2014 WINTER OLYMPICS - SOCHI RUSSIA 22,597

2014  WINTER  OLYMPICS
SOCHI, RUSSIA

Finally! 2014 US Winter Olympic Team's Ralph Lauren Uniforms Will Be Made In USA

In 2012, the world was shocked to learn that the uniforms worn by the Winter Olympic team were actually made in China. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise, since a large percentage of all clothes worn by Americans are created in other countries, often by workers in dangerous factories who make next to nothing. The incident was a PR disaster for Ralph Lauren, who designed the uniforms, and a missed opportunity for the American economy. The controversy had an immediate effect on the fashion company, which announced that for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, all of Team USA’s uniforms will be made by domestic craftspeople.

http://inhabitat.com/finally-2014-us-winter-olympic-teams-ralph-lauren-uniforms-will-be-made-in-usa/

*  Special thanks to "Google Images, "Getty Images", "Wikipedia .com",
and all things Olympic on the Internet

BLOG  POST

by Felicity Blaze Noodleman

Los Angeles, CA

1.24.14

Has it happened to you yet?  Winter Olympic fever is beginning to fill the air!  For two weeks, February 7 – 23, the US Olympic teams will compete with other athletes from around the world for fame and medals in Sochi, Russia.  Their names, many of whom are unknown now will become household words as the United States cheers them onto victory.  Americans will be transfixed as we see them preform their athletic magic setting new records for the books.  We may even remember Olympians from years past and be reminded of past Olympic champions who excelled for excellence in their sport from the world over.

The Winter Olympics have a magic all of their own.  They sparkle; they glimmer and glow; they have a shimmer which is unmatched by any other sporting event anywhere.  Maybe it's because of the pristine condition of the snow and ice.  Maybe it's because of the energy all of the athletes bring with them in this harsh winter atmosphere.  Everything considered, one thing is certain, the Winter Olympics above all is enough to generate excitement in the world of sports! For a brief time the athletes will all be tested in the fire of competition in this cold and frigid environment.  Only a few of the best will walk away with bronze, silver and gold to be the 2014 winners.

This marks the first time that the Russian Federation will have hosted the Winter Games – the Soviet Union hosted the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow. Sochi, the host city for 2014, has a population of 400,000 and is located in the third largest region in Russia – Krasnodar.  With all the snow we've been having in the United States, it's too bad we can't send some of it for the Olympics!  You know, a little something extra from home to help our athletes!

While you may not be familiar with Sochi, they believe “if you build it, people will come.” See below for a map of Sochi, home of the 2014 winter Olympics.

http://mediaplussea.com/sochi-2014-advertising-olympics/

Sochi Olympic Facilities Construction

An aerial view from a helicopter shows the Olympic Park under construction in the Adler district of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, December 23, 2013. Sochi will host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in February. The view shows (clockwise from R, top) the "Fisht" Olympic Stadium, the "Shayba" Arena, the "Bolshoy" Ice Dome, the "Ice Cube" Curling center, the "Adler Arena" and the "Iceberg" Skating Palace. Picture taken December 23, 2013. (REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)

Team USA athletes will compete in the following sports at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi:

• Biathlon
• Bobsled
• Curling
• Figure skating – ice dance, pairs, singles (men’s and ladies), team
• Ice hockey
• Luge
• Short track speedskating
• Skeleton
• Skiing – alpine, cross country, freestyle, jumping/Nordic combined
• Snowboarding
• Speedskating

The Games will be organized in two clusters: a coastal cluster for ice events in Sochi, and a mountain cluster in the Krasnaya Polyana Mountains. This will make it one of the most compact Games ever, with approximately 30 minutes travel time from the coastal to mountain cluster.

