Olympic Things To Look Forward To In 2013

Like I said at the end of my previous post, 2013 is not an Olympic year, and that makes me sad. But then I decided that just wouldn't do! I mean, being sad for an entire year? NOPE! And besides, there are plenty of Olympics things happening in 2013 to get excited about. Here's my list!

1. One year until Sochi 2014: February 7th, 2013.

While, on one hand, Sochi feels like a lifetime away, putting things into perspective is the fact that this countdown was once in quadruple digits. That, my friends, was truly disgusting. So suddenly 365 days sounds like nothing! With the way time is just speeding by, just blink and it'll be here! YAY!

2. 33rd anniversary of the miracle on ice: February 22nd, 2013.

Because we should absolutely be celebrating random anniversaries of this country's greatest Olympic moment ever. If nothing else, it's a great excuse to watch Miracle (psh, as if you need an excuse!).

3. 2020 host city announcement: September 7th, 2013.

Jeez, can you believe we're already thinking ahead to the games in 2020?! Man. I remember when London was selected to host the 2012 games, back in 2005. I went to a NYC 2012 host city support rally on my birthday that year, when I turned FOURTEEN, and I went to London 2012 at age 21. That's literally a third of my lifetime. OH MY GOD! And now we're getting ready to start another one of these massive journeys. Are you ready? I remember where I was when I found out that Rio had won back in 2009, and I watched the announcement of PyeongChang won in 2011. So the battle between Madrid, Tokyo and Istanbul should be another one to file away in the memory bank.

4. Opening and Closing Ceremony rumors: summer 2013?

Are you as excited about this as I am? I mean, I don't want to be completely spoiled so I'll be steering clear of leaks. But for London 2012, those didn't start until rehearsals began in earnest out at Dagenham, and that wasn't until June-ish. There were times while I was a volunteer where my friends would be saying, "OMG so-and-so is apparently definitely performing at closing! Has anyone at Ceremonies told you?!" And I'd go into work and find out that claim was completely unsubstantiated. So in the early stages, rumors are, more often than not, just rumors. Watch out for REAL spoilers starting around November, but rumors should start trickling in during the spring or summer!

5. Official team selections: all year.

While all sports and athletes come together for the Olympics into one team, for the rest of the time they're separate entities with all sorts of World Cup events and team tryouts to pick the best of the best to represent America in Sochi. Some sports like biathlon (the more individual events) don't pick their Olympians until the 2013/2014 competition season, but sports with teams that need to practice together before the Olympics are chosen far earlier. Fun fact: the final hockey teams are named in August.

6. Apolo Ohno's Olympic decision: hopefully sometime before I die.

Okay, guys. This decision has to happen eventually. Apolo has been completely mum on whether or not he's going to compete in Sochi or not since he stepped off the ice in Vancouver. In August he said he's 50/50 about a comeback, and in November he said he'd need three months to just train and a year on the ice if he wanted to return for the Olympics. He regularly Instagrams photos of himself in the gym, but it also sounds like he's indulging in lots of R&R, which ain't his M.O. when he's seriously training. Either way, USA short track Olympic team trials are in September, and then the world cup season begins. We'll definitely know then!

And then, when 2013 ends, Sochi is right around the corner in February. See? 2013 won't be such a drought at all!