Feb. 16 Olympics Preview

The action in Vancouver begins to heat up on Tuesday with the start of men's and women's curling as well as men's hockey. The men's hockey gold medal is what the Canadians want the most and they will play Norway in their first game today. Along with the beginning of round-robin play for curling and hockey, there are another six gold medals being given out on Tuesday.
Biathlon- Women's 10k Pursuit
The starting order for the pursuit is determined by the results from Sunday's sprint race and that gives Anastazia Kuzmina of Slovakia a chance to put what little time she can on the favorites before they start. Two minutes will seperate the start of Kuzmina and 42nd place racer Agnieska Cyr of Poland so the race will be tight.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Kati Wilhelm (Germany- starting in 30th position, 1:32 behind)
Top American Hopeful: Sara Studebaker (starting in 45th, 2:10 behind)
Top Canadian Hopeful: Megan Tandy (starting in 46th, 2:12 behind)
2009-10 World Cup Leader in Pursuit: Andrea Henkel (Germany- starting 27th, 1:20 behind)
Projected Medalists:
Gold: Magdalena Neuner (Germany- starts 2nd, 0:02 behind)
Silver: Marie Dorin (France- starts 3rd, 0:11 behind)
Bronze: Andrea Henkel (Germany)

Biathlon- Men's 12.5 k Pursuit
After a very disappointing end to the sprint on Sunday, perennial powers of the sport like Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Germany's Michael Greis have to start in the middle of the pack and make up ground on sprint gold medal winner Vincent Jay of France and a number of talented biathlets in front of them.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Vincent Defrasne (France- starts 53rd, 3:07 behind)
Top American Hopeful: Jeremy Teela (starts 9th, 1:14 behind)
Top Canadian Hopeful: Jean-Phillippe Leguellec (starts 6th, 0:50 behind)
2009-10 World Cup Leader: Simon Eder (starts 12th, 1:24 behind)
Projected Medalists:
Gold: Emil Hegle Svendsen (Norway, starts 2nd, 0:12 behind)
Silver: Bjorn Ferry (Sweden, starts 8th, 1:12 behind)
Bronze: Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (Norway, starts 17th, 1:41 behind)

Alpine Skiing: Men's Super Combined
The combination of downhill and slalom comes one day after Didier Defago of Switzerland took the downhill gold on Cypress Mountain. The conditions are still being questioned due to the rain and snow over the weekend but the courses should be good to ski on. After his bronze in the downhill, Bode Miller will look to improve on his medal count after his disappointment in Torino.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Ted Ligety (USA)
Top American Hopefuls: Bode Miller and Ted Ligety
Top Canadian Hopeful: Ryan Semple (28th in WC Standings)
2009-10 World Cup Leader: Benjamin Raich (Austria)
Projected Medalists:
Gold: Carlo Janka (Switzerland)
Silver: Bode Miller (USA)
Bronze: Benjamin Raich (Austria)

Women's Luge Singles
After the German domination on the sliding track in men's luge over the weekend, the women have not missed a beat with three of the top five lugers after the first two runs. The same three Germans, Tatjana Huefner, Natalie Geisenberger and Anne Wischnewski have finished in the top three in four of the eight World Cup events this winter. Nina Reithmayer of Austria is currently second and Russia's Tatiana Ivanova is fourth and if the men's luge was any indication of the results, the top three were the same in all four runs, the women's result could be the same.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Sylke Otto (Germany)
Top American Hopeful: Erin Hamlin (15th after 2 runs)
Top Canadian Hopeful: Regan Lauscher (20th after 2 runs)
2009-10 World Cup Leader: Tatjana Huefner (Germany)
Projected Medalists:
Gold: Tatjana Huefner (Germany)
Silver: Nina Reithmayer (Austria)
Bronze: Natalie Geisenberger (Germany)

Women's Snowboard Cross
All the focus will be on American Lindsey Jacobellis as she tries to avenge her silver in Torino after crashing after showboating over the last jump. Trying to spoil Jacobellis' bid for gold will be Canadian and World Cup leader Maelle Ricker.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Tanja Frieden (Switzerland)
Top American Hopeful: Lindsey Jacobellis
Top Canadian Hopefuls: Maelle Ricker and Dominique Maltais (3rd in WC Standings)
2009-10 World Cup Leader: Maelle Ricker
Projected Medalists:
Gold: Lindsey Jacobellis (USA)
Silver: Maelle Ricker (Canada)
Bronze: Helene Olafsen (Norway)

Speed Skating: Women's 500 meters
This event has been dominated by German Jenny Wolf on the World Cup circuit this season and look for her to add to her six World Cup wins with an Olympic gold medal on Tuesday night. Just like the men's race Monday, look for the Chinese and Koreans to post a strong challenge for the medals.
2006 Torino Gold Medalist: Svetlana Zhurova (Russia)
Top American Hopeful: Elli Ochowicz (12th in WC Standings)
Top Canadian Hopeful: None
2009-10 World Cup Leader: Jenny Wolf (Germany)
Projected Medalists:
Gold: Jenny Wolf (Germany)
Silver: Wang Beixing (China)
Bronze: Margot Boer (Netherlands)