Gretchen Bleiler
Snowmass Village
SNOWBOARDING
Bleiler, 24, of Aspen leads the charge, using her “Crippler 540” to qualify first among American Olympians in the halfpipe. Bleiler, a two-time Winter X Games gold medalist and U.S. Open champion, has incorporated a 900-degree spin into her halfpipe routine this season, qualifying it among the most difficult in women’s competition.
Jeremy Bloom
Loveland
FREESTYLE SKIING
Kip Carpenter
Park City, Utah
SPEEDSKATING
Joey Cheek
Park City, Utah
SPEEDSKATING
Toby Dawson
Vail
FREESTYLE SKIING, MOGULS
Dawson, 27, was born in South Korea and adopted by two ski instructors from Vail when he was 3. He has been on skis ever since, catching the freestyle bug at age 12 and developing his skills enough to win the world championship in dual moguls last season. He earned his first Olympic berth in moguls competition this year. Dawson’s “go big” aerials style in the bumps has caught the eye of Colorado-based filmmakers Warren Miller Productions, which has featured him in four films so far – “Ride,” “Cold Fusion,” “Storm” and most recently “Journey.”
Rebecca Dussault
Gunnison
CROSS COUNTRY SKIING
Gunnison’s Rebecca Dussault was a promising junior racer who beat Norway’s Marit Bjoergen at the 2000 world juniors championships, but Dussault quit the sport at age 19 with a case of burnout, got married and started a family. After a three-year hiatus, she felt a “calling” and returned to competition in 2004. The deeply religious Dussault travels everywhere with husband Sharbel and son Tabor, and they will be with her in Pragelato.
John Grahame
Denver
HOCKEY
He has notched 19 wins for Tampa Bay this season, propelling him onto the American roster likely as the No. 3 goalie. His roots run deep in Denver. Grahame attended Overland High School. His mom, Charlotte, works for the Avs’ front office. His dad, Ron, is the University of Denver’s associate athletic director.
Chad Hedrick
Salt Lake City, Utah
SPEEDSKATING
Danny Kass
Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
SNOWBOARDING
Lindsey Kildow
Vail
ALPINE SKIING
As a 17-year-old who finished sixth in combined at the Salt Lake Games, the Ski Club Vail racer marked herself as one of the bright U.S. hopes for the future in the post-Picabo Street era. The future may be now. If her ski technicians can rectify a gliding problem with her skis, she will be a good bet in this race. She finished fourth at the world championships last
season, missing a medal by less than a quarter of a second.
Hyo-Jung Kim
Colorado Springs
SHORT-TRACK SPEEDSKATING
“Halie” to her teammates, Kim is one of six short-track skaters to train in Colorado Springs. The South Korean-born Kim (a U.S. citizen by virtue of her father’s citizenship) is the only American woman qualified to skate all three distances. But at 17, she still seems green when jostling with the world’s best.
Daron Rahlves
Truckee, Calif.
DOWNHILL SKIING
Michelle Roark
Winter Park
MOGUL SKIING
Johnny Spillane
Steamboat Springs
NORDIC COMBINED
Steamboat’s Johnny Spillane, a 2003 sprint world champion, separated his right shoulder while jump training in Finland just before the season opener and doctors advised reconstructive surgery. Because of the Olympics, Spillane elected to put off the surgery until after the season. Spillane battled ailments in his back most of last season and injured both shoulders in Norway last summer.
Tommy Schwall, top, and Clint Jones
Steamboat Springs
SKI JUMPING
Tommy Schwall and Clint Jones grew up in Steamboat Springs looking up to neighbor Todd Lodwick, a nordic combined athlete who made his first Olympic team in 1994. Jones and Schwall made the Olympic team as youngsters four years ago and are back again. Jones recently upset Lodwick at the U.S. jumping championships on their home hill in Steamboat.
Katie Uhlaender
Breckenridge
SKELETON
The 21-year-old daughter of former pro baseball player Ted Uhlaender, the Colorado Mountain College student took up the sport in 2002 after working out in Silverthorne with U.S. bobsledder Sara Sprung, who convinced her to try sliding sports. Uhlaender didn’t know enough to wear a mouthpiece at her first nationals meet in 2003 but is now the three-time U.S. champion.
Shaun White
Carlsbad, Calif.
SNOWBOARDING
Courtney Zablocki
Highlands Ranch
LUGE
Zablocki discovered the sport through USA Luge’s traveling “slider search” program in 1993, trying it on a street sled near her home. Then 12, she went back for more the next day and earned an invitation to a “screening camp.” She has been a luger ever since. Zablocki finished 13th at Salt Lake but has been the top U.S. women on the World Cup this season (ninth).
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