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WHISTLER, B.C. — Marjan Kalhor’s green, knit toque is pulled down low on her forehead. Her hair is neatly tucked beneath the toque that’s embroidered with a single word: IRAN. She’s wearing a white ski jacket with a high collar and green ski pants. On her slim wrist, there’s a yellow plastic bracelet that says: Believe. Last week, the petite, 21-year-old physical education student carried her country’s flag in the opening ceremony for the 2010 Olympics. Wednesday, Kalhor is scheduled to compete in giant slalom and, on Friday, in slalom. She is the first Iranian woman to compete in the Winter Games. The first Iranian woman to compete in the Summer Olympics was shooter Lita Fariman in 1996. After years of criticism that women are being denied the right to compete at the Games, the International Olympic Committee can take some credit for Kalhor’s debut. Last fall, the IOC not only agreed to let women box in the 2012 Games in London, it threatened sanctions against countries that refuse to allow women to participate. Among those that have sent male-only teams in the past are Saudi Arabia, Brunei and Qatar, all Muslim countries. One of the surprising outcomes of those two decisions is that in Afghanistan girls as young as 14 have tucked their scarves or hijabs under headguards, donned loose trousers and are duking it out in Kabul’s Olympic Stadium for the chance to compete in 2012. Here, Kalhor is one of a number of female, Islamic athletes. But she may be the only one who follows the tradition of covering her head in public whether it’s a toque or, as in her official Olympic photo, a black hijab. “I’m very careful about covering my hair,” she says through a translator. “Because my hair is so short, I can wear a toque. I wear it or another hat under my helmet when I compete and I make sure to cover my neck.” Skiing is one of the few sports where Muslim women are not disadvantaged on the field of play by dressing modestly. They are also not at as great a risk of harassment from extremists even though as recently as two years ago an Iranian mullah reportedly said that women should not ski because the movement of their knees “looked more like dancing than sport.” Kalhor is aware of what happened two years ago after Mahbooba Ahadyar qualified to compete in the 800- and 1,500-metre races for Afghanistan. Although Ahadyar wore a head scarf and long trousers for training and competition, she received death threats. A month before the Olympics, Ahadyar disappeared from Italy where she was training and applied for political asylum in Norway. She was replaced on the Afghan team by Robina Muqimyar, who wore a scarf and track suit in the 100-metre sprint, finishing last in the field of 85 competitors. Kalhor is not the only Muslim woman competing at these Games, but she is one of the few who wears a head scarf or hijab. None of the three women competing for Turkey in figure skating, cross-country and alpine skiing wears a head scarf when they are not competing. And in competition, figure-skater Tugba Karademir is no more modestly clad than any of the others. It’s the second Olympics for Karademir, a 24-year-old University of Toronto student. She was the first Turkish women to compete in figure skating at the 2006 Winter Games. Kalhor insists that she can only speak for Iran, and she doesn’t believe there are any religious or cultural limits to women and girls pursuing sports. If they want to participate in sports, she says, they can. The biggest limitation for Iranian women, she says, is the same as in most countries: Money. Iran has ski resorts that are becoming popular particularly with Western, budget-minded snowboarders. But the resort’s infrastructure isn’t like in Europe or North America. There’s not a lot of grooming equipment, for example. That’s why Kalhor is having trouble at Whistler. The run has deliberately been groomed to be hard and icy, which is what the top World Cup competitors prefer. In Iran, the snow is soft and Kalhor’s transition to the ice has been painful. Earlier this week, she fell in training, injuring her elbow, although not badly enough to keep her from competing. Yet even if there were well-equipped resorts, the cost of quality skis and boots is prohibitive for most kids. It’s why there are only 20 Iranian girls competing in league events. Kalhor’s family has supported her skiing passion — “My parents made it easy for me.” Her family isn’t rich. Her father is a retired government official; her mother a housewife with a heart condition that made it impossible for them to travel here. What made it possible for Kalhor and her three siblings to ski is luck. The family lives in a village near the mountain resort of Dizin, about 60 kilometres north of Tehran. The Kalhors encouraged all four of their children to ski. Marjan’s brother, Rostum, is also at the Olympics as coach of the men’s alpine team. Her other brother and sister both coach skiing at the junior level. While waiting for the translator to interpret a question, Marjan flipped through pages of Italian clippings about the Olympics. She let out a small yelp of surprise when she saw her photo there. The media attention she’s attracted has been a bit of a surprise to her, but she’s weathered it well enough that unlike previous interviews, Kalhor was not accompanied by her brother and other Iranian officials when we spoke. Still, Kalhor seems a bit embarrassed by the question that she’s been asked dozens of times ever since she first competed in Europe two years ago and smiles shyly, flashing her braces. Do you see yourself as a role model or hero for other Muslim women? “The Olympics were my dream and I came for that. The only thing I was thinking about was to come to the Olympics to compete and I’ve done that. “Now, I’m thinking only about doing my best. But if I can be a role model for girls in Iran to encourage them to compete, that would be nice.” That seems certain. With 252,000 Google mentions and nearly 4,000 blog posts, Kalhor has already caused quite a stir. Source: http://www.canada.com/sports/2010wintergames/alpine-skiing/Iranian+skier+story+triumph/2602909/story.html

Dave and I have engulfed ourselves in the Olympics this year! We watched the opening ceremonies (which were amazing) and have followed our favorite American athletes, gotten new ones and even felt for some of the competitors from other countries that seem to have the world on their shoulders.

This week is a huge week for the Alpine Skiers! We have Giant Slalom tonight, Wednesday and the Slalom on Friday for a group of women trying to get to the podium.

Photos by: Kelli Baxendale

There is Megan McJames, a 22 year old brunette with a pretty face and a strong spirit from Park City, Utah. She started skiing at age 2 and has grown up and still lives in Park City, Utah, remaining true to her hometown. Megan is a tough girl! She made her World Cup start in Australia in 2008 with a broken wrist…. She’s got a ton of tenacity!

Photos by: Kelli Baxendale

Sarah Schleper is a local here in Colorado. This 31 year old was raised by her father in Vail and started skiing at age 2. She started racing at 11 and the rest is an amazing history of her life. She’s seen the podium in World Cup, and is ready to take on Winter Olympics 2010 which is her 4^th Olympics!

These women had returned to Jackson Hole, Wyoming after Opening Ceremonies to train, and then took some time off to take a few photos with a company called Strappedbelts.com at The Snow King Resort in Jackson Hole. They got blinged out in Strappedbelts.com swag and had their photos taken by Kelli Baxendale.

Strappedbelts.com was started in 2008 by John Frechette. He has done an amazing job through a new medium of fused glass, making everything from belts to rings and housewares (Check out his plates, I am in LOVE with them). He reached out to these lovely Olympians he got beautiful role models to show off his artwork.

Make sure you watch the Olympians tonight and Friday night for their Olympic run! While you are at it, go check out Strappedbelts.com, John is offering Crunchy Green Mom readership 25% off their order with the coupon code: Olympics. So check it out, look at some of the photos and get something to remember the 2010 Olympics!

~This review opportunity was given by Business to Blogger for matching me up with Strappedbelts.com. I was compensated for this blogpost~

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Bode Miller makes no apologies for his high-risk, high-reward style. It's what earned him three medals in the first three races at the Vancouver Olympics, and what caused him to ski out in the giant slalom on Tuesday.

