The Skeleton
A lesser known Olympic sport is the skeleton. Skeleton is a head first sled race to the bottom of a steep ice track. It originated in St. Moritz, Switzerland where there is a famous natural skeleton track called Cresta Run. Skeleton was featured in both the 1928 and 1948 Olympic Games in St. Moritz. It returned to stay at the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Snowboarding
As far as sports go, snowboarding is rather new. It was developed right here in the United States in the ‘60s as a combination of surfing, skateboarding, and skiing. At first it was a bit challenging for the sport to grow in popularity. There was tension between skiers and snowboarders. Eventually, however, snowboarding proved its worth and is now widely popular and accepted. It was introduced to the Olympics in 1988.
Jake Pates of Eagle, Colorado will be competing in the halfpipe event in Pyeongchang. Pates was 8 when he started snowboarding. He participated in the 2016 X Games in Oslo, Norway. He also won gold at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. At age 19, this year will be his first time competing at the Olympics. In his free time, Pates teaches youth skateboarding. He also enjoys skateboarding, fly fishing, and spending time with friends. You can check out Jake’s Olympic debut and men’s halfpipe on February 13 at 2:30pm and 14 at 5:15pm.
Be sure to cheer on Jake, Katie, Troy, Mikaela, and the rest of Team USA this year, February 9-25. No matter what sports you like, chances are the Olympics have something to offer for you. The Olympic Games also include curling, figure skating, the luge, speed skating, and more. Hopefully you will enjoy watching the 2018 games hosted in gorgeous Pyeongchang.
Katie Uhlaender will be racing for team USA this year. Uhlaender participated in the 2014 Sochi games, 2010 Vancouver games, and the 2006 Torino games. She will be the first American skeleton racer to go to the Olympics four times. Uhlaender is 33 years old and from Breckenridge, Colorado. She enjoys speedy activities like skiing, snowboarding, kiteboarding, and of course skeleton. She has a passion for photography, writing, and film which she hopes to use as a writer or producer after her skeleton career. Although she’s already been to the Olympics three times, Uhlaender still hasn’t won a medal yet. Or so everyone thinks. In 2014, Katie came in 4th place in Sochi. 3rd place went to Russian Elena Nikitina. When it was discovered that Nikitina was using performance enhancement drugs, her bronze medal was taken. It’s likely that Nikitina’s medal will be given to Uhlaender. Be sure to catch the women’s skeleton competitions on February 16 at 5:00pm and 17 at 5:30pm. Will Katie finally win her place on the podium?