U.S. Olympic Blogs

How the Olympics is affecting freeskiing

Fri Jan 20 14:12:00 -0500 2012

Last April, the IOC announced that ski halfpipe would be added to the 2014 Olympic program in Sochi. Then in July, the IOC announced that slopestyle — both snowboarding and skiing — would also be on the Sochi program. Knowing what the Olympics has done to promote snowboarding —… Read More

Dana Vollmer grants a Wish

Sat Aug 06 23:25:00 -0400 2011

When Dana Vollmer walked onto the pool deck for the final of the women’s 100-meter freestyle at the 2011 ConocoPhillips National Championships, she wasn’t alone. Standing next to her behind the blocks was Andrew O’Dorisio, a 19-year-old from Tiburon, California. Dana works with… Read More

Elizabeth Beisel - a female Ryan Lochte?

Fri Aug 05 23:54:00 -0400 2011

Elizabeth Beisel is a bundle of energy. Even after winning three national and one world title — in less than a week. In long events. Like the 400-meter IM. When told that she has won more national titles at the 2011 ConocoPhillips National Championships than any other swimmer, she said,… Read More

Lochte - Even the great get tired

Thu Aug 04 11:02:00 -0400 2011

It’s hard to blame Ryan Lochte for finishing third in the 100m backstroke at the 2011 ConocoPhillips National Championships last night. Lochte arrived in California from the FINA World Championships in Shanghai just 48 hours ago. He had three hours of sleep Monday night and not much more… Read More

Thoughts on PyeongChang in 2018

Thu Jul 07 12:13:00 -0400 2011

Yesterday, the IOC awarded the 2018 Olympic Winter Games to Pyeongchang in South Korea. In the first round of voting during the IOC’s 123rd session in Durban, South Africa, Pyeongchang received 63 of the 95 votes cast and, in its third try, beat bids from Munich, Germany, and Annecy, France.… Read More

50 years of Olympians support future Olympians

Wed Jun 15 14:03:00 -0400 2011

One of the great advantages of living in Northern New England is the chance to run into Olympians — and Olympic medalists — on the ski slopes, at fundraisers, and even in the grocery store. Off the top of my head, I can count 14 Olympic medalists who call Vermont, New Hampshire, or… Read More

Bumps in the road

Tue Mar 29 15:06:00 -0400 2011

Last time I saw the U.S. freestyle skiers, many of them were hammering down the moguls at Cypress Mountain outside Vancouver in a driving rainstorm. It’s a scene Hannah Kearney remembers well, as she won her Olympic gold medal there. But a couple of other moguls skiers might like to forget… Read More

World Cup titles and crystal globes

Mon Mar 07 22:11:00 -0500 2011

This past weekend, Lindsey Vonn wrapped up three World Cup titles — super combined, downhill, and super G — adding three more crystal globes to her considerable collection. To date, the American ski star has racked up 12 World Cup crystal globe trophies — nine discipline titles… Read More

A pain in the gut

Mon Feb 21 13:45:00 -0500 2011

In early January, Bree Schaaf arrived in Igls, Austria, to compete in bobsledding’s fifth World Cup of the season. But she soon developed a really bad stomachache. For two days, doctors told the 30-year-old bobsledder that she had indigestion. Austrian food is heavy, but could it be the… Read More

Vonn's USST speed suit

Fri Feb 18 02:40:00 -0500 2011

When Lindsey Vonn took the silver in downhill at the 2011 FIS World Alpine Championships on Sunday, February 12, did you notice her speedsuit? Most of this season, the Olympic gold medalist is in a Spyder speed suit that doesn’t look like the rest of the U.S. Ski Team’s. One of her… Read More

Munich in 2018?

Thu Feb 17 17:36:00 -0500 2011

Munich — a city of art and music, bratwurst and beer, castles and grand platzes, Oktoberfest and the Hofbrauhaus. And a city that has hosted two Olympiads. Nearby Garmisch-Partenkirchen welcomed the world for the 1936 Olympic Winter Games. Munich hosted the 1972 Olympic Summer Games. The… Read More

2014 for Olympic medalists Clark, Bl …

Tue Jan 25 10:21:00 -0500 2011

Since snowboarding debuted at the Olympics in 1998, U.S. riders have won 14 of a possible 24 medals in the halfpipe — and five of the eight gold medals. The sport has come a long way since Ross Powers and Shannon Dunn won bronze medals at the inaugural Olympic halfpipe at the 1998 Nagano… Read More

“Kikkanimal” — on World Cup wins and …

Wed Jan 19 12:24:00 -0500 2011

After the grueling Tour-de-France-like “Tour de Ski,” Kikkan Randall admitted she was in a stupor. The Alaskan cross-country skier had never competed in an eight-day race and wasn’t sure what the day-in-and-day-out competition would do to her sprint speed. Kikkan, 28 and… Read More

Names to watch in women's cross-country skiing

Thu Jan 13 14:57:00 -0500 2011

With World Championship and World Cup medalist Kikkan Randall racing the Tour de Ski in Europe last week, it was a chance for a new crop of upcoming female Nordic skiers to win a national title or two. Here’s a look at four young U.S. cross-country skiers who could be podium threats on the… Read More

Leaner but not meaner, Holcomb is no Grinch

Tue Dec 21 13:47:00 -0500 2010

Steve Langton’s mom, Anne, was at Lake Placid last weekend to watch her son compete in a bobsledding World Cup in the Night Train bobsled. He was a push athlete in both the four-man and two-man events, helping Steve Holcomb take gold in four-man and fourth in two-man. Mrs. Langton traveled… Read More

i Fit (sort of) at iSport

Fri Dec 17 14:12:00 -0500 2010

Twelve stomach crunches. That seemed easy enough. Until I was practically tipped upside down over a gigantic fit ball. After only three crunches, where I struggled to pull my head and torso up from the side of the ball, it felt as if someone were marinating my stomach muscles in acid. This was… Read More

Off and ... sliding!

