Pipe up the band for boarder 'Dancing With the Stars'

Most of the athletes at this week's U.S. Olympic media summit in Chicago have February circled on their calendars, with their minds focused entirely on getting to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Olympic snowboard hopeful Louie Vito has what much of the American public would consider a far more significant moment coming up a lot sooner.

 Vito makes his debut on "Dancing with the Stars" on Sept. 21.

"I just want to go out there and not fall or mess up to where people notice," Vito said.

He was talking about the dance show, not the Olympics.

Vito, 21, is expected to make the U.S. Olympic team in halfpipe, the event where snowboard superstar Shaun White not only is defending champion but one of the most recognized athletes among Gens X, Y and Z in the United States.

Given the runaway popularity of "Dancing," Vito has a chance to achieve even greater public recognition should he survive a few weeks of the televised competition.

"Laugh at me all you want,'' Vito said. "Just give me your vote."

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