2010 Athlete Ambassadors

A team of Athlete Ambassadors is leading the charge for this impactful humanitarian initiative by serving as advocates and supporters of the fund. This select group of U.S. Olympians and Paralympians act as champions and captains of Team for Tomorrow on behalf of the entire U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams.

Tony Benshoof, Luge

Three-time Olympian Tony Benshoof has competed in luge since 1990 and is USA Luge's all-time leader in international medals won, claiming 37 in total. Recording a sliding speed of 86.6 mph, Benshoof also holds the record for fastest luge speed in the Guinness Book of World Records, which he set in 2001. A native of St. Paul, Minn., Benshoof made his first appearance at an Olympic Winter Games in 2002 with a 14th- place finish, then barely missed the podium with a fourth-place finish at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino. Benshoof came in eighth place at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. He also had five top-10 finishes at the 2009-10 World Cup, and placed second at the team relay event.

John Benton, Curling

John Benton competed in his first Olympic Winter Games in 2010, where his team finished 10th. Benton served as the lead for the 2009 U.S. National Championship Team led by skip John Shuster and helped the same team to a fifth-place finish at the 2009 World Championships. Born in St. Michael, Minn., Benton began his curling career at age six and almost all of his 11 brothers and sisters have curled at one time or another. Off the ice, Benton works as an operating systems analyst with Fairview Health Services of Minnesota. Since 2003, John has served as a volunteer at Fairview Health Services Chemical Dependency unit with his wife, Carrie. Through this volunteer opportunity, the Bentons facilitate a "Growth Group" for couples dealing with recovery issues in regard to alcoholism. In addition, he chairs a major U.S. Curling event that runs an annual food drive for the Minnesota Food Share Network.

Caitlin Cahow, Ice Hockey

Defenseman Caitlin Cahow and the U.S. women's hockey team took home the silver medal from the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Also a member of the 2006 Olympic Team, Cahow won bronze at the Olympic Winter Games in Torino. A Harvard University graduate with a bachelor's degree in social/biological anthropology, Cahow played from 2004-2008 on the Crimson squad and led all ECAC Hockey defensemen with 37 points in 34 games her senior year. Following her hockey career at Harvard, Cahow helped the Minnesota Whitecaps to the Western Women's Hockey League Championship in 2008-09 and was named top defenseman at the Canadian Women's Hockey Championship. The Branford, Conn., native also has three World Championship medals - gold in 2008 and 2009 and silver in 2007. A polished violinist and active member of Athletes in Action, Cahow recently took the LSAT and plans to attend law school.

Rachael Flatt, Figure Skating

2010 U.S. champion Rachael Flatt placed seventh at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Figure skating since age four, Flatt is originally from Del Mar, Calif., but moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., to train at the Broadmoor Skating Club with head coach Tom Zakrajsek. Under his tutelage, she's won three medals at the U.S. Championships (2008-silver, 2009-silver, 2010-gold), and finished fifth at the 2009 World Championships and ninth at the 2010 World Championships. Flatt graduated from Cheyenne Mountain High School in June 2010, and she will attend Stanford University in the fall of 2011, where she plans to study sports medicine, biomechanics or engineering. When she's not skating or studying, Flatt volunteers at her rink in the learn-to-skate program and is a spokesperson for Reading is Fundamental, the largest and oldest non-profit reading program in the country.

Haley Johnson, Biathlon

A leader of the U.S. Women's Biathlon Team, Haley Johnson has been helping the team gain recognition around the world. The Lake Placid, N.Y., native was part of the 10th-place relay team at the 2009 World Championships, the best relay finish for the U.S. women biathletes since a ninth-place finish in 1997. The team went on to finish in the top-20 in the 4x6 relay at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Johnson's best individual World Cup finish came during the 2007-08 season in the sprint, where she claimed 12th place. A graduate of Bates College (Lewiston, Maine), Johnson maintains a blog titled "Come Ski with Me," which is primarily directed to communicating with elementary students at Lake Placid Elementary School and other classrooms she visits while training and competing around the world.

Taylor Lipsett, Sled Hockey

Taylor Lipsett, who suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta - a genetic bone disorder sometimes known as "brittle bone disease" - was introduced to sled hockey by chance when he ran into the mother-in-law of teammate Lonnie Hannah at a grocery store. A short while later, Lipsett participated in the 2004 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships in Orskoldsvik, Sweden, and helped Team USA win the silver medal. Two years later, Lipsett won a bronze medal with the U.S. at the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games in Torino. An assistant captain during the 2007-08 season, Lipsett was also a member of the 2009 World Championship winning team. At the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, the U.S. sled hockey team went undefeated, beating Japan 2-0 in the championship game to win the gold. Lipsett was named a National Collegiate Scholar at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, Texas), where he graduated in 2009 with a major in finance. He currently works within Bank of America's Private Wealth Management Division where he hopes to specialize in wealth management for athletes.

