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The Olympics are a showcase for the best young athletes in the world. Who's got that golden touch this year?
By SHARON GINN, Times Staff Writer
Published February 6, 2006
[AP photos]
Shaun White
Kimmie Meissner
It happens every Olympics - some impossibly young athlete takes the Games by storm as the world watches.
Who will be the next stars? It's still too early to say, but here are the most likely candidates, just in time for Friday's opening ceremonies. In many ways they're just like you: They like to hang out with their friends, listen to music and do their sports. Anyone who ever dreamed of climbing atop the podium to accept a gold medal will marvel at their speed, grace and precision.
SHAUN WHITE
AGE: 19
SPORT: Snowboarding
COUNTRY: United States
WHY HE'S COOL: Is it the fact that he's a heavy gold medal favorite in the halfpipe? Is it his long, bright red hair, which inspired the nickname "Flying Tomato"? Is it the fact that he's also a pro skateboarder who became the first athlete to compete in both the Winter and Summer X Games? He barely missed qualifying for the 2002 games as a 15-year-old and since then has become the most recognizable and dominant halfpipe snowboarder in the world. In recent months he won all five of the Grand Prix events that were used to choose the Olympic team.
KIMMIE MEISSNER AGE: 16
SPORT: Figure skating
COUNTRY: United States
WHY SHE'S COOL: Meissner is only the second American woman in history to land a triple axel in competition. She did it at the 2005 U.S. Figure Skating Championship, launching herself into third place. That would have given her an automatic spot in the world championship, but Meissner was too young to qualify. An 11th-grader in Maryland, Meissner attends classes in the morning and practices for three hours in the afternoon. She finished second to Sasha Cohen at this year's nationals and plans to try the triple axel at the Olympics.
LINDSEY KILDOW and JULIA MANCUSO
AGES: Both 21
SPORT: Alpine skiing
COUNTRY: United States
WHY THEY'RE COOL: Friendly rivals since their days at youth ski camp, they'll compete together in five events: the downhill, combined, super G, slalom and giant slalom. For them the big race may be the super G. At last year's world-championship, medal favorite Kildow finished ninth in that event, while Mancuso surprised everyone by winning the bronze. Kildow is an intense competitor, while Mancuso is laid-back and affable, but Mancuso said they bring out the best in each other. "The better I do, the better she does, the better I'm going to be," she said.
SARAH PARSONS
AGE: 18
SPORT: Ice hockey
COUNTRY: United States
WHY SHE'S COOL: The youngest member of the U.S. Olympic hockey team, Parsons made her debut with the team at the 2005 World Championship. A forward, she scored two goals in her first game. Parsons is a recent high school graduate who was considered by many to be the No. 1 high school player in the country last year. She will play for Dartmouth College, but first she's taking a year off to focus on the Olympics.
LINDSEY JACOBELLIS
AGE: 20
SPORT: Snowboarding
COUNTRY: United States
WHY SHE'S COOL: Jacobellis is a favorite in the snowboard cross, and a medal contender in the halfpipe, events she said are totally different to prepare for. She won gold at the 2004 and 2005 Winter X games and at the 2005 World Championship in snowboard cross, and ranked eighth at the worlds in the halfpipe. Jacobellis may be edgy on the snowboard but she's a softie off it: In honor of a neighbor with cancer, she once donated 10 inches of her curly blond hair to Locks of Love, which makes wigs for kids who have lost hair because of chemotherapy or health problems.
HANNAH TETER
AGE: 19
SPORT: Snowboarding
COUNTRY: United States
WHY SHE'S COOL: Teter has been one of the world's best women's halfpipe riders almost since the 2002 Salt Lake Games. She won the 2004 Winter X Games, the 2004 Grand Prix and took bronze at the 2005 World Championship. A native of Belmont, Vt., Teter enjoys making maple syrup every winter with her family and carries some of it with her when she travels. Two of her three older brothers are on the U.S. snowboarding team, and the eldest is the family's manager.
TED LIGETY
AGE: 21
SPORT: Alpine skiing
COUNTRY: United States
WHY HE'S COOL: Ligety is an up-and-comer who might be peaking at the right time. He won his first World Cup medal, a bronze, in December in the slalom, and since then has won another bronze and a silver. He is the youngest member of the U.S. men's alpine skiing team, and is one of several strong medal contenders in the group. At the 2002 Salt Lake games, Ligety appeared as a forerunner (someone who skis the course before the race) for the men's slalom event.
JIN SUN-YU AGE: 17
SPORT: Short-track speed skating
COUNTRY: South Korea
WHY SHE'S COOL: Jin, who just turned 17, is one of the youngest athletes at these Olympics - and already among the most accomplished. At the World Championship last year, she won gold in the 1,500 meters and silver in the 1,000 meters on the way to being named the overall champion. She also won the 2005-2006 World Cup title. She is as close to a medal certainty as one can be in an aggressive, frenetic sport like short track, where the difference between gold and disqualification can be one small error that leads to a spill on the ice.
DALE BEGG-SMITH
AGE: 21
SPORT: Freestyle skiing
COUNTRY: Australia
WHY HE'S COOL: The Canadian/Australian dual citizen is one of the world's best in moguls, the name for those bumpy trails down the slopes. He won a bronze medal in the 2005 World Championship, and is second in this season's World Cup standings. But Begg-Smith is not only a master of moguls, he is a mogul. At age 13, he started an online marketing company in his native Canada that designs search engines and pop-up blockers for about 5,000 Web sites. It has funded his skiing career - and a $300,000 Lamborghini that he drives when he is in Vancouver.
CAROLINA KOSTNER
AGE: 18
SPORT: Figure skating
COUNTRY: Italy
WHY SHE'S COOL: Kostner, who beat out Michelle Kwan for a bronze medal at last year's World Championship, is the first Italian woman to medal in that competition in 27 years, and only the second ever. Her father was captain of the Italian Olympic hockey team at the 1984 Olympics, and her godmother (a second cousin) is a three-time Olympic medalist in alpine skiing. Kostner was chosen to carry the flag for Italy in the opening ceremonies, and called it "a very great honor to represent Italy and young people around the world." She is already quite the ambassador: She speaks five languages (Italian, German, English, French and Ladinic, a local dialect) and lives in Germany.
- Sources: NBCOlympics.com, Associated Press, U.S. Olympic Committee. Sharon Ginn writes a weekly TV/radio column Fridays in the Times Sports section.
