Much attention is paid to those athletes with golden Olympic and world championship achievements. Beneath this tier of star Olympians exists another group who have both the talent and the persona to become a story in their own right. Some have just begun to reach the pinnacle of their sport, while for others, their trajectory has them well on their way.
Take these five American winter athletes who, with the right breaks, could emerge as stars in February.
Nate Holland - Snowboard Cross
Age (in 2010): 31
Hometown: Sandpoint, Idaho
At the 2009 Winter X Games, snowboard cross specialist Nate Holland made history by becoming the first athlete to win four straight gold medals at the annual competition. The unprecedented achievement was only a small consolation for the wily Idaho native who crashed at the event's debut at the 2006 Olympic Games, despite being considered a prime candidate for the inaugural gold medal.
Instead, it was teammate Seth Wescott who would land atop the podium and emerge as the face of the sport. One of the more well-liked riders on the circuit, the poor showing in Torino couldn't damper the experience for Holland who says he won't soon forget the Opening Ceremony.
"We walked in like we were rock stars on a stage, like we were Van Halen," says Holland. "We started throwing high kicks and pointing at cameras and sticking our tongues out."
Since Torino, Holland has remained among the sport's elite, and should be considered just as much a threat as Wescott. While the former high school football safety doesn't shy away from contact, his strengths lie in his ability to glide the straight-aways.
Holland, who has traveled to Afghanistan and Iraq to support American troops stationed abroad, is confident he'll be able to translate his Torino experience to 2010 success. "For one, my eyes won't be as big as saucers this time," Holland says.
J.R. Celski - Short Track
Age (in 2010): 19
Hometown: Federal Way, Washington
Apolo Ohno finally has some American competition, in the form of J.R. Celski. First inspired to switch to short track after watching Ohno's 2002 gold medal performance on television, Celski announced his arrival by winning four medals at the 2009 World Championships. Though it might be premature to crown Celski "the next Ohno", his emergence is a boon for U.S. short track.
For Celski, whose father put him on inline skates at age three, success has not been without sacrifice. He first moved to Long Beach, Calif. at age 14 to get the best coaching available. His oldest brother, Chris, made the move with him since his parents weren't able to relocate at the time. "I learned from him (Chris) and he put me in my place at times," Celski says.
Though the Ohno comparisons will surely persist, Celski says, "At first I liked it, but I'm my own person, just like you are and everybody else." At times both contemplative and effervescent, the recent high school graduate will defer enrollment at the University of California-Berkeley until fall 2010. Celski made the decision on the advice of an English teacher who told him, "School is a place and the Olympics float in time." Celski skates with abandon, employing an aggressive style that can result in spectacular wins or equally spectacular disqualifications, and it could pay off with multiple medals in February.
Kevin Pearce - Halfpipe
Age (in 2010): 22
Hometown: Norwich, Vermont
Also looking to carve his own space in the crowded sports landscape is Vermont product Kevin Pearce. Ever since Shaun White won halfpipe gold in Torino, it's been all White all the time. But subtlety, slowly, challengers have emerged, eying the red-maned action sports icon. Principally among them is Pearce, who is one of the most talented riders of the noted FRENDS crew. The group of seven purportedly eschew individual acclaim for the traditional ethos of snowboarding, and form a legitimate threat to White's halfpipe supremacy.
Pearce was introduced to snowboarding by a group of uncles who were early pioneers in the sport. Family friend and business mogul Jake Burton gave Pearce his first snowboard as a child, one of the first boards ever created specifically for children. Pearce and his three brothers, one of whom, David, has Down syndrome and is an accomplished skier at the Special Olympics, spent most of their time growing up on a four-foot mini ramp their father built in the back of the family's barn. It was in those days, while watching the U.S. sweep the men's halfpipe at the 2002 Games, that Pearce knew he wanted to be an Olympian. "That was the moment when I realized that this really does mean something. It was heavy," Pearce says.
Katherine Reutter- Short Track
Age (in 2010): 21
Hometown: Champaign, Illinois
Katherine Reutter will likely be the top female contender racing on skates for the U.S., counting the speed skating and short track disciplines. The two-time national champion went to the same high school as Olympic legend Bonnie Blair, and it was Blair, in a speech given to student-athletes, who pushed Reutter to make the necessary sacrifices to succeed on the international level. "After talking to her I was like, this what I have to do, this is the way you become a champion," Reutter says. At just her second world championships in 2009, Reutter managed fourth in the 1500m and fifth in the 1000m and helped lead the U.S. to fourth in the relay. It will be a tough task to defeat the strong Chinese women, led by multi-gold medal contender Wang Meng, but Reutter finds extra motivation in the challenge. While training at the Salt Lake City Olympic oval, she positions herself directly in front of the Chinese flag during jump-rope exercises.
Steve Holcomb - Bobsled
Age (in 2010): 29
Hometown: Park City, Utah
Since Torino, driver Steve Holcomb has emerged as the strongest American medal threat in bobsled - despite battling a degenerative eye disease that nearly left him blind. Lasik eye surgery in 2000 not only failed to improve his condition, but actually made it worse and by 2007 he was close to retiring from the sport. In March 2008, Holcomb underwent a radical new procedure, implanting a lens behind each iris, to restore his vision from 20-500 to 20-20. The improved eyesight was disorienting at first for a driver that had learned to steer on instinct, but Holcomb is now fully adjusted to what he calls "life in high definition."
At the 2009 World Championships, Holcomb's victory in the four-man event ended a 50-year world title drought for the U.S. The former National Guardsman also added a world bronze in the two-man event. Holcomb's world championship triumph was a testament to the efforts of the Bo-Dyn Project, which has been building American sleds since 1992. NASCAR veteran Geoff Bodine created the project after he noticed U.S. Olympic bobsled athletes competing with European-made sleds. The project provided Holcomb with the Night Train, a nearly untested prototype that debuted during the 2008/09 season.
After piloting the sled for the first time, Holcomb knew it was perfect. Problem was, it only had a coat of primer paint and the team didn't have time to paint it before sending it off to Europe for the season. Now, having ridden it to the pinnacle of the sport, Holcomb refuses to ditch the distinctly matte-black finish. As for the other riders, what do they think of the modern paint job? "Oh, they hate it. They hate it because it kicks their ass. It's just so different and it's so fast," Holcomb says. Team Night Train could win medals in both the two-man and the four-man events in Vancouver.