Wed Dec 01 16:10:00 -0500 2010

Football dominates the sports section this time of year. But many winter sports are back in action, and Olympians — past and future — deserve headlines of their own. Some athletes picked up where they left off in Vancouver — like Steve Holcomb’s four-man Night Train… Read More

Silver Bean coffee and slopeside syrup

Tue Nov 23 13:46:00 -0500 2010

For many world-class skiers, skiing may be a job. But it’s not their only business. Shortly after he won his gold medal at the 2006 Olympics, Ted Ligety started Shred, well known for its bright trendy goggles. Three years ago, 2002 Olympic silver medalist Shannon Bahrke (and 2010 Olympic… Read More

U.S. women's 8 is golden again

Mon Nov 08 12:27:00 -0500 2010

U.S. women’s rowing is on a roll. In the past decade, the women’s eight has won five gold medals at the World Championships and two Olympic medals (silver in 2004 and gold in 2008). The eight’s latest world championship gold medal came on Sunday, as the 2010 World Rowing… Read More

Elana Meyers is in the driver’s seat

Wed Nov 03 12:45:00 -0400 2010

Elana Meyers always wanted to be an Olympian. And she thought her chance at gold might come on the diamond. A softball diamond. Not in the back of a bobsled. But that’s exactly where she was when she and Erin Pac won an Olympic bronze medal in bobsledding at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic… Read More

Demong going for 2014; Spillane has  …

Thu Oct 14 12:59:00 -0400 2010

Billy Demong has had a busy summer. The Olympic gold medalist has balanced speaking engagements, bike racing, home renovation, and a July wedding to fiancé Katie Kocnyzski, whom he proposed to the evening after winning gold in February. With only a few miles on his bike-racing legs, he did… Read More

Full exposure

Thu Sep 30 13:52:00 -0400 2010

Rowing is one of the oldest “modern” sports. A rowing race between Harvard and Yale in 1852 was the first intercollegiate sport contested in the United States (Harvard won). The first amateur sport organization was a rowing club — Philadelphia’s Schuylkill Navy, founded in… Read More

NCCSEF helps fund Olympic dreams

Thu Sep 23 12:20:00 -0400 2010

Almost all athletes, as they move up the competition ladder, encounter funding issues. And it’s not just money to pay for equipment, coaching, and living expenses. To be the best, they have to compete against the best. And pay to travel there. Ski racing can be a particularly costly sport.… Read More

It’s just a flesh wound — observatio …

Thu Aug 12 12:45:00 -0400 2010

Gymnasts’ bodies take a beating. I wince every time I see one of them fall from the balance beam or miss the uneven bars and land on the mats below with a thud. Not to mention the forces that their bodies take from all the twisting, flipping, and hard landings. But gymnasts, I learned, tend… Read More

Who can work on an epic day?

Thu Jun 24 10:35:00 -0400 2010

Did anyone get any work done yesterday? Between the U.S.-Algeria soccer match, with Landon Donovan’s late-game goal, and the John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut tennis match at Wimbledon, how many of us could tear ourselves away from the TV or live scoring online to accomplish even simple tasks? … Read More

Meanwhile, back on the snow …

Wed Jun 23 15:31:00 -0400 2010

Vancouver Olympians aren’t sipping Mai Tais on the veranda. Well, maybe they are. But several of the medalists are participating in everything from golf tournaments to poker championships. Bode Miller is at a golf course near Hartford, Connecticut, today competing in the Travelers Celebrity… Read More

Summer is off and running … and cycl …

Tue Jun 22 13:34:00 -0400 2010

Yesterday was the first official day of summer — and tomorrow is Olympic Day. Which is fitting, given all the summer sport championships going on this week. Making worldwide headlines are the tennis players at Wimbledon — where the Williams sisters and Andy Roddick are the lead… Read More

Inside the heart — and mind — of a champion

Tue Jun 08 13:19:00 -0400 2010

Last Friday, Ryan Cochran-Siegle, 18, received the 2010 Don A. Metivier Golden Ski Award. The Eastern Ski Writers Association presents the award annually to the top junior male and female alpine ski racers in the East. (Julia Ford was the female recipient.) Except Ryan wasn’t on hand to… Read More

Bode at Net

Fri Jun 04 15:16:00 -0400 2010

On the eve of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Bode Miller announced his intent to qualify for the U.S. Open tennis tournament. But after his final alpine ski race at the 2010 Olympics, I asked him if he was going to switch to tennis soon. And he looked at me like I was a lunatic and… Read More

Bobby Cochran's new hero

Fri Mar 26 13:13:00 -0400 2010

Since returning from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, I have attended three events where Olympic medalists were wrapping up their seasons. These athletes could have gone straight home after Vancouver. Instead, they rose above fatigue and/or nagging injuries to compete, sign … Read More

