By Jamie MacDonald | Nov. 17, 2017, 1:53 p.m. (ET)

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 and having children. They're taking hard-earned vacations. Or retiring. Or 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."

 

Salute To Service

When it comes to salutes to service, Team USA is there. Training and competing for the United States means so much to so many athletes — not only despite, but often because of, the lonely workouts and months on the road — that the sacrifices of service members is so naturally appreciated by those who wear the red, white and blue. On Veterans Day, Team USA, including its veterans, were proud to honor the occasion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My father is a Vietnam Vet. Thank you to all who have served our great country. #veteransday

A post shared by John Daly (@johndalyusa) on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Zoom With A View

Team USA’s lugers hoping to compete at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang in a few months know how to kick off a season. The scenery helps, too …

 

 

 

 


A Tribute …

In the words of Olympic skiing legend Lindsey Vonn, who has been through and come back from so much as an athlete, this was the hardest thing she has ever done.

Vonn’s Instagram tribute is one that comes with a 2018 dedication to the man who taught her to go fast.


Copper Is Golden

Soon, Vonn was back on the hill with her teammates at Copper Mountain in Colorado, where Team USA could finally work on carving training turns on home turf.

 

Back to doing what Grandpa and I love to do most- Ski. ❀️D.K.

A post shared by L I N D S E Y • V O N N (@lindseyvonn) on

Just how quickly to the turns come for elite skiers? Buckle up as Olympic giant slalom champion Ted Ligety shows the way … on a slalom course.

 

First time cross blocking in year. I’m coming for you @felix_neureuther 😜 #gopro

A post shared by Ted Ligety (@ted_ligety) on

Catching air from a few different angles are Tommy Biesemeyer and two-time Olympic medalist Andrew Weibrecht …

 

The infamous field goal jump @coppermtn @usskiteam @windhammountain @atomicski #weareskiing πŸ“· @troysef

A post shared by Tommy Biesemeyer (@tcbiesemeyer) on

 

 

Air it out. Only a few days left before we get going on the real thing. Photo: @troysef

A post shared by Andrew Weibrecht (@andrew_weibrecht) on

Andrew Kurka, a Sochi Paralympian, surveys the landscape …

Olympic snowboardcross medalist Alex Deibold had some fun, too …

 

Up with the sun, turning and burning. πŸŽ₯: @nateholland 🎼: @kapix801 #dixieline #itsallinthehips

A post shared by Alex Deibold (@adeibold) on


Sliding Start

The bobsled season is underway, and it is the first for these Team USA athletes since the tragic loss of Olympic champion pilot and longtime friend Steven Holcomb. So, when the sleds perform well out of the gate in Lake Placid, New York, in and of itself an emotional center of the sport in this country, the feelings are bound to verge on the overwhelming.

 

And as the men head to Utah for four-man, a mesmerizing slow-mo of the poetry in motion that’s often a little too quick in real time …

Also mesmerizing, the power of the women’s start from two-time Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor and Olympic hopeful Lauren Gibbs …


Leg Day, Every Day

Congratulations are in order for Sochi Olympian Joey Mantia, who this week in the speedskating hotbed of Holland, took silver in the ISU World Cup mass start in Heerenveen. Note the hashtag below, followed by a throwback pic that shows off the fruits of his labor.

 


Hair Raising

Two-time Olympic skeleton athlete John Daly simply can’t help himself …


Let’s Get This Straight

For track athletes who have to make so much as a single turn, running those corners becomes such a habit of muscle memory that they could probably close their eyes for a few steps and stay on track. So, for the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field history, running a straight 400-meter may actually have felt a little awkward — but for the fans lining the path in Osaka, Japan.

Next up for Felix was a rewarding trip to Abu Dhabi for the Special Olympics.

 

 


Cross-Training

It should come as no surprise that figure skating’s Quad King and PyeongChang hopeful Nathan Chen, the defending men’s national champion who is months away from the possibility of making an indelible mark on the Olympic Winter Games, has some hops.

 

This word is commonly referred to as lifeπŸ˜‚

A post shared by Nathan Chen (@nathanwchen) on


Wrist, Band

The first Team USA athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal in women's wrestling when she did so in Rio, Helen Maroulis, who also won gold at the world championships this past August in Paris, has undergone surgery. But she has a message for the world, too.

 

 

“I’ll be back” -Terminator voice 😜 #postsurgery #recovery #teamusa #wrestling #sundayfunday

A post shared by Helen Maroulis (@helen_maroulis) on


Still Glowing After All These Days

Earlier this month, Shalane Flanagan became the first U.S. woman to win the New York City Marathon in 40 years. Over a week later, she’s still living a bit of a dream …

 

 

 

Oh, and if you’re near her hometown next week, there’s this …


Hall Pass

Congratulations are in order for Olympic champion and seven-time Olympic gymnastics medalist Shannon Miller. Follow along as she timelines her way through an unforgettable week in her home state of Oklahoma …

 

 

Happening tomorrow!! So excited!! #oklahoma #halloffame

A post shared by Shannon Miller (@shannonmiller96) on

 

 

Look who I found! @marylouretton and @bartconner Amazing inspiration in this room!! #teamusa

A post shared by Shannon Miller (@shannonmiller96) on


Young Guns

Congratulations are also in order for a handful of Team USA’s young stars, who earlier this week learned they were named to #30Under30, including a pair of PyeongChang hopefuls …

 

 

Also on the Sports list: Olympians Anthony Davis, Jack Sock, Sloane Stephens and Christian Taylor.


Patriots Day

Between NFL games in Denver and in Mexico, the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots spent most of their week training at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado — which also afforded the team a chance to see another of the Olympic City’s must-see sporting destinations.


On The Road Again

Team USA, on the road. For a long, long time. So long, in fact, that Sochi Olympian and PyeongChang hopeful cross-country skier Jessie Diggins shifted her Thanksgiving by a week or so before taking off for more than four months.

For teammate Sadie Bjornsen, the luggage job is on point.

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