"I'm taking more risk than everyone else. That's partly why I'm able to get medals. It looks easy when you make it," Miller told The Associated Press in an interview after missing out on becoming the first man to win four Alpine medals at one Winter Games.

"When you crash like today, it's like, 'Oh, huh?' I did a good job today, too," Miller continued. "I was right there. I was right on the edge."

He's constantly on the accelerator going down the mountain, taking takes chances few others would, and that gambler's mentality has paid off richly for him in Whistler.

Until Tuesday, of course, when his attacking nature cost him. The other side of Miller surfaced, the one that was on display in Turin four years ago.

Miller chalked up his failure to complete the first run of the giant slalom to his aggressiveness.

Losing time on the upper section of the course, where he narrowly avoided a crash, he tried to make it up by going faster on the bottom.

This time, the 32-year-old from Franconia, N.H., couldn't correct his line with that much speed. He came out of a right-hand gate in the second half of his run, and simply couldn't bring it around in time for the next gate. He said he hooked his glove on a gate and "that's all there is to it."

Miller also told the AP that he had trouble picking up the bumps on the course because of the overcast conditions.

"This light – I knew I had an issue this morning. I'm not one of the better skiers in flat light. I tend to move a lot more," Miller said. "Some of those guys are so squared up and solid, the bad light doesn't affect them that bad. ... I hit any of those little bumps while I'm moving, if I can't see them, I blow out."

Miller blew off the media after his run, electing to ski down the hill rather than stopping in the interview area, as skiers typically do.

With his giant slalom day over, Miller was intent on sneaking in some rest. He has one final chance, in Saturday's slalom, to add a fourth medal.

"That's what we're focusing on now, I guess," Miller said. "I knew I had to ski great today to give myself a chance. I came out of the gate doing it. There's very small margin of error for me on this course. Slalom is the same way. ... I'll have a good chance to rest now, get charged up for it."

Four years ago in Turin, Miller had a forgettable Olympics. Touted as the star of those games, he left empty-handed, more attention on his social life than his skiing.

Vancouver has been a completely different experience. His charging style has been well suited for this mountain.

"When I look back on my career, it's hard to believe the (stuff) I've been able to pull off," Miller said of his aggressive approach. "I take everything with a grain of salt. There are a million variables. But I also take some credit for it. I do go that way, all the time. I am willing to deal with the consequences, when a lot of guys aren't willing to deal with those consequences. So they don't take the risk."

That's never been a consideration for him. He only knows one way – fast.

Even here, he can't back off. He doesn't care about pressure, expectations or anything else, just his way of skiing.

"My pressure is to do what I expect of myself," Miller said. "To go out there and say I have pressure on me to win a medal, that's the most asinine pressure to put on yourself. It's not in your control at all. Whereas, my intensity is under my control. ... It's not like you just push the button and go. You've got to get the right setup, all your ducks in a row mentally, and let it go."

He's done that the entire time in Vancouver, his entire career for that matter.

"About 400 races and 13 or 14 years in, that's what he does," said Miller's agent, Lowell Taub, in a telephone interview from New York. "And sometimes it leads him to medals, and sometimes it leads him to 'DNF.'"

___

AP Sports Writer Howard Fendrich contributed to this story.

More on Winter Olympics 2010

Lindsey Vonn wasn't the fastest down the mountain today, but she stayed on her skis and won her second medal of the Olympic Games.

Vonn skied to a gutsy bronze in Saturday's super-G, falling behind Austria's Andrea Fischbacher and Slovenia's Tina Maze.

Vonn, who has already clinched the 2010 World Cup super-G discipline title with two races remaining, raced from the 17th spot and cruised to more than a half-second advantage over the field.  She lost critical tenths on the bottom section, however, and Fischbacher held onto a more aggressive line two spots later for a .74-second lead.

"When I came down to the finish and saw No. 1 next to my name, I thought 'Hopefully, this is another gold medal,'" she said. "Obviously, that wasn't the case, but I did my best, and I'm definitely very, very proud of another Olympic medal."

Vonn, who won gold in the World Championship downhill and super-G a year ago, came into Vancouver with hopes for a medal and now has downhill gold and super-G bronze.
This was her third of five events on Whistler Mountain after she hooked a ski tip and crashed out of the slalom in yesterday's super-combined.

"I'm a double Olympic medalist, and that's a pretty cool thing to be able to say, she said. "I obviously would have loved to have a gold medal today, but Olympic medals are never very easy to come by."

Julia Mancuso, for a while, seemed poised to collect her third medal of these Games after storming out of the gate first for a lead that held through 12 skiers until Germany's Maria Reisch beat her out by .04 seconds.

"When I watched Maria's run and she beat me by four-hundredths, I was bummed. But she beat me by a second in the section I made my mistake."

Nonetheless, Mancuso owns the most medals ever by a U.S. woman after adding silvers in downhill and super combined to her giant slalom gold in Torino.

"I have nothing to lose," she said. "I'm really, really proud of my Olympic career so far—a gold and two silvers. I'm not going into the GS ranked the best, but I've been training well and skiing really well. And I'm excited to go in there and give my best."

Mancuso and Vonn will try to add to the U.S. Alpine Ski Team's medal count when they return to Franz's Run for the giant slalom on Wednesday, with the first run at 10 a.m. PT.

"I don't have any regrets on any of my races here," Vonn said. "I definitely gave it everything I had every day. Especially on super-G, it's difficult. If you look back, you can always find places where you could have made up time, but having only one inspection and no training runs, it's difficult to always know how aggressive you can ski and how the line is going to run and what the speed is going to be.

"Given the circumstances—a lot of girls had trouble today—and given everything, I think today was a really solid result."

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Lindsey Vonn lived up to expectations and won the Olympic downhill Wednesday, and childhood rival and American teammate Julia Mancuso took a surprise silver medal.

In a race characterized by several crashes – including one to Swedish standout Anja Paerson – Vonn's bruised right shin proved not to be a hindrance as she sped down Franz's Downhill in 1 minute, 44.19 seconds.

Mancuso finished 0.56 seconds behind, and Elisabeth Goergl of Austria took the bronze medal, 1.46 seconds back.

Maria Riesch of Germany, Vonn's best friend and usual rival of late, finished eighth.

It's the third time two Americans have finished 1-2 in an Olympic Alpine race, and the first time in 26 years.

At the 1984 Sarajevo Games, brothers Phil and Steve Mahre took gold and silver in the slalom and Debbie Armstrong and Christin Cooper accomplished the feat in giant slalom.

Vonn was hurt Feb. 2 during pre-Olympic practice in Austria and had hardly skied over the past two weeks.

Still, as the two-time defending overall World Cup champion and the winner of five of the six downhills this season, she entered as an overwhelming favorite.

Mancuso won the giant slalom at the 2006 Turin Games but hadn't finished on the podium since the Olympic test downhill here two years ago. The Squaw Valley, Calif., skier has won only two World Cup downhills in her career, the last nearly three years ago.

Mancuso was an early starter and still led when Vonn skied.

Vonn, a Minnesota native who lives and trains in Vail, Colo., put on a skiing clinic for all the world to see.

