Soon, members of the U.S. skeleton team get their once-every-four-years moment in the spotlight, a chance to jump on sleds and slide headfirst at ridiculous speeds down a winding mountainside course in pursuit of Olympic glory.

And even after weeks of scandal and suspensions, their mission hasn’t changed.

“There’s a misconception out there about this team,” U.S. assistant coach Greg Sand said from St. Moritz, Switzerland, where the team races this weekend. “Some people back home might think that after all that’s happened to this team, that we’re going to blow this chance. Believe me, that is not going to happen.”

These are tough times for the U.S. skeleton program, which lost top women’s slider Noelle Pikus-Pace to injury in October, coach Tim Nardiello to suspension over sexual harassment allegations in December, and its best men’s slider Zach Lund in a doping scandal – reportedly triggered by a hair-restoration product – this month.

And last weekend, the team had subpar results at a World Cup race in Konigssee, Germany. None of the men’s sliders finished higher than 15th; among the women, only Pikus-Pace was better than 11th.

In short, nothing is going right.

“This has definitely been an interesting season,” said Kevin Ellis, one of three men picked this week to the Olympic team. “I can’t think of a more stressful season than this one. … Hopefully, the worst of the negative media is over and we can move forward into the Olympic Games with positive, enjoyable memories.”

The team still has high expectations.

“It’s a whole different ballgame now,” Sand said. “We are not in disarray. Our athletes are stepping up and they’re absolutely going to do their job.”