Twins in the Olympics

When the time comes for the Olympic games, it is always an enjoyable experience to watch the amazing feats of athleticism and exciting competition. But the stories of the athletes themselves are equally intriguing. Many competitors have a twin connection. Let's take a look at some of these Olympic twins.

Twins in the Olympic: 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver

• Lanny Barnes is a member of the 2010 U.S. biathlon team, a sport which combines cross-country skiing and shooting. Her identical twin sister, Tracy Barnes, narrowly missed making the team due to weather and schedule inconsistencies that prevented her from competing in a qualifying event. Both competed in the 2006 games in Torino.

• Daron Rahlves is a dad of boy/girl twins named Miley and Dreyson, who were two years old at the time of the games. He is also a three-time Olympian in alpine skiing, but in 2010 he competed in ski cross, which along with aerials and moguls comprises the sport of freestyle skiing. In ski cross, a group of skiers race a course of bumps and turns. It's a combination of skiing and motorbike "motorcross" racing, and the event makes its debut at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. It sounds quite daring; I'm sure Rahlves' adventurous spirit will serve him well as a dad of twins!

• Twins know a thing or two about teamwork, and two members of the U.S. women's hockey team bring that teamwork to the ice. At age 19, Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux are among the youngest members of the hockey team. They grew up playing hockey with four older brothers in North Dakota. After playing one season at the University of Minnesota, the girls will play for the University of North Dakota next year.

Twins in the Olympics: 2008 Summer Games in Beijing

• One of the big disappointments of the Beijing games was the absence of the Hamm twins from competition. Both Paul and Morgan Hamm enjoyed great success at the 2004 Athens games, but injuries thwarted their hopes for glory in 2008.
• Janet and Jennie Culp are twin sisters and syncrhonized swimmers. Janet made the Olympic team. Jennie did not.
• Diana Pickler makes her Olympic debut in the Heptathalon. Unfortunately, her twin sister, Julie, didn't qualify.
• Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are 26-year old twin brothers and part of the U.S. rowing team.
• New Zealand rowers Caroline and Georginia Evers-Swindell are another dynamic duo in the double scull event.
• About.com's Guide to Paddling accurately predicted that Slovakian twin brothers Pavel and Peter Hochschorner would win the gold in the C-2 Men's Slalom Canoe/Kayak event, repeating their 2004 victory.
• Twin boxers Oscar and Javier Molina won't meet in the ring, even though they represent two different countries. Welterweight Javier fights for the United States team while his brother Oscar made the team from Mexico, but didn't qualify to compete at the Olympics.
• Another set of twin boxers, McJoe and McWilliams Arroyo Acevedo, represent Puerto Rico on the U.S. Olympic team.
• Bob and Mike Bryan are a dynamic duo in tennis doubles, and they're took the bronze in 2008, medaling behind the Swiss team which included a future dad of twins, Roger Federer.
• Identical twin sisters WenWen and TingTing Jiang are one of the top synchronized swimming duets in the world, and represented China in the team synchronized swimming event.
• Jake Gibb started playing beach volleyball player with his twin brother. I also heard one of the Olympic commentators mention that his family includes another set of twin sisters among the eleven siblings.
• Finally, a nod to a member of the U.S. Women's Field Hockey team. Kelly Doton started her career playing ice hockey with her twin brother before moving to the grass as a teenager.