ESPN Olympic Sports

President Barack Obama won't be in Buenos Aires this Friday when the International Olympic Committee casts its vote for the host city of the 2020 Summer Games. Vladimir Putin won't be there, either. Nor Tony Blair. Nor perhaps the most famous, influential figure to ever represent a city in its Olympic bid: Oprah (alas, neither she nor Obama swayed the voters during Chicago's 2016 campaign).

But the three contending cities -- Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid -- will argue their cases with their own powerful representatives for the right to spend billions of dollars, devote seven years of work and disrupt the lives of its citizens for a sporting event that will last 17 days.

All of these cities are well-versed with the Olympic bidding process. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Olympics and it also bid for the 2016 Games. This is Madrid's third consecutive attempt, and Istanbul's fifth in six tries since the 2000 Games were awarded to Sydney in 1993.

Sergey Bubka, the former pole vaulter who hopes to be elected as the new IOC president next week, says all three are capable of hosting a great Olympics. "I think the three are really good," he said. "It's difficult to say who the best right now."

Various bookmakers list Tokyo as the clear favorite with Madrid gaining on Istanbul, but here is a brief glance at some of the pros and cons for each city:

Tokyo

Pros: With so much controversy swirling around Sochi and Rio de Janeiro these days, some consider Tokyo the "safe" choice. Japan's economy, the third largest in the world, is by far the strongest of the three bidders. It also has an excellent infrastructure and transportation system in place.

Cons: There are still some concerns over radiation from the Fukashima nuclear plant disaster. With South Korea hosting the 2018 Winter Games and Beijing having hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, if Tokyo gets the bid, it would mean Asia will host three Olympics in a 12-year span. Due to time zone issues, that could be a concern for some broadcasters.

Istanbul

Pros: Istanbul is famous as the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and Turkey also would be the first predominantly Muslim country to host a Summer Olympics, a significant factor in its favor.

Cons: Large-scale, anti-government protests this summer did not help the international image of the city or country. Istanbul’s projected $19.2 billion overall budget -- significantly more than Tokyo and Madrid combined -- is also a concern. The recent widespread doping violations by Turkish athletes doesn't help, either.

Madrid

Pros: Spain's hosting of 1992 Olympics was an enormous success, leaving a lasting economic and infrastructural legacy in Barcelona, which also benefited greatly as a tourist city. IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., the son of the former IOC president, has some pull. By utilizing existing facilities, Madrid's projected budget is the lowest of the three cities and falls into what the IOC claims is its desire to keep Olympic costs down.

Cons: Spain is still suffering through a bad economy. With an unemployment rate higher than 25 percent, the country is not in a good position to spend more money to host an Olympics, even if it plans to spend less than the other two cities.

Bonnie D. Ford discusses comments made by Russian president Vladimir Putin, who attempted to ease concerns that a Russian anti-gay law would be used to punish athletes choosing to display rainbow flags at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

PARK CITY, Utah -- Every veteran on the U.S. women's ski jumping team has had multiple surgeries that kept them off their beloved hills, and they all can relate to the tunnel reigning world champion Sarah Hendrickson is about to enter. They kept her in their thoughts -- and texts and calls -- as they went about their business last week, and said they're confident she'll tackle the passage with the right energy.

"Never met an athlete that young, that talented, that smart, that driven, who knows what she's doing," said 2009 world champion Lindsey Van, who is 10 years older than Hendrickson and informally coached her during an injury layoff of her own one summer when Hendrickson was still a kid club jumper.

Hendrickson won the 2012 World Cup overall title and was a favorite to medal at the 2014 Sochi Games before a training jump went bad earlier this month. She underwent a three-pronged surgery last Thursday after tearing up her right knee on Aug. 21 in Oberstdorf, Germany. U.S. Ski team physician Dr. Andrew Cooper repaired her MCL and meniscus and reconstructed her ACL. Team officials declined to outline any specific timetable for her possible return.

Three-time Olympian and head coach Alan Alborn said Hendrickson should benefit from previous experience with the tedious process of rehab. She had surgery to repair microfractures on her other knee in April 2012 and could not put any weight on it for six weeks. Hendrickson had to rebuild atrophied muscle before she could even resume regular dry land workouts, but was back to jump training by September. "Five jumps later, I knew she was good to compete," Alborn said.