Waiting in the starting gate with the sun reflecting orange off her goggles as she stared down the course, Vonn was a study in concentration. Kicking out of the start without regard to her bruised shin, she increased her lead at the first three checkpoints, kicking up a trail of smoky snow in her wake as if she were a race car, tucking at every opportunity.

Just when it seemed Vonn might go wide, she applied even more leg pressure, shifted her weight and maintained her line.

It wasn't all perfect, however, and Vonn lost nearly two tenths on the bottom, almost getting knocked off balance as she went over a small bump just before the finish.

It was more than enough for gold, however, and Vonn collapsed on her back in joy in the finish area. She then raised herself and placed both arms in the air in triumph.

A few moments later, Vonn's smile turned to a frown, as she watched with concern as Paerson lost control off the final jump, getting a huge amount of air and sliding through the finish headfirst.

More on Winter Olympics 2010

There is more to the U.S. Olympic team than Lindsey Vonn.

 

Even as Vonn makes her much anticipated debut in the women’s downhill this afternoon, day six at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver should showcase the depth of the American team.

 

A day after failing to produce a medal and falling behind in the medal count for the first time at these games, the Americans could bounce back strongly today and crown more Olympic champions than they have in the first five days of the Olympics combined.

 

Vonn is favored to win gold in the downhill, which is considered to be the best of her five events that she will contest in Vancouver. Shaun White and Shani Davis, meanwhile, are favorites to defend their respective gold medals from four years ago in the men’s snowboard halfpipe and 1,000 meters speed skating.

 

After numerous delays at the alpine skiing venue, Vonn will finally take to the slopes today in search of her first medal in her third trip to the Olympics. While questions surround her about an injured right shin and how she will handle the pressure of the intense American media attention she has received in the lead up to Vancouver, Vonn’s stiffest challenges will come from a relatively unpredictable and unfamiliar course as well as a number of worthy rivals, mainly her close friend Maria Riesch of Germany.

 

The event promises to be close—in the men’s downhill less than a tenth of a second separated first from third—and anything can happen with just one run to determine the champion. Vonn, however, has won five of the last six downhill races on the World Cup circuit, so assuming her shin is healthy enough she has to be the pick for gold.

 

White and Davis are even better bets for gold.

 

In the snowboard halfpipe, White brings a degree of difficulty and a level of creativity to the sport that no other athlete in the competition can match. His record in big competitions is unprecedented and he won gold in Torino easily.

 

Riders do dangerous and high-flying tricks that create some measure of uncertainty in the competition. The gold medalist, however, will be determined by the best score of two runs in the final round, meaning White will have two opportunities to put all of his tricks together flawlessly. With a clean run it seems unlikely that anyone can match the scores White will receive from the judges.

 

Davis is clearly the class of the field in the 1,000 meters as defending Olympic champion, two-time world champion, and current world record holder at the distance. He will likely face tough competition from South Korea’s Lee Kyou-hyuk, who will look to add to the success his nation has already had at speed skating in these Olympics, and Canada’s Denny Morrison and Jeremy Wotherspoon, who will look to benefit from a home ice advantage.

 

By Winter Olympic standards, however, long track speed skating is predictable. With only limited potential for crashing out and no novel elements thrown at athletes from unfamiliar course layouts, the best man most often wins. All indications are that right now that is Davis.

 

White, Davis, and Vonn may not find themselves alone on the podium should they claim gold in their respective events. Scotty Lago and Louie Vito of the United States could make it an American sweep in the men’s halfpipe, while Chad Hedrick, the 10,000 meter gold medalist in Torino, and Julia Mancuso, the women’s giant slalom gold medalist in Torino, could add to their Olympic hardware behind Davis and Vonn, respectively.

 

The U.S. also has a few podium hopefuls in the day’s other four medal events.

 

While no American has a realistic chance for the top three in the men’s 1.4K sprint in cross country, American Kikkan Randall could earn the first U.S. medal in the women’s 1.2K sprint after winning silver at the last world championships.

 

In men’s doubles luge, the team of Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin face long odds against talented German and Austrian sleds. Grimmette, the U.S. flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony, however, has the type of Olympic experience and track record that cannot be discounted. He is competing in his fifth Olympics and medaled in the event in both Nagano in 1998 and Salt Lake City four years later.

 

In the women’s 500 meters in short track speed skating, Katherine Reutter, the three-time defending U.S. champion could reach the podium, though China’s Wang Meng is the heavy favorite. Given the unpredictability of the sport, Reutter’s teammate Alyson Dudek could also find herself in the mix if a few breaks go her way.

 

American star Apolo Anton Ohno will also be in action in short track in the qualifying rounds of the men’s 1,000 meters and 5,000 meters relay.

 

While Lindsey Vonn’s Vancouver debut is sure to steal the spotlight today, it is also a critical day for the entire U.S. team. If all goes relatively to plan, the Americans should have their most successful day in Vancouver yet and find themselves atop Germany in the overall medal count again.

US skier Bode Miller may have finally put the lingering disappointment of four years ago behind him on Monday when he took the bronze medal in men’s downhill skiing at Whistler Creekside.

Miller got down the hill in a time of 1:54.40, a mere 0.09 behind gold medalist Didier Defago of Switzerland, and he was just two one hundredths away from the silver medal, which went to Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway.

The time margin between gold and bronze is the smallest in the event’s history. But the more pressing question is whether Miller's medal really is redemption for a lackluster showing at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino.

Despite 32 World Cup victories and two silver medals in the giant slalom and combined in Salt Lake City in 2002, Miller is perhaps better known for his epic failure to medal in Torino.

His eighth place finish in qualifying in Vancouver didn't exactly instill much faith in the brash American, but he overcame the "underdog" tag to scoop bronze today in Whistler, British Columbia.

After carrying the weight of the nation into the last Winter Olympics, expectations were much more muted entering the 2010 Games. Nobody really expected him to challenge for a gold medal, and those who did have kept a relatively low profile, not wanting to add to the burden of what a fully-committed Miller could accomplish.

Miller’s medal is the first for the US in the downhill since Tommy Moe’s gold medal in 1994 Winter Games at Lillehammer and only the third overall. He skied well enough to win the gold medal, and only two perfect runs from Defago and Svindel kept Miller from causing a mammoth upset.

If critics think that he choked in Torino then they must admit that he flourished in Vancouver. A bronze medal in Olympic competition is never a consolation prize, and Miller should be proud of his accomplishment. With four other alpine disciplines still remaining in the Games, he has already extracted a measure of redemption for 2006.

"Redemption" is an overused term in sport, but I am sure Miller will be the first to admit he is happy to change the narrative of his career. Fans who know him as the American who failed to come through may now think of him in a different light.

He has already proved to his critics that he is still a world class racer. If he had any doubts deep within himself that he deserved to be there, today's medal tells him everything he needed to know.

Emily Azevedo

Emily Azevedo

Event: Bobsled.

Age: 26.

Local connection: She's from Chico and graduated from UC Davis in 2005.

Story line: A hurdler at UC Davis, Azevedo turned to bobsledding after watching the 2006 Olympics. She won a national title last year with driver Bree Schaaf. The pair finished 10th at the 2009 World Championships. Azevedo and Schaaf placed sixth in a World Cup race last season held on the Olympic track in Whistler.

