Fun and goofy off-ice bonding is no guarantee of Olympic success. Still, the U.S.
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Doctors wish they wouldn'tWhy this US cold snap feels bone-shattering when it's not record-shatteringLindsey Vonn's decision to compete with a torn ACL is risky but 'possible,' experts saySome people tape their mouths shut at night. Doctors wish they wouldn'tHow to create a calming 'nature nook' with indoor plantsPope Leo XIV faces crisis as a traditionalist group plans bishop consecrations without consentAcusan a Trump de distorsionar guerra entre México y EEUU para justificar mano dura en LatinoaméricaSportsSpeedskater Casey Dawson of Park City, Utah, speaks to the media at the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speedskating at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Jan. 4, 2026. Speedskater Casey Dawson, of Park City, Utah, speaks to the media at the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speedskating at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Jan. 4, 2026. Casey Dawson, of Park City, Utah, right, and Ethan Cepuran, of Glen Ellyn, lllinois, left, compete in the men’s 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speed skating at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. Speedskater Casey Dawson of Park City, Utah, speaks to the media at the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speedskating at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Jan. 4, 2026. Speedskater Casey Dawson of Park City, Utah, speaks to the media at the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speedskating at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Jan. 4, 2026. Speedskater Casey Dawson, of Park City, Utah, speaks to the media at the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speedskating at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Jan. 4, 2026. Speedskater Casey Dawson, of Park City, Utah, speaks to the media at the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speedskating at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Jan. 4, 2026. Casey Dawson, of Park City, Utah, right, and Ethan Cepuran, of Glen Ellyn, lllinois, left, compete in the men’s 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speed skating at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. Casey Dawson, of Park City, Utah, right, and Ethan Cepuran, of Glen Ellyn, lllinois, left, compete in the men’s 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speed skating at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. starting Saturday does see value in the odd-as-can-be plastic foot attached to a phone case and the schoolkid’s pink, heart-festooned backpack that“It keeps me humble. It keeps me grounded. It puts a smile on my face every time I see it. It’s kind of ridiculous, but it’s fun. It keeps everything fun and light-hearted,” said Dawson, a 25-year-old from Park City, Utah, whose first event at this Winter Games comes Sunday in the men’s 5,000 meters. “Unfortunately, the timing is the Games,” he said. “So I have to carry it around for the biggest stage in the world.”By bringing up the rear during the NFL’s 2024-25 season in a 10-team league based on football players’ individual statistics, he was stuck with the loser’s gear for speedskating’s 2025-26 season. All of the fantasy squads in the competition are managed by speedskaters, most of whom, including Brittany Bowe, Mia Manganello, Sarah Warren and Zach Stoppelmoor, qualified for the Feb. 6-22 Olympics in Italy. “It’s a good distraction the stress of competing,” Cepuran said. “We’re not just talking about speedskating all the time on the road or at practice.” The league — organized by skater Jon Tobon, this season’s champion — began five years ago with just a bit of money at stake.“At the end of the season, we were just like: ‘We’ve got to have a punishment,’” explained Cepuran, who will enter the mass start on Feb. 21 and join Dawson and Emery Lehman, a 29-year-old from Oak Park, Illinois, in theon Feb. 15 and 17. The United States holds the world record in team pursuit and took home bronze from the 2022 Beijing Olympics in that event. With the goal of having more than cash at stake, someone — nobody seems to remember who — came up with the idea of the backpack, which has a small plush heart attached. Dawson, who clearly needs to get some pointers on how to succeed at fantasy football, and Lehman were in last place the first two seasons. “Emery wore it so well that nobody even noticed. Nobody even really cared,” Cepuran said. “We were like: ‘You’ve got to make people care about what’s going on.’ We decided to add a phone case.” The winner picks two silly-looking phone cases, and the other folks involved vote on which one is used.Lehman again wound up last in the most recent NFL season, whichHe’ll be retiring after these Olympics, his fourth, and heading into the real world: Lehman has been studying financial planning in hopes of a job in that sector and plans to work with skaters at a Chicago rink he grew up going to.“I think my punishment is I’ve got to come back ... to skate a 1,500,” Lehman said. “That’s worse than carrying the pink backpack. I’d rather carry the pink backpack.”
2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Games Olympic Games Fantasy Sports Speed Skating Skating Winter Olympic Games Sports Betting Utah Send To Apple News Wisconsin 2026 Winter Olympics UT State Wire WI State Wire Zach Stoppelmoor Sports Jon Tobon Ethan Cepuran NFL Football Mia Manganello Brittany Bowe Sarah Warren
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