Alborn was careful not to compare the two injuries or make any predictions about how Hendrickson might progress over the next few months. But he and the other jumpers have all known her since she was a little girl and said they are certain of one thing: Her attitude. "If they say she can jump in January, that's when she'll be jumping," said teammate Abby Hughes.

Can Hendrickson be fit enough to compete in Sochi, where women's ski jumping is on the program for the first time in history? The answer is several months away, and will be contingent not only on her physical recovery but on team selection procedures. The United States, with one of the world's strongest athlete pools, will send four jumpers to the Winter Games in February. The winner of the U.S. Olympic trials on Dec. 29 qualifies automatically. Three others will earn berths based on World Cup results. All Olympic sports have a procedure for injured athletes to request a discretionary slot.

Jack Johnson is excited to be back with Team USA and looks to push the Americans one step farther to win the gold medal in Sochi.

CALGARY, Alberta -- Team Canada wrapped up its three-day Olympic camp with more "walk-through" practices Tuesday, and, while it has been unusual to see the players in ball-hockey mode on the covered ice, the innovative approach was a winner with the players.

Despite not skating for real, there was a sense of accomplishment at the end of it all.

“Being on the ice, going over video, getting to know some of the guys, I think we made the best of every situation," Sidney Crosby said after camp wrapped up Tuesday.

“A lot of information, details on the way we want to play. Just trying to grasp all that is important, because there isn’t a ton of time over there, so you make the most of having the time here together.”

Some people may snicker at a camp without actual on-ice practices, but Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman felt it was worth it, no question.

"The feedback from coaches and players is they think it’s been worthwhile,” Yzerman said. "They’ve spent a lot of time, even if they’re going on the floor, in meetings and video sessions. It just takes that one step further and they can walk through their positioning. Some guys learn different than others. Some guys tune out in video and meetings and whatnot. If we do this in a practical manner, it kind of drives the point home a little bit."

Head coach Mike Babcock spent a lot of time organizing the event and had specific goals he wanted to reach here.

"They [the players] came here for three simple things. No. 1 was to get to know everybody better from players to coaches to management to trainers, to get to know them and have a comfort level," Babcock said.

"No. 2 is to understand the details of how we're going to play -- terminology, where to stand, how to play in your own zone, how to play on the power play, penalty kill. We've gone over and over that. The walk-throughs made it slow enough to really spend some time on it.

"The third thing I think was critical for them is the evaluation process. How do you get to Sochi? We've tried to explain it to each and every guy so when they leave here they've got three months to do their part. They're in control of whether they go."

Just how much the players remember in terms of their system teaching come four months from now remains to be seen.

“I’m sure guys will need to refresh a little bit, but as far as just getting an idea for a foundation, it’s great we’re able to do it here,” Crosby said. "Kind of an unconventional way of doing it, but I think nonetheless we were able to benefit from it.”

Countries have until Dec. 31 to name their 25-man rosters, Yzerman indicating Canada would name its team sometime between mid- to late December.

"At the start of the season, we’ll start with this group of 47 -- we’ll keep an eye on everybody -- but focus on particular teams, particular games, particular players that we’re deciding on,” Yzerman said of narrowing down the choices. "There was a few guys we don’t feel the need to watch. But we know what they can do and they’re going to be on this team, assuming they’re healthy. We’ll arrange our schedule over the next week or so to get ready for the start of the regular season. We’ll get together as a group early November to narrow things down a little bit and talk about what we’re seeing and make sure we’re all in constant communication and get organized from November to mid-December and make our final decisions at that point."

In 2010, Canada was criticized for some its selections despite winning gold. Only in hockey-mad Canada is winning gold not quite good enough to satisfy everyone.

Yzerman knows the Team Canada brain trust won’t please everyone with its decisions this time, either.

"In 2010, we won, could you have put six or seven different guys on that team and still have won? Probably, maybe?” Yzerman said. "But we’ll beat it to death and talk about it and try and put the best team together. There will be logic behind our decisions whether it looks like it or not."

Canada's captain

The naming of a team captain will wait for now.

“It will probably be similar to Vancouver. I think it would be wise to wait until the team is named before we announce a captain,” said Yzerman, who named Scott Niedermayer captain last time around. "We’ll talk to the coaching staff about it and collectively reach a decision on that."