The Sochi Olympic Park will be built along the Black Sea coast in the Imeretinskaya Valley, where all the ice venues such as the Bolshoi Ice Palace, the Maly Ice Palace, the Olympic Oval, the Sochi Olympic Skating Centre, the Olympic Curling Centre, the Central Stadium, the Main Olympic Village and the International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre, will be built anew for the 2014 Games.  The mountain cluster in Krasnaya Polyana will be home to all the skiing and sliding sports. There will also be a sub-media center in the mountain cluster.  Many of the US athletes photos and information may be found at  http://www.teamusa.org/Athletes

We've tried to round up all the team photos available but at this time some do not exist on the Internet but we are happy to share those we have found.  Some of these photos will probably not be possible until the games transpire in February!  At this time we are finding much information related to everything Olympic but we know things will not be finalized until the games unfold so we want to see the "NBC" telecast to get the full story.  So far here is what we know and have!

The faces of these young athletic hopefuls simply beam and glow with joy; all of the young faces from around the world!  All are hopeful to be the best in their competition.  The Olympic games only award three medals - gold, silver and bronze, but we must recognise that all have gold in their hearts and many will continue their quest for recognition in some form or another when the games are over. Some may even return for the next Olympic Winter Games.  This may be the essence of the Olympic spirit, but for now we want to focus on our United States Olympians. 

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics Speed Skating team trials were held this past week in Park City, Utah and JJJ has the full list of athletes who are heading to Russia!

Shani Davis and Heather Richardson lead the long-track team which also includes Brittany Bowe, Lauren Cholewinski, Kelly Gunther, Maria Lamb, Sugar Todd, Anna Ringsred, Jilleanna Rookard, Jonathan Garcia, Tucker Fredricks, Mitch Whitmore, Brian Hansen, Jonathan Kuck, Emery Lehman, Joey Mantia and Patrick Meek.

“I think we’re pretty strong and really happy and satisfied with the team we’ve built,” U.S. national long-track coach Ryan Shimabukuro shared. “From a coach’s perspective, I think we’re taking one of our strongest teams to the Olympic Games.”

The short-track team is made up of Eddy Alvarez, Jessica Smith, Emily Scott, Alyson Dudek, J.R. Celski, Chris Creveling, Jordan Malone and Kyle Carr.

Credit: Matthew Stockman; Photos: Getty

US Biathlan Team  Biathlon is the winter Olympic sport combining cross-country skiing and rifle marksmanship. Alternating skiing and shooting, Biathletes compete under the pressure of the clock that continues to run even as they stop to shoot. There is a penalty for each missed shot so Biathletes must balance speed on the course and on the range with shooting accuracy. The athletes shoot from two positions - Prone and Standing - in various different sequences depending on the competition. In each shooting stage the athlete has five shots to hit five targets 50m down range. The target hit area for prone is 4.5cm (less than 2 inches) and 11.5cm (about 4.5 inches) for standing. When hit, the black target turns white showing everyone the shot hit the target - or not.

https://www.facebook.com/Biathlon.TeamUSA

(L-R) U.S. men's bobsled national team members who comprised USA-1 in the national team trials, Chris Fogt, Steve Langton, Curt Tomasevicz, Steven Holcomb.PARK CITY, Utah (Oct. 27, 2013)-A powerhouse roster of three pilots and 11 push athletes were named to the 2013-2014 men’s bobsled national team this morning following a series of four selection races. The national team will race in eight World Cup events starting the week of Nov. 24 in Calgary, Canada before culminating in Sochi, Russia for the Winter Olympic Games.

http://www.teamusa.org/Road-to-Sochi-2014/Features/2013/October/27/US-Mens-Bobsled-National-Team-Named

(L-R) Elana Meyers; (top-bottom) Emily Azevedo, Katie Eberling, Aja Evans; Jamie Greubel; (top-bottom) Lolo Jones, Kristi Koplin, Lauryn Williams; Jazmine FenlatorPARK CITY, Utah (Oct. 26, 2013)-The 2013-2014 women’s bobsled national team is composed of a diverse roster of veteran and rookie athletes eager to carry the momentum from last season into the upcoming Olympic year.  The national team will race in a series of eight World Cup events before the season culminates in Sochi, Russia for the Winter Olympic Games.

http://www.teamusa.org/Road-to-Sochi-2014/Features/2013/October/26/US-Womens-National-Bobsled-Team-Named

L-R: Polina Edmunds (silver), Gracie Gold (gold), Mirai Nagasu (bronze), Ashley Wagner (pewter) pose during the awards at the 2014 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Jan. 11, 2014 in Boston.

