5.9.13
Team USA- Road to Sochi
Sledding is an activity millions of kids and adults love to do in the winter. But take that sled and ride it feet-first down an icy track at almost 100 mph, and that is a sport by another name — luge. And it is no piece of cake. Just ask luger Erin Hamlin. The two-time Olympian — who is about to start an intensive training schedule with the hopes of heading to Sochi with Team USA next year — knows all about cake… and cookies and cupcakes. The winter athlete has a love for baking that started long before her luge career eight years ago.
“My mom and my grandmother are very good at baking,” she said, “so it was one of those things I grew up doing. And I enjoy it a lot. It’s so far removed from sports and my life as an athlete that it’s nice to be able to take my mind off all that.”
Her mom — who lives only three hours away from her daughter’s training center in Lake Placid, N.Y. — still bakes with her only daughter in mind. “My teammates have experienced a lot of my mom’s baking skills because she always sends stuff. So now if I walk down the hall with a box, I’ll suddenly have a lot of friends.” Not that she minds, because as she says, “It’s not necessarily the best thing to have baked goods hanging around all the time when you’re trying to train. So I spread the wealth. I’ll take them to our office and down to the staff around the training center.”
Now she is able to bake the sweet stuff for herself thanks to “a little kitchenette they put in the training center a couple of years ago.” And balancing her training on the ice with her time in the kitchen is helping her with a longtime dream of hers — besides the one she has of earning an Olympic medal one day. This one she has been trying to achieve since she was a little girl, and it requires her to beat her grandma at her town’s annual baking contest.
“In my town in New York there is a baking contest held during the annual arts and crafts fair, and anyone can enter. I did it a couple of times when I was younger (and competed in the kids category), but my mom and grandma have always done it. And my grandma wins almost every year. As I got older I thought I could beat grandma, since I was finally able to try things that were a little more crazy. One year I made chocolate cupcakes with sweet cream cheese filling and a chocolate ganache, and made them to look like the flower, Black-Eyed Susan.”
But despite putting forth a good effort — and a second place finish — she has yet to beat grandma. (read more)
Comments (0) | Permalink | Posted in: Erin Hamlin, Luge, Press |
4.20.13
Classroom Champions- Erin Hamlin: Do You Have What It Takes?
Erin Hamlin, Olympian and World Champion luger, talks to her students from Salt Lake City, UT about what it takes to be a leader. She mentions having a vision and passion and the ability to ignite passion in others. Leaders communicate really well and treat others with fairness and respect. Erin challenges her students to find some situations where they can test their leadership abilities so they can assess and then refine their leadership skills. (video)
(read more)
Comments (0) | Permalink | Posted in: Erin Hamlin, Luge, Press |
4.1.13
Sun Journal
Despite all the twists, turns and aerial acrobatics, the final results of Saturday’s Dumont Cup was a simple flip in the standings. Nick Goepper took the top spot for the second time in three years. Gus Kenworthy, last year’s winner, finished second. Josh Christensen took third for the second year in a row.
An Indiana native, Nick won the day with a final score of 95, giving him two of the best scores of the afternoon. He posted a 93 in his first of three runs.
“It’s awesome to win,” said Goepper, who was fourth in 2010 and has been in the top two every year since. “It’s more of a mellow and relaxed vibe than all the other ones. It’s springtime. It’s usually pretty sunny. You have soft, slushy snow. The New England crowd comes out. So that makes it a little more mellow than some of the bigger contests, but it’s still a platinum event. It still carries a lot of weight. It’s still great to have these grassroots events on the East Coast.”
Goepper is coming off a strong rookie season in 2012. He won a silver in the Winter X Games and won a slopestyle event on the Winter Dew Tour in Utah. He was an amateur when he won the event in 2011. (read more)
Comments (0) | Permalink | Posted in: Nick Goepper, Press, Skiing |
3.14.13
Wall Street Journal
This is a story about a guy who finished last. Which is technically true. You can look up the results of the race, and you’ll see his name, right there, lonely at the bottom. Taylor Phinney. USA. Finishing time of six hours, twenty-two minutes, fifty-four seconds. One hundred-and-ninth place. Last.
But this story is better than that.
First, about Taylor Phinney. Remember that name. You might already know it. Bike racer from Boulder, Colo., 22 years old. The son of two cycling legends, Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter. A big dude on the bike, at 6 feet 5 inches, 180 pounds, Taylor Phinney is one of the most promising young cyclists in the world. He’s already been to the Olympics twice. Won a stage of the prestigious Giro d’Italia last year. He is expected to have many great days in the sport. (read more)
Comments (0) | Permalink | Posted in: Cycling, Press, Taylor Phinney |
3.13.13
SHADE GLOBAL Inc announces the signing of two new clients: 2012 World Champion and Olympic bobsledder Steven Langton, and 2012 Olympic gold medalist diver David Boudia.
“We’re very excited to have Steve and David as part of the SHADE GLOBAL family and are looking forward to working with them both. Steve is one of the best bobsled athletes in the world heading into Sochi 2014. He is training harder than ever to make his second Olympic Games as part of the elite “Night Train” bobsled team. David’s talent was really illuminated at the 2012 London Olympics with a bronze medal win in the synchronized 10m platform, and then a gold medal for 10m Platform dive. They are both outstanding athletes and role models with very promising futures, said Sheryl Shade, President of SHADE GLOBAL.” (read more)
Comments (0) | Permalink | Posted in: Bobsled, David Boudia, Diving, Press, Steven Langton |
