Feb. 13 Olympic Preview

The first day of competition at the Vancouver Games begins at Whistler Mountain with ski jumping and the day ending with the women's moguls competition on Cypress Mountain. Up at Whistler, the Men's Downhill has been postponed due to weather conditions. American medal hopeful Apolo Anton Ohno will take the ice tonight. Here is the preview of all five medal events in Vancouver on Saturday.

Ski Jumping: Normal Hill
The first three medals of this Olympiad could all go to Austria, who have four of the top five athletes in the World Cup standings.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Lars Bystoel (Norway)
Who Will Win in Vancouver: Gregor Schlierenzauer (Austria)
Top American Hopeful: None
Top Canadian Hopeful: None
Predicted Medalists:
Gold: Schlierenzauer
Silver: Simon Ammann (Switzerland)
Bronze: Thomas Morgenstern (Austria)

Speed Skating: Men's 5000 meters
Just like fellow American Ligety, Shani Davis will not be a main factor in this event but will treat it as a warm-up for the days to come. The Dutch will flex their muscle in this event and since speed skating is their only prominent winter sport, look for them to motivated to win some medals.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Chad Hedrick (USA)
Who Will Win in Vancouver: Sven Kramer (Netherlands)
Top American Hopeful: Hedrick
Top Canadian Hopeful: Denny Morrison
Predicted Medal Winners:
Gold: Kramer
Silver: Havard Bokko (Norway)
Bronze: Morrison

Biathlon: Women's 7.5 km Sprint
This is a sport that is dominated every season by Europeans and will not that much of a draw to the American audience but if you do watch it, make sure you respect the concentration and skill these athletes have cross-country skiing and shooting a rifle on target in a high pressure situation. The top athlete to watch is Salt Lake City gold medalist in this event and World Cup leader Kati Wilhelm of Germany
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Florence Baverel-Robert (France)
Who Will Win in Vancouver: Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek (Sweden)- 2 World Cup wins this season
Top American Hopeful: None
Top Canadian Hopeful: Zina Kocher (21st in World Cup standings)
Predicted Medal Winners:
Gold: Olofsson-Zidek
Silver: Wilhelm
Bronze: Magdalena Neuner (Germany)

Short Track Speed Skating: Men's 1500 meters
If the skiiers do not produce a medal for the host nation, Charles Hamelin should do so in this event. Hamelin and American Apolo Anton Ohno will have to ward off the contigent from South Korea who eat, sleep, and breathe short track speed skating producing four of the five medal gold medal winners in the event's history.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Hyun-Soo Ahn (South Korea)
Who Will Win in Vancouver: Either Hamelin or one of the Korean skaters
Top American Hopeful: Ohno
Top Canadian Hopeful: Hamelin
Predicted Medal Winners:
Gold: Lee-Jung Su (South Korea)
Silver: Hamelin
Bronze: Ohno

Freestyle Skiing: Ladies' Moguls
The final medal event of Saturday is one of the quickest skiing events and provides loads of excitement with flips and spins off the three jumps. Another Canadian, Jennifer Heil, will have the stage and could cap off a possible triple-gold day for the host country. Along with Heil, two other Canadians, Kelsey Serwa and Ashleign McIvor have won World Cup events in this disclipine so far this season.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Jennifer Heil (Canada)
Who Will Win in Vancouver: Heil
Top American Hopefuls: Heather McPhie, Hannah Kearney and Shannon Bahrke
Top Canadian Hopefuls: Heil, Serwa, McIvor and Kristi Richards
Predicted Medal Winners:
Gold: Heil
Silver: Serwa
Bronze: McPhie

Other Non-Medal Events to Watch:
Women's Hockey: Canada vs. Slovakia
Luge: Men's Singles Runs 1 & 2
Short Track: Women's 3000 meter relay heats