Red, White & Trending: March 30-April 5

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."

Play Ball

Opening Day brings with it so much hope in so many MLB cities. And it also, in an Olympic year, often means some fantastic Team USA cameos. In this case, congratulations are in order for two-time slopestyle skiing medalist Nick Goepper, an avowed Reds fan who earned bronze in Sochi and silver this past winter in PyeongChang, Olympic women’s hockey gold medalist Haley Skarupa, plus a couple of her teammates in Brianna Decker, Meghan Duggan and Amanda Pelkey, along with luger Chris Mazdzer, Olympic gymnastics champion Aly Raisman, and Paralympians Dan Cnossen and Jake Adicoff.

Opening Day at Fenway had a distinct Team USA flair, too.

Three-time Olympic bobsledder Nick Cunningham may not have been in attendance, but he made sure to show off his allegiances.

Season’s Greetings

While unseasonably cold temperatures — along with surprise snow — have greeted so many of us early this spring, this past weekend brought with it one of the most photo-friendly weekends on the calendar. Take it away, Team USA, with your family gatherings, your super-cute kid pics, your walks down memory lane and your completely normal egg-painting of curling stars …

And, finally, a curling twist …

… or two …

Meteor, Right?

Speaking of curling. … The warm welcome-back the Olympic champion men’s curling team has enjoyed since returning from PyeongChang continues, and rightfully so. As the authors of one of the Games’ great Team USA tales, those stories are meant to last. This, however, would qualify as one of the more otherworldly epilogues.

He Still Has It

After all these years, Olympic snowboarding champion Shaun White still knows his way around a skate park.

Boston Beckons

What next? For three-time Olympian and Massachusetts native Shalane Flanagan, the Boston Marathon represents another opportunity. At the New York City Marathon this past November, Flanagan became the first Team USA woman to win the event in 40 years. The smiling that followed could also have made for an ideal swan song. But one of the most successful runners in this country’s history isn’t ready to go quietly just yet. Particularly not in Boston, where the marathon hasn’t always finished the way she would have liked. Look out, Boston, Flanagan will be back.

Also making her return will be one of the most dominant athletes in her sport, Paralympic star Tatyana McFadden, who has the countdown clock ticking and some redemption on her mind. In 2017, McFadden’s streak of four consecutive wins in Boston came to an end when she finished fourth while still recovering from blood clots.

Running Around

Olympic triathlon champion Gwen Jorgensen has made very little secret about her running ambition. In fact, since announcing she would be trading in her triathlon training to concentrate full-time on marathon training, she pinned a tweet with an unmarked checkbox next to the words “Olympic gold in Marathon.” This past weekend, Jorgensen, who has been training with Flanagan, added another win and personal best on the road to Tokyo.

Get Well Soon

Mere weeks after serving as Team USA's Closing Ceremony flag bearer at the Paralympic Games, Oksana Masters, who arrived in PyeongChang with a severe elbow injury but left as the most decorated female U.S. athlete with five medals, would undergo yet another surgery. So far, so good, in the recovery game.

This was a busy week in Vail, Colorado surgeries for Team USA …

Both an Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games athlete, Lolo Jones has earned some time on the shelf, too.

And the inspiring story of high jumper Jamie Nieto, the two-time Olympian and four-time national champion who was severely injured in April 2016, continues …

Memory Lane

If you have them, why not show them off? Olympic pole vault medalist Sandi Morris certainly has the bling …

And, in the words of USA Water Polo’s tweet, “When you played in so many Olympic Games you have to write them down” …

Tick, Tock …

We’ve already pointed out a handful of athletes who have the next Olympic Games on their internal clocks, but this is among the first we’ve seen for the Road to Beijing …