Kacey Bellamy is one of a half dozen veteran players for the U.S. Women’s Team preparing to compete in her third Olympic Winter Games. With a pair of silver medals to her credit, the Providence, R.I., native is a calming influence in the U.S. locker room and a stabilizing force on the blueline. On the eve of the opening ceremony, USA Hockey Magazine caught up with Bellamy to talk about the team’s quest for Olympic gold.
You’ve been here a week. What are your thoughts about being in South Korea?
It’s exciting. I think the biggest thing is seeing the rookies and how their faces lit up when we arrived in the village and they saw the Olympic rings. We had so much fun taking pictures everywhere. Their smiles have brought a lot of energy for our team.
It was a long trip to get here from Tampa, where the U.S. Women’s Team has been training. Do you feel the effects of jetlag and if so how do your fight through it?
Honestly, this time we haven’t felt the jetlag as much as we did in Sochi. Plus our staff has done a great job of informing us on the things to do. When we got on the flight we fell asleep right away. Once we landed the biggest thing has been to get to bed early and listening to your body.
Has the tempo of the practices picked up since you hit the Olympic ice?
Practices have been great. Stepping on the ice for the first time brought us a lot of energy and it’s been carrying on throughout the week. We’re just excited to march in the opening ceremony and then getting the tournament started against Finland.
Obviously the focus is on hockey, but what other sports would you like to see while you’re here?
I think it would be really interesting to watch speed skating and figure skating. We had a French pairs team training with us in Florida and we had the chance to watch them practice a couple of times. I think we’re all hoping to see them compete and to cheer on other American athletes.
What would it mean to you to win an Olympic gold medal?
It would mean everything to me. It would be so special. Twenty years was the first Olympic gold medal, which was won by the Americans, and I just think with this group of girls it would mean so much. We’ve come so far and grown so much as a team. Just seeing the smiles of the rookies has brought us so much energy, it’s been just an amazing experience.