Beibei Chu, figure skaters Han Cong and Sui Wenjing, short track speed skater Han Tianyu and snowboarder Zhang Yiwei.

South Korea's comprises speed skater Park Seung Hi, ice hockey player Caroline Park, snowboarder Lee Sang Ho, short track speed skater Lim Hyo Jun and Para-ice hockey player Jung Seung Hwan.

Japanese ski jumpers Sara Takanashi and Noriaki Kasai also feature on the list along with Filipino figure skater Michael Christian Martinez.

As well as Trankov and Volosozhar, the European list of athletes also includes two from Great Britain - short track speed skater Elise Christie and snowboarder Billy Morgan.

It is completed by Czech Alpine skier and snowboarder Ester Ledecka, Finnish snowboarder Roope Tonteri, Italian Alpine skier Peter Fill, Norwegian snowboarder Marcus Kleveland, Swedish cross-country skier Stina Nilsson and Swiss snowboarder Patrick Burgener.

Africa and South America have one representative each with Ugandan snowboarder Brolin Mawejje and Chilean freestyle skier Dominique Ohaco selected respectively.

It is claimed Team Visa is unified by athletes who embody Visa’s values of acceptance, partnership and inclusion, with athletic talent matched equally by their character.

"We are excited to welcome all of our Olympic and Paralympic athletes to Team Visa and we think this roster is the perfect embodiment of what the Visa brand stands for, as these athletes push boundaries every day in everything they do," Chris Curtin, chief marketing innovation and brand officer at Visa Inc, said.

"Team Visa athletes remain at the heart of Visa and we are excited to cheer them on in their pursuit of Olympic and Paralympic gold in Pyeongchang."