25 Winter Olympic Athletes to Watch

Hockey
United States

Looking for a fierce rivalry to follow at the Vancouver Olympics? You can't do much better than Canada vs. the U.S. in women's hockey. Ruggerio, a Harvard graduate, has suited up for all these North American grudge matches. In 1998, the first year women's hockey appeared in the Olympics, Ruggerio's American squad stunned Canada in the gold-medal game. Four years later, Canada took the rematch on U.S. soil. Canada clinched another Olympic title in Torino, as the U.S. team was upset by Sweden in the semifinals. Ruggerio turned down a job offer from Donald Trump — she was fired on The Apprentice in 2007, but Trump still wanted her on board — in order to give the Olympics one more shot and spoil the party for the host country. To prep, Ruggerio, 30, worked out with a group of NHL players this past summer. She is already the first female nongoalie to play professional men's hockey in North America: in 2005 she skated for the minor-league Tulsa Oilers alongside her brother Bill.

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