There's been a lot going on in U.S. speed skating since the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, but don't worry. We're here to get you caught up.

In 2011, a member of the short-track team vandalized an opponent's skates and was later suspended, along with the team's head coach. After this, the short track speed-skaters split into two rival factions that barely speak, much less train together. Last December, on the way back from an international event in Japan, one clique ditched the other during a layover, hopping an earlier flight to Salt Lake City while the other group was grabbing a bite. The U.S. Olympic Committee nearly dissolved the national federation for chronic mismanagement.

All this conflict doesn't seem to be making the team any better: At this year's World Championships, U.S. speed skaters won three medals, down from nine in 2011.

Two months out from the Sochi Games, U.S. Speed Skating is hard at work trying to patch things up. Last March it hired a new president, former Olympic speed skater Mike Plant, who rewrote the bylaws and shifted power from the board to paid staff. Plant, a longtime Atlanta Braves executive, also eliminated several committees and wrote a five-year strategic plan, among other things.

While none of this sounds especially sexy, there's a lot riding on the outcome. Speed skating has long been America's strongest winter sport. In Vancouver, 10 of Team USA's world-leading 37 medals (27%) came in speed skating. Of America's 256 all-time medals in the Winter Olympics, speed skating has provided 85—about a third. Without a strong showing in the sport, the U.S. is unlikely to win the medal race in Sochi.