Medal prospects: Unlikely. But not out of the question.

When competing: Feb. 23-24.

Shannon Bahrke

Event: Freestyle skiing.

Age: 29.

Local connection: Grew up in Tahoe City.

Story line: The 2002 Olympic silver medalist in moguls placed 10th in the 2006 Games before suffering a knee injury in 2007. She showed she's still a contender with a sixth-place moguls finish in the 2009 World Championships, a victory at the U.S. national championships and three consecutive top-five World Cup finishes in the past month. Her brother, Scott, is a promising aerialist.

Medal prospects: Solid. Her experience should help.

When competing: Feb. 13.

Stacey Cook

Event: Alpine skiing.

Age: 25.

Local connection: Born in Truckee.

Story line: The 2006 U.S. super giant slalom champion finished 19th in the downhill and 23rd in the giant slalom in the 2006 Olympics. Finishing 13th and ninth in two difficult downhill races in Austria last month secured her spot on the Olympic team.

Medal prospects: Remote. But she's gathering speed.

When competing: Feb. 17.

Elena Hight

Event: Halfpipe (snowboard).

Age: 20.

Local connection: From South Lake Tahoe.

Story line: Hight first stepped onto a snowboard when she was 6 and developed into one of the world's top talents, as evidenced by a sixth-place finish in the 2006 Olympic halfpipe. Finishing second at Mammoth Mountain last month suggested she might be at peak form.

Medal prospects: Slim. She has a good combination of youthful promise and experience but a lot of talent ahead of her.

When competing: Feb. 18.

Nate Holland

Event: Snowboardcross.

Age: 31.

Local connection: Lives in Squaw Valley.

Story line: The Idaho native has won five consecutive Winter X Games gold medals. He finished 14th at the 2006 Olympics, third at the 2007 World Championships and 13th at the 2009 World Championships. He has also posted four top-10 finishes on this season's World Cup circuit.

Medal prospects: Modest. His best performance puts him in medal contention.

When competing: Feb. 15.

Errol Kerr

Event: Ski cross.

Age: 23.

Local connection: Lives in Truckee.

Story line: Kerr, who lives with his mother, Catherine, will compete for Jamaica to honor his late father, who is from there. Kerr is still raising money to make the trip to Vancouver. The faster he skis in this new Olympic sport, the more comparisons he'll get to the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team depicted in the movie "Cool Runnings."

Medal prospects: Fair. Momentum might be on his side.

When competing: Feb. 21.

Julia Mancuso

Event: Alpine skiing.

Age: 25.

Local connection: Grew up in Olympic Valley.

Story line: She became a golden girl with her giant slalom victory in the 2006 Turin Games. Since then, she's fought through injuries, started a clothing line and struggled to get back to peak form. Under pressure, though, she thrives.

Medal prospects: Fair. She's rounding into form, so don't count her out.

When competing: Feb. 14, 17, 20, 24, 26.

Darron Rahlves

Event: Ski cross.

Age: 36.

Local connection: Rahlves moved to the Lake Tahoe area when he was 12, lives in Truckee.

Story line: The downhill specialist retired from Alpine skiing in 2006 after a career that included 12 World Cup victories, seven national titles and three World Championship medals. But he never won an Olympic one. His speed helps in ski cross. Rahlves dislocated a hip at the Winter X Games but is expected to compete in the Olympics.

Medal prospects: Solid. He looms as a potential breakthrough in his new sport.

When competing: Feb. 21.

Marco Sullivan

Event: Alpine skiing.

Age: 29.

Local connection: Truckee native lives in Squaw Valley.

Story line: The former North Tahoe High School football captain finished ninth in the 2002 Olympics in the downhill. He placed 25th in the 2009 World Championships in the downhill. He posted two top-five downhill and two top-five super-G performances on the World Cup circuit in 2009. He also won the U.S. downhill title last year.

Medal prospects: Remote. But his experience will come in handy.

When competing: Feb. 13, 16, 19.

Shannon Bahrke

Stacey Cook

Elena Hight

Nate Holland

Errol Kerr

Julia Mancuso

Darron Rahlves

Marco Sullivan

Team USA will take a total of 216 athletes to Vancouver next week, including 87 returning Olympians with a combined 48 Olympic medals.

Among the 123 men set to compete for America in the 2010 Olympic Games are three Olympians heading to their fifth Winter Games: Luge athlete Mark Grimmette, Nordic combined skier Todd Lodwick, and ski cross racer Casey Puckett.

Grimmette and Lodwick were named to their fifth consecutive U.S. Olympic Team (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010) last month, while Puckett will be competing in the Olympics for the first time since 2002 after four straight Winter Games as an alpine skier (1992, 1994, 1998, 2002).

The trio of athletes now join former bobsledder and current men’s bobsled head coach Brian Shimer as the only five-time U.S. Olympians to compete in a Winter Games in history.

The 2010 U.S. Olympic Team also boasts 12 four-time Olympians, 22 three-time Olympians, and 50 two-time Olympians. 80 Olympians return from the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, where the U.S. finished second in the overall medal count with 25.

Here's a look at the three Americans who will be making history in Vancouver.

 

Mark Grimmette

Grimmette is one of the most successful luge racers in American history. Along with partner Brian Martin, he has won two Olympic and six world championship medals, as well as three overall World Cup titles.

 

Lillehammer 1994

Grimmette, then racing with doubles partner Jonathan Edwards, missed out on a medal on his first trip to the Winter Olympics by 0.344, just over one-third of a second.

The duo was fifth after their first run and, despite a slightly slower second run, was able to jump up into fourth place in the final standings. They finished half a second behind eventual winners Kurt Brugger and Wilfried Huber, who led an Italian one-two.

 

Nagano 1998

With a new partner in Brian Martin, Grimmette won his Olympic medal four years later in Japan with a bronze in the luge mens doubles.

The pair recorded the second fastest time of any team during the second round, missing out on a silver medal by just nine one hundredths of a second from teammates Chris Thorpe and Gordy Sheer.

The German pairing of Stefan Krausse and Jan Behrendt, third in Lillehammer, took the gold medal.

 

Salt Lake City 2002

Grimmette entered his home Olympic games on the back of three consecutive bronze medals at the World Championships in Konigssee (1999), St. Moritz (2000), and Calgary (2001).

Still, it wasn’t enough to propel to propel him and his partner Martin to Olympic gold, as they lost out to the German team of Patric-Fritz Leitner and Alexander Resch by 0.134.

Grimmette and Martin, third after round one, leapfrogged fellow Americans Chris Thorpe and Clay Ives into second place by just four one thousandths of a second after posting the quickest time out of any nation in the second round.

 

Torino 2006

After winning a bronze medal in 1998 and a silver in 2002, everything pointed towards a spot on the very top of the podium in Torino.

Grimmette was better and stronger than ever before and Team USA was in a prime position to make another run at a gold medal. Grimmette had won the Luge World Cup in 2003 and was coming off of back-to-back silver medals in the World championships.

Injuries had made the immediate run-up to the Olympics difficult and an eighth-place finish in the World Cup was far from ideal preparation. But still, everything was going pretty well and the pair was seen as strong contenders for another medal.

Then disaster struck. In the first heat of the competition, Grimmette and Martin wiped out in curve 14 of the demanding 19-turn course, sliding past Grimmette’s sister and fiancé who were watching further down the track.

