JONNY MOSELEY ON TOBY DAWSON

Good genes and a high disregard for playing it safe are key traits for successful mogul skiers, says Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley, whose own winning combination of skillful determination and reckless energy helped him earn a gold medal at the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan. Combining acrobatics with skiing, competitors travel a winding course of bumps, making complicated head-over-heels jumps (recall Moseley's midair "dinner roll" twist at Nagano). To excel in such a brutal event, Moseley, now 30, says, "You have to have a body that does not injure easily and a high tolerance for pain."

Olympic hopeful Toby Dawson, who at 27 remains one of the elder statesmen of the Olympic ski team, certainly demonstrated those qualities last year when, less than two weeks after surgery to repair a broken foot, he earned bronze at a World Cup competition in Utah. He was ranked seventh in the world among mogul skiers as of press time.

On Feb. 15, the athlete who is known as "Awesome Dawson" hopes to win his first Olympic medal.

Moseley is especially impressed with Dawson's tenacity, despite the fact he's smaller, lighter and older than most of his teammates. "I like how he goes for the win," Moseley says. "Toby is not there to try the same tricks other skiers are doing. Right now there are a handful of guys who are all so good, and technically Toby is one of the very best. But what sets him apart is his willingness and ability to go big when others go conservative." Shy off the slopes, Dawson was adopted from South Korea at age 3 by his parents, who were ski instructors. Even as a teen, "he was not afraid to crash -- and that has not changed," Moseley says. "If that attitude does not land Toby in a hospital, it may land him atop the medal stand."

Dawson, who spends four hours each day on the slopes and another four with his trainer, sums it up best: "I'm ready."
Tune in Feb. 15: men's moguls, NBC, 8-11:30 p.m. ET.

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DAN JANSEN ON JENNIFER RODRIGUEZ

Perspective often arrives at the most curious of times. Speedskater Dan Jansen went to Calgary a heavy favorite in the 1988 Olympics, but the death of his sister, Jane, of leukemia on the morning of his first race sapped Jansen, who fell on the first turn. Four days later, in the 1,000 meter, Jansen tumbled again.

Jennifer Rodriguez, an 11-year-old student in Miami at the time, watched along with millions of Americans as Jansen's cruel fate played out on TV. "I remember thinking, 'Oh, no! Not again!' " says Rodriguez, who went on to compete in speed and artistic roller skating.

But Jansen's Olympic losses came full circle when he went on to earn Olympic gold in 1994, a study in perseverance.

At her own Olympic debut at the '98 Nagano Games, Rodriguez, who had switched from in-line to speed skating two years earlier, finished in three top 10s, but she did not win a medal. When she returned to the Olympics in 2002, she won two bronze medals (1,000m and 1,500m). This year, at 29, she's back for gold.

Jansen's and Rodriguez's stories share another similiarity: Her mother, Barbara, was diagnosed with breast cancer around the time of Rodriguez's first Olympic outing. "Trying to juggle your sport, which is all-consuming at the Olympic level, and be there for your family in a time of need is beyond difficult," Jansen says. "We are Olympians, but we are also human." Adds Rodriguez: "It is a distraction, but my mom is a fighter."

Following his own sister's passing, Jansen spent the ensuing years, he says, "skating for Jane." After failing to medal in three Olympics, Jansen made it to his fourth Olympics. Before the last race, he looked inward, telling his sister: "I don't want to be selfish, but I need to do this for me." Jansen crossed the finish line first and set a new world record. "Jane is a part of me just as Jen's mom is a part of her, and while you can dedicate it to others," he says, "it has to be for yourself."
Tune in Feb. 14: women's 500m speed skating, NBC, 8-11:30 p.m. ET
Feb. 15-16: men's and women's team pursuit, NBC, 4-5 p.m. ET n Feb. 19: 1,000m, NBC, 7-11 p.m. ET
Feb. 22: 1,500m, NBC, 8-11:30 p.m. ET.

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PEGGY FLEMING ON KIMMIE MEISSNER

Hard to fathom an Olympics where the United States wins just one gold medal, but in 1968, Peggy Fleming brought home the only first-place prize from Grenoble, France. Her performance remains especially memorable not only for her dominance (she won by a whopping 88.2 points), but also because the 1968 Winter Games were the first to be broadcast live and in color. Fleming, 19, wore a chartreuse, high-necked, flowing skating outfit, demure by today's standards.

"The costumes have certainly changed -- not always for the better," jokes Fleming, now 57 and an ABC skating commentator.

Nearly everything else has, too. This year's major change is how the sport is scored, with new rules intended to avoid the kind of claims of judging impropriety and unfair scoring standards made at the 2002 Olympics. Torino competitors will earn points cumulatively. The 6.0 point system is gone; now artistry is more appreciated. Spins, spirals and expressive moves are rewarded in better balance with showy jumps that tend to be strengths of younger skaters.

Enter 16-year-old Kimmie Meissner, a powerhouse pixie from suburban Baltimore who placed third at last year's national championship, becoming the first American woman to land a triple axel in competition since Tonya Harding first did in 1991. "I loved jumping," Fleming says, "but the triple axel was not on my radar!" Adds Meissner: "I started hitting them that week and figured I had nothing to lose." In Torino, perfect execution of one triple -- or many -- could mean the difference between a medal and a loss.

She faces older, more favored competitors. But consider the past two Olympic gold medalists: In 1998, Tara Lipinski, 15, became the youngest ladies' champion ever; Sarah Hughes was 16 at the time of her come-from-behind win in '02. "She absolutely could medal," says Fleming, who placed sixth in her first Olympics in 1964 at age 15. Says Meissner: "If I have the satisfaction of having done my very best, the rest will take care of itself."
Tune in Feb. 21: ladies' short program, NBC, 8-11:30 p.m. ET
Feb. 23: ladies' free skate, NBC, 8 p.m.-midnight ET.

Photograph by Theo Westenberger for USA WEEKEND