Dreaming the Life

Tue Mar 23 16:15:00 -0400 2010

On his website, Warner Nickerson says, “Vancouver or bust!” The alpine skier from Gilford, New Hampshire, did not end up qualifying for the 2010 Olympics. But he didn’t go bust either. He has too good an attitude to quit. Just yet. In February and early March, Nickerson competed… Read More

U.S. Open really is open

Sat Mar 20 21:46:00 -0400 2010

I don’t usually attend sports events when I’m not working — Red Sox games and my daughter’s soccer practices and swim meets excluded. But when five of the six 2010 Olympic halfpipe medalists are practically in the neighborhood, it’s hard to stay home. Especially on a 60-degree March… Read More

2010 Olympic Highlights from the Mixed Zone

Thu Mar 04 16:17:00 -0500 2010

Several people have asked me what the highlights were of the 2010 Olympics — as well as the lowlights. The highlights are easy. I was in Vancouver for 20 days, and on each and every day, I had a “pinch-me-am-I-dreaming” moment. On the first day of competition, I had the pleasure… Read More

The sound of bobsled

Sun Feb 28 15:44:00 -0500 2010

When I covered Luge World Championships last year in Lake Placid, I mentioned to a friend how quiet the sport is. At such high speeds, I expected the sleds to sound like jets. Instead, they fly down the track in a whisper. “Wait until you hear bobsled,” my friend said. Bobsleds… Read More

The nicest guys out there

Sat Feb 27 00:30:00 -0500 2010

I had no idea how big the 2010 Olympic medals are until I saw the silver hanging around Johnny Spillane’s neck and the gold around Billy Demong’s. Stuck in the security line during the actual medals presentation (I did see the two American and one Austrian flags rise beyond the metal… Read More

The bobsleigh and the demi-lune

Thu Feb 25 16:39:00 -0500 2010

In French, snowboarding’s halfpipe is called the “demi-lune.” In Canada — and almost every other country that participates in winter sports — bobsled is known as bobsleigh. It sounds so … Currier & Ives. Horse-drawn sleighs, jingling bells, cozy warm… Read More

Paul Robbins is proud

Wed Feb 24 02:21:00 -0500 2010

Billy Demong posted a picture on Twitter tonight. It’s a photo of Todd Lodwick, Brett Camerota, Johnny Spillane, and Billy holding up their Olympic silver medals from today’s Nordic combined team event. Under the picture Billy wrote, “Paul Robbins is proud.” Paul would be… Read More

A bear in the start house

Tue Feb 23 16:23:00 -0500 2010

Anyone who watches alpine ski racing regularly — all three of us — has heard the deep booming voice of Pete Lavin. Whenever an American guy gets in the starting gate, he’s the voice in the background bellowing, “C’MON, JIMMY!” or “C’MON,… Read More

Brandenburg, Bode, and the "demi combined"

Mon Feb 22 02:13:00 -0500 2010

Bode Miller’s gold medal wasn’t the only highlight for the U.S. Ski Team in today’s super combined. Had the race been only a one-run slalom, Ted Ligety, Will Brandenburg, and Miller would have swept the medals. Against World Cup slalom aces such as Ivica Kostelic, Silvan… Read More

Ted Ligety's green suit

Sun Feb 21 20:02:00 -0500 2010

In super combined, Ted Ligety didn’t race in his usual red-white-and-blue Team USA speedsuit. Instead, Spyder made special suits for the U.S. defending Olympic gold medalists — Ligety and Julia Mancuso. Ligety’s was a garish neon green and orange get-up. The colors might have… Read More

Horst Weber talks about Weibrecht

Sun Feb 21 14:05:00 -0500 2010

Horst Weber was on hand Friday to witness Andrew Weibrecht win the bronze medal in men’s super G. The long-time coach and program director with the New York Ski Education Foundation (NYSEF) in Lake Placid, Weber watched Weibrecht come up through NYSEF’s program. Weber is to NYSEF and… Read More

He's his own toad

Sat Feb 20 22:22:00 -0500 2010

There’s a story in Vermont that goes something like this: A little boy found a toad one day, picked it up, and ran over to show his grandfather. “Grandpa, Grandpa!” called the little boy. “Do you want to see my toad?” Grandpa, who was an old New England farmer,… Read More

Bode talks to the press

Sat Feb 20 01:46:00 -0500 2010

Bode Miller hasn’t made himself widely available for interviews this season. But at the 2010 Olympics, he’s seemed happy talking to reporters after the races. This afternoon, he sat down in a press conference and freely answered questions. Bode can’t really be summarized. So I… Read More

Does she have chlorophyll?

Thu Feb 18 18:44:00 -0500 2010

After halfpipe qualification this afternoon, Hannah Teter was asked about the conditions.  "Amazing," she said. "I love riding in the sun. I'm like a plant. I get a lot of energy from it." Then she added, "I am a vegetarian, so I get fuel from plants, and therefore from the sun." Except the… Read More

On quiet crowds and history

Thu Feb 18 18:41:00 -0500 2010

The crowd at the men’s halfpipe final was oddly subdued last night. Perhaps it was because only one Canadian made it to the 12-man final. Or because it was almost a foregone conclusion that Shaun White would win. No other rider can match White’s new trick, a double McTwist 1260… Read More

Johnny Be … Funny

Wed Feb 17 12:52:00 -0500 2010

Figure skating’s male diva was in fine form last night — both on the ice and off. With inviting arm gestures and seductive looks, Johnny Weir drew in the crowd with his short program and blew kisses at the end. Then in the mixed zone, where athletes talk to the media after their… Read More

Ross, the Boss — a champion predicts a champion

Tue Feb 16 15:23:00 -0500 2010

Ross Powers was at the men’s snowboard cross (SBX) yesterday cheering on his teammates. The 2002 gold medalist and 1998 bronze medalist in men’s halfpipe switched to SBX after the 2006 Olympics, where he was an alternate in halfpipe. The 31-year-old Vermonter then set his sights on… Read More

Cypress Mountain - Are we there yet?

