2010 OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN

624 days until the Winter Olympics come to Vancouver, B.C.

LOCAL ATHLETES

Ski racer Scott Macartney of Crystal Mountain returned to training this month less than five months after a crash that nearly ended his career.

On Jan. 19, his 30th birthday, Macartney lost control in the air on the last jump of the Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbuehel, Austria. He hit the ground so hard he instantly lost consciousness, and his helmet broke and fell off his head. He slid across the finish line and then start convulsing as the crowd fell silent.

“It’s kind of weird explaining to people that you can take crashes that are way harder but as long as you don’t hurt yourself, you can pick yourself up and walk away,” Macartney said in a statement released by the U.S. Ski Team. “If I wouldn’t have hit my head so hard, I would have been just as sore in the morning, but I would have gotten up and walked away. …

“I never even thought about not coming back – that never came into my mind at all. I still have a lot of things I want to accomplish in the World Cup and in Whistler and I have a lot of things that I’m looking forward to.”

At California’s Mammoth Mountain, Macartney is in the “return to snow” program. In February, he told The News Tribune the program is designed to ease racers back into the sport after a major accident.

“It’s a progression, of course, but my goals last year were to move up in the standings with a couple podiums and perform in the big races, and it’s a center focus for this coming season,” Macartney said in the team’s news release. “I want to expand from what I did last year and hopefully more consistently be in that top group and on the top steps of the podium.”

TEAMS USA UPDATES

Former Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi won the sixth season of “Dancing with the Stars” on May 20. She is the second winter Olympic gold medalist to win the competition. Seattle short-track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno won the competition’s fourth season.

FACILITY UPDATES

Mold was discovered in the ceiling of the Richmond Speedskating Oval, according to the Vancouver (B.C.) Sun. Repairs are expected to cost $2.2 million. Organizers told the Sun that the projects’ contingency fund would be tapped to pay for repairs. The building is still under construction and is still expected to be completed this fall.

OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS

Olympic organizers are still accepting volunteer applications. Visit vancouver2010.com for information. Organizers expect to use 25,000 volunteers.

COMING UP

On May 5, Spokane was picked to host the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The event will be Jan. 14-24, 2010, and serve as the qualifier for the U.S. Olympic team. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. For tickets visit spokane2010.com or 1-800-325-7328.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for the Olympics go on sale Oct. 11. Tickets.com was selected as the games’ official ticket service.

2010 OLYMPIC BLOG

Follow local Olympic hopefuls, USA team news and venue updates at blogs.thenewstribune.com/Olympics.