Neither racer made it through the press’ questions without fighting back the tears. Neither will want to experience this feeling again.

The duo, which have been racing together 14 years, will get one last shot at a gold medal in Vancouver. If Grimmette wants to go out on top, this may be the last chance he gets.

 

Todd Lodwick

Like Grimmette, Nordic combined skier Lodwick will also be appearing in his fifth consecutive Olympic Games for Team USA.

He is seen by many as the most successful North American athlete ever to compete in the sport, having won 18 US championships, six World Cups and a World Championship.

 

Lillehammer 1994

17-year-old Lodwick finished 20th in the individual competition, and, with John Jarrett and Steven Heckman, he helped Team USA to seventh overall in the 3x10-kilometer team event.

 

Nagano 1998

Lodwick improved on his 1994 performance, finishing 13th in the individual competition. As in Lillehammer, Team USA finished 10th overall.

A good second jump of 89 meters was negated by a poor opening jump of just 82.5 meters, resulting in a poor start position for the cross-country race.

After starting the staggered 15-kilometer race in 13th place and almost two-and-a-half minutes behind the leader, there was little chance of making up the ground needed to place inside the top three.

 

Salt Lake City 2002

After finishing eighth in the 2001 World Cup sprint standings, Lodwick headed into the 2002 Games full of confidence that he could repeat his top-10 finish a year earlier.

He finished fifth in the sprint, seventh in the individual competition, and he just missed out on a team medal, with the US finishing in fourth.

His seventh-placed finish was the best Nordic combined result by any US Olympian, and he finished two minutes 27 seconds behind Finish gold medallist Samppa Lajunen.

He was seventh after the jumping part of the competition, but failed to make up ground on the leaders in the cross-country race.

The then-three time Olympian from Steamboat Springs, Colo., said he was very happy to have the best US result, but disappointed he did not do better.

 

Torino 2006

Torino piled more disappointment on Lodwick as he was unable to build on a successful 2005 World Cup campaign that saw him take a bronze medal in the sprint and a fourth-placed finish in the overall standings.

He could only manage ninth in the sprint, eighth in the individual, and seventh as part of Team USA. He battled stomach flu throughout the week-long buildup to the competition, and he complained of head congestion on the day of the race.

In what was then thought to be Lodwick’s fourth and final Olympics Games—his fourth time without a medal on the sport’s biggest stage—Lodwick publicly criticized teammate Carl van Loan, saying he was out of shape and that he was the weak link in the team that finished one place outside of the medals. Van Loan said Lodwick was not a team player and Lodwick retired at the end of 2006.

2010 is almost certainly Lodwick’s last shot at a medal. His 2009 season was highlighted with World Championship success, and his comeback appears to be on track.

The team competition may be his best chance, although he can’t be counted out if he jumps well in the individual competition.

 

Casey Puckett

Puckett, from Aspen, Colo., competed in four straight Winter Games as an alpine skier between 1992 and 2002. He retired from the U.S. Alpine Ski Team in 2002 before returning to the slopes in 2008 to try out ski cross, which makes its Olympic debut in Vancouver.

 

Calgary 1992

The 19-year-old competed in his first Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1992, alongside older brother Chris. After winning the World junior Championships in 1991, Casey finished 25th in giant slalom, five places behind top American Rob Parisien.

 

Lillehammer 1994

Puckett had his best-ever Olympic finish two years later in Norway when he finished in seventh in the slalom at the 1994 Lillehammer Games. He did not finish the giant slalom course, one of 27 of the 61 competitors unranked at the end of the competition.

In an event where tenths of a second can make the difference between winning and losing, Puckett finished less than a second away from a bronze medal.

 

Nagano 1998

Puckett joined Bode Miller as a DNF in Shiga Kogen in Japan, with both Americans failing to finish their first run. Miller missed a gate within yards of the finish and Puckett also slid off the course in the giant slalom.

It marked the third Olympic Games in a row where Casey did not finish at least one of his events, and the second consecutive time he did not reach the finish line in the first run of the GS.

 

Salt Lake City 2002

As an alpine skier, Puckett had his best World Cup finish in Austria in 2001 when he finished fourth. While medal hopes were not too realistic heading into Salt Lake City, they were not completely out of mind for Team USA.

However, Puckett did not finish in the combined competition and he left the sport shortly after.

Puckett switched to freestyle skiing in 2008 to take up ski cross, and he has since finished second three times in World Cup events. He also finished fifth in the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships last year.

Julia Mancuso. Images courtesy of Nike. American Lindsey Vonn, 25, who is pegged to medal in all five downhill-skiing events at the Vancouver Olympics, seems to have stolen the spotlight leading up to the 2010 Winter Games. But let’s remember that Vonn’s teammate Julia Mancuso, 25, is the only female American alpine skier with an Olympic medal under her belt: Mancuso won the gold in the giant slalom at the Torino Olympics, in 2006. When she took the podium, she was wearing a tiara. Her coaches, who call her “Princess,” had given her the plastic crown as a good-luck charm. The original crown may or may not make an appearance at the Winter Games this month (“I might just bust out the old tiara and have some fun with it,” she says), but leading up to the competition, Mancuso has been living like a princess—well, sort of. She’s been traveling the World Cup circuit in a palatial R.V. “To say that it’s an R.V. is an understatement,” she says. “Many people may remember having seen my sister and I in my R.V. in 2006 at the Torino Olympics. That was an R.V.: a little cramped, cold, messy, but a ton of fun. I have since upgraded to something that resembles more of a tour bus, equipped with TVs, Nintendo Wii, kitchen, dining area, bathroom—although I don’t use the shower in the bus, the hotel showers are still better—my own “master bedroom”, bunks in which friends can crash, and—oh yeah!—an espresso machine. All in all it has four doors and therefore five rooms, including two bathrooms.”

The 2010 Winter Olympics from Vancouver are just two weeks away.

Shaun White and Team USA will look to continue their dominance on the half pipe; Lindsey Jacobellis will look to make amends for a showboating error that cost her a gold medal in Torino; and Lindsey Vonn will look to stand atop the alpine skiing world at the third time of asking.

America will likely move into second on the all-time list of medal winners in 2010, moving ahead of the Soviet Union and looking to close the gap on runaway leaders Norway. Team USA brought home 25 medals from Torino four years ago, their best ever haul on international soil, and a strong run north of the border could help them add to the 78 gold metals captured over the years.

In part one of my two-part look at America’s chances in Vancouver, here are the movers are shakers, the contenders and the pretenders, for the seven snow sports of the 2010 Games.

 

Alpine Skiing

The Basics

There are five different events in the alpine skiing program, each of which will be contested by the men and women.

The downhill and super-G events are known as the speed events, and medals are awarded purely on a “quickest down the mountain” basis. In the more technical giant slalom and slalom events, athletes make two runs and racers’ times are combined. In the super-combined event, changed slightly for this year’s Games, skiers make one downhill run and one slalom run, with medals awarded to the racers with the fastest combined times.

American Hopes

20 of the 49 athletes racing down the newly-designed Whistler Creekside courses next month will be representing Team USA.

