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Young
Rising Stars Debut at Olympics |
Posted:
1.30.06
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Young athletes from all over the country are taking their first
shots at gold this February at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino,
Italy.
As the competition heats up, here are a few rising stars to watch.
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Hannah Teter,
19, Snowboarding |
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This champion half-piper is not the only snowboarder in the family,
her older brothers Abe and Elijah also compete professionally.
Hannah Teter keeps herself game-ready through power workouts,
yoga and organic food. "I practice, go to the gym, eat and
go to bed," she said in a Newsweek interview.
Teter won the 2004 Winter X games half-pipe and Grand Prix super-pipe.
In 2005, she was the Vans Cup Champion.
She says listening to hip hop on her iPod while snowboarding
gives her that extra edge and inspiration.
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Shani Davis,
23, Speed skating |
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As the first African American speed skater to compete in the
Olympics, Shani Davis has already made history.
 In
2004, he won the 1,500 meter in the World Single Distance Championships
and placed second in the World Allround Championships, and last
year he took first place.
Davis hails from Chicago's south side. His mother first introduced
him to skating at a local roller skating rink when he was just
2 years old.
By the time he was 8, he was competing on ice.
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Jeremy Bloom,
23, Moguls |
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Part champion skier, part professional football player, Jeremy
Bloom grew up at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.
Bloom had a scholarship to play football at the University of
Colorado, and NCAA rules prohibited him from receiving skiing
endorsements. He gave up his scholarship in early 2004 to ski
professionally, but that didn't stop him from using last summer
to prepare for the NFL combine, in which NFL scouts get a chance
to see invited college athletes show off their football skills.
In 2004-5, he won six consecutive World Cup events but finished
36th in the overall 2005 World Championships.
He had a similar disappointment at the 2002 Olympics where he
placed ninth in men's moguls.
He told Ski Magazine in 2005 that it was the biggest disappointment
of his life, "Everything I ever worked for, just down the
drain," he said.
However Bloom quickly rebounded by taking first place in the
2005 World Cup.
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Kimmie Meissner,
16, Figure Skating |
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While the hopes of American gold seem to hinge on Michelle Kwan,
Kimmie Meissner is expected to be a strong technical contender.
 Critics
claim she lacks the style and grace of other gold medalists, but
she has a big bag of tricks to impress the judges.
Only the second American woman to land a triple axel, this closely
watched figure skater placed in the top 3 of U.S. National Championships
in 2005 and 2006.
Skating since the age of 6, Meissner was first introduced to
the ice from watching her brothers play hockey.
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Tanith Belbin,
21, Ice Dancing (couples) |
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Favored to win the Ice Dancing competition, it took an act of
Congress to allow Tanith Belbin and her partner Ben Agosto to
compete in this year's Olympics.
Belbin, born in Quebec, became a U.S. citizen in December after
President Bush signed into law changes to immigration regulations.
Now able to apply for citizenship, she quickly became an American
citizen and could thus qualify to represent the United States
in Torino.
Americans have not done well in the Ice Dancing competition in
20 years, but Belbin and Agosto took the silver in the 2005 World
Championship. They have won the U.S. National Championships three
years in a row since 2004. At the 2006 U.S. Nationals they won
first place by a whopping 30 points.
--
Compiled by Crystal Walker for NewsHour Extra
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It makes me want to come to school every day, and it has given me something that I’m really good at.
