Unless you've been living under a large rock over the past few months, you surely realize that those snowy sports images you see on television are the 2006 Winter Olympic Games about to start. The coldness takes place in Torino (Turin), Italy and begins on Friday, February 10.

We won't blame you if you haven't been keeping up with the hype, since the Winter Olympic games historically draw fewer crowds and a lower television market than its Summer counterpart. Even more interesting, is the fact that African-Americans do not usually associate the winter games with superstar Black athletes. This is unfortunate since there are many, very talented, world-class Olympic athletes who compete year-round. These athletes never get the proper recognition until they burst onto the world stage during this 4-year event.

Over the years, the numbers of Black athletes competing in the Winter games has increased. While most Blacks do not look for African-American faces on the Nordic-combined and ski-jumping medal stands, many Black athletes are making a run for Winter Olympic gold and just may end up standing on those platforms.

Bobsledder Randy Jones is one of those athletes. The U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation picked Jones and 2002 Olympians Steve Mesler, Bill Schuffenhauer, Brock Kreitzburg, Curt Tomasevicz and Lorenzo Smith III, to compete on the bobsled/skeleton teams in Turin. Also, 2002 bobsled gold medalist Vonetta Flowers was among the athletes awarded Olympic spots on the U.S. women's team competing in Italy.

Six feet, two-inch Shani Davis hails from the south side of Chicago, but was drawn to speedskating instead of basketball or football. His expectations are unprecentend, as he looks to become the first African-American to qualify for a U.S. speedskating team at the Winter Olympics.

Davis, Flowers and Jones, are among the few Black athletes that compete on the international sports circuits, which has long been dominated by European athletes and other Caucasians. But we get the feeling that the names of these Black athletes will become a little more recognizable in the next few weeks.

"To be the first African-American to win gold is a blessing and an honor. I just hope it opens the doors for younger African-Americans, and hopefully they will want to give winter sports a try.", said Flowers during an interview after her 2002 gold medal performance in Salt Lake City.

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