
Uhlaender Wins Gold
The United States' success in skeleton continued Friday, as Katie Uhlaender held off tough conditions to win gold at the World Championships. It was the U.S. women's second gold since 2000. Story »
AP Photo/Mike GrollWhile Sochi organizers have promised snow will be on the ground despite warn temps in the coastal town (on Thursday, it was 66 degrees there and 59 in the mountains), one thing we can say for sure: The venues for the 2014 Winter Olympics will be there.
Here's a look at some of the locales you'll see next year:
The Shayba Arena will host ice hockey games and is in close proximity to other ice skating venues. Capacity: 7,000.
AP Photo/Ivan SekretarevThe Olympic Stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies, and most medal ceremonies. Capacity: 40,000.
Mikhail Mordasov/AFP/Getty ImagesYou guessed it -- curling competitions will be held here. The venue is in the center of the "Coastal Cluster," where all of the ice-based venues are located. Capacity: 3,000.
AP Photo/Ivan SekretarevThe ice hockey venue is said to be modeled after a "frozen water drop," but spectators may think it resembles a disco dance floor when they see the roof light up in multiple colors at night. Capacity: 12,000.
Skeleton athlete Zach Lund is taking a break from the sport but still hopes to compete in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, USA Bobsled and Skeleton announced Friday.
"I still hope to compete in the next Games," Lund said in a statement. "If I'm going to have any chance of doing that I need a break both mentally and physically. Once I started sliding this season, I realized I needed to take at least a year off."
Lund cited spending more time with his wife and daughter and a lack of passion as his reasons for taking the leave of absence.
"Maybe I'll get a second wind, maybe I won't," Lund said. "I see guys like Matt Antoine and John Daly who are hungry and passionate, and they really want it. Here I am on the opposite side of the spectrum, and that's not a good situation. I thought that the pressure would be off my shoulders this season and I could relax and enjoy sliding again, but I struggled doing that."
Lund made his first Olympic appearance in Vancouver, finishing in fifth place overall in the skeleton race.
In 2002, he suffered a debilitating car accident after being rear-ended and was removed from the Olympics.
In 2006, Lund was the top-ranked skeleton athlete in the world. He was notified an hour before the opening ceremonies that he was removed from the U.S. Olympic team for testing positive for Propecia, the hair restoration drug. The International Olympic Committee removed Propecia from the banned substance list in 2007.
"Sometimes I think about what I missed out on in 2006, and as much as I've been able to cope with it, it still gets me deep down inside," Lund said. "It took the passion and drive out of me and was a huge blow to my career."

E:60 Skeleton Man Roundtable Discussion
November 05, 2010
Pending litigation between the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation and the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc. has been dropped.
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