Steven Nyman, Alpine Skiing

One of four brothers, Steven Nyman grew up in the mountains of Sundance, Utah, and was skiing at age 2 and racing by age 8. Nyman shines in the speed events, and finished 20th in the downhill competition at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. He notched his first downhill World Cup win in December 2006 in Val Gardena, Italy. Nyman finished second in downhill at the 2010 National Championships, and placed first in downhill at the European Cup in Tarvisio, Italy, in 2010. He also competed in the downhill, super G and combined events at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino. In 2003, Nyman volunteered in Haiti and helped build an orphanage with A Child Hope Foundation. Currently the orphanage is home to 32 children and has provided a permanent home for 27 children.

Augusto "Goose" Perez, Paralympic Curling

In October 2005, Augusto "Goose" Perez tried wheelchair curling for the first time. Just seven weeks later, he tried out for the U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Curling Team and made the team outright. A year later, Perez saw a fair amount of time in shooting second for the U.S. in the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games where the U.S. team finished in eighth place. In 2010, Perez led the U.S. Team to the semi-final round of the Paralympic Winter Games. Born in Madrid, Spain, Perez came to the U.S. in 1991 for his senior year of high school. He wound up staying when he was offered a scholarship from Paul Smith's College in New York and then received his bachelor's degree from Le Moyne College (Syracuse, N.Y.) in Spanish with a minor in education. Perez has had three bouts with a rare form of cancer, which have resulted in disarticulation in his left hip and the loss of most of his left quadriceps muscle. Perez volunteers as both a Spanish tutor for high school and middle school students and as a soccer assistant coach. Perez, married and father of twins, is also a member of the Syracuse Flyers wheelchair basketball team.

Noelle Pikus-Pace, Skeleton

Going into the 2006 season, Noelle Pikus-Pace was favored to win the gold medal at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino. A tragic accident at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, however, left her with a compound fracture in her right leg after being hit by a runaway bobsled. Returning to competition in 2007, she won the World Championship by the largest margin in history, broke the track record in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and became the first American woman to obtain the title of World Champion in the sport of skeleton. Noelle came in fourth place at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, and placed fifth overall in the 2009-10 World Cup. Born the youngest of eight children in Orem, Utah, Pikus-Pace competed and excelled in six different sports before trying skeleton. At Utah Valley State, she broke the college high jump record and became an NJCAA National Discus Champion. She is married to Janson Pace and they have a daughter, Lacee.

Katherine Reutter, Speedskating

As one of the current and future stars of US Speedskating, Katherine Reutter won two medals at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games: silver in the 1000m and bronze in the 3000m relay. She won bronze in both events at the 2010 World Championships. Reutter was inspired to become a speedskater after meeting five-time Olympic gold medalist Bonnie Blair at her high school. As a teenager, Reutter traveled three hours every weekend from her hometown of Champaign, Ill., to train in St. Louis, Mo., and her hard work began showing dividends at age 17 when she won three gold medals for her age group at the U.S. Championships in 2005. She is now the three-time U.S. short track champion and took home her first two individual World Cup gold medals in the 1000m and 1500m during the 2009-2010 season. Reutter plans to attend the University of Illinois and study to become a personal trainer and registered dietician.

Liz Stephen, Cross Country Skiing

Liz Stephen started skiing at an early age and showed promise in alpine racing. In 2002, however, she found her true passion in cross country skiing. Just four years after picking up cross country, Stephen won her first U.S. Ski Championship and earned a spot at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, where she placed 58th in the 15km pursuit. In the 2009 season, the East Montpelier, Vt., native placed fourth in the Under-23 World Championships and placed 15th and 17th at the FIS World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic. Stephen skied to two top-5 finishes at the 2010 National Championships. A student at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah, one of her favorite causes is "Nothing but Nets" - a non-profit organization that provides mosquito netting to prevent the spread of malaria.

Curt Tomasevicz, Bobsled

Competing in his second Olympic Winter Games in 2010, Curt Tomasevicz was a member of the gold medal winning "Night Train" four-man bobsled team that won the first gold medal in bobsled for the United States in 62 years. With driver Steven Holcomb at the helm, Tomasevicz also won three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal during the 2009-10 World Cup season in the four-man bobsled. Tomasevicz began the sport of bobsled in 2004 and placed sixth in four-man with Holcomb at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. A native of Shelby, Neb., Tomasevicz earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering with a minor in astronomy from the University of Nebraska where he also played on the Cornhusker football team from 2000-03.

Stephani Victor, Paralympic Alpine Skiing

Loading her car in 1995, Stephani Victor was pinned against her vehicle when an out-of-control car veered into her driveway. Both legs were amputated above the knee. Three years - and 11 reconstructive surgeries - later, she had her first lesson on a mono-ski. Since then, she's won four World Championships and five overall World Cup titles. At the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, Victor won three medals: gold in the super combined, and silver in the slalom and giant slalom, adding the medals to the gold she won in the slalom at the 2006 Games. She finished third in the downhill competition at the World Cup in Sestriere, Italy. Off the slopes, Victor is a motivational speaker and gives presentations on her extraordinary story of triumph of the human spirit.