Going for the Gold: Noelle Pikus-Pace

Click here for the Going for the Gold Vodcast.

The "Going for the Gold" series kicks off our One-Year-Countdown to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. We will feature a different 2010 U.S. Olympic or Paralympic hopeful each week with a vodcast on the first and second Friday of every month.

Skeleton athlete Noelle Pikus-Pace has a difficult enough time trying to figure out her practice and competition schedule, let alone find a baby-sitter for her 14-month-old daughter.

Lucky for her, she has a willing husband and a helpful sister to take care of her blue-eyed baby girl when she's away.

The skeleton racer is a full-time athlete and mom, all at the age of 26. Like all mothers, Pikus-Pace struggles with finding enough hours in the day to get everything done.

Racing changed for her the day her daughter was born because her daughter takes precedence over everything else. Her family always is first-she believes her days as an elite athlete are numbered, but she is a mother forever.

Before motherhood, Pikus-Pace won the World Cup in 2005. She was the gold medal favorite for the 2006 Games but a freak accident occurred at the Olympic Trials. She was hit by a runaway bobsled-which broke her right leg-and was unable to compete in the Winter Games.

But the Orem, Utah, native didn't let that hold her back. She returned to take the World Championship title in 2007-winning by the largest margin in women's skeleton history-and ranked second overall in the World Cup.

The birth of her daughter led to Pikus-Pace taking a hiatus during the 2007-2008 season. In 2008-2009, she placed eighth overall in the World Cup. Now her goal is to compete in the 2010 Games.

The Feb. 6, 2009 World Cup event took place at the Whistler Sliding Centre-the venue for skeleton competition in 2010-giving Pikus-Pace a taste of what to expect at the Winter Games. The track is known for being technically difficult and extremely fast.  On the day before her race Pikus-Pace took a practice run and ended up on her back, calling the track "unbreathable."

The self-described "all-American girl" is told she can be heard singing Christmas carols as she speeds by on the track. Singing may be Pikus-Pace's way to get through practice, but she focuses 100 percent in her races. She only has 60 seconds to get her act together, and then her run is done.

The athlete's most trusted piece of equipment during her quick run is her pink sled, which she calls "my baby."  Pikus-Pace decorated it with stickers of pictures and sayings that remind her of her family and friends.

With her family never far from her mind, their unwavering support is sure to be a key factor for Pikus-Pace as she races toward the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

Read more about Noelle Pikus-Pace.

Tags: Going for the Gold, Noelle Pikus-Pace, Skeleton