Olympic Things To Look Forward To In 2015

Well, guys, we're no longer in an Olympic year. I don't know about you, but I always get a little pouty when there are no Olympics to be seen in a 12-month radius; Sochi was almost a year ago, Rio is more than a year away... it kind of sucks. However, way back in 2013 I wrote a list of Olympic things to look forward to in that non-Olympic year. And there is, in fact, a whole lot of exciting Olympic things to look forward to this year -- so let's get to it!

1. American bid city for the 2024 Olympic Games will be chosen: TOMORROW?! (Or today, if you're reading this on Thursday!) Holy crap. America hasn't bid for a Games since the Chicago 2016 bid failed, and that process was wrapped up in 2009. So it's been five-plus long years since the U.S. has even had a prayer of hosting the Olympics, and we haven't hosted (winter OR summer) since 2002. I was in fifth grade. I'm now a year and a half removed from college. It's time. And I AM SO READY. Boston? DC? Los Angeles? San Francisco? Can't wait to have a city to support!

2. Gender-neutral four-man bobsledding: winter 2015. If you haven't heard about this, you're missing out. Just a few months ago it was decided that four-man bobsled would be a gender-neutral event, meaning women would be allowed to participate. So a few pioneering badasses named Elana Meyers-Taylor and Kailie Humphries are out there piloting four-man sleds on the world cup circuit for the U.S. and Canada, respectively. I don't know about you, but I LOVE when girls do big things. And this is a big thing. Pay attention to it.

3. 35th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice: February 22, 2015. Ah, 35 is a much less random number than the 33 I celebrated in my 2013 list. :) But seriously, this year, there are all sorts of AWESOME things happening. There's going to be a team reunion in Lake Placid on February 21st (my birthday!), and a fantasy camp coached by a bunch of players at the end of March. I can't afford the fantasy camp (I mean, they should really just hire me to be the event's official blogger), but my goal is to get there for one of these two events. Operation Get Darci To Lake Placid 2k15 is in full effect.

These 10-year-old pictures are WAY overdue to be updated!

4. Jen Kessy's return to beach volleyball: spring 2015. Ah, the intrigue! At London 2012, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings beat fellow Americans April Ross and Jen Kessy for beach volleyball gold. After the Games, Misty and Jen both retired, and Kerri and April became a team. But just recently, Jen has decided to come out of retirement and go for Rio with a new partner. Jen and April on opposite sides of the court from each other?! Woof. Whether Jen's un-retirement is successful or not, this is going to be fascinating!

5. Rio 2016 qualification processes begin: summer 2015. If you have a favorite sport to watch during the Olympics, start paying attention, because this is the year when competition really ramps up. Depending on the sport, win-loss records and world rankings start to count a year out from the Olympics. (So this is my cue to start watching beach volleyball world tour results like a hawk.)

6. Three year anniversary of London 2012: July 27, 2015. As has become my tradition, I will spend this day watching the opening ceremony and probably getting more emotional than is socially appropriate. How has it been so long?! :(

7. 2022 Olympic Winter Games host city announcement: July 31, 2015. The strugglebus that is the competition to host the 2022 Games will huff and puff to its conclusion this year, as the IOC will decide between Beijing and Almaty. It's been a long and bumpy road to this point, and I for one am ready to just have a host city so people can stop complaining about how few cities are in the race. (I'm also kind of jazzed about the idea of winter sports taking place in Beijing's old summer Olympic venues!)

8. One year out from Rio 2016: August 5, 2015. Pretty self-explanatory, am I right? :) #RoadtoRio

From NYC 2012 to Bids for 2024

Has everyone heard that there's officially a short list of potential American bid cities for the 2024 Olympics? Because there is. And I am ALL OF THE EXCITED!

Me and American Olympic bids go way back. I can't really say I had much attachment to the Chicago 2016 campaign -- though I do remember where I was and what I was doing when I found out that Rio won -- but I was very attached to ye olde NYC 2012 campaign. In fact, there was a support rally in Rockefeller Center on my birthday in 2005. So guess where my mom, brother and I were to ring in my 14th year of life!

image source -- Any photos that my mom and I may or may not have taken have since disappeared into the void of time.

All I remember is a ridiculous amount of people and being way too short to be able to see anything happening. My mom just informed me that Oksana Baiul skated during the rally, and I'll believe her. But what sticks in my mind is being crammed in a crowd with thousands of people, the freezing, dreary gray weather and my uncontrollable excitement that neither of those things could dampen. And we still have those flags displayed in our dining room.

I was pretty thrilled when New York City randomly (and belatedly) decided it would look into potentially bidding for 2024... but that interest was then withdrawn about a week later. Womp womp. I was all ready to break out the Sharpies and self-edit these flags to say 2024 instead of 2012. But NYC and Philly bowed out early, and Dallas and San Diego were eliminated by the USOC, which leaves us with the final four: Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Woohoo! I have to say that I'd absolutely love for an east coast city to win it, but my extremely early prediction is Los Angeles. They've already hosted the Olympics twice (and the Games in 1984 forever changed the face of the Olympics), and they're probably the safe option. Considering Tokyo won the 2020 Games as the safe option, safe is a pretty attractive look right now. And please, look at this logo and tell me it's not BEAUTIFUL!

But at the same time, Boston is a huge sports city, and Washington, D.C. is no slouch either, so I think it's really anybody's game at this point. I know nothing about any city's proposal or anything -- literally, I know nothing -- but my gut right now is going with L.A.

In other, unrelated Team USA news, how 'bout that World Cup? There's a watch party/spirit day going on at work tomorrow in honor of USA vs. Ghana, and I'm trying to figure out how to work my American flag socks into the equation. I'm feelin' the American spirit right now.

I'm just really excited to get this 2024 show on the road. I was 11 the last time the Olympics were held in America. We need to fix that situation!

Which city would you like to see move forward in the bidding process? :)