BOSTON – The 2014 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships were no exception to the typical drama, excitement and top-notch competition figure skating fans have come to expect from one of the Olympic Winter Games’ most popular sports. After four days of triumphs, disappointments and surprises, U.S. Figure Skating nominated its 15-member U.S. Olympic Team based on results from a series of international and national events dating back to January 2013. All nominations are pending approval by the United States Olympic Committee.

http://www.teamusa.org/Road-to-Sochi-2014/Features/2014/January/12/Meet-The-2014-US-Olympic-Figure

LAS VEGAS N.V.JAN19-2014.WORLD FINANCIAL GROUP CONTINENTAL CUP CURLING.TEAM NORTH AMERICA.CCA/MICHAEL BURNS PHOTO - BY TERRY KOLESAR | JAN. 19, 2014

(LAS VEGAS) - Team North America retained the World Financial Group Continental Cup title with a 36-24 win over Team World tonight at the Orleans Arena. Team North America's team includes USA's Brown (Oakville, Ontario), Debbie McCormick (Rio, Wis.), Jessica Schultz (Minneapolis, Minn.), Ann Swisshelm (Chicago), John Shuster (Duluth, Minn.), Jeff Isaacson (Virginia, Minn.), Jared Zezel (Hibbing, Minn.), and John Landsteiner (Duluth, Minn.). The team also included Canada's Brad Jacobs, Ryan Fry, EJ Harnden, Ryan Harnden, Jennifer Jones, Kaitlyn Lawes, Jill Officer, Dawn McEwen, Jeff Stoughton, Jon Mead, Reid Carruthers, Mark Nichols, Rachel Homan, Emma Miskew, Alison Kreviazuk, and Lisa Weagle.  Many will make up the US men's and women's Olympic teams.

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Curling/Features/2014/January/19/North-America-wins-Continental-Cup 

Meryl Davis and Charlie White compete in the free dance program during the U.S. championships on Saturday in Boston. (Jared Wickerham / Getty Images)
Meryl Davis of West Bloomfield and Charlie White of Bloomfield Hills on Sunday officially were named to the U.S. figure skating team
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140112/SPORTS07/301120030#ixzz2r9KbzpZx
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140112/SPORTS07/301120030

No team Photo's available at this time

Women’s Hockey Team:  We are thrilled to announce that SHEEX Sleep Ambassador Kelli Stack has been named to the 2014 Team USA Women’s Olympic Hockey Team! Kelli will head to Sochi (Russia) next month as a Forward on the team that looks to build upon Team USA’s Silver Medal at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Kelli returns to competition after suffering a knee injury, and she attributes proper rest and recovery with SHEEX to propel her back to an Olympic spot. Kelli tells us, “Rest is very important in my training and recovery and when I sleep on my SHEEX, I wake up well rested and ready for the work that lies ahead!” Team USA Hockey will step onto the ice for their first Olympic round on February 8th.

http://blog.sheex.com/2014/01/07/sheex-sleep-ambassador-kelli-stack-named-to-team-usa-2014-womens-olympic-hockey-team-en-route-to-sochi/

Mens Hockey Team:  

Goaltenders

35Jimmy Howard6-02183/26/1984LOgdensburg, N.Y.Detroit Red Wings39Ryan Miller6-21757/17/1980LEast Lansing, Mich.Buffalo Sabres32Jonathan Quick6-12181/21/1986LMilford, Conn.Los Angeles Kings