Hard to think Sidney Crosby won’t get the "C," although there will be a number of great candidates given that most of these guys are captains on their respective NHL teams.

“It’d be an honor for sure,” Crosby said of whether he’d be named captain. "But it’s not something that’s on my mind a whole lot. We all want to be on this team and lead by example when we need to, but it’s an honor to be a captain on any team.”

Regardless, Crosby will have a bigger leadership role than he had in 2010 when he was a 22-year-old first-time Olympian.

“I think if I look back at last time, I was probably more in awe and trying to learn from those guys [more] than anything,” Crosby said. "I don’t think it's a conscious decision you make, I think its just a natural progression when you’ve played on a team before, you understand things a bit better. It’s a comfort level. It’s a difference between going to your first Olympic camp and your second one. It’s a mindset.

“I think it’s kind of a natural progression for all the guys who were in Vancouver to come here and be a lot more comfortable, but with the number of guys we have here who are captains or leaders on their team, I think you’ll see a lot of guys who are comfortable.”

Yzerman said it’s the natural progression of this team to have some of the young stars from 2010 step up in the leadership department this time around.

"Sidney, Shea Weber, those types of guys that played very well and are elite NHL players,” Yzerman said. "Four more years later, a lot has happened in their careers. They’ve learned a lot. They’ve matured a lot. The Scott Neidermayers, the Chris Prongers aren’t here. It’s up to those players to take a step forward. So, yes, I expect some of these younger players to take a step forward. Jonathan or Sidney, for example, they’ve won gold medals, won Stanley Cups. They’ve accomplished a lot. They’re still young guys. But they’re leaders on their own clubs and we expect them to be here.”

Sharp's ready this time

Four years ago, Patrick Sharp arrived at the Canadian Olympic camp a little wide-eyed. But it’s a different feeling this time around for the Chicago Blackhawks star.

"Going back then, I think I was a different player,” Sharp said Tuesday. "I was 26 or 27. I don’t want to say I was star struck, but I was excited to be here. But I don’t know if I really believed then that I belonged. I know that’s a bad thing to say as a player. This time around, I’m much more confident, I’ve played in a some pretty serious games. Since 2009 we’ve gone deep in the playoffs three times and won the Stanley Cup twice. So a lot has changed for my game since then, and hopefully, I can play well this year and show the coaches and Hockey Canada that I belong."

What does Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman say about Sharp’s opportunity to make the team?

"A very good chance," Yzerman said. "One, he can play all of the three forward positions, which is a great asset. He plays in all situations, power play, penalty killing. He has been on teams that have won Stanley Cups and been an important player. Teams that win, certain traits they have, their players play a certain way and can play in big games and play under pressure and know how to win. He’s got all those things going for him."

Sharp’s ability to play all three forward positions is an obvious asset.

"I hope so,” said Sharp, a native of Thunder Bay, Ontario. "I know it’s tough putting these kinds of teams together and moving guys around in different positions. That’s something I’ve done my whole career in Chicago. If that helps my chances, that’s great."

You sense in Sharp’s voice how much it would mean to him to make this team. He was asked if making Team Canada would mean as much or even more than winning the Stanley Cup.

"That’s tough to answer,” Sharp said. "That’s like saying, who do you like better, my wife or my daughter. It’s two things that would be incredible accomplishments. And I’m jealous of Seabs and Duncs and Johnny who were able to win the Cup and the gold in the same year. I certainly want to be part of that and will do anything I can to make the team this year."

Marc Staal's recovery

Rangers blueliner Marc Staal says he’s ready to go after suffering a scary eye injury last season.

"It's good. Really good. I had a really good summer of training and I feel really good," Staal said Tuesday. "When I'm on the ice, I don't really notice it at all. I'm excited and anxious just to start the season up and get it going."

Staal said he has adjusted well.

"It was more of just adapting to the depth perception and things like that when I was coming back,” Staal explained. "It just wasn't clicking when I was trying to come back in the playoffs there. But with the time off and the training now, everything's back to normal and I'm feeling really good."

Many people believe Staal could make Team Canada as long as there are no signs he’s limited by what happened to his eye.

