Every four years, the crowning of new ice princesses—from Dorothy Hamill and Kristi Yamaguchi to Michelle Kwan and the Hughes sisters—has always meant big Olympics ratings. This time around, it will take something special to beat reigning world champion
Kim Yu-Na of South Korea, who has not lost in competition since December 2008. Challenging Kim, and her trademark James Bond free skate, are two former world champions,
Miki Ando and
Mao Asada, and America’s
Rachael Flatt should contend for a medal.
Tune in: The women’s gold medal free skate starts at 8 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, February 25.
Men’s snowboarding seems to begin and end with
Shaun White, the 23-year-old with the shock of orange hair. After breaking out on the X Games circuit as a teenager in both snowboarding and skateboarding, White became one of the captivating stories of the 2006 Games when he won the halfpipe competition. The Flying Tomato’s success has certainly paid off—
according to Forbes, he is the highest-earning athlete at the 2010 Winter Games (tied only with South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-Na).
Tune in: Men’s half-pipe final, Wednesday, February 17 at 10:15 p.m. (ET)
With his red bandanna and soul patch,
Apolo Ohno has been an American favorite in the Winter Olympics ever since he took gold at the age of 19 in 2002. In 2006, Ohno put together what has been dubbed a “perfect race” for his second short-track gold. And, to cement his place in the national psyche, he won
Dancing With the Stars in 2007. This year, Ohno needs just two medals to make him the most decorated American winter Olympian in history. But keep an eye out for the other American hopefuls, too: Shani Davis, who is actually the favorite in the 1,000 and 1,500 meters, Chad Hedrick and Trevor Marsicano. The men’s 500-meter final—the Winter Games’ answer to track and field’s 100-meter race—is Feb. 15 at 8:28 p.m. On the women’s side, the competition is expected to be dominated by the duel between Canada’s
Christine Nesbitt and the Czech Republic’s
Martina Sablikova.
Tune in:
Men’s 500m final, Monday, February 15 at 8:28 p.m. (ET)
Men’s 1000m final, Wednesday, February 17 at 7 p.m. (ET)
Women’s 1000m final, Thursday, February 18 at 4 p.m. (ET)
Evan Lysacek’s time may have come. After a breakthrough performance at the World Championships in 2009, Torino’s fourth-place finisher is coming into Vancouver as one of the favorites to take gold. And
Johnny Weir, the flamboyant skater from Eastern Pennsylvania who finished just behind Lysacek four years ago, is always fun to watch. They will both have to deal with the return of Torino gold and silver medalists,
Evgeni Plushenko and
Stephane Lambiel. Despite sitting out three years, Plushenko is back and trying to become the first man to win back-to-back golds since Dick Button in 1952.
Tune in: Men’s free skate, Thursday, February 18 at 8 p.m.
Before a single skate has touched the Vancouver ice, this event already has its first controversy. Olympic favorites and defending world ice dancing champions, Russia’s
Oksana Domnina and
Maxim Shabalin, came under fire at the European championships in January when they performed a routine in aboriginal costumes. Not only were their costumes inaccurate and considered wildly offensive, but the pair also appeared to be in
brown-face. They should expect a frosty reception in Vancouver, though they have already announced they will be wearing something quite different for the Games.
Tune in:
Ice Dancing original dance, Sunday, February 21 at 7:15 p.m. (ET)
Free dance, Monday, February 22 at 7:45 p.m. (ET)
Lindsey Vonn, the 25-year-old darling of the American ski team, became one of the inspirational stories of the 2006 Winter Games despite never winning a medal. Two days after a horrific crash in training landed her in the hospital, she steeled herself to race in the Olympic Downhill to finish eighth. But four years later, she is ready to deliver on the promise she showed if a recently revealed shin injury doesn’t slow her down. Last year, she won world titles in the speed events of the downhill and Super-G, while racking up more World Cup victories than any other American. By the time the Games are up, she could be the United States’ most decorated alpine skier ever. Her stiffest competition could come from Germany’s
Maria Riesch, who has dominated much of the European calendar.
Tune in:
Women’s downhill final, Wednesday, February 17 at 2 p.m. (ET)
Super-G final, Saturday, February, 20 at 1 p.m. (ET)
American
Lindsey Jacobellis has spent four years waiting for her shot at redemption. In 2006, she was the odds-on favorite in the Snowboard Cross in Torino and seemed set to fulfill every prediction as she built a seemingly unsurmountable lead. To celebrate, she decided to pull a trick before the finish line. But in an instant, her moment of revelry turned into an ugly fall, costing her gold. Jacobellis scrambled up in time to take the silver. This time she’ll know better.
Tune in: Snowboard cross medal round, Tuesday, February 16 at 3:15 p.m. (ET)
The feel-good story of the pairs figure skating events undoubtedly comes from
Xue Shen and
Hongbo Zhao of China. The married couple seemed set to retire in 2007 after three world titles and two Olympic bronzes, but decided to come back this year for one final run at gold at the ages of 31 and 36, respectively, making them the oldest team in the competition. But Xue and Hongbo are hoping their 16 years of experience together will carry them through a field that seems to be growing ever younger.