Mon Feb 15 15:30:00 -0500 2010

By the end of this week, I might be ready for an assault on Everest. In snow boots and a plastic rain poncho. So far in these 2010 Olympic Games, I have been covering events at Cypress Mountain. And it’s not an easy venue to reach. Busses ferry both spectators and media to Cypress, and… Read More

Rain, rain, go away

Sun Feb 14 17:00:00 -0500 2010

The weather at the women’s mogul competition last night was — by all accounts — horrendous. It wasn’t just raining. It was raining sideways. And by 7:30 p.m. when the final started, it wasn’t exactly warm. Particularly for those of us standing at the bottom. Or for… Read More

Opening Ceremony — what you don’t see on TV

Sat Feb 13 13:37:00 -0500 2010

What can I say about the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony that you and 3,499,999,999 others didn’t see on TV last night? Especially since the TV audience probably saw more than I did (note to self: bring opera glasses next time, even in the “good” seats). … Read More

Thanks, Mom!

Thu Feb 11 23:25:00 -0500 2010

Team USA athletes at the Procter and Gamble House in Vancouver, Canda. If my 9-year-old daughter ever makes it to the Olympics, I want to be there. Although chances at this point are slim, unless the IOC ever lets Wii Bowling into the Games. But for the 216 American athletes… Read More

Seaplanes and the press at the 2010 Olympics

Wed Feb 10 23:49:00 -0500 2010

As I sit here typing in the MPC — Main Press Center — in downtown Vancouver, a seaplane is taking off outside. It accelerates through the water, then rumbles over this cavernous building. The MPC is in the Vancouver Convention Center (or Centre, as they say here in Canada …… Read More

Seaplanes and the press at the 2010 Olympics

Wed Feb 10 23:49:00 -0500 2010

As I sit here typing in the MPC — Main Press Center — in downtown Vancouver, a seaplane is taking off outside. It accelerates through the water, then rumbles over this cavernous building. The MPC is in the Vancouver Convention Center (or Centre, as they say here in Canada …… Read More

Fun Facts about the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team

Tue Feb 02 09:02:00 -0500 2010

This just in from the U.S. Olympic Committee, and I was intrigued by all the facts. Like the fact that five of the 216 Olympians named to the team are 5’0” tall! Read on for more good dinner-party conversation tidbits. *** The USOC today announced its team members for competition… Read More

Advice from a World Cup downhill champ

Thu Jan 28 17:32:00 -0500 2010

At the finish of the Lake Louise downhill in November, Swiss ski star Didier Cuche was seen on TV applauding American Andrew Weibrecht.  Cuche, 35, was leading the men’s downhill — and would eventually win the race — and Weibrecht had just crossed the line in 12th. It was… Read More

Bahrke and her coffee are heading to Vancouver

Fri Jan 22 13:25:00 -0500 2010

Lying in bed in Lake Placid, N.Y., Shannon Bahrke couldn’t sleep on Wednesday night. On the eve of the final World Cup moguls competition before the 2010 Olympic team would be named, the 2002 Olympic silver medalist was a bundle of nerves. A week earlier, she had scored a third at the World… Read More

Making the 2010 Olympic Team — Part II

Wed Jan 06 16:04:00 -0500 2010

Yesterday, I listed the athletes who have already been named to the 2010 U.S. Olympic team — in curling, speedskating, ice hockey, luge, and biathlon (well, half of the biathlon team). Five sports have yet to name their teams. Here’s a list of those sports, the dates that they will… Read More

Making the 2010 Olympic Team — Part I

Tue Jan 05 14:52:00 -0500 2010

Several friends have asked me when the 2010 U.S. Olympic team will be announced. But there is no single date when the full team will be named. Each sport’s national governing body has set a different date on which athletes will be named, starting with curling last February. To date, only… Read More

John Napier was smokin’ in bobsled,  …

Sat Nov 21 13:33:00 -0500 2009

Tony Carlino quit smoking today. The Lake Placid bobsled track director made a bet with local boy John Napier that if Napier won a bobsled race, Carlino would quit his long-time habit. In the two-man World Cup bobsled race at Lake Placid today, Napier, 22, crossed the line over a quarter-second… Read More

On hot pink suits, World Cup debuts, …

Sat Nov 21 09:28:00 -0500 2009

It’s easy to pick out American skeleton athlete Noelle Pikus-Pace. She races in a hot pink suit. “I have always loved pink,” she explained at the finish, while also wearing a pink knit hat from her company SnowFire Hats. “Everyone is always wearing black or blue or purple… Read More

Women's skeleton - 2 or 3 for Vancouver?