Defensemen

No.NameHt.Wt.BirthdateS/CHometownCurrent Team4John Carlson6-32121/10/1990RColonia, N.J.Washington Capitals72Justin Faulk6-02153/20/1992RSouth St. Paul, Minn.Carolina Hurricanes3Cam Fowler6-119612/5/1991LFarmington Hills, Mich.Anaheim Ducks7Paul Martin6-12003/5/1981LElk River, Minn.Pittsburgh Penguins27Ryan McDonagh6-12136/13/1989LSt. Paul, Minn.New York Rangers44Brooks Orpik6-22199/26/1980LAmherst, N.Y.Pittsburgh Penguins22Kevin Shattenkirk5-112071/29/1989RNew Rochelle, N.Y.St. Louis Blues20Ryan Suter6-11981/21/1985LMadison, Wis.Minnesota Wild

Forwards

No.NameHt.Wt.BirthdateS/CHometownCurrent Team42David Backes6-32215/1/1984RMinneapolis, Minn.St. Louis Blues23Dustin Brown6-021211/04/1984LIthaca, N.Y.Los Angeles Kings24Ryan Callahan5-111803/21/1985RRochester, N.Y.New York Rangers88Patrick Kane5-1118111/19/1988LBuffalo, N.Y.Chicago Blackhawks17Ryan Kesler6-22028/31/1984RLivonia, Mich.Vancouver Canucks81Phil Kessel6-020210/2/1987RMadison, Wis.Toronto Maple Leafs74T.J. Oshie5-1118912/23/1986RWarroad, Minn.St. Louis Blues67Max Pacioretty6-221911/20/1988LNew Canaan, Conn.Montreal Canadiens9Zach Parise5-111907/28/1984LMinneapolis, Minn.Minnesota Wild8Joe Pavelski5-111907/11/1984RPlover, Wis.San Jose Sharks26Paul Stastny6-020512/27/1985LSt. Louis, Mo.Colorado Avalanche12Derek Stepan6-01966/18/1990RHastings, Minn.New York Rangers21James van Riemsdyk6-32005/4/1989LMiddletown, N.J.Toronto Maple Leafs28Blake Wheeler

http://www.examiner.com/list/2014-u-s-olympic-men-s-ice-hockey-team-roster-projection

http://olympics.usahockey.com/page/show/1067902-roster

Men and Women Luge:

http://www.usaluge.org/

Go to http://www.usaluge.org/team?type=national for more detailed information.

Jessica Jerome, Sarah Hendrickson and Lindsey Van clown around as they are announced as the U.S. women’s ski jumping team at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. They will shortly leave for the Olympics in Sochi. Posted: (January 23, 2014 by kirisyko in News, Ski Jumping, Winter)
http://sykose.com/2014/01/23/the-u-s-women-who-led-the-fight-for-female-ski-jumpers-inclusion-in-the-winter-olympics-are-now-part-of-the-games/

IGLS, Austria (Jan. 18, 2014) - The U.S. Bobsled & Skeleton Federation (USBSF) today announced the athletes who will represent the United States in the women’s and men’s skeleton events at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.  All U.S. Olympic Team nominations are subject to approval by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

Noelle Pikus-Pace (Orem, Utah) and Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) earned the two women’s spots.  Matt Antoine (Prairie du Chien, Wis.), John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Kyle Tress(Ewing, N.J.) qualified for the three available men’s positions.

A star-studded line-up of six athletes have been nominated to the women’s bobsled team. Jamie Greubel(Newtown, Pa.), Elana Meyers (Douglasville, Ga.) and Jazmine Fenlator (Wayne, N.J.) earned their positions as the top three ranked U.S. pilots in international standings. Greubel has claimed five World Cup medals, including today’s win, and currently leads the U.S. women in points as the second ranked driver in the world. Meyers has collected six medals so far this season, two of them gold, and is just one point behind Greubel in world ranking. Fenlator earned one medal to-date this season and is ranked seventh, putting all three U.S. pilots in the top 10 international standings.