Tune in: Pairs free skate, Monday, February 15 at 8 p.m. (ET)
Despite being the youngest member of the American men’s alpine team in Torino, 21-year-old
Ted Ligety was the only one to come away with a medal—a surprise gold in the Super Combined Downhill. Since then, he has developed an entire career off the slopes by running his line of winter sports eyewear and helmets, Shred. More importantly, he has turned into a legitimate threat in the speed disciplines. If Ligety manages to repeat his gold medal performance this time around, it won’t be an upset. The most surprising performance could come from former U.S. golden boy
Bode Miller, who bounced back enough from a miserable 2009 season, easily the worst of his career, to make the Olympic team.
Tune in:
Men’s downhill, Saturday, 13 at 2:45 p.m (ET)
Super Combined Slalom, Tuesday, February 16 at 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Super-G airs Thursday, February 19 at 2:30 p.m. (ET)
Giant Slalom airs Saturday, February 21 at 4:45 p.m. (ET)
Even without knowing a single person in the event, it’s still one of the most entertaining sports in the Olympics ever since it was added in 1994. Jumping 60 feet into the air off a ramp, skiers perform a series of gravity-defying, teeth-gritting tricks before landing back on the slope—everyone deserves a medal for even trying.
According to SportsIllustrated.com, a few male athletes are believed to be preparing what is known in the biz as a quintuple-twisting triple backflip—three backflips with five full twists—“most difficult jump allowed in international competition.” Making the event even more spectacular for the Vancouver crowd is the fact that a Canadian,
Steve Omischl, is tipped to take gold after a disastrous effort in 2006. Standing in his way will be the American world champion,
Ryan St. Onge. The women’s competition should be equally intriguing as the Chinese seem to have a stranglehold on the international circuit.
Tune in:
Men’s Aerials final, Thursday, February 25 at 9 p.m. (ET)
Women’s aerials final, Wednesday, February 24 at 10:30 p.m. (ET)
Vancouver’s luge events will take place at Whistler, on what many have called “the fastest track in the world.” While some of the men’s races already seem foregone conclusions because of the presence of
Armin “The Cannibal” Zoggeler of Italy—a two-time gold medalist who has been in the Olympics since 1994—the women’s field is wide open and offers and excellent chance for an American medal.
Erin Hamlin, from Remsen, N.Y., broke Germany’s 99-year winning streak at the World Championships last year in Lake Placid. She’ll have to beat her Teutonic rivals again if she is to pick up her first Olympic gold.
Tune in:
Men’s singles gold medal race, Sunday, February 14 at 6 p.m. (ET)
Women’s singles,Tuesday, February 16 at 5:30 p.m. (ET)
Yes, it’s a sport—a variation on shuffleboard featuring teams of four guiding a large round stone across the ice onto a target. And yes, curling is oddly fun to watch. The host nation will certainly care about it because they have a serious shot at picking up gold in both the men’s and women’s categories, while the U.S. is one of the likelier spoilers. Admittedly, it could have been that much more interesting if Stephen Colbert hadn’t failed in his tryout for the American team.
Tune in:
Women’s final, Friday, February 26 at 6 p.m. (ET)
Men’s final, Saturday, February 27 at 6 p.m. (ET)
A competitive cousin of luge, skeleton involves hurtling down a track at 90 miles per hour on something roughly the size of a cafeteria tray, except for one key difference—competitors go head first. The sled has no braking or steering mechanism, so it is controlled by slight shifts of one’s body weight. It has been in the Olympics since 2002 and always draws fans, if only for the sheer spectacle. American
Noelle Pikus-Pace is a former world champion, who is finally competing in her first Olympics after two hideous accidents. On the men’s side, the U.S. has been traditionally strong in this event, and
Eric Bernotas (who has battled Tourette's syndrome as well as alcoholism and depression) is America’s best chance for a medal.
Tune in:
Women’s final, Friday, February 19 at 7:45 p.m. (ET)
Men’s final, February 19 at 10:30 p.m. (ET)
Jamaica may have missed the cut for these Olympics, but the bobsled competition is always fun to watch. And if you’re looking for another underdog, you could try rooting for Monaco, Liechtenstein, or Ireland. Or until recently, the United States. The U.S. has only picked up one gold medal in the bobsled since the 1948 Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland. But heading into Vancouver, Steve Holcomb’s four-man team is among the favorites after recently winning the World Cup title. Their toughest competition, as we all remember from the greatest bobsled movie of all time,
Cool Runnings, will come from Germany. The German men have won four consecutive Olympic golds in the four-man race and two straight in the two-man bobsled, while the women also took home a gold medal in 2004.
Tune in:
Two-man finals, Sunday, February 21 at 5:45 p.m.
Four-man finals, Saturday, February 27 at 5:15 p.m.
Women’s finals, Wednesday, February 24 at 9 p.m.
There’s a reason they save the men’s hockey gold medal game until the end of the Olympics. This year’s final has the potential to be one for the ages. But unfortunately for NBC’s American audience, it probably will not feature the United States—no longer the same kind of plucky college kids who pulled off the Miracle on Ice. If all goes as expected, the gold medal game should pit Canada against Russia, meaning yet another classic matchup between the NHL’s favorite poster boys: Pittsburgh Penguins wunderkind,
Sidney Crosby and the Washington Capitals’ showstopper,
Alex Ovechkin.
Tune in: Gold medal game, Sunday, February 28 at 3:15 p.m.