Fri Nov 20 16:50:00 -0500 2009

In 2006, the U.S. only qualified one woman for skeleton at the Torino Olympics. Katie Uhlaender competed, finishing sixth. Noelle Pikus-Pace, the 2005 World Cup overall champion, should have been there too. But in mid-October 2005, she was rammed by a bobsled that didn’t brake in time as… Read More

Evan Lysacek - one for the birds

Sat Nov 14 12:26:00 -0500 2009

Last March at the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships, a tuxedo-clad Evan Lysacek skated to Gershwin and won his first world title. On the ice in Lake Placid last night, the American won the short program of Skate America outfitted in a black bird costume. He skated to… Read More

Scott Hamilton on Olympic preparatio …

Sat Nov 14 10:18:00 -0500 2009

Scott Hamilton is at Skate America in Lake Placid this weekend. One of the first items on the 1984 Olympic gold medalist’s agenda was to talk about the U.S. Figure Skating Association’s partnership with Cancer.net, the title sponsor of Skate America this year. Cancer.net was… Read More

Lake Placid hosts the world

Fri Nov 13 15:52:00 -0500 2009

This past year has been busy in Lake Placid. Since January 2009, this hamlet that’s home to just over 2,600 folks in the middle of New York’s Adirondack Mountains has hosted not one, not even two, but six major international sporting events, including two World Championships. … Read More

Waddell and Will among U.S. Ski Hall …

Fri Nov 06 14:54:00 -0500 2009

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame announced its newest class of inductees today, and among them are three Paralympians: Chris Waddell, Sarah Will, and Jack Benedick. They are the first three adaptive skiers to enter the Hall of Fame since the late Diana Golden was honored in 1997. "Chris… Read More

100 days to go ... or rather 99!

Thu Nov 05 15:21:00 -0500 2009

As part of the 100 Days to the Winter Games celebration, three U.S. world champions talked to the media in a teleconference call on Wednesday: Erin Hamlin (luge), Chad Hedrick (speed skating), and Lindsey Vonn (skiing). Luge world champion Erin Hamlin, 22, called in from Park City, where she and… Read More

Why not more Olympic xc ski races?

Wed Oct 28 14:38:00 -0400 2009

Imagine if there hadn’t been a men’s 100-meter butterfly race at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Or a 200m individual medley. If the men’s Olympic swimming program were limited to five individual races — say, a 50m freestyle race, 100m backstroke, 200m breaststroke, 400m… Read More

Summer ski jumping

Sat Oct 10 21:08:00 -0400 2009

The sound is like fighter jets. Until they are airborne. Then all is quiet as they soar toward the depths, skis in a V. This is was what it sounded like standing next to the takeoff at the 90-meter ski jump at Lake Placid today, as the best ski jumpers in the country competed in the U.S. Ski… Read More

Bode's inspiration?

Wed Sep 30 14:53:00 -0400 2009

In a press conference last Thursday, Bode Miller announced that he will be ski racing again this season and, after a two-year hiatus racing on his own team, that he is rejoining the U.S. Ski Team. After 12 years racing 341 World Cups, he took a break and reflected on his career — to figure… Read More

Golden nuggets and squished toes

Sat Sep 12 00:19:00 -0400 2009

Before every Olympics since 1988, the U.S. Olympic Committee has invited the press to a Media Summit — hosted this year in Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton from September 9-12, with 80 winter sport athletes in attendance. The event is held a few months before the Games and is a chance… Read More

Nordic combined's tour de France

Fri Jul 24 16:37:00 -0400 2009

There was more than one world champion on the roads of France this week. And it wasn’t Lance Armstrong or Swiss cyclist Fabian Cancellara. Nordic combined world champions Billy Demong, Todd Lodwick, and Johnny Spillane, along with teammate Brett Camerota, are in France for a two-week… Read More

Luge's cool start tracks

Mon Jul 20 12:14:00 -0400 2009

On a sunny afternoon in July, luge world champion Erin Hamlin, 22, was decked out as if it were midwinter — in her speedsuit, elfin-looking luge shoes, gloves, and a helmet. Why? Because in USA Luge’s headquarters in Lake Placid, N.Y., it is midwinter. Inside the… Read More

Haley Johnson's Snowfall Cards

Wed Jul 08 13:46:00 -0400 2009

Life for Olympic athletes is not all about training — although workouts and recovering from them often consume their days. To keep their minds active as well, many have hobbies. Biathlete Lowell Bailey plays mandolin and guitar in a band. Alpine skier Jimmy Cochran tinkers with engines. … Read More

She makes the Energizer Bunny look lazy

Wed Jun 24 11:21:00 -0400 2009

After winning the Boston Marathon twice, setting a world and multiple American records, and winning the inaugural women's Olympic marathon in 1984 - and setting an Olympic record that stood for 16 years - Joan Benoit Samuelson deserves a rest. Instead, the 52-year-old from Freeport, Maine, is still… Read More

Kids never listen

Mon Jun 15 10:12:00 -0400 2009

Kids never listen to their parents, even if we sometimes know what we're talking about. While doing her third grade homework a few months ago, my daughter asked me what 17 minus nine is. "Eight," I replied. "No it's NOT!" she shot back. "Yes it is," I insisted. Not until I drew 17 lines on a… Read More

Going for Gold on Your SATs

Thu Jun 11 12:45:00 -0400 2009

Many Olympic champions have become motivational speakers. Gold-medal-winning swimmers Josh Davis and John Naber and gymnast Peter Vidmar, to name a few, offer to share their winning habits and visions. Most often, it seems, these champions speak at corporate functions. Now, one Olympic gold… Read More

