USA takes talent to winter Olympics
The two year wait is over since the Summer Olympics in Beijing left the USA on top with 46 gold medals. How many can we rack up this February in the winter games?
Opening ceremonies will take place on February 7 and then the games will begin. With over 2,500 athletes and 80 countries competing this year, will the USA be able to come out on top again?
There are many american athletes to look out for during the duration of the two week games. You may not be familiar with their names now, but they will be sure to catch your eye during their time competing
The first to look out for is 21 year old figure skater Max Aaron. According to bleacherreport.com, during the 2009-10 junior nationals, Aaron finished in the top three in each event. In the season following that he competed and won in both the U.S. Championship and Southwest Regional for the junior division.
In this past year he won the U.S. Championship. Aaron also impressed all when he competed in the international U.S. Classic and won this year and last year. His past records have been working in his favor, and hopefully the future of the games will turn out just as well.
Snowboarder Shaun White is one of the crowd favorites and most well known out of all USA competitors. White has the chance to win his third gold medal in the halfpipe after winning it in 2006 and 2010. He is favored to win the gold in the halfpipe, but not so much in the slopestyle. According to teamusa.org White was “training on a secluded 300-foot private halfpipe in Perisher, Australia, earlier this month.”
Young and accomplished ski jumper Sarah Hendrickson will be trying to win the first-ever Olympic gold medal in ski jumping for women. This 19 year old already has scored a gold medal in the 2013 world championships, and has had 13 career World Cup wins according to bleacherreport.com.
A couple to look out for is Meryl Davis and Charlie White. This ice dancing duo could possibly be the first American team to win an Olympic gold medal in ice dancing. They were 2010 Olympic silver medalists, and when winning Skate America earlier this month, they have now won 13 consecutive Grand Prix events. The stakes on the skates are high for this ice cold couple.
Although Mrs. Lisa Campbell is an art teacher, that does not mean she doesn’t look forward to the olympics every two years.
“I diligently watch the Olympics every day. It gives me a sense of pride to be an American when I see our teams athletes compete for us. I also love the stories behind the athletes, and how the whole world comes together through sports,” said Campbell.
To catch all the action tune into NBC starting on February 7th. The network will broadcast around 50 hours of this years winter games. Also, for the first time all events are going to be streamed live on TeamUSA.org.
