WINTER OLYMPICS
Tune in starting Feb. 6 on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, NBCSN, and USA.
Q: Is women’s ski-jumping a new event for 2014?
—Kate M., Denver
A: Yes. Men have competed since 1924, but it took persistent lobbying by female athletes like U.S. ace Lindsey Van, 29 (not to be confused with ski racer Lindsey Vonn), to get in on the action. Jessica Jerome, 26 (above), was the first to qualify for the U.S. women’s team.
Q: Is it unusual for siblings to compete in the same sport at one Olympics?
—Bev T., Bangor, Maine
A: No. Speed skaters Eric and Beth Heiden, who both medaled in 1980, are perhaps the most famous example. But at Sochi, the U.S. men’s and women’s hockey teams will include
their first brother-sister duo: the Kessels, Phil (26) and Amanda (22).
Q: Was Jamaica’s first-ever bobsled team surprised by their sudden fame in 1988?
—Chris G., Huntington, N.Y.
A: They sure were, according to team member Devon Harris, 49. Now a motivational speaker living in New York State, he helped anchor the underdog warm-weather team during the games in Calgary. The competition ended in a crash for them, but they charmed fans and inspired the 1993 film Cool
Runnings. Says Harris, “We spoke to something innate: the drive to pursue our dreams, no matter how impossible they seem.” Q: Isn’t Sochi an odd location for the Winter Olympics? —Amanda R., Arlington, Va.
A: Well, yes. Sochi is a subtropical beach- resort town in western Russia, nearly as warm as Atlanta. But the Caucasus Mountains are nearby and organizers say if real snow is scarce, they have snowfall from last winter stored under thermal blankets as well as the machinery to make it.