Austria has historically been the dominant force in alpine skiing, having won twice as many medals than every other nation (101) other than Switzerland. But all eyes will be on Lindsey Vonn, who had a headline crash in Torino four years ago, as she looks to quench her thirst for an Olympic medal at the third time of asking.

Vonn is currently ranked No. 1 in the 2009-10 FIS Alpine World Cup standings. She won the women’s downhill event at Lake Louise in Canada and the super combined race at Val d’Iserein France in December, and she followed it up with downhill and super-G victories in Haus im Ennstal in Austria and at Italy’s Cortina d Ampezzo at the start of 2010.

25-year-old Vonn, an Olympian in 2002 and 2006, is still searching for her first Olympic medal, despite winning the World Championship twice. She has dominated in all five World Cup downhill races this season, and she’ll be looking to cap February off in style in Vancouver.

Leanne Smith from North Conway, N.H. is probably America’s next best hope of an alpine skiing medal, while Bode Miller on the men’s side will be looking to put a disappointing 2006 Games in Torino behind him and build on the two silver medals he captured eight years ago in Salt Lake City.

Competition

German Maria Riesch, ranked second overall in the World Cup standings, is a close personal friend of Vonn as well as the American’s biggest challenger in the downhill and slalom speed events. Defending World Champion Kathrin Zettel of Austria is accomplished in both slalom and giant slalom, and Sweden’s Anja Parson, a five-time medallist, can never be discounted.

Janica Kostelic, who defended her combined title and won a super-G silver medal in Torino will not be competing in Vancouver.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: 80 percent

 

Biathlon

The Basics

The biathlon combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting. There are five events scheduled for the 2010 Winter Olympics: individual, sprint, pursuit, mass start, and relay, where the format is the same for the men’s and women’s competition with only the distances varying.

American Hopes

Team USA has never won a medal in the biathlon—one of only two droughts for the red, white, and blue in the Winter Olympics—but a trio of New Yorkers are hoping to change all that in Vancouver.

Returning Olympian Tim Burke, Lowell Bailey, and Haley Johnson represent America’s best chances in the two-pronged event. Burke finished second in the 20km individual race in Ostersund in Sweden at the end of 2009, and he became the first American to lead the World Cup standings when he wore the yellow bid earlier this month.

Without the pressure of the eyes of a nation, Burke and co. might have a legitimate shot at picking up a medal in one of the four men’s events (10km sprint, 12.5km pursuit, 20km individual, and 15km mass start) north of the border.

Competition

Norway’s duo of Ole Einar Bjorndalen and Emil Hegle Svendsen make a gold medal unlikely for Burke, but if he shoots well, there’s every chance of him being in the mix.

The women unfortunately are less likely to break their 18-year biathlon famine—although Johnson had a top-30 finish in a World Cup event last month—and a team medal in either the men’s or women’s relay is out of the question because of the strength of nations like Russia, Austria, Sweden, Germany, and Norway.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: 15 percent

 

Cross-Country Skiing

The Basics

Cross-country skiing involves athletes skiing over different terrains in two different styles. There is the “classical” style where athletes glide across a prepared track that has parallel grooves cut into the snow, and there is “freestyle”which is move like ice skating where skiers transfer their weight over a smoothed course.

There are 12 events in Vancouver, six for the men and six for the women. The events, which specify whether you must ski in the freestyle or classical style, are the same for both men and women, but the distances vary.

American Hopes

America will send 10 athletes to Vancouver—eight who were allocated a roster spot and two more by quota re-allocation.

Kris Freeman is America’s best hope in the men’s competition, while Kikkan Randall will lead the charge for the women.

Freeman, from Andover, N.H., is the top distance racer in the country and he’ll be hoping for a medal when he takes his poles for the third time on the Olympic stage. He is a five-time World Champion, and he will have his best chances of a medal in the 15km freestyle or the 50km classical race.

For the women, Kikkan Randall is the USA’s best hope. She’s in the top 40 in the World Cup sprint standings, and she has been on the podium twice in 51 World Cup starts, most notably her second-place finish in Liberec last year.

She also finished an impressive ninth in the sprint event in Torino in 2006 after coming 44th in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Competition

Petter Northug is one of Freeman’s biggest rivals at the games. The Norweigien 24-year-old, who won three gold medals in last year’s World Championships, is arguably the favourite in four individual events in Vancouver. He’s the current Tour leader and world No. 1, and everything points to more success at Whistler.

In the 15km race, don’t discount Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer. He is a strong distance skier and was part of the Italian team which took gold in the relay in Torino four years ago.

Andrus Veerpalu from Estonia is one of the ones to watch in the 50kn event. The veteran, who turns 39 next week, will be competing in his sixth Olympic Games, and he’ll be favored to come away with a medal of some color after winning gold at the 15km distance twice before.

Randall will have to overcome the likes of Charlotte Kalla, Petra Madjic, and Justyna Kowalczyk if she wants to reach the podium in Vancouver.

22-year-old Kalla is widely touted as Sweden’s best hopes of a cross country champion in more than four decades, while Slovakian Majdic is a two-time defending spring champion at the World Cup. She came runner-up in the overall standings last winter.

Majdic lost out to Kowalczyk in the World Cup, the woman who also won Poland’s first ever Olympic medal in cross-country skiing in Torino in 2006. She won a pair of gold medals at the Worlds, so she will head to Whistler Olympic Park as a firm favourite.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: 20 percent

 

Freestyle Skiing

The Basics

There are three different events in the 2010 Olympic program: Moguls, aerials, and ski cross. Men and women compete in all three.

The mogul event will see skiers racing down a hill over a course of large bumps, making sharp turns while keeping their knees bend. There are also two ramps which send the skier into the air where they are expected to perform flips and twists. Skiers are judged on speed and style.

The aerial competition is one of the most exciting events on the Winter Olympics schedule. Skiers fly down a slope and over a concave ramp, propelling them up to 50ft into the air to give them enough time to perform multiple flips and twists before landing the other side. Get ready to hear a lot about the lay-full-full, lay-tuck-full, and double-full-full-full. Tune in to this—you’ll be glad you did.

The ski cross is a new event for 2010 and pits four racers against each other in a first-to-the-line battle over jumps and turns.

American Hopes

Team USA will go into the Olympics feeling confident. Four of the team’s women swept the top four spots at Lake Placid in upstate New York last week, and Jeret Peterson—a two-time Olympian and seven time World Champion—says he is looking to push the envelope with his trademark three-flip, five-twist jump.

Hannah Kearney will spearhead a strong mogul team in her second Olympic Games. She failed to live up to expectations in 2006 despite entering the games as the World Champion, but a strong showing on Whiteface Mountain has her name being thrown out once again as a possible medallist.

She has the speed and air assault to dominate the mogul, and it’s likely that the US will have a great start to the competition when Kearney takes to the mountain on Day One of the competition. Shannon Bahrke, Michelle Roark, and Heather McPhie could also challenge for spots in the top 10.

Also watch out for Emily Cook in the aerial event. She came in fourth in the 2009 World Championships and will be competing in her second Olympic Games. She is a strong medal contender, even if she is unlikely to strike gold.

Jeret Peterson, who has never placed better than seventh in his previous two trips to the Games, may represent the best chance for the men in the aerial competition. Talk will center around him landing “The Hurricane” his signature quintuple spinning triple flip. If the conditions are right and he pulls it off, his daredevil approach to his sport may just be worth it.