"I have no limitations at all. It's been a great summer of training,” Staal said. "Physically from the time I was cleared to start working out, there wasn't anything I couldn't do as far as physically getting ready. So that part of it has been really good this summer, just getting into shape, getting stronger and getting ready for the season."

Weber's game

Early in Canada’s trouncing of Russia in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Shea Weber threw his body around and it set the tempo for the victory.

But that was on NHL ice. He has given some thought to how he’s going to have to adjust his game on the bigger ice in Sochi.

"Yeah definitely," Weber said. "I had the chance to play in the world championships in Russia and Switzerland, so I’m a little familiar with it. You can get caught out of position a lot easier. It’s wider and there’s more time and space for those guys to make passes through you. So you have to be conscious. You still want to play physical but you don’t want to take chances."

Weber is a lock to make this team again, but he certainly hasn’t tried to sit down and figure out the 25-man roster.

"No, that’s why I’m the player, there’s too many tough decisions,” joked the Nashville Predators captain. "You go down the list and everybody deserves the chance. That’s why they’re here. There’s even guys that aren’t here that probably will get a good look during the season. We’re very fortunate in Canada to have a big selection, but definitely some tough choices."

Lucic's in shape

A lot was said last season about what kind of shape Milan Lucic was in. The topic reared its ugly head late in the regular season when he was a healthy scratch because of his ineffective play. He picked it up big time in the playoffs and was once again the player people in Boston were used to watching.

Good news, Bruins fans. One look at Lucic this week at the Olympic camp and you know he’s in excellent shape.

"I'm in a lot better shape than I was going into [last] year,” Lucic said. "I didn't take much time off; I maybe took a week off after we lost to Chicago just because I was feeling really good, how I ended off on a personal note and I kind of wanted to keep that going. I went back to how I used to always train. I had some things that were kind of bothering me that weren't allowing my body to train as hard as I used to and I rectified a couple of those problems and it's starting to feel better in the gym."

Iggy talk

Bruins center Patrice Bergeron is eager to see Jarome Iginla on the Bruins this season.

"For sure, it's going to be great,” Bergeron said. "I've had a chance to play with him and to meet him in Vancouver and he's an amazing guy and also player, very professional and a great leader as well. Very excited to have him with us and looking forward to getting to know him even more."

USA Hockey unveiled its jerseys for the men's, women's and paralympic national teams will wear for the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi, Russia. Here are some photos from Tuesday's announcement at the men's U.S. Olympic orientation camp in Arlington, Va.:

Do you like the new Olympic jerseys? Cast your vote here!

CALGARY, Alberta -- A little ball hockey, eh?

Team Canada took to the floor-covered ice Monday for "walk-through" practices, which is the coaching staff's unique solution to a tough situation given the inability to actually get on the ice for real practices.

The 45 players were split into two groups and ran around with their sticks in their hands playing out drills from the coaching staff while wearing track shorts, T-shirts and running shoes.

Kudos to head coach Mike Babcock for the clever solution for a tough predicament.

"I thought it was a real good day for us,” Babcock said. "Obviously, I have never done this before. We've put a lot of planning into it. I spent a lot of time talking to people to gather the information -- [head coach] Tom Izzo in particular with Michigan State basketball. He talks about the walk-throughs, and [they are] part of the reason that he believes they've been to six Final Fours in the last 15 years. Todd Downing is a quarterback coach with the Lions. He talked about the plays they walk through each and every day and the muscle memory and the timing and spacing that's going on.

"This is a big sheet, and guys aren't used to it. It's even bigger when you can't move very fast, and you couldn't go very fast today. But I thought it was a good teaching tool. The other thing is when you've got 23 guys on your team, you usually got to teach 23 different ways. Everybody learns different, so when you see it on video, it's one way you see it. In a book, it's another way. You've got a posting on the wall, you walk through it again and then you talk about it. To me, what we're trying to do is get them to understand the way we're going to play, so it meets the comfort for them when they arrive in Sochi."

It’s early, folks, but, for the heck of it, here were the lines:

Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Patrick Sharp
Eric Staal-Jonathan Toews-Rick Nash
Logan Couture-John Tavares-Steven Stamkos
Andrew Ladd-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry
Jeff Carter-Mike Richards-Martin St. Louis
Milan Lucic-Matt Duchene-James Neal
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Jordan Eberle
Taylor Hall-Jordan Staal

"Don’t read anything into the lines," Babcock cautioned.

