A new countdown has begun

Once again, the countdown is on.

As all of my Facebook memories pop up from Beijing three years ago and Sochi 11 years ago, with memories from PyeongChang seven years ago coming in the next couple of days, that means that the next milestone for what's to come is in sight.

Today, Feb. 6, marks one year until the Opening Ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and with any luck, I will be a few days into my trip to Italy at this time next year. Of course, that is all contingent on many things.

First and foremost, the credential approval from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee has still yet to come through. The process for Paris was a little delayed and I am assuming that this is the case here as well. There's obviously no guarantee that credentials will be issued and I am always grateful when the USOPC grants me a credential, as has been the case for all five of the Olympics that I have submitted my credential application.

Assuming my credential application is approved, Milan-Cortina is going to prove to be a challenge. The geographic challenge of having events in far-flung places is going to make things tough on any journalist who wants to cover more than one sport. From the indoor events in Milan to the outdoor events up in the Alps, it is a considerable distance. In my past Olympic experiences I have been able to cover multiple events in one day in multiple locations. Beijing had the largest distance, but the high speed train made it doable.

I have yet to put a ton of thought into exactly how I want to handle this, but it will impact where I get lodging. I know I will likely be covering a lot of biathlon, so that means a good deal of time in Antholz. But there's no other events there, so trying to figure out exactly what I want to do will be interesting and challenging.

Until then, I will keep plugging along making the donuts, breads and cookies at the Yum Yum Shop to help cover the costs of this trip. And I'll keep covering the high school sports around the Lakes Region and North Country throughout the rest of the busy winter season and into the spring. There may be a Spring Training trip on the horizon as well to keep things interesting.

Of course, this will all be contingent on whether or not the credentials come through. 

Either way, it's one year out and I'm excited for the Winter Olympics in a winter location for the first time since Vancouver in 2010, which of course is the last Winter Olympics I wasn't at.


Today marks one year until the Milan-Cortina Olympics. Hopefully I will be there. Photo by Getty Images

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