News stories tagged with "vancouver-2010"

(02/04/10) The Winter Olympics open Feb. 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and this year, ski cross will make its debut. The sport has been a favorite of the Winter X Games. Skiers come out of the gates four at a time, competing for space on the narrow, twisty half-mile course and jockeying for position. They finish in about 50 seconds and get up to speeds of 50 mph, with lots of twists and turns and bumps and jumps along the way. But the sport is also controversial. At the Nature Valley World Cup ski cross final in Lake Placid, N.Y. last month, a skier from France was paralyzed from the waist down. NPR's Melissa Block has our story.

(02/03/10) Four years ago, the US Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, then based in Lake Placid, fell into turmoil just before the Winter Olympics in Turin. The team dismissed head-coach Tim Nardiello following allegations of sexual harassment. Top athletes were knocked out of competition by freak accidents and a controversy involving performance-enhancing drugs. Team leaders say they've rebuilt the organization and developed a powerful new stable of athletes - including Lake Placid's John Napier - who could return to the podium in Vancouver. But as Brian Mann reports, the Americans will have to compete without one of its best bobsledders.