A Tribute to a Champions’ Champion

Tue Jun 02 15:42:00 -0400 2009

Olympians are almost always inspiring. Their athletic talent, work ethic, sacrifices made, and challenges overcome have made them pinnacles in their sports. Their words and actions can motivate us to achieve our own successes, from a weekend 10k running race to a junior national championship. But… Read More

Extreme skiing

Tue Apr 28 11:45:00 -0400 2009

"Cross-country skiing is hammering wicked hard, pushing your body to the limits, crossing that finish line, collapsing on the ground, and actually getting up and wanting to do it again," says World Cup skier Andy Newell. Except when he says it, he hasn't collapsed on the ground. Shirtless and… Read More

Olympians talk about new superpipes

Fri Mar 20 16:32:00 -0400 2009

At the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix at Killington Resort, I walked up the side of the half-pipe for a closer view. But when I reached the half-pipe’s deck—the flat strip on either side of the pipe’s lip—I found myself clinging to the fence. Looking down at the bottom of the… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Lowell Bailey—gui …

Thu Mar 19 12:56:00 -0400 2009

One of my favorite parts about interviewing athletes is learning about their lives beyond their chosen sport. Over a decade, I've met a rower who's a trained chef, a cyclist who plays the trombone, and a skier who likes to take apart tractors.But few - except the rower/chef - can make a… Read More

Catching up with Pete Fenson, 2006 O …

Tue Mar 10 08:32:00 -0400 2009

After his team came up short qualifying for Olympic Trials in late January, Pete Fenson was noticeably absent from the finals of curling's 2010 Olympic Trials. He was there, but rather than skipping his own team, the 2006 Olympic bronze medalist was an alternate and coach for Team Greg Romaniuk,… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - All in the curling family

Thu Mar 05 19:31:00 -0500 2009

Look at the roster at a curling tournament, and you'll notice a lot of the same last names. Birr, Brown, Fenson, George, Pottinger ... On the 20 teams that competed at the Curling 2010 Olympic Team Trials, held last week in Broomfield, Colo., nine sets of siblings, two sets of cousins, and three… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Vonn and Lawrence …

Sat Feb 14 19:29:00 -0500 2009

After Lindsey Vonn won her second gold medal at the 2009 World Alpine Championships in Val d’Isere, France, the press was abuzz about the Minnesota native joining Andrea Mead Lawrence as the only American women to win two golds at a world championship.But Vonn’s accomplishment is… Read More

Luge, not as scary as it looks

Tue Feb 10 16:58:00 -0500 2009

Standing next to the luge track at Lake Placid - and you can stand so close you feel as if you could reach out and touch them (if you wanted your arm ripped off)-I was startled at how fast the sliders went by. It's like they were shot out of a cannon. It looks as scary as skydiving. Or bull riding.… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - A Look Inside Doubles Luge

Sat Feb 07 18:46:00 -0500 2009

On the first day of the 41st Luge World Championships, held at Lake Placid, N.Y., over 1,500 school kids from Northern New York and Vermont came to watch. Each school "adopted" one of the participating nations and was supposed to learn about the people and culture of their assigned… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Lake Placid: Insp …

Fri Jan 23 17:03:00 -0500 2009

Over the years, I've had the privilege of traveling to several cities that have hosted the Olympics: London (1908 and 1948), Squaw Valley (1960), Atlanta (1996), and Salt Lake City (2002) among them. I've even toured a few of the Olympic facilities in Moscow (1980). But none of these host… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - John Morton recal …

Wed Jan 14 23:15:32 -0500 2009

In 1976, mainstream America was introduced to cross-country skiing when Bill Koch won a silver medal in the men's 30-kilometer race at the Innsbruck Winter Olympics. His feat astonished even his fellow Nordic skiers, who were probably some of the only Americans to witness it; no American… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog- "To the Athletes W …

Tue Aug 26 14:48:52 -0400 2008

The Games of the XXIX Olympiad concluded on Sunday like they began-in a festival of light and color. That bright blue - that Beijing blue - that had us swimming on the floor of the Bird's Nest during the closing ceremonies (and that served as the boundary to the indoor volleyball court) is… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Best Olympic Memories

Mon Aug 25 11:59:32 -0400 2008

The end snuck up on me. Kind of like the finish line in a long race. It’s already Sunday, August 24 in Beijing — the last day of the 2008 Olympics — and the men’s marathon is underway as I type. Today, I overheard someone say, “I’m glad it’s almost… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - The Only Magic was the Marker

Mon Aug 25 11:49:28 -0400 2008

Even before the U.S. men’s and women’s 4x100-meter relay teams were disqualified for dropping their batons on the track of the Bird’s Nest, something seemed amiss. “I wonder what happened to their bibs?” I asked my husband. Both the men’s and women’s relay… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - The Greater Olymp …

Thu Aug 21 13:16:30 -0400 2008

Andy Newell is one of America’s top cross-country skiers. He raced in the 2006 Olympics in Turin, where he finished 16th in the sprint and 13th in the team sprint. Since then, has stood on the World Cup podium twice. On March 15, 2006, he took third in a 1-kilometer freestyle sprint in… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Nice Guys Do Finish First

Wed Aug 20 15:57:23 -0400 2008

Henry Cejudo was the first resident athlete I met at the U.S. Olympic Training Center when I visited the facility in June. He was sitting at a table in the cafeteria with a few of his teammates and was the first to introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Henry," he said with a big smile, extending… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Does Each Country …

