Colorado Olympic exploratory committee rep to meet with Eagle County officials

USOC seeks fan input on Best of the Games awards as 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics conclude

With the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics concluding Sunday, a representative of the exploratory committee looking into a possible 2030 Colorado Olympic bid will brief the Eagle County Commissioners during the board’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 27.

The United States finished a distant fourth behind Norway (a record 39), Germany (31) and Canada (29) in the final medal tally with 23 — a far cry from its previous record of 37 total medals at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics — but there were some inspiring individual and team efforts by Americans, including from some Eagle County residents.

EagleVail’s Mikaela Shiffrin will come home after the World Cup season next month with a gold in giant slalom and silver in combined — a performace that earned her a nomination for Female Olympic Athlete of the Games by the United States Olympic Committee. Fans can vote online at TeamUSA.org/Awards through Friday, March 16 (more info below).

Also back in the Vail Valley with more Olympic hardware after the World Cup season is Lindsey Vonn, who won a bronze in the Pyeongchang dowhill. But first Vonn and Shiffrin have some unfinished business on the World Cup circuit.

Shiffrin is looking to wrap up her second straight overall title, getting her halfway to Vonn’s American record of four overall titles, while Vonn is looking to add a few more wins as she chases the overall World Cup victory mark of 86 by Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark.

Vonn, currently in possession of the women’s record of 81 career wins, gets her first shot March 3-4 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, with a super-G and combined. Then there are GS and slalom races March 9-10 in Ofterschwang, Germany, followed by the World Cup Finals March 12-18 in Are, Sweden, where every discipline will be contested. Shiffrin currently has a commanding overall lead of 1,513 points to 842 for Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener.

Shiffrin, 22, will be 26 at the next Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022, and will be 30 for the Olympics after that in 2026 — in a location that has not yet been determined. The USOC, however, says it will not pursue a bid for those Winter Games, instead focusing on 2030. Shiffrin would be 34 at those Games — or one year older than Vonn is now.

Vonn, 33, became the oldest woman to medal in alpine ski racing at the 2018 Games but says she won’t compete in 2022.

Here are the details on the Colorado exploratory committee meeting in Eagle next week (and ways to provide input via an online survey):

Commissioners to hear from Olympic Exploratory Committee

Feb. 22, 2018 – The Eagle County Commissioners will hear from Reeves Brown, community engagement consultant to the Olympic Exploratory Committee, at their regular meeting on Feb. 27. The meeting begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday with the item scheduled fifth for discussion. The agenda in its entirety can be viewed at www.eaglecounty.us/commissioners.

Brown will discuss the potential of Colorado hosting a future Winter Olympic Games. He will share information and respond to questions from both elected officials and the public. All interested community members are encouraged to attend.

The meeting will be aired live on ECGTV, channel 18 on both cable providers in the Eagle Valley, and streamed live at www.ecgtv.com. Those unable to attend can provide feedback to the exploratory committee until March 3 via an online survey at www.sharingthegold.org.

And here are more details on the USOC voting for the Best of the Games:

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – The United States Olympic Committee today announced the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 finalists for the Team USA Awards presented by Dow, Best of Games, which recognize the outstanding performances of Team USA athletes at the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games. Fans are invited to vote for their favorite athletes and teams at TeamUSA.org/Awards throughFriday, March 16.

The Team USA Awards honor the athletes and teams of the Games in six categories:

• Female Olympic Athlete of the Games, presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods
• Male Olympic Athlete of the Games
• Olympic Team of the Games, presented by Dow
• Female Paralympic Athlete of the Games
• Male Paralympic Athlete of the Games
• Paralympic Team of the Games, presented by Dow

A nominating committee selected the 2018 Olympic finalists for the individual athlete and team categories based on nominations from each National Governing Body.

The six award winners will be announced during the Team USA Awards presented by Dow, Best of the Games, to be held on Thursday, April 26 in Washington, D.C. The awards show will be televised as a 90-minute feature for the first time ever, and will run on NBCSN on May 12 from 6-7:30 p.m. ET.

In addition to Dow, the presenting sponsor, the Team USA Awards are supported by DICK’S Sporting Goods and USG.

