SOCHI, Russia (AP) U.S. figure skater Jason Brown just doubled his shoe collection.
Luggage, too.
The 19-year-old figure skater, a first-time Olympian, found it ''surreal'' when he received all of his gear for the Sochi Games. Included in that bounty for finishing second at the national championships were four pair of shoes; he had owned only three beforehand.
''I was still in shock mode,'' he said of getting all kinds of clothing, luggage and the other spoils of making the team. ''You're an Olympian. It's definitely hitting me more and more.''
The suitcases came in handy, and Brown ''ended up shipping a lot of stuff home.''
Brown will compete in the team free skate Sunday, then in the men's individual event later next week. He has 18 family members either now in Sochi or coming to see him compete. His parents used air miles to book plane reservations months ago on the chance he would make the U.S. team.
- Barry Wilner - Twitter: http://twitter.com/wilner88
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Associated Press reporters will be filing dispatches about happenings in and around Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games. Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1c3WMiu