Tue Aug 19 19:05:51 -0400 2008

As of Tuesday evening (Eastern time), the U.S. has won 79 medals in the 2008 Olympics: 26 golds, 26 silvers, and 27 bronzes. China is lagging slightly in overall medal count with 76. But Chinese athletes have collected 17 more gold medals than U.S. athletes, with the most earned in gymnastics (9),… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Like a Butterfly With Sore Feet

Mon Aug 18 15:55:47 -0400 2008

Late Saturday afternoon, we watched badminton on TV. Badminton! And it was riveting, even though neither player was American. It was the gold medal match between two Chinese women, Xie Xingfang and Zhang Ning, and I ignored my daughter’s pleas to make dinner. After one long rally — 31… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Great Expectations

Sun Aug 17 17:24:58 -0400 2008

When Jason Lezak touched the wall in yesterday’s men’s 4x10 medley relay, he, Aaron Peirsol, and Brendan Hansen (plus Matt Grevers, Mark Gangloff, Ian Crocker, and Garrett Weber-Gale who qualified Team USA in the relay prelims) helped Michael Phelps win his eighth gold medal in Beijing… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - What do you love  …

Sat Aug 16 16:31:38 -0400 2008

              (Photo: Samantha Shinn, 2008 Killington Camp Dog Paddle Gold Medalist)My daughter came home from camp yesterday with a gold medal around her neck and a toilet-paper-roll torch in her backpack. “How did you win… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - That World Series Feeling

Fri Aug 15 14:04:25 -0400 2008

My Boston friends were right. With primetime coverage running from 8 p.m. until after midnight, the 2008 Olympics is, for viewers, like the 2007 World Series. Or the 2004 World Series for that matter, and the 7-game playoff series before that, when the Red Sox rallied against the Yankees in game 3,… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Who is the greatest Olympian?

Thu Aug 14 10:43:48 -0400 2008

Since Michael Phelps won his 11th gold medal in the 4x200 freestyle relay on Wednesday morning, he's been called the greatest Olympian of all time. By medal count, yes. Phelps has been spectacular, out of this world, a show unto himself. And he has three races still to go.As U.S. Olympic… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - That little step

Wed Aug 13 16:04:38 -0400 2008

A friend emailed yesterday asking about that little step that gymnasts sometimes take on their dismounts from the various apparatuses. “The poor performer could have done an absolutely perfect routine, a quadruple twist (or whatever) in the air prior to coming down and making one step and the… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Catching Up

Tue Aug 12 14:02:33 -0400 2008

Every morning, there’s a sense that I have to catch up — to see what I missed while I was sleeping. This morning, my inbox has eight “Medal Alert” messages from NBColympics.com News — the Mother Lode of medals coming in swimming and one in shooting. In swimming, Michael… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Almost Instant Replay

Mon Aug 11 13:46:48 -0400 2008

I tried to stay awake but couldn’t. Ever since having a kid, staying up past 10:30 p.m. is like pulling an all-nighter. We had watched women’s gymnastics and Michael Phelps swim in the 200-meter freestyle semis shortly after 10 p.m. ET. The NBC announcer said the men’s 4x100m… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - The Doghouse

Sat Aug 09 20:29:42 -0400 2008

It's Saturday morning, my mother-in-law's 83rd birthday, and I'm in the doghouse. My husband is in the kitchen making potato salad, and I can't seem to log off. Every time I try to shut down my computer, another bit of Olympic news pops up - Becca Ward has won a bronze medal in… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - This Weekend: Wha …

Fri Aug 08 12:57:20 -0400 2008

Several friends have emailed or called asking how to find Olympic TV coverage - specifically, what sports are on and when. I have pointed them to nbcolympics.com but one friend wrote: "I tried to figure out that NBC TV schedule - forget it!"The information is there. It just requires a few… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - U-S-A!

Thu Aug 07 10:56:37 -0400 2008

Two days before the Opening Ceremony, the 2008 Olympics quietly kicked off with six first-round women's soccer games. I mean football games. The U.S. versus Norway match was televised on MSNBC, and Norway scored two goals in the first five minutes. Surely the U.S. women could score that many and… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - TV Viewers: Start Your Engines

Wed Aug 06 10:44:02 -0400 2008

Olympic TV coverage starts Wednesday, August 6, in the morning with women’s soccer on MSNBC, men’s soccer on Thursday morning, then the opening ceremonies on NBC Friday night. With NBC and its six affiliated networks airing over 1,400 hours of coverage through August 24, it will pay to… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Defying gravity

Sat Aug 02 17:31:46 -0400 2008

 (Photo: Beijing bound U.S. Olympians Kevin Tan (Gymnastics) and Misty May-Treanor (Beach Volleyball) trying on shoes during Team Processing.)   They looked like average, everyday people. Well, not the type that might waddle out of McDonald's with a Big Mac and… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - From the Mouths of Babes

Wed Jul 30 10:13:30 -0400 2008

No cheering squad is louder or more enthusiastic than a bunch of kids (except maybe silly-hat-wearing, body-painted members of Red Sox nation during the World Series or Green Bay Packer fans when it snows at Lambeau Field). And the Olympics are the greatest event for kids to cheer.Why? Because… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - From the Podium Stand