Joe Thornton’s absence from the camp (family illness) left Hall and Jordan Staal lined up with a University of Calgary player, Dylan Walchuk.

Talk about a thrill for the college player.

"I know. It's pretty sweet. Maybe I'll see myself on TV tonight if I get lucky," Walchuk said.

So much is going to play out over the next few months before Team Canada picks the team. It’s hard to tell a whole lot from these lines when you consider that most of the line combinations at the camp four years ago didn’t hold water come the Olympics in Vancouver four months later.

(Read full post)

Team Canada stars Sidney Crosby and Shea Weber talk about being a part of the NHL Players' Association's You Can Play initiative and their thoughts on Russia's anti-gay law:

Updated at 4:28 p.m. ET

CALGARY, Alberta -- Joe Thornton had to cancel his trip to the Canadian Olympic camp because of a family illness.

Thornton’s two-month-old son, River, was in the hospital, and Hockey Canada is obviously fully understanding of the veteran center’s situation.

Two of Thornton's teammates in San Jose expressed their support for Thornton on Tuesday.

"Our wives are best friends. He made the right decision, you got to stay home. Family is the most important thing," Dan Boyle said.

"Obviously, we’re all hoping that his son is OK and it sounds like he’s getting better which is good," Logan Couture said. "We miss not having Joe here. I’ll be headed to San Jose once this camp ends and we’ll get to catch up with him."

The total number of players at camp is down to 45 after Claude Giroux also cancelled his trip to focus on his rehab from surgery on his finger.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Injuries are always going to play havoc with the selection of Olympic rosters no matter which country is involved, but the U.S. management team will be paying close attention to the health of center Ryan Kesler. When he’s been healthy and at his best, Kesler has proved he’s a dominant player, a difference-maker. But the former Frank J. Selke Trophy winner as the game’s top two-way forward has struggled with a variety of injuries over the past couple of years. He is finally healthy.

“I’m good. Finally. Two years,” he said Monday.

The injuries and the time spent recovering from them took their toll on the Vancouver Canuck.

“Mentally tough. It wasn’t fun, especially this time around when you go through 10 months of rehab and break your foot on your first game back, that was tough to take. But it makes you stronger as a person. I’m healthy now and finally able to enjoy a summer with no rehab,” said Kesler, who played in only 17 regular-season games after the lockout.

Not only is Kesler hoping to parlay good health into Olympic success, he’s also looking forward to getting the Canucks back on a Stanley Cup track after two straight first-round playoff exits.

The Canucks were swept by San Jose this past spring, and it cost Alain Vigneault his job as head coach. He was replaced by John Tortorella, who was an assistant coach with the U.S. Olympic team four years ago.

“We have the same core. Obviously we know what that core can do,” Kesler said. “I think we’re going to have a new identity this year. Obviously a new coach behind the bench. He’s going to coach a little differently than our last coach, and that’s good sometimes. Sometimes you need change and a fresh face to energize your group.”

“I’ve played for Torts a little bit, and we all know what he’s all about.”

Looking for luck

If there is one player attending the U.S. orientation camp who could use a little Olympic karma, it’s Pittsburgh defenseman Paul Martin.

As a young player with the New Jersey Devils, Martin was selected to the so-called taxi squad for the 2006 Olympics in Torino. He, Matt Cullen and Hal Gill were in Italy in case of injury but did not stay in the athletes’ village and were in many ways isolated from the rest of the U.S. team.

Four years later, a virtual lock to make the 2010 team, Martin was struck by a puck early in the season and broke his forearm.

“Bill Guerin missed the net by six feet and hit me with the puck,” Martin said.

Initially the prognosis was that he would be out eight weeks, but that stretched to 10 or 11. Then the doctors worried the arm wasn’t healing properly, so Martin ended up at a specialist who ordered surgery the next day.

Even then, with pins and plates in his arm, Martin was hopeful he would heal in time to make the trip to Vancouver. But slowly it became clear it wasn’t going to happen.

“It was tough," Martin said. "As far as disappointment and frustration as far as an athlete goes, that has been my toughest thing to get over so far in my career. I didn’t have expectations as far as was I going to be on the team. But I think when you realize that that opportunity’s there and you get named but you can’t do it, it was a tough pill to swallow, and I struggled with it for a while.”

