SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Peter Carlisle is the agent for some of Team USA's top Olympic athletes, and he works right here in Maine.
Carlisle sold his company, Carlisle Sports Management to the firm Octagon, and serves as its managing director of Olympics and action sports. He represents big name clients like Michael Phelps and Simone Biles. With the Olympics just a year away, we asked for his take on who we should be keeping our eyes on in 2018.
Carlisle said it's still early to know who's going to make the team. Most of the qualifying events take place in the fall, but he is expecting some athletes to do very well, including two Mainers.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott is making another run at the team. And another Maine athlete, moguls skier Troy Murphy, could be making his Olympic debut.
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Murphy got financial support for his training through the Level Field Fund, which is led by Olympians Wescott, Phelps, Daron Rahlves, Ross Powers and Lenny Krayzelburg.
The fund is there to make it possible for talented athletes to afford the training they need to excel, and Carlisle thinks this could be a big year for him. "He's had a few great years, but he seems to be peaking at just the right time, and I think it would be a great local story for Maine."
Other athletes, he's watching include veteran halfpipe snowboarders Kelly Clark and Hannah Teter, who both have won gold medals in their event. And he thinks 19-year-old newcomer Jules Marino has big potential in two events: slopestyle and big air.
"So you have on the one hand, athletes who you have seen before, big names, and then you've got younger athletes that have a great opportunity because if they're competing in multiple events, you're seeing the athletes multiple times, multiple broadcasts, and they have an opportunity to become household names," he said.
Finally, cross-country skier Kikkan Randall is trying to make a comeback after a disappointing finish in Sochi. She gave birth to her first child in the spring, but she's back on the snow.
Opening Ceremony for the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, are set for Feb. 8, 2018.