Uhlaender now has time to grieve

Katie Uhlaender of Breckenridge, Colo., ended the women's World Cup skeleton standings third overall, a terrific achievement under any circumstances and one that marks her as a medal contender in the Vancouver Olympics.

Her placement is especially praiseworthy because she competed much of the season knowing that her father, former Major League outfielder Ted Uhlaender, was seriously ill. He died Feb. 12 of multiple myeloma just before she won a silver medal in the final World Cup race of the season.

On Friday she finished seventh in the skeleton World Championships at Lake Placid, N.Y., and hugged her brothers immediately after the race.

"This season was probably one of the hardest seasons I've had to deal with, and this race was the first reality that my father is gone because he never would have missed this race," Uhlaender told officials of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation.

"I screwed up the first heat yesterday because I felt like he was going to show up and I looked up and he wasn't there. Then I broke down."

Two of her brothers, Scott and Will, stood by her side as she spoke to the media.

"It helped to have my brothers here," she said. "I think I'm more excited for next season because I know that's what my dad was focused on."

She said she will return to the family's farm in Atwood, Kan., to help sort through her father's belongings.

"I'd like to go home to rest and mourn," she said. "It's only been two weeks, and it's hard knowing that he's not going to be back."

Germany's Marion Trott won the women's world title at the Lake Placid track with a combined time of 3 minutes, 47.97 seconds. Trott also was the World Cup champion.

--Helene Elliott

Now it's on to Vancouver

Welcome back to the LAT Olympics blog as it shifts from the Beijing Summer Games of last August to the Vancouver Winter Games, set for Feb. 12-28 of next year. Instead of Ticket to Beijing, it now is Ticket to Vancouver.

We will be posting throughout the year on Olympic news, but particularly as it relates to the Vancouver Games.  All of the Beijing posts can be accessed through the "Beijing Games" category link in the right rail of the blog.

Many of our Summer Games bloggers will be back for the Winter Games, including LAT columnist Helene Elliott and Philip Hersh, a veteran of Olympics coverage who writes for the LAT and the Chicago Tribune.

Many of the features created for Beijing will still be accessible, including photo galleries and videos.

Though we will be updating the look of this blog as we go, you can catch Olympic news right here. That will include blogging from the World Figure Skating Championships next month by LAT staff from Staples Center.

-- Debbie Goffa

Photo: Last week the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympic Games cauldron burned brightly at Canada Olympic Park,  marking the one-year countdown to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Credit: Jeff McIntosh / Associated Press