After a dreadful 2011-12 season, Martin rebounded last season to the kind of form that made him a shoo-in for the Vancouver team. He and defense partner Brooks Orpik were tasked with shutting down opposing teams’ top lines every night and were key penalty-killing specialists, while Martin was also an effective member of the Pens’ power-play unit.

Orpik was a member of the 2010 Olympic team and is also an invitee to the orientation camp.

“I think it definitely helps," Martin said. "I think there is that comfort factor there. Especially after the year last year, I think we found our identity again and especially me. He’s so easy to play with, and obviously he played in the last Olympics and with the coaching staff that we have, I’m very familiar with."

At 32 years old, Martin is a realist. He knows he must take advantage of this opportunity, as it might well be the last chance at playing in an Olympics.

“I’m really excited about this opportunity and the chance to play. Wherever it might be, right side, left side, I just want to play,” the Minneapolis native said.

“I just want to go.”

Where to keep a medal

One member of the Vancouver team who is at the orientation camp has a special place for his silver medal.

“It’s tucked away. I’ve been meaning to put it in a safe, but it’s in this fake stack of books, but it opens up. It’s not really books, it opens up,” forward Zach Parise said.

Does he take it out and look at it sometimes?

“Yeah, I had to bring it out. I don’t just at night grab it and sit on the couch and look at it, but I had to bring it out to New York a couple of weeks ago. I guess that was kind of the first time in a year or two that I’d looked at it. It’s cool to have,” Parise said.

Starting strong

One thing U.S. GM David Poile has made clear is that players who play well at the start of the season will be doing themselves a favor as far as making the final roster. Knowing that they are being scrutinized by the management team that includes NHL GMs Stan Bowman, Dale Tallon, Dean Lombardi, Ray Shero and Paul Holmgren along with former GMs Brian Burke and Don Waddell may be a bit unnerving, especially for the younger players.

“It’s hard to not think about it. The best way to do it is just try not to think about it,” said New York Rangers center Derek Stepan, who is looking to play in his first Olympics.

“It’s definitely not going to be easy at all.”

Building the sport

St. Louis Blues captain David Backes said he still runs into people who talk about the 2010 gold-medal game and how important the game was to them. He said he believes that NHL players being in the Olympics is important for growing interest in the game, not just in the United States but around the world.

“If you watched that gold-medal game and didn’t get turned on to hockey, I don’t know if the game’s for you,” Backes said.

Rising star

One member of the 2010 team who saw his stock rise in recent months is the Colorado Avalanche's Paul Stastny, who was a dynamo for the U.S. at the world championships with 15 points, second among all players as the U.S. won a surprise bronze medal.

After he reached a career-high 79 points in 2009-10, Stastny’s production has declined, but he said he’s hoping to carry over the same style of play that gave his success at the world championships.

“I think I just will try and play the way I did there. Kind of just play at ease again and just have fun,” Stastny said.

Early in a player’s career, he plays with nothing to lose, Stastny noted. “Then sometimes maybe you put a little bit too much pressure on yourself when things aren’t going well,” he said.

With a new coach in former Avalanche star Patrick Roy and new management under former Avs captain Joe Sakic, Stastny said there’s a different buzz around the team, and he’s looking forward to being part of that.

“I think it’s just that sense of urgency, that passion. There was already that feeling going on all summer,” he said.

I'll admit, when I was a kid, I didn't have my sights set on becoming an Olympian. This was mostly due to the fact that the obscure sport I grew up with and loved didn't become an Olympic sport until 1998 -- about 11 years after I threw my first rock and two years after I first represented my state at the national level. Olympians were the best of the best. They were the athletes I saw only on television, in commercials, in magazines and on billboards. They were superheroes. I was a curler. It didn't really cross my mind that curling might be an Olympic sport and I would someday have that opportunity. I loved to curl and I was pretty good at it. So I curled a lot. I thought that was that.

My teams came close to winning nationals. I began to collect a lot of silver medals. Seriously, second place is tough. But we would pick ourselves up and try again the next year. Then something clicked. My team won junior nationals in 2002 and went on to win junior worlds. It was the first gold medal for a women's team in any division in the U.S.

