Winter Olympic Hype Sweeps Through Sochi

McKenzie Browne, Entertainment Editor

February 12, 2014

The Olympic Village in Sochi is the two-week home for hundreds of Olympians.

From February 6 to the 23, over 2,000 athletes from 94 different countries across the world will be competing in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. The United States alone will be bringing 230 athletes to compete in 15 different sports and a total of 98 events.

Twelve brand new events will make their debut in Sochi thanks to the IOC’s (International Olympic Committee’s) decision to include them for a newer and fresher look to the games. The events include: snowboard slopestyle, ski slopestyle, ski halfpipe, women’s ski jump, mixed parallel snowboard slalom, team-relay luge, mixed-relay biathlon, and mixed-team figure skating.

“I’m excited to see the snowboard slopestyle event because it’s pretty rad. It’s one of my favorite events in the X-Games,” senior Conor Lamb said.

Of the 230 American athletes, 106 of them have already competed in the Olympic Games. 49 of them have won medals, and 13 have won gold. Both snowboarder Shaun White and speed skater Shani Davis are aiming to be the first American men to win gold in the same event in three straight Olympics.

“I’m looking forward to watching Shaun White because…it’s Shaun White,” avid junior snowboarder Julia Dunham said.

Nordic combined star Todd Lodwick will become the first American to compete in a total of six Winter Olympics, and is also the flag bearer for the opening ceremonies. Lodwick’s teammate Billy Demong, as well as skier Bode Miller, will each compete in their fifth Olympics.

Miller will need to earn four medals this month to beat short track speed skater Apolo Ohno for the most decorated US Winter Olympian. Ohno had earned eight medals throughout his three Olympics before retiring after the Vancouver games.

Lolo Jones and Lauryn Williams have also both been to the Olympics before, but as track stars in the Summer Olympics. This year, they will both be stars of the women’s bobsled team, becoming the ninth and 10th American athletes to compete in both the summer and winter Olympics.

Local Stars

Creveling (first) and Carr (third) compete at the US Olympic Team Trials in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Among these 230 athletes are Chris Creveling and Kyle Carr, two local athletes who will both be competing in short track speed skating events. Creveling and Carr have been skating with and against each other since they were around 3 years old. 24 years later, they’re headed to Sochi as teammates.

Creveling grew up in the small town of Kintnersville, PA, and is a graduate of Palisades High School, a name that is very familiar with Southern Lehigh athletes. He started skating as soon as he could walk, as he comes from a long line of skaters in his family. His aunt owns a roller rink in Frenchtown, NJ, where both he and Carr got their start on inlines before switching to the ice.

Carr was raised just outside of Reading in the town of Shillington, PA. He attended Governor Mifflin High School through his junior year and then moved to Marquette, Michigan, to finish out high school in order to train to achieve his Olympic dreams. When he was seven, he told his mom that he was going to the Olympics, and his dreams have come true.

There are four other athletes from Pennsylvania heading to Sochi. Nathan Bartholomay (figure skating – Newtown, PA), Summer Britcher (luge – Glen Rock, PA), Jayson Terdiman (luge – Berwick, PA), and Lauryn Williams (bobsled – Rochester, PA) will also be representing the Keystone State.

Teamusa.org 2014 Olympic Team Fun Facts

The Olympic rings in Sochi represent the spirit of the games.

The oldest member of the US team is women’s curler Ann Swishelm who is 45, while freestyle skier Maggie Voisin is the youngest at 15.
Men’s ice hockey player Blake Wheeler is the tallest athlete standing at 6’5”, while short track speed skater Jessica Smith and figure skater Marissa Castelli are the shortest at 5’.
Team USA has six sets of siblings and one set of twins on this year’s team.
38/50 states are represented, with the most coming from California (20).

