Friday, February 10, 2006 Volume 1, Issue 5 UPCOMING TEAM USA SCHEDULE FOR SATURDAY, FEB. 11 Time Sport Event (Americans Participating) Venue 10:00 Nordic Combined Individual Gunderson Trial Round (Bill Pragelato (Jump) Demong/Vermontville, N.Y.; Todd Lodwick/Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Johnny Spillane/Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Brett Camerota/Park City, Utah) 11:00 Nordic Combined Normal Hill Individual Gunderson First Round (Demong, Pragelato (Jump) Lodwick, Spillane, Camerota) 12:00 Alpine Skiing Men’s Downhill Training (Scott Macartney/Redmond, Sestrière Wash.; Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, N.H.; Steve Nyman/Orem, Utah; Daron Rahlves/Sugar Bowl, Calif.; Marco Sullivan/Squaw Valley, Calif.) 12:08 Nordic Combined Normal Hill Gunderson Final Round (Demong, Lodwick, Pragelato (Jump) Spillane, Camerota) 13:00 Biathlon Men’s 20km Individual (Lowell Bailey/Lake Placid, N.Y.; Cesana San Sicario Tim Burke/Paul Smiths, N.Y.; Jay Hakkinen/Kasilof, Alaska; Jeremy Teela/Anchorage, Alaska) 13:00 Press Conference Figure Skater Michelle Kwan (Los Angeles, Calif.) Main Press Center Sala 500 15:00 Freestyle Skiing Ladies Moguls Qualification (Shannon Bahrke/Salt Lake Sauze d’Olux Jouvenceaux City, Utah; Hannah Kearney/Norwich, Vt.; Michelle Roark/Winter Park, Colo.; Jillian Vogtli/Ellicotville, N.Y.) 15:00 Nordic Combined Individual Gunderson 15km Cross Country (Demong, Pragelato (Cross Country) Lodwick, Spillane, Camerota) 15:30 Long Track Men’s 5000m (Shani Davis/Chicago, Ill.; Chad Oval Lingotto Speedskating Hedrick/Spring, Texas; K.C. Boutiette/Tacoma, Wash.) 16:00 Luge Men’s Singles – Run 1 (Tony Benshoof/White Bear Lake, Cesana Pariol Minn.; Jonathan Myles/Rumney, N.H.; Christian Niccum/Woodinville, Wash.) 17:00 Ski Jumping Normal Hill Individual Qualification Round (Clint Pragelato Jones/Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Alan Alborn/Anchorage, Alaska; Tommy Schwall/Steamboat Springs, Colo., Jim Denny/Duluth, Minn.) 18:00 Ice Hockey Women’s Prelim. Round – USA vs. Switzerland Torino Esposizoni 18:00 Ski Jumping Normal Hill Individual Qualification Round (Alborn, Jones, Pragelato Schwall, Denny) 18:30 Luge Men’s Singles – Run 2 (Benshoof, Myles, Niccum) Cesana Pariol 19:00 Freestyle Skiing Ladies Moguls Final Sauze d’Olux Jouvenceaux Athletes TBD after qualifying round – (20 skiers) 19:00 Figure Skating Pairs Short Program (Rena Inoue and John Baldwin/Santa Palavela Monica, Calif.; Marcy Hinzmann/Columbus, Ohio and Aaron Parchem/Auburn Hills, Mich.) *Bold Denotes Medal Competition Friday, February 10, 2006 Volume 1, Issue 5 Inoue and Baldwin, Parchem and Hinzmann Kick Off U.S. Figure Skating The United States last won a medal in pairs figure skating when Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard collected the bronze in 1988. Since then, U.S. teams have finished just off the podium, including a fourth-place finish by Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen in 1998 and a fifth-place finish by Ina and partner John Zimmerman in 2002. Whether or not the U.S. medals this year will depend on the execution of one of the most technically demanding free skates currently being done in the world. Reigning U.S. champions Rena Inoue (Santa Monica, Calif.) and John Baldwin (Santa Monica, Calif.) are chasing that potential medal, and they have in their arsenal a move that no other pairs team has ever accomplished – the throw triple Axel. Inoue and Baldwin landed the high- scoring move for the first time at the 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and since then the team has been aiming high. “Before, I [wasn't] even thinking about getting into the top 10 or thinking about bringing a medal back to the U.S.,” Baldwin said after he and Inoue won the gold at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in late January. “With the score at nationals, is a bronze medal possible? No question about it. If we skate a clean program there’s maybe a few other teams in the entire world that can get a better technical score.” Marcy Hinzmann (Columbus, Ohio) and Aaron Parchem (Oak Park, Ill.) earned a trip Baldwin and Inoue to Torino by finishing second at the U.S. Championships – their highest placement ever. They’re relatively inexperienced competing against the elite international field, having paired up for the first time in 2003. Their first Grand Prix event was last October, where they finished fifth in an impressive debut. Even more impressive was the fact that Hinzmann had reconstructive surgery for a torn ACL just a year ago. She suffered the injury during practice in August 2004 but skated through the 2004-05 season, finishing third with Parchem at the 2005 U.S. Championships. Hinzmann had surgery in January 2005 and was off the ice for four months, resuming skating in mid-May. The team won the bronze medal at the 2005 Nebelhorn Trophy five months later. He wasn’t, as the team