Three Florida Athletes to Watch During the Sochi Winter Olympic Games

In 2012, Talking Head Studio had the opportunity to travel to London during the Summer Olympics to film a documentary for our long time clients, Maximized Living. During the filming and production we were able to share the stories of some incredible athletes representing the United States in the Olympics. This week the 2014 Winter Olympics kick off in Sochi, Russia, and the United States will be represented by a record total of 230 athletes - the most for any country in the history of the winter olympic games.

Of those 230 athletes, three of them hail from the great state of Florida. A Floridian has never brought home a gold medal before, but these three athletes are hoping to change that.

Here’s the rundown of the Three Florida Athletes to Watch During the Sochi Winter Olympic Games:

Brittany Bowe - Ocala, Florida - Speed Skating Brittany Bowe, 25, grew up Ocala and was a world champion inline skater before she went to Florida Atlantic University to play point guard on a Basketball scholarship.

While watching many of her former inline competitors compete in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Bowe’s dream of becoming an Olympian was sparked and she took up speed skating that year.

Four years later, Bowe is now one of the favorites in the 500-, 1,000- and 1,500-meter competitions and is looking to become the first American woman to win a speed skating medal since 2002.

You can keep up with Bowe during the games on Twitter @BrittanyBowe, Facebook and Instagram.

Eddy Alvarez - Miami, Florida - Speed Skating  Eddy “The Jet” Alvarez started out skating on roller skates, and at the young age of 5 would perform skating tricks on South Beach for the crowds. At age 7, Alvarez picked up speed skating on ice and won national titles in his age group before putting his skating career on hold to play baseball in high school.

Alvarez turned down a baseball scholarship to go back to speed skating and pursue his Olympic dream, but plans to continue his baseball career after the Sochi Olympic games.

Alvarez has overcome chronic knee pain and surgery that threatened his skating ability to be named to the 2014 US Olympic team. Look for Alvarez during the mens 5000m relay, as well as the 500-, 1,000- and 1,500-meter competitions.

Follow Alvarez’s Olympic journey on Facebook  and Instagram.

Lauryn Williams - Miami, Florida - Bobsled University of Miami alumni Lauryn Williams is a member of the US Women’s Bobsled team, but you may remember her from the London Winter Olympics, where she won gold in the 4 x 100 relay. It was her teammate, Lolo Jones, that convinced her to join the bobsled team.

Williams is one of only 130 athletes to ever compete in both the summer and winter olympic games, and if she wins gold she will be the first female and only the second person in history to win a gold medal in the summer and winter olympics.

Follow Williams on Twitter @LaurynCwilliams, Facebook and Instagram.

We look forward to cheering on these fellow Floridians as they pursue their Olympic gold medal dreams!