Athletes from the Reno / Lake Tahoe region will be well represented at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Reno / Lake Tahoe Olympians will compete in alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding events. You'll see Olympic veterans like Daron Rahlves and Julia Mancuso, along with first timers Tim Jitloff of Reno and Errol Kerr, who trains at Alpine Meadows but represents the Jamaica Ski Team.
Photo © Harry How / Getty ImagesAt 36, Daron Rahlves of Sugar Bowl, CA, is practically a senior citizen on the U.S. Ski Team. Ski cross is the newest Olympic freestyle skiing event and Daron Rahlves will be racing for ski cross gold at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Photo © Harry How / Getty ImagesJulia Mancuso of Olympic Valley, CA, was born right here in Reno, NV. Once she got up to speed on the slopes at Squaw Valley, she grabbed several Junior World Championships medals before moving on to two World Championships medals and a record for most consecutive top three finishes in the U.S. Championships.
Photo © Harry How / Getty ImagesNate Holland of Squaw Valley, CA, will be competing in his second Olympics at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Holland has won gold medals at the Winter X Games four times in a row, a record for snowboard cross competitors.
Photo © Harry How / Getty ImagesMarco Sullivan was born in Truckee and now lives in Squaw Valley, CA. As a kid in the Sierra Nevada and close to so many Lake Tahoe ski slopes, Sullivan learned to go fast early and has developed into a world-class competitor.
Photo © Harry How / Getty ImagesElena Hight of South Lake Tahoe, CA, will be competing in her second Olympics at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. She was a competitor at the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, where she came in 6th in the women's snowboard halfpipe.
Photo © Harry How / Getty ImagesShannon Bahrke, raised in Tahoe City, CA, was born right here in Reno, NV. She began her skiing career as an alpine racer, then switched to freestyle and moguls after being talked into giving it a try by a coach at Squaw Valley.
Photo © Doug Pensinger / Getty ImagesStacey Cook hangs her hat up in Truckee, CA, when she's not skiing at Mammoth Mountain or one of the international events she competes in yearly. Cook began her skiing career at Lake Tahoe, switching to training at Mammoth when she decided to seriously pursue the competitive life.
Photo © Matthew Stockman / Getty ImagesTim Jitloff is based right here in Reno, NV. Like many locals, he started skiing up at Lake Tahoe as a little kid and has never stopped. Progressive improvements got Jitloff into the 2007 World Championships.
Photo © Jed Jacobsohn / Getty ImagesErrol Kerr has dual citizenship and lives in Truckee, CA. He will be going to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games under the flag of the Jamaica Ski Team to race in the freestyle skiing event of ski cross. Alpine Meadows up at Lake Tahoe has a partnership with the Jamaica Ski Team and that's where Kerr trains.
Photo © Harry How / Getty ImagesHannah Teter is going into the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games at the top of her sport. The halfpipe champ won gold at the 2006 Winter Games in Torino and has picked up numerous halfpipe wins all over the world.
Photo © Doug Pensinger / Getty ImagesGreg Bretz, 19, has already been shredding the snowboard slopes in his hometown of Mammoth Lakes, CA, and elsewhere around the world.