Aja Evans (Chicago, Ill.), Lauryn Williams (Miami, Fla.) and Lolo Jones (Des Moines, Iowa) have been nominated as the women’s push athletes. Driver and push athlete combinations will be decided at a later date. Evans proved herself as a contender after pushing Meyers to a silver medal on the 2014 Olympic track in Sochi’s test event last season, and has earned four medals this season. Williams, a three-time Olympic sprinter and 2012 4x100-meter relay Olympic gold medalist, turned heads when she finished third in the 2013 U.S. National Push Championships after just three days of training, and she’s claimed three medals in the four competitions she’s entered. Jones, a two-time Olympic hurdler and two-time World Indoor Champion, started the sport last season and made a case for her Olympic berth with two medal performances this season. Williams and Jones are only the ninth Americans to compete in both the winter and summer addition of the Olympic Games. 

2014 US Olympic Snowboarding Team Announced

The majority of the US Olympic slopestyle and halfpipe team was announced at the Mammoth Main Lodge after the final Mammoth Grand Prix on Sunday, Jan. 19th. The rest of the team will be named Tuesday pending an assessment of points and coaches final picks.

Here’s who’s been named to the team so far…

US Olympic Men’s Snowboarding Slopestyle Team

Shaun White

Sage Kostenburg

Chas Guldemond

US Olympic Women’s Snowboarding Slopestyle Team

Jamie Anderson

Ty Walker

US Olympic Men’s Snowboarding Halfpipe Team

Shaun White

Taylor Gold

Greg Bretz

Danny Davis

US Olympic Women’s Snowboarding Halfpipe Team

Kelly Clark

Arielle Gold

Kaitlyn Farrington

Hannah Teter

http://business.transworld.net/146170/features/2014-us-olympic-snowboarding-team-announced/

OC

Opening ceremony

●

Event competitions

1

Event finals

EG

Exhibition gala

CC

Closing ceremony

February		6th Thu	7th Fri	8th Sat	9th Sun	10th Mon	11th Tue	12th Wed	13th Thu	14th Fri	15th Sat	16th Sun	17th Mon	18th Tue	19th Wed	20th Thu	21st Fri	22nd Sat	23rd Sun	Events
Ceremonies			OC																CC
Alpine skiing					1	1		1		1	1	1		1	1		1	1		10
Biathlon				1	1	1	1		1	1		1	1		1		1	1		11
Bobsleigh												●	1	●	1			●	1	3
Cross country skiing				1	1		2		1	1	1	1			2			1	1	12
Curling						●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1			2
Figure skating		●		●	1		●	1	●	1		●	1		●	1		EG		5
Freestyle skiing		●		1		1	1		1	1			1	1		2	1			10
Ice Hockey				●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	●	●	1	2
Luge				●	1	●	1	1	1											4
Nordic combined								1						1		1				3
Short track speed skating						1			1		2			1			3			8
Skeleton									●	1	1									2
Ski jumping				●	1		1			●	1		1							4
Snowboarding		●		1	1		1	1				1	1		2			2		10
Speed skating				1	1	1	1	1	1		1	1		1	1		●	2		12
Total events				5	8	5	8	6	6	6	7	5	6	5	8	6	7	7	3	98
Cumulative total				5	13	18	26	32	38	44	51	56	62	67	75	81	88	95	98
February		6th Thu	7th Fri	8th Sat	9th Sun	10th Mon	11th Tue	12th Wed	13th Thu	14th Fri	15th Sat	16th Sun	17th Mon	18th Tue	19th Wed	20th Thu	21st Fri	22nd Sat	23rd Sun	Events

98 events over 15 disciplines in 7 sports were included in the 2014 Winter Olympics. The three skating sports disciplines are figure skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. The six skiing sport disciplines are alpine, cross-country skiing, freestyle, Nordic combined, ski jumping and snowboarding. The two bobsleigh sports disciplines arebobsleigh and skeleton. The other four sports are biathlon, curling, ice hockey, and luge. A total of twelve new events will be contested to make it the largest Winter Olympics to date.  Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each sports discipline.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Winter_Olympics

So concludes our look at the 2014 US Olympic teams who will be going to Sochi Russia.  We must confess this article was somewhat more difficult than anticipated because many of the athletes are soloists in their own right and have not assembled for team photos.  They will not be together until their arrival to Sochi and even then may not be photographed together.

