Olympians To Watch Out For At Sochi 2014

We introduce you to the Olympians to look out for

olympians

by Sophie Wilkinson |
Published on

Belle Brockhoff – Canada - Snowboard

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Openly gay Belle, has, in quite a measured way, pointed out that she’s not going to the Games to be political. ‘I'm not going to go around to every kid in Russia and say, “Hey, gay is OK.” That's not why I'm there.' She told the BBC: 'I was never even thinking about doing that. I just want to support the LGBT community.’ Ok, so she doesn’t plan to flout Russia’s draconian laws, but she’s proudly out, and that's still pretty brave in this day and age.

Jason Brown – USA – Figure skating

Not only is this a beautiful performance, it’s also incredibly camp and he might very well win the Gold for the USA. Check out the above video of the ponytailed 19-year-old spinning like a beautiful emerald yoyo at an earlier competition.

The Great Britain Curling team – actually, all of the curling teams

 

Boulles is one of those so-simple-it-can’t-be-an-Olympic-sport sports. So some genius put it on ice. As with all things on ice, it’s made all the more fabulous for it (if you don’t believe us, check out that Jason Brown video above), and even includes the use of brooms. Just FYI, they’re scrubbed along the path of the stone that’s just been pushed, to temporarily heat up the ice, turning the top few molecules of it to water so the stone slides across. Cool, huh?

Lolo Jones – USA – Bobsleigh

 

You might remember the name Lolo Jones. This is because the 31-year-old represented USA at the 2012 London Summer Olympics in hurdling. So, what’s she doing at the Sochi Games? Well, she decided she’d give bobsledding a go, and after a lot of work – she had to gain weight for it after not getting onto the team in 2008 - she’s become really good at it. Oh, and she’s also a very public virgin. A devout Christian, she once said: ‘If there’s virgins out there, I’m going to let them know, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life—harder than training for the Olympics, harder than graduating from college, has been to stay a virgin before marriage.’

Tatyana McFadden – USA – Para-Nordic Skiing

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Another Summer Olympian, Russian-born American Tatyana McFadden is normally a wheelchair racer. And she’s a pretty good one – the 24-year-old won every wheelchair medal at every distance (three golds in all) at the 2012 Paralympics. This year, though, she’s been selected as a Para-Nordic skier for Sochi. Not that it needs a sob story to make her any more awesome, but when you consider she was left at a Russian orphanage as a child, suffering from spina bifida and walking on her hands, she’s done particularly well. She says ‘Life is about just winning the mental battle, whether you put that in sports or your personal life.’

Kelly Gallagher – Great Britain – Paralympic Skiing

 

28-year-old Kelly is Britain’s best hope of a Paralympic medal – she came in fourth place in Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Games. But she says her main goal is to show other partially-sighted skiiers that they can do it, too. ‘It would mean such a lot to me if my success could help provide a role model for the parents of some other visually-impaired little girl to see me and think, “there's no reason why my child shouldn't do this”.’ She told the BBC: ‘Seeing the ability rather than the disability is the important thing.’

Prince Hubertus of Hoehnlohe-Lagenburg – Mexico – Downhill Skiing

 

The 55-year-old von Hohenlohe is the second-oldest Winter Olympian. Born in Mexico, he actually lives in Europe and is a German prince. Seriously – that’s potentially why he’s so damn good at skiing. After all, there aren’t exactly many skiing locations over in Mexico. After re-visiting his home country, he realised how beautiful the traditional mariachi dress was, so will be skiing in a mariachi-themed ski-suit. ‘The power to have your own identity is so strong and something I believe in so I want to give it a go in a very cool, elegant way.’ He told NBC: ‘I want to celebrate who they are, but of course in my own style.’

Lizzy Yarnold – Great Britain – Skeleton

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Team GB’s greatest hope of a gold medalist actually enjoys hurtling down a Skeleton race course on a sheet of carbon and fiberglass at 90mph, withstanding pressures of 5g on her helmet: ‘I love the feeling that you're almost out of control, and going faster and faster all the time. It is a little crazy but I love it’ the 25-year-old told The Guardian.

** Chemmy Alcott – Great Britain – Alpine Skiing**

 

With a 20cm metal rod forming part of her leg, she is ‘completely bionic’. The appendage was fitted after a nasty accident she had during a ski jump in 2010 shattered the bones of her right leg. The accident was such a shock that the 33-year-old ski jumper has no memory of it: ‘I was up at the start gate and trying to stay in a relaxed mood,' she told the Daily Mail: 'And I realised that the Italian girl in front of me was wearing a thong as I could clearly see the outline. It made me laugh. Then my memory is a total blank.' However, she has managed to qualify since, despite repeated injuries, and has got a great mental outlook: ‘It’s how you respect fear’ She told the BBC: ‘ I respect fear, fear is me caring about my result.’

Bruno Banani – Tongo - Luge

 

Born Fuahea Semi, the 21-year-old is the first Tongan to have qualified for the Winter Olympics. Following the demands of Makei, the Californian marketing company looking to get German underwear company Bruno Banani on board, he officially changed his name to Bruno Banani so he could get sponsorship from the company. And promote its kecks, of course. This hairbrained idea worked for Makei, and now they count Bruno Banani (the company) as part of their client list. But will it work for Bruno? He’d never seen snow, let alone a luge, until 2008.

And finally, don't forget to check out the entire Canadian Bobsleigh Team, who we've been shamelessly objectifying from afar all week...

Follow Sophie on Twitter... @sophwilkinson

**Pictures: Getty **

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

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