Tue Jul 29 11:19:34 -0400 2008

         On October 16, 1968, Tommie Smith and John Carlos sprinted for the line in the men’s 200m race at the Mexico City Olympics. Carlos led coming out of the turn, but Smith — his teammate at San Jose State University — passed him in… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - A Cool Solution

Thu Jul 24 18:55:56 -0400 2008

On May 17, 2008, mountain biker Georgia Gould collapsed near the end of a National Mountain Bike Series race in Santa Ynez, California. The temperature was around 100 degrees, and the Luna Chix team rider was way out front in the race. But after close to two hours riding hard in the heat, she could… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - The team sport that isn’t

Thu Jul 24 10:16:20 -0400 2008

From the outside, road cycling looks like an individual sport. And it is in the time trial, where it's one rider against the clock. Road racing is a different story.Thanks to the physics of cycling - which lets a rider save over 25 percent of his energy by drafting, or riding behind, another… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog- "A rookie mistake?"

Sun Jul 20 13:14:42 -0400 2008

  On July 16, USA Gymnastics announced that Morgan Hamm was confirmed on the men's Olympic team despite testing positive for a banned anti-inflammatory drug during the 2008 VISA Championships.Results from the VISA Championships counted toward 40 percent of the Olympic qualifying scores.… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog- "The Fog Blog"

Thu Jul 17 11:44:38 -0400 2008

  In early July, algae at the 2008 Olympic sailing venue in Qingdao made headlines. The Associated Press reported that 20,000 people either volunteered or were ordered to help clean up the mess - hauling it out by hand and boat with a clean-up deadline of July 15.While the Chinese… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - The Fairer Sex

Tue Jul 15 16:57:32 -0400 2008

As the Tour de France winds into its second week, women's cycling continues to fly way beneath the radar. While many Americans have probably heard of Levi Leipheimer, who automatically qualified for the U.S. men's Olympic cycling team after he finished third at the 2007 Tour de France,… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Olympic TV coverage

Mon Jul 14 10:17:39 -0400 2008

On Wednesday, July 9, NBC Universal released its TV schedule for the 2008 Olympics. The company plans to present 3,600 hours of coverage on seven different networks and through nbcolympics.com. This is over 1,000 hours more coverage than all other Olympic TV coverage from the 1960 Olympics in Rome… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Inspiration? Or intimidation?

Fri Jul 11 16:23:53 -0400 2008

  Dara Torres is going to the Olympics. Not the oldest Olympian ever - that honor is held by Sweden's Oscar Swahn, who won a silver medal at the 1920 Olympics in shooting at age 72 - the 41-year-old swimmer and mother of a 2-year-old has made headlines in just about every major media… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Just Shoot Me

Wed Jul 09 14:39:32 -0400 2008

Let's hope Tyson Gay draws lane 1 in his 100-meter sprint at the Olympics. He may get out of the blocks faster.Or so says a study published in the June issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. The New York Times wrote about the study in the July 8 Health section. Researchers… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Before reality TV

Tue Jul 08 10:17:29 -0400 2008

Although hundreds of sports and their various disciplines have been added to the Olympic program since the first modern Olympiad in 1896, some of my favorites are the discontinued events. Club throwing anyone? A triathlon that combined gymnastics and track & field perhaps? Or running deer… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Remote wars

Thu Jul 03 17:42:51 -0400 2008

 I’m gearing up for an epic battle this week. Not between Ian Crocker and Michael Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly. Or Allyson Felix against anyone who can catch her in the 200-meter sprint on the track. Or even Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon. No, this battle is between… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Biblical woes

Thu Jul 03 13:26:42 -0400 2008

In preparing for the Olympics, China hasn't had it easy. Plaguing the country have been the Sichuan earthquake and subsequent flooding, riots in Tibet, and even an algal bloom threatening the sailing venue (although isn't that Hong Kong's problem?). And, even though it's been several… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - From breaststroke to butterfly

Thu Jul 03 13:09:51 -0400 2008

At swimming Olympic Trials on July 1, the NBC commentators noted that Michael Phelps has not lost the 200-meter butterfly since August 2002. And when he broke the world record in 2001 at age 15, he was the youngest male world record holder in swimming history. Since then, Phelps has broken his own… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - H2Omaha

Mon Jun 30 18:42:52 -0400 2008

Before bidding to host the 2008 Olympic Trials for swimming, a city would have to have an Olympic-sized pool, right? And by Olympic-sized, I mean 50 meters long and many lanes wide, not those 25-yard pools that hotels and health clubs often refer to as "Olympic sized."Wrong. Omaha,… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - The Tourist Halts!

Wed Jun 25 18:41:03 -0400 2008

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a friend with "Is China Ready for the 2008 Olympics?" written in the subject line. The message contained a series of photos showing amusing Chinese-to-English translations - or rather, mistranslations - on signs in public places:… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - Eeny, meeny, mine …

Wed Jun 25 17:52:33 -0400 2008

After gymnastics Olympic Trials, the USA Gymnastics press release announcing the men's team was the most commented on article on teamusa.org. Most were upset that Raj Bhavsar was named as a replacement - for the second straight Olympics - not to the team itself.Bhavsar finished third in overall… Read More

Peggy Shinn Blog - The Olympic Train …

Wed Jun 25 11:41:46 -0400 2008

 At 5'7" tall, I have never thought of myself as short. But standing in the lunch line at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs behind the Brazilian women's volleyball team, I am child-size. It's a sport, I've learned, that attracts women who are even taller… Read More