At this time we feel this article should contain another story concerning a terrorist threat to the Sochi games.  We don't understand this threat since it is terrorism which has been spawned within Russia itself and is directed at Russia.  "NPR" brings us an update.  This has been Felicity with the "Noodleman Group"!

"NPR"

Russians Fear A Sochi Legacy Of 'Black Widows,' Not Gold Medals

Shoppers at a department store in Sochi, Russia, pass an information banner with photos of suspected terrorists wanted by police. The color photo shows Ruzanna Ibragimova, the 22-year-old widow of an insurgent. Police say she has been spotted in recent days in central Sochi.

AFP/AFP/Getty Images

by COREY FLINTOFF

January 24, 2014 3:35 AM

Two weeks before the Winter Olympics, Russian security forces are reportedly searching for potential suicide bombers, at least one of whom may already be in the host city of Sochi.

The suspects are thought to be linked to Islamist militants who are fighting to throw off Russian control and create a fundamentalist Muslim state in Russia's North Caucasus Mountains.

Police have been circulating leaflets at hotels in Sochi, warning about women who may be part of a terrorist plot.

They are known as "black widows," sent to carry out suicide bombings in revenge for husbands or family members killed by security forces.

It's a tactic that's been used before, to devastating effect, by a Chechen rebel leader named Doku Umarov.

Last June, Umarov released a video that showed him in a forest, flanked by jihadi fighters. He called on Islamist militants to do everything in their power to wreck the Olympics, which he called "satanic dances on the bones of our ancestors."

Umarov has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly suicide attacks in the past, including bombings in Moscow in 2010 and 2011 that killed more than 70 people.

Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian security issues, says that Umarov is an important influence on other jihadists in the region, "but his actual authority within the insurgent movement is exceedingly limited. Essentially, it's symbolic more than anything else."

Galeotti, a professor at New York University, says that's because the insurgency is composed of autonomous cells scattered across a rugged area that stretches for hundreds of miles.

It makes the rebel network hard to combat, because each cell plans and carries out its own operations.

Earlier this week, an insurgent group based in Dagestan posted an online video showing two men in explosive vests, saying that unless Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled the Winter Games, they were preparing a "present" for him and the Olympic visitors.

The video also claims that the two men pictured are the ones who carried out a pair of suicide bombings that killed 34 people last month in the southern Russian city of Volgograd.

Although it's only a little more than 400 miles from Sochi, Volgograd is considered to be outside the North Caucasus, a reminder that the insurgents have the power to strike terror beyond their region.

Some analysts say terror may have only been a secondary purpose of the attacks.

"The biggest fear is that these attacks in Volgograd might be some sort of a diversion tactics," says Andrei Soldatov, editor-in-chief of Agentura.ru, a website that acts as a watchdog on the Russian security services. "Before every big terrorist attacks in Russia, militants used diversions. They organized small terrorist attacks in some other regions."

It was only after the suicide attacks focused intense attention on Volgograd that reports emerged that a "black widow" might have infiltrated the security cordon around Sochi.

A leaflet that has been distributed in the Olympic city shows a mug shot of a woman with dark, impassive eyes.

She wears a headscarf.

The leaflet says she is Ruzanna Ibragimova, the 22-year-old widow of an insurgent, and that she has been spotted in recent days in central Sochi.

Galeotti points out that once a suicide bomber has been prepared, he or she must be used fairly quickly.

"Suicide bombers are actually quite fragile weapons," he says. "These people have been groomed, they have been brought to a pitch, where they're ready to give their life. And once they're at that pitch, you can't then put them on the shelf until you're ready."

Even if there is no bomber, and even if the Olympics go off without a hitch, the terrorists may have already succeeded, to some degree, in disrupting the games.

Russian officials acknowledged last week that, so far, only about 70 percent of the tickets for the Olympics have been sold.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/01/24/265433423/russians-fear-a-sochi-legacy-of-black-widows-not-gold-medals

"NPR"

http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2014/01/04/cartoons-day-2014-sochi-olympics/

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