Red, White & Trending: Dec. 2-8

What are Team USA athletes — Olympians, Paralympians and hopefuls — up to when they're not competing? They're training. They're practicing. They're traveling to competitions and meets and games and tournaments. They're relaxing. They're getting engaged and married. They're taking hard-earned vacations. They're coping with the raw emotions that come from losing and winning. And they're sharing. Through the reach of social media, we're able to follow along on their often extraordinary journeys. We'll catch you up each week on what's "Red, White & Trending."

Anatomy Of A Friendship

This is so good. At a time before Simone Biles was that Simone Biles, the best gymnast in the world and in the conversation as one of the best ever, before she was lighting up Rio with her show-stopping routines and before all the gold medals, back when she was idolizing Team USA’s top gymnasts, the spark plug with all that promise received a text message from London gold medalist Aly Raisman. Biles couldn’t have been more excited …

Rock Star

Haaaaaaaard! While that familiar curling refrain didn’t echo through his home arena, Steph Curry, the two-time NBA MVP who lost out on a chance to lead Team USA in Rio because of injury, did pay tribute to the sport to which he was introduced when his father was playing for the Toronto Raptors.

On a side note, USA Curling began a “race to 40,000 clicks” that is also worthy of attention. Here’s the deal: If the national governing body’s website, usacurl.org, receives 40,000 unique visitors this month, it will in turn receive $25,000 from the United States Olympic Committee.

I. Said. Kick. It.

Not many soccer moms happened to have played soccer in the World Cup and at the Olympics, but such is the case for soccer mom Sydney Leroux Dwyer. For a few months now, she’s been living up to the term, but she elevated her tough-love game this week with Cassius Dwyer.

We’d also found out two weeks ago that she’s not above brainwashing her son just about any way she can. Let’s hope he doesn’t drop a #FightOn around the house.

Missy On Tour

One of the more interesting careers for such a young athlete, an athlete who as a teenage swimming sensation became a star of the 2012 London Games, is on display now in the form of "Relentless Spirit: A Memoir of the Unconventional Raising of a Champion." Congratulations are in order for its author, the now 21-year-old Missy Franklin, who could be found this week working on publicizing the new book — from the big stage of the "TODAY" show to a miniature set at Facebook.

New Ring

If you hadn’t seen the announcement, young boxing star Shakur Stevenson will ride the wave of his success in Rio into a professional career — but what seemed even more impressive than the leap he’s making at the age of 19 was his response to one prominent well-wishing tweet. It is priceless in its optimism.

He’ll Take A Half-Dozen

Leaps. Hops. Ups. No matter what you call them, Olympic medalist freeskier David Wise has them. How about taking stairs six at a time?

Dog Days

For triathlete and Paralympic gold medalist Allysa Seely, her adorable golden isn’t shy about finding a place to sit, no matter how inconvenient …

A day later, her pup piled on the cuteness with a roll in the snow.

On the subject of dogs, two-time Olympic gymnast Jonathan Horton’s son finds a way to make himself at home on the family dog. Boy’s best friend …

And … this, from Charlie White, whose Instagram home proudly serves as a place where you, “Come for the Olympic figure skating, stay for the dog pics”:

Beware The Flicker

And, while we’re on the subject of Charlie White, enjoy his Instagram take — including the happiness written all over his face — on the lighting fail of his hotel room.

Lucky 7

Time flies when you’re having fun. This week, the son of the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time made it a little closer to his first birthday.

Spin Move

Here, buckle up and take an inverted, slow-motion ride with two-time Rio silver-medalist gymnast Danell Leyva.

Leyva’s teammate Donnell Whittenburg also had his mind, and camera, set on slow-motion.

Inspiring Minds

For the next time an elite athlete wonders whether his or her work is inspiring others to play …

And, wow, Mia Hamm. What a classy, humbling response from one of the greatest players the game has ever seen.

Winter Sport, Summer Athletes

A handful of Team USA medalists with ties to New England were invited to join the Boston Bruins this past week. Congratulations to Raisman, Hugh Freund, Tessa Gobbo, Kayla Harrison and Gevvie Stone.

Speed Trap

Look out, Grayhawk! There’s a six-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer doing some speed work in your midst.

Great Skate

It may be outdoor ice in the Bay Area, but Kristi Yamaguchi is an Olympic figure skating champion who still makes it look easy.

Around The World

Olympic ski jumper Sarah Hendrickson, after undergoing knee surgery in the fall of 2015, loves being back to work, which recently took her to Slovenia over Thanksgiving and to Norway, where she finished a strong 11th and the next day eighth in Lillehammer and remained in good spirits despite suffering these indignities …

Since Norway, Hendrickson is now on to Russia …

Of course, this time of year, Team USA is competing in many winter locales …

Dateline, Val d'Isère, France: If you’re looking for U.S. Ski Team head men’s coach Sasha Rearick, you may want to check the trees.

Dateline, Davos, Switzerland: And this sort of thing seems not to be exclusive to Team USA’s alpine skiing coaches.

We’re still in Davos, where 2014 Olympian Noah Hoffman checked in with the cross-country skiing team’s secret Santa shenanigans.