Competition

If the Americans hope to win a medal in the men’s aerial, a feat they failed for the first time in Torino four years ago, they may have to withstand the barrage of Canadian trio Steve Omischl, Kyle Nissen, and Ryan Blais.

Omischl has stood on the World Championship podium four times, including the last three years on the very top step. Nissen finished fifth at the 2006 Olympics and fourth in the 2009 World Cup aerials, and Blais rebounded from injury in 2007 to finish seventh in 2008.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: 60 percent

 

Nordic Combined

The Basics

This event combines cross-country skiing and ski jumping—two events in one day. It is a male-only event and features three events: two individual events distinguished by the size of the hill, and a team competition.

American Hopes

Bill Demong and Todd Lodwick will be flying the flag for Team USA. They have competed in nine Olympic Games between them and both have won the World Championships.

Demong won the bronze medal in last year’s World Cup, and he is excellent on the large hill; Lodwick took the gold in the 2009 normal hill competition.

Many fans of the sport will know Demong for one of two reasons: as the 22-year-old star forced to miss a year of action after fracturing his skull in 2002, or as the member of the American team that lost his bib in the 2009 World championships, and thus getting disqualified. He’s looking to set the record straight in February and be remembered for all the right reasons.

Johnny Spillane adds depth to the American roster for the team competition, and pundits are saying this is probably the best chance the country has ever had for its first Nordic combined medal.

Individually or as a team, the US really does have more than a punchers’ chance.

Competition

France’s Jason Lamy Chappuis is the skier in form heading to Canada. He won his fifth World Cup event of the season last weekend and currently holds a 38-lead over Felix Gottland at the top of the international standings.

34-year-old Gottwald came out of retirement last May, adding an extra threat to the Americans’ chances. He has won two gold medals, a silver medal, and three bronze medals in four Olympics, and he gives the Austrian team a dangerous combination of skill and experience.

Meanwhile, Finland’s Anssi Koivuranta, the defending World Cup champion, is as good as anybody on his day, and Notway’s Magnus Moan will likely be in contention in both the normal and large hill events.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: 75 percent

 

Ski Jumping

The Basics

There are three events in Vancouver in the ski jumping class: two individual events and a team event. As with the Nordic combined event, it is contested by the men only.

The individual events are separated into two categories: the normal hill and the large hill. Athletes are awarded points based on the length of their jump and their style, both in-flight and on the landing. The team event is also held on the large hill, where the scores of four members are combined to produce a grand total.

American Hopes

The US is sending three athletes to Vancouver to compete in the ski jumping events: Nick Alexander, teenager Peter Frenette, and Anders Johnson.

The bad news is that none of them will seriously contend for a medal.

Johnson, who became the youngest American representative on the Olympic ski jumping team when he competed as a 16-year-old in 2006, will look to improve on his 40th position in Torino, but it is doubtful whether he will even be in serious contention for a top-30 finish.

Johnson finished just inside the top 50 at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec in 2009, and he has never finished better than 29th in a World Cup meeting. An ACL injury slowed down his Olympic preparations last year, but he insists he is fit and ready to go. Even a healthy Johnson is no match for more than two dozen other jumpers.

Competition

With Team USA unlikely to feature at the business end of any of the competitions, there are scores of ski jumpers you could expect to finish ahead of the American trio.

Gregor Schlierenzauer, a winner of a record 13 World Cup events in 2009, is definitely one to watch in Vancouver, as are fellow Austrians Thomas Morgenstern (large hill) and Wolfgang Loitzl (normal hill). Expect the Austrian team to win gold or silver in the team event and have at least one jumper on the podium in each of the individual competitions.

Swiss Harry Potter look-alike Simon Ammann, who burst onto the scene with individual victories in the normal and large hill eight years ago, can also be counted on for an impressive Olympics, and Finnish nine-time world champion Janne Ahonen could add some serious European spice to an already-bursting top five.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: Two percent

 

Snowboarding

The Basics

There are six events on the Vancouver snowboarding program, three for the men and three for the women. They are the halfpipe, parallel giant slalom, and snowboard cross.

American Hopes

America took home seven of the 18 snowboarding medals at the 2006 Olympics, including three golds.

Shaun White and Danny Kass went one-two in the halfpipe for the men, while Hannah Teter and Gretchen Bleiler replicated the feat in the women’s event. Seth Wescott took gold in the snowboard cross, while Team USA also took silver in the women’s cross (Lindsey Jacobellis) and bronze in the parallel giant slalom (Rosey Fletcher).

Jacobellis is once again one of the main gold medal contenders in Vancouver. Few will forget the crash that cost her gold four years ago when, with a big lead and the finish line in sight, Jacobellis mis-timed the landing on a showboat trick and hit the ground, allowing Switzerland’s Tanya Frieden to win gold.

Shaun White will also head into the Games as one of the favorites for a gold medal. One of Team USA’s more high-profile athletes, White will look to defend his Olympic championship with a lot of confidence.

He dominated the field at the US Snowboarding Grand Prix last week, finishing one point off a perfect score after nailing his “Double McTwist,” a jump including one-and-a-half horizontal flips packed inside two vertical flips.

On the women’s side, Kelly Clark is also in good form, winning her third half pipe event in the last four outings. The 2002 Olympic champion should have scooped a medal in Torino, but she tried a 900-degree spin to try and snatch gold when a 720-spin would have likely landed her at least bronze. She crashed and finished fourth. With that behind her, she is one of the favorites for another gold next month.

Two teammate who may have something to say about that are 23-year-old Hannah Teter and the covergirl of US snowboarding Gretchen Bleiler.

Teter, the defending champion and humanitarian from Vermont will more than likely be on the podium in Vancouver, while Bleiler is coming into form at just the right time after winning her first win of the season on Mammoth Mountain in California earlier this month.

Competition

Team USA’s competition could come from within: from friends and teammates. That said, there are still a number of athletes, particularly in the women’s competition, that could ruffle some feathers.

In the half pipe competition, China’s Liu Jiayu represents the biggest threat to an American sweep. She is the 2009 World Champion and could ruin more than one American dream in Canada mid-February.

22-year-old Australian Torah Bright could also upset the established order on the half pipe. She beat Kelly Clark to the gold medal three times in 2009, and she could very well bring the Aussies their first Olympic snowboarding medal.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: 95 percent

 

In part two I will preview the ice sports: bobsled, curling, figure skating, hockey, luge, short track, skeleton, and speed skating.

Top North American talent, medallists to headline nightly Whistler Victory Ceremonies at 2010 Winter Games

Dec 15, 2009

Vancouver, BC ? The great outdoors will provide a spectacular winter backdrop for nightly Whistler Victory Ceremonies paying tribute to medal-winning Olympians with a lineup of top North American acts, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) announced today.

The 15 headliners, which include Feist, Usher, Our Lady Peace, and The Fray, will perform for one night each from February 13 to 27 during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games at Whistler Medals Plaza, a world-class outdoor amphitheatre built expressly for the nightly events and the Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. See below for the full list of headliners and dates they appear.

