2010 Winter Olympics

Photo Credit: www.creativecommons.org

U.S. skater Sasha Cohen at the 2008 Championships.

February 2, 2010

Katja Kane-Foempe & Natasha Sosa  

Filed under Sports, Top Stories

Every four years, it invades our lives. Sports and news commentators alike become focused on this singular event. Even comedian Stephen Colbert has gotten caught up in the frenzy, dedicating a segment of his show to talking about it.

It’s 2010, and the Winter Olympics are finally back.

The Winter Olympics, which will be held in Vancouver, encompass a variety of sports—from alpine skiing to figure skating to luge. It’s difficult to keep all the competitors straight, so here’s a list of the Team USA nominees for six of the sports at the Olympics.

Figure Skating

Figure skating is characterized by the complicated spins and jumps that contestants place in their routines. Both men and women can compete in the sport, performing both a short routine and a longer free skate on the ice to music of their choice, in one of four categories: men’s singles, women’s singles, pairs skating, and ice dancing.

Men’s singles

The United States has entered three competitors in the men’s division. Their best hope for the gold medal is Evan Lysacek, 24, an L.A. native who placed fourth at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Lysacek took the silver medal at the 2010 Nationals after winning the Grand Prix Final earlier in the season, but he is ranked as America’s top men’s singles skater—and second best men’s singles skater overall—by the International Skating Union.

Jeremy Abbott, 24, is also a face to watch, although he is a first-time Olympian. He was the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating champion in the men’s singles division, taking home the gold for the second year in a row. He is ranked fifth in the world in men’s singles skating, but his performance at nationals shows that he may be a strong contender for medals.

Lysacek and Abbott’s main competition is Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic, who is ranked first in the world by the ISU in his event. He took the European title in 2008, and he is also a six-time Czech national champion.

Women’s singles

This year, the United States has only two women’s singles slots, as they failed to achieve a high-enough combined ranking for three places at the 2009 World Championships, the first time this has happened since 1994. U.S. champion Rachael Flatt, 17, is America’s best shot at winning a gold medal, after Sasha Cohen’s performance at the 2010 Nationals failed to win her a spot on the Olympic team. A straight-A high school senior who has been skating since she was four years old, she is considered by the ISU to be the tenth best women’s singles skater in the world.

Her biggest competition is Yu-Na Kim of South Korea, who was the 2009 World Champion in women’s singles as well as the 2009 Grand Prix Final champion and the 2009 Four Continents champion. She is also ranked first in the world by the ISU.

Pairs skating

The United States has entered two pairs teams in the 2010 Olympics. The standout team consists of Caydee Denney, 16, and Jeremy Barrett, 25. Denney and Barret have been skating together only since June 2008, although they were paired up for a brief period in 2006. First-time Olympians, they won the gold medal in pairs skating at the 2010 Nationals, and they won silver at the 2009 Nationals. Denney and Barret are ranked twenty-seventh in the world in pairs skating by the ISU.

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, the team ranked first in the world by the International Skating Union, will be their toughest competition.

Ice Dancing

Out of the United States’ three ice dancing teams, Tanith Belbin, 25, and Ben Agosto, 28, are the seasoned Olympians who may be the most likely to place in Vancouver. They placed silver in their first stunt in the Winter Olympics at the 2006 Torino Games, and they also took the silver medal at the 2010 Nationals. The ISU ranks them as the fourth-best ice dancing team in the world.

Meryl Davis, 23, and Charlie White, 22, are strong contenders as well. They were the team that came away with the gold medal from the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Although this is their first Olympic games, Davis and White are ranked second in the world by the ISU, making them the best-ranked American ice dancing team.

The top ISU-ranked team of Russia’s Oksana Domnina and Maxin Shabalin, however, may pose a real threat to the American ice dancing teams. They took gold at the 2009 Worlds, beating out Belbin and Agosto, who finished in second, and are three-time Russian National Championship winners.

Snowboarding

Of all the men on the U.S. snowboarding team, Shaun White, 23, is the top athlete and America’s best chance at a gold medal. After all, White won the gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He also won four U.S. Grand Prix events in halfpipe this season, which guaranteed his spot at the 2010 Olympics.

Of course, the women on the U.S. snowboarding team have some stand-out members as well. Hannah Teter, 23, won the gold at the 2006 Torino Winter Games in women’s halfpipe. She also won the 2004 X Games title and took bronze at the 2005 World Championships.

Gretchen Bleiler, 28, is also a second-time Olympian, having taken the silver medal in women’s halfpipe at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Bleiler has produced her own snowboarding clothing line with Oakley and has helped produce an eco-friendly snowboard with the company K2.

Short-Track Speed Skating

In short-track speed skating, competitors race against each other to be the first to complete the course, which is made difficult by the sharp turns the ice skaters have to make. The top athletes in each heat advance to the next level, until only the final four skaters are left standing. Five men and five women were chosen to represent the United States on the short-track speed skating team.

Apollo Anton Ohno, 27, is the star on the men’s side of the team. He has won five Olympic medals at the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics—including two gold medals. Ohno is considered to be the third-best short-track skater in the world, according to the International Skating Union.

Ohno’s greatest competitor at the Vancouver Olympics will most likely be Ho-Suk Lee, South Korea’s stand-out short-track star. Lee won three medals at the 2006 Olympics—two silver, one gold. Lee also won the overall title at the 2009 World Championships.

On the women’s team, the top competitors for the U.S. are Kimberly Derrick, 24, and Katherine Reutter, 21. Derrick is competing in her second Winter Olympics and is ranked fifth in the world overall. Reutter, who is a first-time Olympian, also holds the title of three-time national champion.

Meng Wang of China will likely be their greatest competition. Wang has three Olympic medals from 2006, and she has been considered the world’s best female short-track skater since that year. She won the overall World Cup in 2009 as well, and she will certainly pose a threat for Derrick and Reutter.

Alpine Skiing

If you fear heights, then alpine skiing is not for you. During alpine skiing, the athletes will reach a speed up to 180 kilometers an hour. They will also ski down a vertical drop in between 180-1100 meters for the men and 140-800 meters for the women. The skier must pass through a series of gates during the vertical drop. If the athlete misses the game, they must climb back up the hill and hit the missed gate if they would still like to be in the competition.

There are 31 skiers on the United States roster, 13 female and 18 male. The skiers were either placed on the A Team or the B Team. The two top women are Julia Mancuso, a 2006 Olympic champion and Lindsey Vonn, a two-time World Cup champion.

The two top males include, Erik Fisher, a first-time A Team Olympian for the United States and Tim Jitloff, a three-time national champion and a first time Olympian

Luge

In luge, once the athletes push out of the start on their open fiberglass sleds, they use their legs and shoulders to steer and sit up to break. The singles consists of four competitions over two days. The athlete with the lowest time over the course of these two days (four runs) will be the winner. The doubles consist of two competitions over one day.

The roster for the American luge team was announced on December 18. There are ten competitors this year, seven male and three female. The top double-team is Mark Grimmette who doubles with Brian Martin. They have won six World Champions and two Olympic titles and three overall World Cup titles.

On February 12, 2010, the Olympic torch will be lit. Let the games begin.

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Tags: 2010, Olympics, winter