California has seven times the population of Colorado, but Colorado was right behind California on the list of Olympians going to the Sochi Olympics.
The U.S. Olympic Committee released its 230-person roster for Sochi on Monday, and California led the nation with 20. Colorado and Minnesota were tied for second with 19, and New York produced 18.
The list features 105 returning Olympians, 99 of whom competed in Vancouver four years ago. There are 49 medalists, 13 Olympic champions.
Todd Lodwick of Steamboat Springs will become the first six-time Winter Olympian for the U.S. His nordic combined teammate Bill Demong and alpine racer Bode Miller will be competing in their fifth.
Also on the U.S. team is Avalanche center Paul Stastny. The USOC lists his hometown as St. Louis. Other Avs players going to the Olympics: Matt Duchene, Canada; Semyon Varlamov, Russia; and Gabe Landeskog, Sweden.
The University of Denver men’s alpine team had three current or former racers named to 2014 Olympic teams: Junior Trevor Philp (Canada), freshman Sebastian Brigovic (Croatia) and former DU skier Leif Kristian Haugen (Norway).
Here is a list of Coloradans who will compete in Sochi Feb 7-23:
Jeremy Abbott, 28, Figure Skating, Aspen
Lanny Barnes, 31, Biathlon, Durango
Aaron Blunck, 17, Halfpipe Skiing, Crested Butte
Bobby Brown, 22, Slopestyle Skiing, Breckenridge
David Chodounsky, 29, Alpine Skiing, Crested Butte
Lyman Currier, 19, Halfpipe Skiing, Boulder
Bryan Fletcher, 27, Nordic Combined, Steamboat Springs
Taylor Fletcher, 23, Nordic Combined, Steamboat Springs
Arielle Gold, 17, Halfpipe Snowboarding, Steamboat Springs
Taylor Gold, 20, Halfpipe Snowboarding
Simi Hamilton, 26, Cross-Country, Aspen
Keri Herman, 31, Slopestyle Skiing, Breckenridge
Noah Hoffman, 24, Cross-Country, Aspen
Gus Kenworthy, 22, Slopestyle Skiing, Telluride
Heidi Kloser, 21, Moguls Skiing, Vail
Justin Reiter, 33, Parallel Snowboarding, Steamboat Springs
Mikaela Shiffrin, 18, Alpine Skiing, Eagle-Vail
Torin Yater-Wallace, 18, Halfpipe Skiing, Basalt
Todd Lodwick, 37, Nordic Combined, Steamboat Springs
John Meyer: 303-954-1616, jmeyer@denverpost.com or