“Celebrations in Whistler will be rockin’ for 15 incredible nights during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games with this impressive lineup of top solo artists and bands ? all playing outdoors under the stars in honour of the world’s best athletes and their triumphs,” said Christy Nicolay, VANOC’s vice president of sport production and Victory Ceremonies. “Thanks to our partners, the Resort Municipality of Whistler and the Government of Canada, we’ll have a fantastic venue for these events ?Whistler Medals Plaza.”

Whistler Medals Plaza is an intimate space designed to serve the needs of the Sea to Sky community not only at Games time but also in the long term. Given its space limitations and the restrictions on travel into Whistler, access to Whistler Victory Ceremony tickets is limited to residents living from Squamish to Mount Currie.

The ticketed nightly ceremonies in Whistler ? which kick off on February 13 with the All American Rejects and the presentation of medals for men’s ski jumping and downhill skiing, as well as the women’s 7.5-kilometre sprint event in biathlon ? are designed to pay tribute to the world’s best competing in 2010 and celebrate Canada’s hosting of one of the world’s largest sporting events.

Whistler Medals Plaza includes a large “turntable” stage to accommodate both the medals presentations and the entertainment programming. Adjacent to each side of the stage will be video walls featuring Vancouver 2010 Look of the Games’ graphics, as well as two giant screens showing highlights of the athletes’ performances and enhancing the activity on stage.

Gates open nightly at 4:30 pm (Pacific Time) with a DJ and interactive games for the crowd, followed by a live simulcast of the nightly provincial and territorial preshow held at BC Place in Vancouver. At 7:00 pm, the medal ceremonies will be held for the winning athletes of the day at Whistler-area venues, followed 30 minutes later by that night’s headlining act. The evening celebrations will end at approximately 8:30 pm.

All medal presentations in Whistler will be televised around the world as part of Olympic broadcasting plans for the 2010 Winter Games. The nightly concerts on February 13, 22 and 27 will also be broadcast live.

Ticketing information for Whistler Victory Ceremonies
Whistler Victory Ceremony tickets will be distributed to the public in the Sea to Sky region through a contest operated in partnership with Tourism Whistler at www.whistler.com.

The contest will operate for 11 days, starting on January 4, 2010 and is open to residents from Squamish to Mount Currie. Entries at www.whistler.com will be limited to one per e-mail address.

The contest will close on January 15, 2010 and winners will be notified via e-mail by January 22, 2010. Tickets must be picked up by the winner (with ID and proof of address in the Sea to Sky region) at the Main Ticket Centre in Whistler, located next to Whistler Medals Plaza, by January 31, 2010.

A number of Whistler Victory Ceremony tickets were also previously made available residents from Squamish to Mount Currie who registered accounts prior to the “Locals” ticket sale (October 24 to 25, 2009), or who received a voucher at a Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) community event marking 100 days until the start of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games on November 4, 2009.

Whistler Victory Ceremony headliners’ line-up and dates they perform

Saturday, February 13: All American Rejects (www.allamericanrejects.com)
Live medal presentations in men’s downhill skiing, ski jumping (individual normal hill) and women’s biathlon (7.5-kilometre sprint).

Sunday, February 14: Estelle (www.estellemusic.com)
Live medal presentations in ladies’ alpine skiing (super combined), as well as men’s Nordic combined (individual normal hill) and biathlon (10-km sprint).

Monday, February 15: Pierre Lapointe (www.pierrelapointe.com)
Live medal presentations in men’s luge and cross-country skiing (ladies’ 10-km free and men’s 15-km free).

Tuesday, February 16: Feist (www.listentofeist.com)
Live medal presentations in men’s alpine skiing (super combined), women’s luge and biathlon (women’s 10-km pursuit and men’s 12.5-km pursuit).

Wednesday, February 17: Our Lady Peace (www.ourladypeace.net)
Live medal presentations in alpine skiing (ladies’ downhill) and cross-country skiing (men’s and ladies’ individual sprint classic).

Thursday, February 18: Deadmau5 (www.deadmau5.com)
Live medal presentations in men’s luge doubles and biathlon (women’s 15-km individual and men’s 20-km individual).

Friday, February 19: Hedley (www.hedleyonline.com)
Live medal presentations in men’s alpine skiing (super-G) and ladies’ cross-country skiing (pursuit, 7.5 km classic and 7.5 km free).

Saturday, February 20: Stars (www.sadrobots.ca)
Live medal presentations in men’s and women’s skeleton, ladies’ alpine skiing (super-G) and men’s ski jumping (individual large hill).

Sunday, February 21: OneRepublic (www.onerepublic.net)
Live medal presentations in men’s cross-country skiing (pursuit, 15 km classic and 15 km free) alpine skiing (giant slalom) and two-man bobsleigh, as well as biathlon (men’s 15-km mass and women’s 12.5-km mass).

Monday, February 22: To be confirmed
Live medal presentations in cross-country skiing (men’s and ladies’ team sprint free) and men’s ski jumping (team large hill).

Tuesday, February 23: The Fray (www.thefray.net)
Live medal presentations in Nordic combined (men’s team relay) and women’s biathlon (4x6-km relay).

Wednesday, February 24: Jet (www.jettheband.com)
Live medal presentations in ladies’ alpine skiing (giant slalom) and men’s cross-country skiing (4x10-km relay classic/free).

Thursday, February 25: The Roots (www.theroots.com)
Live medal presentations in women’s bobsleigh, Nordic combined (men’s individual large hill) and ladies’ cross-country skiing (4x5-km relay classic/free).

Friday, February 26: K’Naan (www.knaanmusic.ning.com)
Live medal presentations in ladies’ alpine skiing (slalom) and men’s biathlon (4x7.5-km relay).

Saturday, February 27: Usher (www.usherworld.com)
Live medal presentations in men’s alpine skiing (slalom) and four-man bobsleigh, as well as ladies’ cross-country skiing (30-km mass start classic).

The headlining talent for the Vancouver Victory Ceremonies, held indoors at BC Place in the heart of the city’s downtown, was released on December 8 by VANOC and is available at www.vancouver2010.com.

About VANOC
VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.

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If you are a member of the media, please contact mediarelations@vancouver2010.com

For all other inquiries, please contact info@vancouver2010.com

The official video game of the upcoming Olympics will be released on January 12, 2010.   Vancouver 2010 allows players to simulate the events of the actual Winter Olympic Games so I know that fans of the biggest sporting event in the world will probably want to pick up a copy. I wouldn’t say that this is the highest quality game I’ve ever seen which is unfortunate since the Olympics are such a big deal but it could be worse. The events include Alpine Skiing (giant slalom, slalom, downhill and Super G), Sledding two-man bobsleigh, luge singles, skeleton), Freestyle Skiing (aerials, ski cross), [...]Post from: EveryJoe Official “Vancouver 2010” Video Game ...

The official video game of the upcoming Olympics will be released on January 12, 2010.   Vancouver 2010 allows players to simulate the events of the actual Winter Olympic Games so I know that fans of the biggest sporting event in the world will probably want to pick up a copy. I wouldn’t say that this is the highest quality game I’ve ever seen which is unfortunate since the Olympics are such a big deal but it could be worse. The events include Alpine Skiing (giant slalom, slalom, downhill and Super G), Sledding two-man bobsleigh, luge singles, skeleton), Freestyle Skiing (aerials, ski cross), [...]

Post from: EveryJoe

Official “Vancouver 2010” Video Game