Celebrating 100 Days to Sochi

Celebrating 100 Days to Sochi
By Riley Steinmetz

NEW YORK, NY (Oct. 31) – On Tuesday, the U.S. Olympic Committee threw a party to celebrate the 100 day countdown to the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. The venue? Times Square. U.S. Ski Team, U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing athletes were out in full force, showing their Olympic spirit both at the Times Square event and at the New York Gold Medal Gala, the USSA's largest fundraising event.

The day began bright and early with several athletes appearing on the Today Show and continued into the evening, when musician Gavin DeGraw put on a free show.  In between, athletes signed autographed and demonstrated their sports to fans on jumps and rails brought to Times Square for the event.

“It’s awesome to see all the support for the athletes,” snowboarder Chas Guldemond said, “The excitement is building! It’s awesome to be able to be snowboarding here in New York City.”

The demonstrations, set up by Park City Mountain Resort and Powder Corp., brought tricks from the mountain into the urban core of the city.

“It’s just like a melting pot of every different culture and language in New York City,” freeskier Gus Kenworthy said, “It’s cool to be able to showcase what we do to all these people and hopefully garner a bunch of attention and awareness of our sports and ourselves as athletes before the Games.”

With only 100 days until the Games begin, many of the athletes participating were also preparing for the beginning of competition season.

“It's so great to be here in New York City to celebrate with all the other athletes as we hit an important milestone,” nordic combined Olympic Champion Billy Demong, who roller skied with Matt Lauer to kick off the day, said, “Right now, we’ve started transitioning and are at this turning point between a successful training season and competition season. It's a good breaking point as we all prepare to hit the road.”

The day presented athletes with a variety of opportunities. The newly-minted U.S. Olympic SportsMan of the Year, Ted Ligety, received his award from the USOC. Lindsey Vonn, fresh off of a Monday Today Show appearance, was featured as a guest on Late Night with David Letterman. The following day, athletes celebrated 100 days to the Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony at the New York Gold Medal Gala.

One of the highlights for many athletes, though, was the chance to meet and share their excitement with athletes from other sports.

“I look up to all of these Olympians a lot,” ski jumper Sarah Hendrickson said, “So, it's really cool to be involved in these activities with them and meet a bunch of athletes that we don't get to see that much.”

For others, the enthusiasm surrounding the day’s festivities was a preview of things to come.

“There’s a lot of positive energy,” freestyle aerialist Dylan Ferguson said, “That’s what the Olympics are all about—bringing athletes together to represent their country. It’s amazing to bring everyone together and feel that energy that we’re going to feel when we walk into the Opening Ceremony.”

For freeskiing athletes, the excitement began a day early. The night before the USOC’s celebration, The North Face hosted an event to unveil the Olympic freeskiing uniforms. The uniforms, produced in the United States, are meant to be a celebration of the rebellious American spirit.

“I’m really impressed with The North Face uniforms,” slopestyle skier Nick Goepper said, “They’re super stylish and you can definitely tell that they really took in the athlete input. I’m pretty stoked to wear them at the Olympics.”

For more news and information on the latest events in your favorite sports, visit usskiteam.com,ussnowboarding.com and usfreeskiing.com.

Behind the Scenes at Media Summit

Behind the Scenes at Media Summit

By Riley Steinmetz

PARK CITY, Utah (Oct. 3) - Ever wonder where those heartfelt Olympic athlete interviews that flood the television during every Games come from? Every Olympic year, the U.S. Olympic Committee schedules a Media Summit, an event where media from around the world can hear from all of the top American athletes in one place. This year, the event was held in Park City.

“I think it’s very fitting having a Media Summit in Park City—it’s such a winter wonderland,” freestyle moguls athlete Pat Deneen said, “It’s a really great opportunity for us to share our stories. That’s been really fun.”

In addition to interviews, media also had the opportunity to attend demonstration events for several different sports. Nordic combined athletes Taylor and Bryan Fletcher were on hand at the USSA Center of Excellence in Park City to demonstrate cross country skiing to dozens of media outlets.

“I haven’t experienced anything like this before,” Taylor Fletcher said, “It’s fun to get your image and name out there to everyone who’s going to cover the Olympics. Every chance I have to get out there and share my story and our team’s goals is a good opportunity.”

For the athletes, it was about more that talking to reporters and camera crews. It was also an opportunity to come together as Team USA. Figure skaters, bobsledders, skiers, snowboarders and more were able to meet and make friends in different sports.

“We get to see a lot of our friends from different sports here,” cross country skier Andy Newell said, “It’s fun because we don’t see each other that much. It’s fun to bring the team together.”

Despite the busy schedule, though, the athletes still had time for a little fun.

“My favorite part was the comedian Pete Holmes,” ski jumper Lindsey Van said, “We got to just joke around and laugh.”

And while some of the athletes may have lacked certain skills for portions of the event, they still had a good time.

“I thought that the singing part was going to be really, really painful,” snowboarder Justin Reiter said, “And I’m sure for the people that actually have to end up hearing my voice, it will be painful, but shooting it was awesome. It was super fun.”

The Media Summit was an opportunity to showcase some of the athletes’ talents off of the slopes, as well. During a session with NBC, the teams got a chance to show off their singing voices.

“Andy Newell is the best singer on the cross country team,” cross country skier Liz Stephen said, “He actually just recorded his first CD. He’s amazing at guitar and singing and sings us all to sleep sometimes if we’re lucky.”

“[Singing] was a pretty interesting way to start off the morning!” alpine skier Alice McKennis said, “I’d say Laurenne [Ross] has the best voice on our team.”

Ultimately, though, the Media Summit was an excellent way for athletes to balance the demands of the media in an Olympic year with their intense training schedules.

“In a small period of time, I can meet with so many media and get a lot of things done,” snowboarder Chas Guldemond said, “That’s really important for me so that, moving forward, I can focus on my training.”

For more information and behind-the-scenes photos from Media Summit, follow the U.S. Ski Team, U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.