Sochi'14

Perhaps what best defines Noelle Pikus-Pace is that smile. It's seldom not there…even after she got hit by a bobsled, fracturing her leg and derailing her dreams of the Olympic Winter Games on the eve of what was supposed to be her golden moment. She smiled from her hospital bed and vowed she'd be back…and she is. In 2010, after a remarkable return to competition and a stop off at motherhood, Noelle finished fourth at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, but that wasn’t good enough. She’s coming to Sochi for another shot at the gold, this time as a mother of two.

Noelle's comeback bid has been nothing short of sensational. Having taken her last competitive skeleton run at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Noelle has returned to competition without missing a beat. She began with a pair of World Cup bronze medals in back-to-back competitions, then won silver, then gold, before laying down a scorching run in the team event at the 2013 World Championships to lead Team USA to the gold medal. She followed that up just days later with a silver medal in the World Championships individual event. Two weeks later Noelle wrapped up the pre-golden moment season by winning the prestigious Olympic Test Event/World Cup in Sochi, Russia…establishing herself as the gold medal favorite at this year's Olympic Winter Games.

Paired in 1997, the acclaimed duo is the longest-running ice dancing partnership in the history of United States figure skating. As a child, Meryl wished to glide atop the frozen surface of the Michigan lake adjacent to her home, so learning to ice skate at the age of five was a natural choice. Charlie, who grew up just down the street from Meryl, started even younger, beginning to skate at age three.

Not content to rest on their laurels, Meryl and Charlie are focused on the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. They continue to train in Canton, Michigan with longtime coach Marina Zoueva, with the goal of standing on the top step of the podium in Sochi and making history by becoming the first-ever American ice dancing Olympic Champions. Davis and White dominated the international skating scene during the 2012/2013 season, standing atop the podium at all six competitions they entered. By winning gold at the 2013 World Championships, the team made figure skating history, becoming the only U.S. ice dancing team to ever win two world titles, positioning them as the team to beat at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Alana Nichols 4-Time Medalist

Sport:

Wheelchair Basketball, Alpine Skiing

Home:

Farmington, New Mexico

College:

University of Arizona & University of Alabama (Master's Degree in Kinesiology)

Growing up, Alana Nichols was very active and competitive, playing softball in high school until she broke her back in a snowboarding accident at the age of 17. However, her accident didn’t keep her out of competition for long. She began playing wheelchair basketball at the University of Arizona just two years later. Nichols then made the U.S. women’s national wheelchair basketball team in 2005 and competed at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, helping her team bring home gold.

In 2002, Santa Fe Ski Resort offered Nichols a grant that would allow her to learn adaptive skiing. She took on mono-skiing and excelled quickly. After returning from the 2008 Paralympic Games, Nichols began competing with the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) in Winter Park, CO. At the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Nichols was the top medal winner for Team USA: 2 Golds (Downhill, Giant Slalom), 1 Silver (Super G), 1 Bronze (Super Combined).