Biathlon- Men's 10 km Sprint
Winter Olympic legend Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway looks to add to his collection of five gold and one silver medal and the gold medal winner in this disclipine in Nagano and Salt Lake City.
2006 Torino Gold Medal Winner: Sven Fischer (Germany)
Top Storyline: Bjoerndalen's quest for a sixth gold medal and the chance for him to attempt to sweep the biathlon medals like he did in Salt Lake City eight years ago.
Top American Hopeful: Tim Burke (9th in World Cup Standings)
Top Canadian Hopeful: None
Projected Medalists:
Gold: Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (Norway)
Silver: Evgeny Ustyugov (Russia)
Bronze: Dominik Landertinger (Austria)
Speedskating- Ladies 3000 meters
The World Cup curcuit has been dominated all winter by Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic and Stephanie Beckert of Germany, the only two winners of the five World Cup events leading up to Vancouver. Other possible medal winners include Canada's Kristina Groves and 2006 Gold Medalist Ireen Wust of the Netherlands.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Ireen Wust (Netherlands)
Top American Hopeful: Catherine Raney (12th in WC Standings)
Top Canadian Hopeful: Kristina Groves
Storyline to Watch: The Canadian Groves skating on home ice will look to correct her average start to the World Cup season with only two podium finishes, both bronze. If the Canadians have a huge day Saturday, Groves could feed off that momentum and win another for the host country.
Projected Medalists:
Gold: Kristina Groves (Canada)
Silver: Martina Sablikova (Czech Republic)
Bronze: Ireen Wust (Netherlands)
Nordic Combined- Normal Hill/10 km Cross-Country
This sport combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing and the two events could be seperated by as less as 35 minutes. The endurance these athletes possess is unimaginable and in a sport usually dominated by the European Alpine countries, two Americans have a good shot at medaling.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Georg Hettich (Germany)
Top American Hopefuls: Johnny Spillane and Bill DeMong
Top Canadian Hopeful: None
Top Storyline: The possibility of two maybe even three Americans contending for a medal in a sport dominated by Europeans is astonishing. Johnny Spillane, Bill DeMong, and Todd Lodwick all place in the top 13 of the World Cup standings and could challenge World Cup leader Jason Lamy-Chappuis from France and the strong contingent from both Germany and Austria.
Projected Medalists:
Gold: Jason Lamy-Chappuis (France)
Silver: Johnny Spillane (USA)
Bronze: Magnus Moan (Norway)
Luge- Men's Singles
The loss of Nodar Kumaritashvili in practice on Friday has dampened the mood of the luge community and will be a shadow overcasting the competition. The track has been criticized for how fast it is and with two preliminary runs on Saturday, the lugers should get a feel for how the track will handle. With the start gate moved down 900 feet, the start of the run will be even more important to whomever wins this event. After two runs, Felix Loch of Germany leads with countrymen David Moeller in second and two-time defending gold medalist Armin Zoeggeler of Italy in third.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Armin Zoeggeler (Italy)
Top Storyline: The start of the men's singles has been moved down 900 feet due to speed concerns and has messed up the most consistent of riders. Look for riders to make overnight adjustments to their runs and be ready for the final two runs.
Top American Hopeful: Tony Benshoof (7th after 2 runs)
Top Canadian Hopeful: Samuel Edney (10th after 2 runs)
Projected Medalists:
Gold: Armin Zoeggeler (Italy)
Silver: Felix Loch (Germany)
Bronze: Tony Benshoof (USA)
Freestyle Skiing- Men's Moguls
Torino Gold Medalist Dale Begg-Smith of Australia along with Jesper Bjoernlund of Sweden and Guilbaut Colas of France have dominated the World Cup circuit in moguls competition this season with the three splitting up the seven events, all winning gold at least twice, Begg-Smith has won three. Both the USA and Canada have a shot at getting a medal if one of these three uncharacteristically slip up.2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Dale Begg-Smith (Australia)
Top American Hopeful: Byron Wilson (5th in WC Standings)
Top Canadian Hopeful: Alexandre Bilodeau (4th in WC Standings)
Main Storyline: Which one of the big three will win gold. Begg-Smith is most likely the only medal hope for the Aussies and the other two, Bjoernlund and Colas represent traditional Winter Olympic powers. You could say it is a David vs. Goliath situation although Begg-Smith could be compared more to Goliath.
Projected Medalists:
Gold: Dale Begg-Smith (Australia)
Silver: Jesper Bjoernlund (Sweden)
Bronze: Guilmont Colas (France)
No comments:
Post a Comment