by Mairead O’Riordan
Starting on February 6, the Olympic Games will be kicking off in Sochi,
Russia. This will be the first time that
the games are taking place in Russia.
There will be many events happening near the slopes like skiing and
snowboarding and you can also cheer on your favorite team in the ice rink.
If you have the need for speed, make sure to watch the
events such as luge or skeleton where lugers can reach up to 87 mph. Freshman Sam Ficociello is counting down the
days until the games so she can watch some of her favorite events.
“My favorite part is
hockey, but I like watching sports that I don’t see very often outside of the
Olympics like skiing, snowboarding and speed skating,” said Ficociello.
The United States is
sending its largest group ever to Sochi for the Olympic Games this year. There will be 230 men and women athletes at
the games competing in fifteen different events. When the games took place in Vancouver four
years ago, American athletes brought home 37 medals, setting a record for
Winter Games and also setting the bar high for athletes in Sochi. Junior Mark Marshall is looking forward to
seeing his favorite athletes compete in the games.
“I’m looking forward
to seeing Shaun White in the snowboarding contest as well as the USA hockey
team,” stated Marshall.
This time around, the
USA Women’s Hockey Team has their eye on the gold. Four years ago they had to leave with silver,
losing their last game to their biggest rival, Canada. The team has put the loss behind them and has
headed to Sochi with the hopes of leaving with the gold.
US bobsled driver
Steve Holcomb has made outstanding progress from about seven years ago when he
was almost fully blind during the past Olympic Games. Holcomb was diagnosed with an eye disorder
that almost pushed him into retirement.
He knew that he could not give up his passion for bobsledding, and after
a life changing eye procedure, he was back in the games. Holcomb led his four-man bobsled team to
victory as they won the first gold medal for this event in 62 years. Now, four years later, Holcomb and his team
are ready to go back and bring home the gold for the second time in a row.
Mikaela Shiffrin, an
18-year-old slalom skier headed to Sochi has already been crowned the US slalom
champion, which makes her the youngest person to ever win a national
title. Shiffrin is getting a lot of
attention with the games quickly approaching because Lindsey Vonn, also a US
slalom skier, is out of the Olympics due to a knee injury. Already named Colorado’s Athlete of the Year,
Shiffrin has big shoes to fill in Sochi, and if she is able to bring home the
gold, she will be the youngest American alpine skier to ever win a gold medal.
This year is going to
be a big year for all American teams participating in the Olympic Games. Since it is the largest group that America
has ever sent to the Olympics, a lot of people will be hoping they can bring
home the gold in as many events possible.
Each event has a great competition and the US is going to have to work
very hard to come out on top!
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