The contingent from U.S. Paralympics featured five athletes who competed in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Games and four looking to make Torino their first Paralympic experience.

Chris Devlin-Young (Campton, N.H.), looking to go to the Paralympic Games for the third time, will be using new custom-fit sleds for the upcoming World Cup season after finishing second in the overall standings last season. In addition to the new technology, the 43-year-old Devlin-Young said his knowledge of the sport will continue to help him against competitors less than half his age, as it showed in the Sit-ski Monocross Championship at the 2005 X Games.

"I won the X Games because I'm an experienced skier," Devlin-Young said. "I know my own abilities and the abilities of the sit-ski and I know how to interface them together."

Steve Cook (Salt Lake City, Utah), coming off a performance at the 2002 Games where he won four silver medals, is also hoping his experience will help him to possibly turn some of that silver into gold in Torino.

"As you progress as a nordic athlete, you get smarter and smarter in how you train," Cook said.

When he was asked if he was disappointed that one of his silver medals wasn't gold in Salt Lake City in 2002, Cook said he was hoping for just one medal - of any color - going into the Games.

"It's hard to be disappointed with results like that," Cook said.

Sandy Dukat (Vail, Colo.), a two-time Paralympic medalist coming off a shortened 2005 World Cup season which saw her grab a win and three other top-5 finishes in six races, said she had some basic goals for the Games in Torino: "Keep it fun, to laugh, to smile, to remember why I'm there and to be a good teammate."

Dukat stressed that the Alpine squad was very team-oriented, with some "great leaders and class acts."

Of course, it would be foolish to think she wasn't looking forward to the idea of standing on the podium and celebrating some of her own accomplishments.

"Nobody goes into the Games not anticipating a medal," Dukat said.

Kelly Underkofler (St. Paul, Minn.), the youngest of the 2002 Paralympians at the summit (21), had two top-10 finishes in cross country skiing in Salt Lake City. Having graduated from college recently, Underkofler looks to be able to dedicate more time to training and improving in the biathlon, where she has found success.

"I won two medals in biathlon last year and I'm looking forward to doing it again this year," Underkofler said.

Her expectations for Torino are high. She said she's looking for top-5 finishes in her cross country events. As for biathlon, "I'm definitely going for the medals," she said.

Laurie Stephens (Wenham, Mass.) will look to make her debut at the Paralympic Games in March. She has already served notice that she is a medal contender in any race she competes in, having won the World Cup overall points championship the past two years.

Stephens said she was inspired to start skiing went she went to Salt Lake City, as a spectator, in 2002.

"I went to the Games in 2002 and watched the women's mono-skiers sweep the podium and I wanted to be a part of it," Stephens said.

Even though she's won 19 races over the past two World Cup seasons, she said she isn't placing big expectations on her performance in Torino.

"I just want to let things happen," Stephens said.

Alexi Salamone (Grand Island, N.Y.), a three-time member of the U.S. Paralympics Sled Hockey National Team, will also be looking to get his first Paralympic action in Torino. The 18-year-old Salamone said that, while their are a lot of young players on this year's National Team, his experience with the squad's veterans have made him mature much quicker on the ice.

"I grew up on the team faster than some of the other rookies," Salamone said. "I hung out with [veterans Manny Guerra, Joe Howard and Kip St. Germaine] and gained a lot of confidence."

Salamone said he's currently the left wing on the second line for the U.S. The team will be the No. 1 seed in Pool A at the Games.

Ralph Green (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) said he remembers his first international experience, at the 2004 World Championships, and believes that will help to prepare him for racing at the Paralympic Games.

"It was crazy," Green said. "Coming down the hill, you could hear the roars of the crowd. I loved it. Now I kind of know what to expect."

Wes Smith (Glenburn, Maine) hopes to become the skip for the first ever U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Curling Team when the sport makes its debut in March. The other countries in the field, including Scotland, an experienced team who has gone undefeated in winning the past two World Championships, will make medaling a tough task. However, Smith thinks it can be done if the team works on improving in a couple key areas.

"We need to increase the percentage of accuracy when a shot is called," Smith said. "We need to improve on our strategy as well. Those two go hand-in-hand, obviously."

Smith gave members of the media a first-hand look of the sport at a special curling demonstration Tuesday night.

More than 350 members of the media attended the summit, as well as more than 80 Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls. The summit gave the media the opportunity to meet the athletes and learn their stories before the winter sports season kicks into high gear.