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Deibold Wins Bronze In Snowboardcross

Alex Deibold, who grew up in nearby Manchester, Vermont, took the Bronze medal today in snowboardcross.

You can read about his epic performance on ESPN. This accomplishment is even more remarkable in that four years ago he attended the Olympics as a snowboard technician, the man who essentially gets the snowboards in shape for the athletes.

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Holcomb & Langton Take Bronze in Two-Man Bobsled

Americans Steven Holcomb and Steve Langton took the Bronze medal today in the two-man bobsled event in Sochi.

Langton, the brakeman, resides in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Bleacher Report: Steve Holcomb Drives U.S. to Historic Bobsled Medal at Winter Olympics

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Andrew Weibrecht Takes Silver in Men’s Super G

Update 2/17:

Original Post:


Andrew Weibrecht’s 2014 U.S. Olympic Alpine Sking Team Photo

Andrew Weibrecht from Lake Placid, N.Y. won the Silver medal in today’s Men’s Super G event in Sochi.

ESPN covers the race here.

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Erin Hamlin Takes Bronze in Luge

Update: Wednesday February 12th

NBC: Erin Hamlin Wins Historic Bronze for U.S. (with video of her last two runs).

ESPN: Erin Hamlin’s Unforgettable Moment (with video commentary).

Original Post:

Erin Hamlin, of Remsen, N.Y., won the bronze medal today, becoming the first American to win an Olympic medal in singles luge.

I interviewed her in 2009 here on the Huletts Current.

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Your Sochi Viewing Guide: Local Athletes


With the Sochi Olympic games beginning this week, here are the local athletes that I will be keeping an eye on. All of these athletes have some connection to New York or Vermont.

Name     Sport
Lowell Bailey    Biathlon
Time Burke     Biathlon
Annelies Cook     Biathlon
Hannah Dreissigacker     Biathlon
Susan Dunklee     Biathlon
Nick Cunningham     Bobsled
Jamie Greubel     Bobsled
Steve Langton     Bobsled
Erin Hamlin     Luge
Aidan Kelly     Luge
Chris Mazdzer     Luge
Matt Mortensen     Luge
Jayson Terdiman     Luge
Tucker West     Luge
Billy Demong     Nordic Combined
John Daly     Skeleton
Nick Alexander     Ski Jumping
Peter Frenette     Ski Jumping
Nolan Kasper     Skiing – Alpine
Andrew Weibrecht     Skiing – Alpine
Sophie Caldwell     Skiing – Cross Country
Andy Newell     Skiing – Cross Country
Ida Sargent     Skiing – Cross Country
Liz Stephen     Skiing – Cross Country
Ashley Caldwell     Skiing – Aerials
Hannah Kearney     Skiing – Moguls
Devin Logan     Skiing – Slopestyle
Kelly Clark     Snowboarding – Halfpipe
Alex Diebold     Snowboarding – Snowboardcross
Jacquelin Hernandez     Snowboarding – Snowboardcross
Lindsey Jacobellis     Snowboarding – Snowboardcross
Hannah Teter     Snowboarding – Halfpipe
Ty Walker     Snowboarding – Slopestyle
   
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Remembering the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics


The moment the U.S. Mens Hockey team defeated Finland for the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. (Photo courtesy of Russ Considine. Click image to see full-scale.)

Whenever the winter Olympics come into view, I always remember the excitement of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Although, like most, I only watched on TV, the excitement of those games is not easily forgotten by those who watched.

That’s why I’m happy to pass along this link: http://www.lakeplacidwinterolympics.com/.

It’s a personal reflection, with pictures of the 1980 Winter Games, by Russ Considine, who was there as a photographer.

Russ grew up in Huletts Landing and has some unique shots and great recollections. It’s worth the entire read. Perhaps it will bring back memories for you too.

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Official Song of Team USA 2014: “Everything Will Change” by Gavin DeGraw

Multi-platinum selling musician, singer-songwriter and current Grammy Awards nominee Gavin DeGraw closely collaborated with the United States Olympic Committee on his song Everything Will Change, which appears on his most recent album Make a Move, which debuted today. The collaboration includes a music video set to DeGraw’s song, featuring competition and training footage of more than two dozen Team USA athletes as well as sound bites from figure skater Jeremy Abbott; Paralympic alpine skiers Heath Calhoun and Alana Nichols; short track speedskater J.R. Celski; freestyle aerials skier Emily Cook; alpine skier Stacey Cook; and long track speedskater Shani Davis.

“I grew up watching the Olympics, and it’s a dream come true to have had this opportunity with Team USA,” said DeGraw. “I think the song fits because so many of us can relate to that desire to do what you love, put it down for a minute, then make that decision to get back on that horse, because life is really all about following your passions – sport, music or otherwise – and, in essence, that’s the pursuit of happiness for me.”

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Interview with Annelies Cook, U.S. Biathlon Team


Annelies Cook will compete in the Olympic biathlon in Sochi.

I recently had the chance to interview Annelies Cook, a biathlete from Saranac Lake, while she was in Italy preparing for the Olympics. The Olympic biathlon is a marriage of cross-country skiing and shooting. It became part of the Winter Olympics for women in 1992. Yesterday, Ms. Cook was officially announced as part of the U.S. Biathlon team.

Below is my interview with her.

As you wrap up the days before the Olympics, what are your goals?

At this point, there are only three weeks left until we head to Sochi. I have one more world cup this weekend and so far, I have not had the competitions that I would like due to some illness and some muscular issues that are now resolved. I think it is important to continue keeping my confidence high and executing my race plans in the same way that I would in Sochi. Hopefully this week is a positive experience! After that, we have two weeks of training where we are going to do some volume so that our base doesn’t disappear and after that we will start peak training. That includes more rest and very high intensity intervals. After that, it is just recovery and staying healthy! My goals are to go into the Olympics feeling good and confident.

What goes through your head while competing?

There are LOTS of things that go through your head but they usually depend on how you are doing. If I am having a challenging race, I have to focus on the positive and the process of the race- technique and things like that. In a great race where you feel aggressive and things are going well, you get this kind of high feeling where the pain almost feels good and you can welcome it. Then, it is easier to focus on catching the girls ahead of you and you don’t feel hesitant to go for it.

What will be unique for you about the Sochi Olympics?

Well first of all, it is my first Olympics so it will all be unique for me. The entire world starts to pay attention during the Olympics. While biathlon is the most popular here it is only during the Olympics that people from the U.S. pay attention to biathlon. So there is a lot more media attention and excitement. One of the biggest goals is to keep things as normal as possible during the Olympics. There is a lot more security, there is a lot more pressure, and there are athletes from many different sports around. It will be quite exciting.

The Biathlon is a unique sport, what should your fans be watching for as your Olympic event(s) unfolds on TV?

The fans should be looking for the way that the pressure on the shooting range can transform the outcome of a race. Imagine skiing as hard as you possibly can and then standing at the shooting range with 10,000 people standing behind you cheering for each hit and knowing that if you hit all of your targets you can be a gold medalist, but also knowing that the person you are competing against has the same pressure. In this way, one miss can be the difference between an Olympic champion and tenth place. In biathlon, anything can happen.

Any words for you Adirondack fans?

I hope you have an exciting time watching all the athletes from the Adirondacks competing! Almost every sport is represented by someone local and it is a time to feel really proud of our community.