Texas' sweetheart Olympian Katie Uhlaender doesn't wear her pride on her sleeve, she wears it on her head. And for these Winter Games, Uhlaender asked her fans to choose the design.
Skeleton racer Uhlaender, who hails from McGregor, Texas, asked her fans, which includes the likes of actor John Cusack, which helmet design of an American bald eagle she should wear for her second Olympic run for the gold.
On Monday, the decision was in: her fans chose the helmet on the right with the larger eagle sporting stars and stripes which looks like he means business.
The chosen helmet was painted by the same artist who designed American Olympic gold medalist Picabo Street's headgear during her successful Alpine skiing career. Perhaps hoping that her mentor's gold medal luck would rub off on her, Uhlaender posed in a Twitter photo with Street to reveal the winning helmet Monday.
"I had a helmet that I've been sliding with since Vancouver basically, with a design that was inspired by Jimmy Shea," Uhlaender told The Associated Press, referring to the 2002 men's skeleton gold medalist from Lake Placid, N.Y. "And then Picabo and I hooked up in 2010 and she's been a mentor, a huge inspiration for me. I got a new helmet and she offered to hook me up with her guy who painted her helmet for the 2002 Games."
Don't miss Uhlaender and her patriotic helmet Thursday Feb. 13 during the women's skeleton run at 4:30 a.m. CT on NBCSN and 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. CT on NBC.
