My friend/neighbor competed in the US National Trials to make the Olympic team in February. She does the skeleton and is amazing at it! She took first place a couple weeks ago in Lake Placid, New York, she was the World Skeleton Champion two years ago, and was going to compete last Olympics, when a bob sled took out her knee right before the Olympics. Since this race was going to be in Park City, I wanted to go support her. Her husband made her sled for her this year. The sled has to meet certain criteria in order to race with it, including weight. I guess she was a little light, so she decided to put chocolate bars inside her sled to meet the weight, then after racing is complete, she will have a snack.
When we pulled up into the Olympic Park, we could hear the national anthem. Oh no! We were going to miss the race! The luge is so big! So my friend Shawna and I started sprinting up the mountain. One guy just shook his head and said that we were very "ambitious." I didn't want to miss seeing her race! We got there just in time.
I could not believe how fast they go in the skeleton. If you notice in my picture, I only got her feet (and barely). She was going 79mph head first when she passed me. We were at the finish line for the first race, and at the starting line for the second race. Although, as soon as she went past us, we ran down the mountain to get to the finish line. We got there just in time for them to announce that she won and the press was going nuts at her. The World Cup is in Park City in a couple of weeks. She is for sure on the Olympic team though. She only needed to make 3rd place, and she took 1st in both races. She is such a humble and inspiring person. I didn't even know she did this when I first met her. Every single racer wore black spandex with black helmets. B O R I N G I love that she wears hot pink. It makes her stand out. Also, right before the race, the other competitors were getting "in their zone". It was almost comical watching them. Noelle would just be chatting with people, then go, "Oh! It's my turn!" and then race.
Zac watched the kids so I could go to Park City in peace. He thought this picture was so funny. I don't get it. She's in sunglasses. Great.