displayed a solid program to upset defending U.S. champions Katie Orscher and Garrett Lucash to take the second Olympic spot. Among the medal favorites in pairs are 2005 World champions Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin of Russia, who captivated the world after coming back from a dangerous and dramatic fall just five months earlier at the 2004 Skate America event. Joining them in Torino are 2005 World silver medalists and Russian teammates Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov. Parchem and Hinzmann Also battling the Russians will be the strong Chinese teams, including 2005 World bronze medalists Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang, 2005 World fourth-place finishers Qing Pang and Jian Tong, and 2003 World champions and 2002 Olympic bronze medalists Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao, who are back on the world scene after Zhao snapped his Achilles tendon in late summer. The pairs short program takes place Saturday, Feb. 11, at 19:00. at Torino’s Palavela. Inoue and Baldwin skate fourth, in the first warm-up group. Hinzmann and Parchem skate 10th, in the third warm-up group. Torino Weather High/Low Sestrière Weather High/Low Sat., Feb. 11 Partly Cloudy 38°/23° Sat., Feb. 11 Partly Cloudy 31°/11° Sun., Feb. 12 Mostly Sunny 37°/24° Sun., Feb. 12 Partly Cloudy 29°/16° Friday, February 10, 2006 Volume 1, Issue 5 Hakkinen Leads U.S. Team in Saturday’s 20km Biathlon The U.S. Olympic Biathlon team begins its quest for their first medal on Saturday with the men’s 20K competition. The 20K Individual is by far the most grueling event in biathlon and especially so here in San Sicario. Five challenging 4K loops and four shooting stages await the field of approximately 90 men. With its mountainside location, the San Sicario tracks promise two things: uphills and downhills. The downhill stretches which nearly graze the Bobsled/Luge run require a good technical skiing and management of the sweeping turns where time can be gained or lost. The uphill stretches which seem endless are through an open meadow, which snakes up to the stadium. Once in the stadium, the planners added another surprise: a short, but steep hill in the final 400 meters before reaching the shooting range. Combining these tracks at an altitude of 1600 meters will definitely challenge the athletes’ fitness and focus. Most focused of the U.S. biathletes is Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, Alaska). The 1997 Junior World Champion comes to the 2006 Olympic Winter Games with a single focus: to win a medal. Hakkinen is the all time top U.S. finisher in Olympic competition, placing 13th in the pursuit competition at in 2002. As he said in an earlier interview, “I have been to the Olympics twice—once for experience and then getting the 13th place in Salt Lake City. The next step is a medal. I have focused all of my training on these Games.” Close behind Hakkinen is high school friend and roommate Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, th Alaska). Teela was the surprise 14 place finisher in this event in 2002. Jay Hakkinen The two other U.S. men, Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) and Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, N.Y.), are first-time Olympians. Both Burke and Bailey have good experience at both Biathlon World Championships and in World Cups. Benshoof Heads Up U.S. Luge Team’s Medal Hopes in Men’s Singles Only one slider has ever raced to more than one men’s singles Olympic title and that’s Germany’s Georg Hackl, who has captured three. Italy’s Armin Zoeggeler will try to become the second, and the first ever to defend his Olympic title in front of his home crowd, on his home track Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 11-12, in Cesana Pariol, Italy. Also considered a possible medal contender is U.S. Team member Tony Benshoof (White Bear Lake, Minn.). The 30-year-old, 2002 Olympian slid to bronze during November’s World Cup race and gold during the Challenge Cup event and believes that the 19-curve course fits his style of sliding. Tony Benshoof “This track is a high speed track which is a good thing for me,” remarked Benshoof, who also holds the track record of 52.070 seconds. “I’ve got a very good aerodynamic position on the sled and that’s a very good advantage for me. Also, I’ve been a very good starter. Historically, I’ve been in the top-five and this track has a very long, drawn out start and that should give me a good advantage.” Benshoof, USA Luge’s all-time leader in singles medals won, is also looking to rebound from a 17th-place finish four years ago. “I’m looking at these Olympics as an entirely new race and I’m not trying to top anything and I’m not trying to prove anything,” added Benshoof. “I’m going to approach this race like I do any other race, and that’s to have fun and do what I do best and really try to enjoy the moment.” In addition to Benshoof, the U.S.