Olympics Top Ten List (2 of 10): The Americans

Here are a list of ten American athletes competing at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia; some have already competed and some have not.

For a list of ten more Americans at the Olympics, go to our sister blog: http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com


1) Erin Hamlin (pictured top) Luge. Age 27. New Hartford, NY

2) Gus Kenworthy (pictured center). Free-style skiing. Telluride, Colo.

3) Heather Lynn Richardson (pictured bottom). Speed-skating. Age 24. High Point, NC.

4) Andy Newell. Cross-country skiing. Weston, Vermont.

5) Gracie Gold. Figure Skating. Age 18. Newton, Mass.

6) Justin Olsen. Bob-sledding. Age 26. San Antonio, Tex.

7) Lanny Barnes. Women's Biathlon. Age 31. Durango, Colo.

8) Jeremy Abbott. Figure Skating. Age 28. Aspen, Colo.

9) Mikaela Siffrin. Women's Alpine Skiing. Age 18. East Burke, Vermont.

10) Aaron Blunck. Free-style skiing. Age 17. Crested Butte, Colo.

http://www.teamusa.org/

http://www.nbcolympics.com/

http://erinhamlin.com/

http://usspeedskating.org/

UPDATE 02/11/14: Kudos to Erin Hamlin; she won bronze in women's luge and she is the first American to ever medal in the Olympics at the sport. Hamlin can also been in the United Airlines tv spot that is running during the games.

Olympic Athlete Profiles (20 of 25)- Andre Lange/men's bobsledding/Germany

I was initially hoping for a photo of Andre Lange, 36, performing in his sport, but this image was too good to pass up!

Lange won his fourth gold medal (over a span of several Olympics) at the Vancouver games in the two-man bobsled competition. With his achievement, Lange became the first man to win three consecutive gold medals in the two-man competition.

The German bobsledder is in his third cosnecutive Olympics, and at the Turin games, he won the four-man competition with teammates Kevin Kuske, Rene Hopper and Martin Putze.

In total, Lange has won 14 medals, eight of them gold, in his international career.

He may add to his total if the German team wins the four-man bobsled competition before the end of the Vancouver games. They were first after a preliminary run in which the American team, helmed by Steve Holcomb was in second place.

Canada's bobsled driver Lyndon Rush told NBC that Lange is essentially the Michael Jordan of the sport:

"Andre is the great one," Rush said. "The say the cream rises to the top, Andre Lange is the cream."

Lange told NBC that he was amazed by his good luck streak in Olympic competition:

"When I started bobsledding 17 years ago, I would have never thought of such a victory," Lange said.