All About the Track

Sadly, I spent this morning's women's bobsled runs on a train to the airport, so couldn't watch it live and didn't see the first two runs of the event until I got home.

But I followed the action via iPhone and have to say that I couldn't be happier for Lauryn Williams for two reasons.

First, by all accounts, she's known as being one of the nicest athletes in track and field. Like anything else, Oly sports has tons of fabulous, amazingly sweet athletes. And a couple divas. 

It's no different than every aspect of life from freshman soccer in high school to any office in America. We all want to root for nice people and Lauryn is it. Better still, I made the interview rounds a couple times with driver Elana Meyers in Vancouver and she's also one you've gotta like. 

But, more to the point, I'm pleased to finally see Lauryn get some credit. 

Admittedly, the notion of winning gold at the end of your first season is just crazy, and I feel bad for athletes who committed years of work to the sport and didn't make the cut. 

But I also feel bad for Lauryn and the rest of the athletes who've spent all season taking a backseat to the Lolo Show. 

There's a lot of people who will say that Lolo got her position on the team because she's a media magnet. I can't imagine that's true and she does have both solid results and a damn good work ethic, so I'm not questioning her place on the team. 

What grates on my nerves, though, is the constant Lolo coverage. I think there was this concept that Lolo would bring the sport more media attention and I suppose it did, but was there a trickle down effect for her teammates? If anything, one could argue that they got less coverage as individuals. 

Take the official team announcement on the Today Show several weeks ago. It was probably a five or six minute segment on Lolo with a live interview and cutaway features which is awesome. 

But the only time her teammates came into play was 10 seconds at the end where she introduced them and they waved in the background. 

And it's a stacked group. The former USA 1 included Meyers who is a returning bronze medalist and Aja Evans who is simply a badass brakeman who was quite possibly the best in the world coming into Sochu

Driver Jamie Gruebel has won four medals on the circuit this season.

And if we want to talk track cred, Lauryn holds a silver and a gold from the Summer Games. 

Which you would think would be more impressive than knocking over a hurdle in Beijing. 

Apparently not. 

But today's coverage made me happy for Lauryn and Elana. They're leading after two heats and the chatter has begun about whether Lauryn could become the second U.S. Olympian to win both summer and winter gold. 

The talk has returned to what it should be: results. 

Elana and Lauryn are in first, Jamie and Aja are in third. 

Anything can happen, but hopefully anything involves a cluster of Americans on the podium and the Star-Spangled Banner playing in the background and those at the top will finally get a proper place in the spotlight.