Olympic finalists for Team USA Awards presented by Dow, Best of the Games

FEMALE OLYMPIC ATHLETE OF THE GAMES
Jamie Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, California), Snowboarding 
Jamie Anderson defended her slopestyle gold medal and added a silver medal in the Olympic debut of big air. The two-time Olympian became one of only three U.S. snowboarders to earn three Olympic medals, joining Olympic veterans Kelly Clark and Shaun White.

Brittany Bowe (Ocala, Florida), Long Track Speedskating
After battling back from a potentially career-ending injury, Brittany Bowe skated to four top-five finishes, including a historic bronze medal in women’s team pursuit that ended a 16-year women’s drought. Bowe also finished fourth in the 1,000-meter, fifth in the 500 and fifth in the 1,500.

Chloe Kim (Torrance, California), Snowboarding
In her first Olympic Games, Chloe Kim nailed a 98.25-point victory lap run in halfpipe after posting a 93.75 on her first run to secure the win. She is the youngest woman from any nation to win a gold medal in snowboarding.

Elana Meyers Taylor (Douglasville, Georgia), Bobsled
Elana Meyers Taylor earned her third consecutive Olympic medal, claiming silver with teammate Lauren Gibbs. The three-time Olympian is now tied for the most decorated bobsled athlete in the United States, joining Steve Holcomb and Patrick Martin with two silver medals and one bronze.

Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colorado), Alpine Skiing 
Mikaela Shiffrin earned her second Olympic title with her gold-medal performance in women’s giant slalom, as well as the silver medal in alpine combined. Joining Julia Mancuso and Bode Miller, she is now one of three Americans to medal in three alpine events.

MALE OLYMPIC ATHLETE OF THE GAMES
Red Gerard (Silverthorne, Colorado), Snowboarding 
At 17 years old, Red Gerard became the youngest American snowboarder to win an Olympic medal. Gerard posted an 87.16 in his third run on the course to move into the top position and claim the gold medal. In addition, he finished just off the podium (fifth) in big air’s Olympic debut.

John-Henry Krueger (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Short Track Speedskating
After posting the fastest qualification time in the semifinals, Olympic rookie John-Henry Krueger earned the silver medal in the men’s 1,000-meter. His medal marked the first individual speedskating medal for Team USA since 2010.

Chris Mazdzer (Saranac Lake, New York), Luge
Chris Mazdzer became the first American man and first non-European man to win a medal in singles luge, taking home silver. He was in fourth place after the first two runs and jumped to second position on his third run after setting a track record.

Shaun White (Carlsbad, California), Snowboarding
With an impressive 97.75-point final run to claim gold, Shaun White became the first snowboarder to ever win three Olympic gold medals and is the first American man to win gold medals at three Olympic Winter Games. He now owns the second most gold medals among U.S. men in the Olympic Winter Games.

David Wise (Reno, Nevada), Freestyle Skiing
David Wise delivered a flawless final run to defend his Olympic title in halfpipe. The two-time Olympian landed four double corks to score 97.20, topping the leaderboard in what he calls the best run of his career.

OLYMPIC TEAM OF THE GAMES
Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minnesota) and Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska), Cross-Country Skiing
Olympic veterans Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall won the gold medal in women’s team sprint freestyle, giving Team USA its first Olympic medal in women’s cross-country skiing and first gold medal in the sport. Diggins made a remarkable push in the last leg of the race to edge Sweden by 0.19 seconds.

U.S. Olympic Men’s Curling Team 
After starting the tournament 2-4, the U.S. men’s curling team rallied to win four-straight games, topping three-time defending Olympic champions Canada to qualify for its first-ever gold medal match. Behind skip John Shuster (Superior, Wisconsin), Tyler George (Duluth, Minnesota), Matt Hamilton (McFarland, Wisconsin), John Landsteiner (Duluth, Minnesota) and Joe Polo (Duluth, Minnesota) went on to capture the gold medal in the final game against Sweden, marking the best finish for an American curling team.

U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team
For the first time since 1998, Team USA defeated rival Canada for the Olympic gold medal in women’s ice hockey. The U.S. women bested the four-time Olympic champions, 3-2, in a shootout after tying the game in regulation with 6:21 to go.