Ten years after I began curling competitively, my team -- nearly fresh out of the junior category -- won the U.S. Olympic curling trials after an impressive week and went on to represent the U.S. in the Torino Winter Olympics in 2006. That was our goal, our dream. I was a curler, and now I'm an Olympian.

To sum up our Olympics run, we had a great world championship immediately after the Olympic trials -- winning another silver medal. I'm very proud of that silver medal. It was recognition of our hard work and gave us confidence leading into the Olympics. But we didn't fare as well in Torino. We ended up eighth out of 10 teams. The week didn't go as we had hoped. The precision wasn't there. We had some bad luck on key shots.

We didn't have any regrets. We played our best in those moments, and the other teams played better. Now I want to go back and be that better team.

Maybe you're wondering how I got into curling. I was introduced to it because it was like a tradition in my family. My parents curled, their parents curled, and so on. In the very early years, my Sunday nights were spent at the local curling club arena, where my sister and I gathered with other rosy-cheeked kiddies roughly the same age whose parents, like ours, volunteered to teach us how to throw rocks at houses.

Now, if you haven't heard of curling before, that last statement sounds like we were on the path to becoming experts at vandalism, but that's not what curling is. Imagine pushing a polished chunk of solid granite down a sheet of ice toward a target painted just under the surface. Yeah, it's like bowling. And shuffleboard. Even similar to golf in some ways. But it's also much more than that. You might be asking, "Is that where you have the sweepers? And they go back and forth and stuff?" You got it. That is what I do. Well, if you ask my teammates, they would say I don't do much of the sweeping part. Skips tend not to get much credit in that department. We each have our own job out on the ice, much like each player on a football team has their job. But I'll expand on that another time.

For now, I want to introduce myself.

Hi there. I'm Cassie and I'm a curler. To be more precise, I'm the skip, or captain, of a team on the United States Curling Association's High Performance Team. I was also skip of the 2006 Olympic curling team. I'm married, and mom to a 4-month-old little girl. We have two lovable dogs that are complete opposites in personality. Because curling is an amateur sport and doesn't pay the bills, I also have a full-time job.

Life usually gets crazy for me from September through March and this season is no exception. My team is one of a select few that will be competing in the upcoming 2014 U.S. Olympic team trials this November. We will be training hard and traveling more in the months to come, all while juggling families, jobs and life in general.

I would love to wear USA on my back again in Sochi in 2014. Having been to the Olympics before and falling short has been a heck of a motivator for me to get back and do even better. It's not going to be easy and it's going to require a lot of preparation to get there. Throughout this season, I'll be posting here to give you a glimpse into our team's season -- win or lose -- leading up to Sochi, life as an athlete and new mom, and reflections on seasons past.

Is there anything you want to know about our team or curling in general? Contact me via Twitter: @ccpotter

Last week was quite the week! It was our national push championships and training camp in Calgary -- and marked the beginning of the process to make the 2014 Olympic bobsled team.

For most of my potential Olympic teammates, the first step to Sochi is to make the 2014 U.S. World Cup team, but I've been preselected to that team based on my results from last season. So for me, the week was about testing where I was in my training, while for others it was about making a statement to earn a spot on that team.

I trained hard this summer, and was hoping to see the results in my performance. I did worse than I expected in my combine (dry-land testing that including running and lifting), and was a little discouraged. I was forced to remind myself that the goal is to be as fast and as strong as possible in February at the Olympics, and I have to keep working in order to get there.

The week ended on a positive note, though, as I won my sixth consecutive push championship, and posted strong combos with every brakeman during the doubles competition. (The drivers like me are routinely paired with different brakemen to see which combination is the fastest.) Even though I'm not where I want to be yet, I am still pushing well and know that I've got much more time to improve.

And that's what was important about last week, with six months to go until the Olympics. It was an opportunity to see where I'm at and also to see where I need to go. It's going to be an intense time, but as long as I continue to work hard and trust the plan laid out by my coaches, I know I'll be where I want to be in February 2014.

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at what the week was like. Sochi, here we come!

Drug testing in Canada after only a few days! They'll find you wherever you are.

Family mealtime in the house we rented: There were six bobsledders in one house!

