Sarah Hendrickson Jumps for Gold

by Lucy Hurlbut ‘14

The Sochi games will introduce Olympic female ski jumping for the first time in Olympic history. Sarah Hendrickson, a 19-year-old from Salt Lake City, Utah, could definitely be a contender for a gold medal in the sport. She has won 9 of the 13 World Cup titles in 2012, medaled at the U.S. Championships at age 13, taken home a FIS Continental Cup title at 14, and recently won the 2013 World Championships.
However, a training jump in Oberstdorf, Germany in August resulted in a torn MCL and ACL, which could have dashed her chances of competing in the Olympics. However, after 18 weeks in intense rehab at the U.S Ski Team’s training facility, Hendrickson will be ready to compete in February. With Hendrickson in the lineup, the United States team is considered one of the favorites for the event in Sochi.

Will it be the Final ‘White Winter’?

by Jenni Kenel ‘14

Shaun White has been dominating the competitive snowboarding world from the very young age of seven, when he received his first sponsorship. From that point on he has won 22 gold medals, three silver medals and two bronze medals in various major competitions, including the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympic Games. White is the only snowboarder in the world to achieve two consecutive gold medals in the Men’s half-pipe, along with being the youngest person to win the event since it was added to the Winter Olympics in 1998. Along with these amazing achievements, White was the first person ever to receive a score of 100 in the Winter X Games.
But has the White era come to an end? He already has received legendary status at age 27, but some are questioning if he is going to continue to be the best and if the Sochi Olympics will be his last. It doesn’t seem that he is any less determined to be the best than he was in his last games, but he has added outside commitments such as touring with his band. He has started to spend less time on the slopes since he progressively gets worse after two hours or so, when he spoke to a reporter for Team USA. Along with all of his extras off the mountain, White is not only competing in the half-pipe in Sochi but slopestyle as well in its Olympic debut. White’s biggest competition is the Swiss Iouri Podladtchikov, who is two years younger than White and is currently ranked number two in the world.

South Korea’s Yuna Kim Expected to Break Records

by Samantha Schwartz ‘16

Competing in the Olympics is one milestone and winning the gold is an even bigger achievement. But defending your title to win a second gold is a whole other story. Yuna Kim is a 23-year-old champion and record-holder from South Korea who will be returning to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia to defend her gold medal. Based on Kim’s petite appearance, one wouldn’t expect her to be a world-record holder and gold medalist, but this 100-pound-girl has broken world-record scores 11 times. She is the 2009 and 2013 Figure Skating World Champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final champion and five-time Korean National champion, just to name a few of her many achievements. Kim hopes to shatter her previous world records as she stands with pride on the top of the podium, while the South Korean national anthem plays for this graceful and ambitious champion.

New Zealand Speed Skater Blake Skjellerup Takes a Stand

by Samantha Schwartz ‘16

Athletes work their whole lives to achieve the title of Olympian, to be selected to represent their country with pride. They strive to stand on the top podium with gratification, knowing all that they have had to endure to get to that spot. Blake Skjellerup, like any other Olympian, is in it for the gold, but, what might be even more important to Skjellerup is the personal pride he carries while representing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Skjellerup is a 28-year-old speed skater from New Zealand who will be competing in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in anti-gay Russia as the first openly gay athlete of these games.
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, recently signed a law banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” and imposing fines on those holding gay pride rallies. There is uncertainty how and to what extent the laws will be enforced in Sochi during the Games. “I will be myself in Russia, and at this moment, that is illegal. My goal is to inspire, encourage and offer support to LGBT people in Russia,” said Skjellerup in a recent article in The Guardian newspaper.