A phrase that’s been much bandied about here in Massachusetts of late is: “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.” This pithy adage has been deployed in reaction to —or as cover-up of —the recent special election held to fill Ted Kennedy’s US Senate seat. As you all surely know, it was a heavily-watched and hotly-contested election with both state and national implications. But why do I invoke Massachusetts politics here? Because —to continue with the kinship analogy —a close cousin to the aforementioned phrase is: “Good news travels fast.” And here at ITA we have more good news to share (on top of the news about Scott Blackmun’s appointment to the position of USOC CEO, Emily Azevedo’s secured spot on the US Olympic Bobsled Team, and the ITA podium sweep at the Methow Valley SuperTour).



To wit: two more members of the Arena Roster have just been named to the US Olympic Team: Torin Koos (pictured above) and Caitlin Compton (pictured below) will be donning Team USA uniforms in Vancouver next month as members of the US Nordic Ski Team. This is Torin’s third Olympic team berth (wow!) and Caitlin’s first. Congratulations to them both, as well as to all of the other skiers on the roster who laid down their best efforts over the course of the rigorous Olympic selection process. Each one of you can also claim a measure of victory knowing that you helped push your competitors —and colleagues —to their best performances.