How U.S. Winter Olympic athletes are selected

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Curling
The first athletes chosen to compete for the U.S. Olympic team in the Turin Winter Games were from the sport of curling, which became an official medal sport in 1998. Ten men's and 10 women's teams participated in the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which were held Feb. 19-26, 2005.

The women’s team of Cassie Johnson, Jamie Johnson, Jessica Schultz and Maureen Brunt won the trials to claim an Olympic berth.

Johnson's squad enters the Olympics as the No. 1 ranked team in terms of performances at the past three world championship events, where they claimed gold in 2003 and silver in ’05. In ’04, the lost the bronze medal match.

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The winners of the men’s competition were Pete Fenson, Shawn Rojeski, Joe Polo and John Shuster.

Fenson's rink was the runner-up in the 2004 Nationals, and won the gold in 1993, ’94 and ’03. He was also a world semifinalist in ’93.

The men's team is ranked eighth out of 10 teams, but has shown promise after finishing tied for first in the round robin of the ’05 world championships with five other teams.

CONTINUED : Figure skating