Names to Watch

Snowboarding – Shaun White, Kelly Clark, Hannah Teter, Lindsey Jacobellis, Arielle Gold, Jamie Anderson, Chas Guldemond, Seth Wescott
Speed Skating – Shani Davis, Brittany Bowe, Heather Richardson, Joey Mantia, Brian Hansen
Short Track Speed Skating – JR Celski, Chris Creveling, Jessica Smith, Emily Scott
Hockey – Jimmy Howard, Patrick Kane, Ryan Kesler, Ryan Suter, Zach Parise, Julie Chu, Amanda Kessel,
Freestyle Skiing – Nick Geopper, Torin Yater-Wallace, David Wise, Tom Wallisch, Bobby Brown, Hannah Kearney
Alpine Skiing – Mikaela Shiffrin, Julia Mancuso, Bode Miller, Ted Ligety
Cross Country Skiing – Andy Newell, Jessie Diggins, Kikkan Randall
Ski Jumping – Lindsey Van, Jessica Jerome, Sarah Hendrickson
Nordic Combined – Billy Demong, Bryan Fletcher
Figure Skating – Ashley Wagner, Charlie White, Meryl Davis, Max Aaron, Jeremy Abbott, Gracie Gold, John Coughlin
Skeleton – Katie Uhlaender, John Daly, Noelle Pikus-Pace, Matt Antoine
Bobsled – Lolo Jones, Lauryn Williams, Corey Butner, Steven Holcomb
Biathlon – Tim Burke, Lowell Bailey, Russell Currier, Susan Dunklee
Curling – Erika Brown, Pete Fenson, Chris Plys, Cassie Potter, Allison Pottinger, John Shuster
Luge – Julia Clukey, Erin Hamlin, Christian Niccum, Jayson Terdiman

About the Contributor

McKenzie Browne, Entertainment Editor

McKenzie Browne was part of the Spotlight Staff for four years and an editor for three. She has made a significant impact on the newspaper as editor of the Entertainment and Features pages. Apart from writing articles and slaving over InDesign, Kenzie boasts an impressive background in the sport of inline speed skating. Since speed skating is not in the Olympics yet, she has to compete to qualify for the USA World Team, which she has done for the past three years. She has traveled the globe while competing in the World Championships where she is ranked as the 12th fastest junior sprinter. Being a world-renowned athlete is no easy task, for McKenzie gets no “off days.” She works out daily and can squat up to 270 pounds. It is rumored that she wrestles bears in her free time and can beat up any boy that is willing to take on the challenge. Excluding writing, editing, and skating, McKenzie takes interest in media and entertainment. She recently read the Divergent series, and it quickly became her favorite. It has inspired McKenzie to become fearless and brave in order to one day become a part of the Dauntless faction. Her favorite television shows include “Boy Meets World,” “Breaking Bad,” “How I Met Your Mother,” and “Dexter.” With television shows come with deep, long analysis sessions with Mrs. Spritzer and Dana during class. Although she may not agree with their opinions, the discussion sessions continue to be something to look forward to. Kenzie also enjoys the city of Philadelphia. Along with being THE number one fan of the Flyers, Eagles, and Phillies, she also enjoys going to concerts. She’s seen a variety of artists in venues across the Philly area. Favorite artists that she’s seen live are Mike Stud, Huey Mack, and Maroon 5. McKenzie Browne’s pure awesomeness and impressive achievements are evident. During the next few years of her life, she will take her talent and completely involve herself in skating. She will take an adventure to Salt Lake City, Utah, to try ice speed skating and hopefully train for the 2018 Winter Olympics. McKenzie’s favorite teachers during her time at Southern Lehigh have been Mrs. Spritzer, Mr. Dow, and Mr. Skrapits. Her favorite memories include the three years she spent with her Chinese class, winning districts in lacrosse junior year, and of course all the time she spent with the Spotlight staff. “Being a part of The Spotlight the past four years has been incredible. Even though the stress of spending four hours after school putting the paper together was awful, I’m going to miss doing it for some strange reason,” she said. “Maybe it’s because I will miss my fellow editors, Dana, Cody, and Kylie, who have been there through everything. Oh, and of course, Spritz!” McKenzie made a huge impact not only in the newspaper, but in our hearts. The Spotlight Staff wishes her the best of luck in her future escapades and hopes to see her doing bigger and better things.