With the 2006 Winter Olympic Games set to begin this weekend in Torino, Italy, I’m sure many Rock County residents will be watching some of the events unfold from the comfort of their living rooms over the next two weeks.Under normal circumstances, I pay about as much attention to the Olympics as I do my frost-covered lawn at this time of year.When you attend local sporting events four or five nights out of the week, hurrying home to watch a bunch of people I’ve never heard of competing in events I don’t understand is something I try to avoid.That, however, might change this time around.After recently discovering there will be a person with Rock County ties competing in Italy, I will try to witness some of the Alpine skiing events if the opportunity presents itself.While many of you may have never heard of Kaylin Richardson, one of 34 Minnesotans who will compete in the Winter Games, she will serve as the focal point of the Olympics for one area family.Richardson, 21, is the cousin of Luverne’s Jim and Darrell Rockman, and both men take pride in the fact she is an official member of the United States Ski Team.Richardson, who hails from Edina, is connected to my friends through their mother, Luverne’s Doris Rockman.Doris is the sister of Linda Richardson, who is the mother of the 5-11, 150-pound Kaylin Richardson.As one would expect, Kaylin Richardson has devoted a good share of her life to the sport of skiing in order to become a member of the U.S. Team.Following in the footsteps of her brothers (Chris and Tom Richardson), she started skiing at the age of five and has been involved ever since then.Kaylin started racing at the age of 9 as a member of Team Gilboa and developed into one of the nation’s top junior performers. She earned a bronze medal in the Downhill and Super Giant Slalom events at the Central J3 Junior Olympics in 1999 and was the slalom champion and combined slalom-downhill bronze medalist at the J1-2 Junior Olympics in 2000.In preparation for the Games in Italy, Richardson has been training and finding some success at pre-Olympic events in Europe.She placed fourth in the Slalom at the European Cup staged in France on Jan. 31. Five days prior to that, Richardson finished seventh at the Giant Slalom at a International Ski Federation race in Austria.According to predictions made in Sports Illustrated’s Winter Olympics Preview edition that I received on Friday, Richardson is not expected to medal in Italy.A magazine’s forecast of how things will turn out in Torino means little to the Rockmans right now.A member of the family will be living her dream of competing on one of the world’s biggest stages, and they have reason to be proud of that.As for myself, now I have a reason to watch at least a part of the Olympics instead of doing my best trying to avoid it.