Bobsled spikes I had created for the upcoming season. They sure do stand out, which is just what I wanted.

Some of the girls warming up for the lifting portion of the combine.

The crammed car ride back from a long day of combine testing. We got everyone in there!

Emily Azevedo, who was first to go, at push testing for brakemen.

Nic and I enjoying some sushi on a rare carb day that doubled as a date night.

From left: Me, Lauryn Williams, Jazmine Fenlator and Lolo Jones after push championships were over. We could finally relax.

The simple truth is that summer training can be a grind. But this is what we need to do to prepare for the winter season, and now that we're six months from a date with the Olympics, we want to make sure we do everything we can to be ready.

So we hit the gym every day except Sunday, doing weights, stair intervals, cardio; you name it. Three days a week we jump at Utah Olympic Park, on the K90 (normal hill) and the K120 (large hill). In Sochi we will be jumping the K90, but 99 percent of the girls who jump the normal hill are more than capable of jumping the large hill. This is the first time women's ski jumping will be held at the Olympics, so hopefully by the next Games, in 2018, we will have a large-hill event as well as a team event -- just like the men.

Temperatures have skyrocketed into the lower-to-mid-90s in Park City during the day, which makes jumping in our foam-like suits not the most comfortable experience. Our summer jump training mimics almost exactly what we do on snow in the winter. But instead of landing on snow, we land on plastic turf that looks like green, uncooked spaghetti that overlaps.

Some of the team, including me, have side jobs, too, so it's common for us to leave training and go straight to work for a few hours. I'm a waitress at a barbecue restaurant on Main Street in Park City. We try not to work too much, though, because a late night working in a restaurant isn't the best for recovery, especially if we have to be up by 7 a.m. the next day. After a hard workout and a big night at the restaurant, I am exhausted by the time I get home -- both mentally and physically. My legs ache and my feet throb, but by the morning I am ready to go again.

But fortunately, it's not all work all the time. Park City in the summer is one of my favorite places because of the gorgeous weather and the many things to enjoy outside, like barbecues, concerts and farmers' markets.

And my older sister got married earlier this summer, right here in Park City. It was great to avoid traveling, but she doesn't live in Park City, so a lot of wedding responsibilities fell on me. Of course, I would do anything for my big sister (wink, wink) and I was happy to be a part of it all. I had to schedule my training around the three days of wedding activities, so I packed a week's worth of gym sessions into three days so I could be in 100 percent wedding mode on the big weekend.

I'm glad I did, because her gown, the flower girl dresses and our bridesmaid dresses weren't delivered on time and we had to emergency-shop for new gowns two days before the wedding!

We went to every bridal store in the Salt Lake Valley and managed to find five bridesmaids gowns that were similar to the ones we had originally ordered. We bought two new flower girl dresses and Shannon found a gown at a boutique in Salt Lake that needed only minor alterations.

The morning of her wedding was her final dress fitting and I went with her. I'm not an emotional person, but when she walked out in her gown and it looked perfect, I actually cried. Then I laughed and told her she looked ugly and the only reason I was crying was because I was relieved everything was finally ready to go. (Joking, of course, though believe me, there was a lot of relief that it had come together!)

Next up, we're on the road again. Our Visa women's ski jumping team has two big European trips planned for August and September for summer Grand Prix competitions and training. I'm so excited to get back into competition mode, and to see the other jumpers we travel with all season long but don't get to see in the summer. Our team is pretty close with the Norwegian jumpers and we generally keep in touch during the offseason, so it will be good to catch up with our friends.

It's not lost on any of us that this year is an important one, and that there are only six months left until the Sochi Games and our Olympic debut. But for me, every year is important. I am always doing everything I can to better prepare myself for the upcoming season. Last week we ran a few physical tests and the results showed that I'm the strongest I have ever been. I broke my personal record in the jump test, with a vertical of 60.4 cm. I am thrilled about that and it only makes me want to work harder, every day. We'll survive this daily training grind, because competition is just around the corner, and we want to be at our very best.

Jessica Jerome, 26, is a World Cup ski jumper and member of Women's Ski Jumping USA. She's a 10-time national champion and has two sixth-place finishes in world championship competition. Jerome helped lead the effort to get her sport into the Olympic Winter Games, where it will debut in Sochi in 2014.

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