The SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE reported about 40 "fashion-forward Team USA athletes" in Sochi are wearing "innovative belts designed by" San Diego-based Kore Essentials. Canada’s curling team discovered the company and its belts "with patent-pending 16-gauge stainless steel buckles online and emailed to ask if the company" would make belts for them. Kore Essentials "within days ... had shipped belts to the U.S. men’s bobsled, skeleton and curling teams." The belt's "specially designed hidden track system with 40 sizing positions in quarter-inch increments makes it eight times more adjustable than traditional hole-and-post belts." Kore Essentials Partner KARL KOZAK gave the belts free of charge to the athletes, and the company in return "gets potential social media buzz around Olympians wearing a belt that has only been on the market since ... May" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/11).
DANCE FOR YOU: In Chicago, Stacy St. Clair notes a video of U.S. luger KATE HANSEN "dancing before her race has gone viral, prompting thousands of YouTube hits and earning a shout-out from her hero," singer BEYONCE. Hansen, who finished 10th in Sochi, "jams to a strictly Beyonce playlist before races because it 'gets me fierce, and I get stoked.'" Her fandom "apparently has caught the singer's attention, too." Beyonce yesterday "posted a story about Hansen's dance moves on her official Facebook page" and "wished her luck" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/12).
PEOPLE LIKE US: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Rachel Bachman notes U.S. snowboarder KELLY CLARK "often is confused" with singer KELLY CLARKSON, "especially on Twitter." Clark said, "I would say at least five times a week I get some pretty funny Kelly Clarkson misinterpretations, like, 'I love your music,' or 'Congratulations on getting married!'" Clark "often gets news of Clarkson milestones first." A Raleigh radio station last June tweeted, "@Kellyclarkfdn lost her canary yellow engagement ring! Find out what happened." Clark also "learned of Clarkson's pregnancy and the release of her Christmas album" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/12).
WHO'S GOT THE BUTTON? NBC Producer ALINA ADAMS has been "involved in the most iconic moments within figure skating since the '90s, and she will be a player" in Sochi. However, Adams will be doing something "a little different this time around." When figure skating "hits the air, Adams will be producing a way for people to communicate" with NBC analyst DICK BUTTON "during the broadcast with the hashtag #PushDicksButton" (DESERET NEWS, 2/12).
BRIGHT SPOT: Two young cancer survivors who are "big fans" of U.S. snowboarder SHAUN WHITE traveled to Sochi "courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation." Despite finishing fourth in the halfpipe competition yesterday, White "leaped over the barrier separating the mixed zone from the spectator area," then "reached over the fence and hugged BEN HUGHES, who is in recovery from leukemia, and gave him a high-five" (BUFFALO NEWS, 2/12).
"KIDS" SAY THE DARNEDEST THINGS: Comedy Central's STEPHEN COLBERT has sent Canadian comedian SCOTT THOMPSON to Sochi to "file reports in character as the unambiguously gay Buddy Cole, a fictional role from Thompson's days with the comedic troupe THE KIDS IN THE HALL." Colbert introduced the Cole character on Monday's "THE COLBERT REPORT" as an "old friend" who is to "investigate the gay threat to the Games" (GLOBE & MAIL, 2/12).
