Winter Olympians from the Philadelphia Area

OlympicSpeed-Skater Allison Baver, Olympic Skeleton Racer Eric Bernotas and Olympic Hockey Player Bobby Ryan all have roots in the Philadelphia area.

SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATER ALLISON BAVER was born and raised in in Reading, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 1980. One of America's best female short-track skaters since her debut in 2002, she was the U.S. national champion in 2006-07, and finished eighth overall at the 2007 World Championships. A neck injury sidelined her in the 2007-08 season, but she bounced back in 2008-09, placing sixth overall in the 1500m World Cup standings, despite a broken leg late in the season.

At the 2006 Olympics, Allison Baver finished fourth, seventh and twelfth. An alternate on the 2002 Olympic relay team, she did not compete, but was proud to be present and able to participate in the Opening Ceremonies. After rehab from a broken leg during the spring and summer of 2009, Baver qualified for the individual 1000 and 1500 meters, and for the 3000 meter relay.

Allison Baver started out as a roller skater at age 11, competing in the national roller skating championships in Philadelphia. She attended Wilson High School in West Lawn, Pennsylvania, taking up speed skating in her junior year, and became a member of the U.S. short track speed skating squad in 2002. A 2003 graduate of Penn State University, she later earned an MBA from the New York Institute of Technology. Her future plans could include law school. Baver's off-ice activities include shopping, photography, dancing and cheerleading, and she recently took up yoga.

SKELETON (or toboggan) RACER ERIC BERNOTAS was born on August 5, 1971, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, grew up and presently resides in Avondale, Pennsylvania. He graduated Malvern Prep School in 1989, and attended West Virginia University. Eric Bernotas battled undiagnosed depression and Tourette's syndrome in college, and made a courageous comeback from a drug and alcohol addiction. His seven years skeleton training helped control his Tourette's symptoms and he has won two silvers and one bronze medal in World Championships.

Disappointed by his sixth-place Olympic finish in 2006, Eric Bernotas said: "I gave it my best ... My journey alone and what I've gone through, I'm pleased with the way things developed. I hope people see that and are inspired to follow their own dreams." Despite his disappointment, Bernotas was the top finisher for the American team.

Eric Bernotas got into skeleton by chance. In, 2002, while working as a stone mason and general contractor, he took a road trip to Vermont where he and his then-girlfriend got lost and slept in their truck at a rest stop near Lake Placid. They decided to spend the day there, and ran into a skeleton coach who, after Bernotas' constant pestering, eventually invited him to a training camp. At age 30, Eric Bernotas took his first trip down a skeleton track. Two years later he competed in the World Cup, and in February, 2005, won his first World Cup event, fittingly, in Lake Placid.

OLYMPIC HOCKEY PLAYER BOBBY RYAN is making his Olympic debut this year. Born March 17, 1987, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, he still calls it home, although he now plays for the Anaheim Ducks and lives in California. In his first season in the NHL, he was the top-scoring rookie, with 31 goals and 57 points. Ryan placed second in the voting for the rookie of the year award. Bobby Ryan was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, and has become one of the top young stars of the NHL. Ryan represented the U.S. at the 2006 World Junior Championships where he and his 2010 Olympic teammates Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson and Phil Kessel, tied for sixth in the tournament, as the U.S. finished fourth.

Bobby Ryan was born Bobby Stevenson. His father jumped bail after a domestic dispute led to an attempted murder charge, taking the family into hiding for two years and changing their name to "Ryan." The hockey player decided to keep the name after his father was apprehended and Bobby Ryan and his mother moved to El Segundo, California. When not scoring goals, Ryan enjoys cooking, his favorite dish being Chicken Alfredo, playing the guitar and golfing.

Sources: Local Olympic Athletes; Allison Baver bio; Bernotas bio; Ryan bio; ESPN.go.com