Those familiar five interlocking rings have officially appeared beneath the colorful NBC peacock, which can only mean one thing: the 2010 Winter Olympics are finally upon us.
After watching the X-Games, Warren Miller movie highlights and one of my all-time favorite movies, Cool Runnings, I cannot wait for the torch to arrive in Vancouver on February 12.
The city of Vancouver and nearby Whistler will host over 3,000 athletes from around the world in the $940 million Olympic village. This is the second time in the 21-year history of the Winter Games that Canada has been a host.
In 1988, Calgary was home to the fifteenth Olympiad. With home crowd advantage, the Canadian team will be a fierce competitor despite the strong presence of Norway, which holds its first place position with 280 total medals won since the creation of the Winter Games, and Germany, the winner of the 2006 Torino Winter Games.
In Torino, the Canadian team placed fifth, but garnered a national record of 24 total Olympic medals, only one less than second-placed Team USA.
Now four years later, the Canadians seek to beat their record in Torino and more importantly, to win their first ever gold medal at home.
Team USA has selected 216 athletes to bring to Vancouver in hopes of coming out on top in 2010 after falling to Germany in Torino. Several big names will be returning to the team: speed skaters Apolo Ohno and Shani Davis, male figure skating great Johnny Weir, skiers Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn, and snowboarders Hannah Teter and Shaun White.
Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn comes to Vancouver hoping to deliver the performance she expected to give during the 2006 Games. Although she still competed, Vonn did not win any medals after suffering a horrible crash during downhill training. But with two World Cup titles (2008, 2009), two world championship titles (downhill, super-G) in 2009, and 25 World Cup victories, Vonn has already overcome the disappointment of Torino and will undoubtedly contend for medals in Vancouver.
White, the “Flying Tomato” earned his nickname because of his trademark orange hair, but his ability to perform tricks unfathomable to most athletes brought him the greatest recognition. He entered the 2006 Torino Games as the gold medal favorite in men’s half-pipe and did not disappoint. Now, after practicing on his own private half-pipe built by sponsor, Red Bull, White possesses the trick that not only won him this year’s World Cup and X-games titles but also will likely win him gold in Vancouver.
While there are plenty of veteran Olympians returning to Team USA, there are numerous new faces seeking a place at the medal podium. Eighteen-year-old Rachael Flatt, the 2008 Junior World Champion and recent 2010 U.S. Champion figure skater is putting her college search on hold in order to attend the Vancouver Games.
Speed skater Tucker Fredricks made his Olympic debut in 2006, finishing in 25th place. He has since become one of the fastest 500m skaters in the world and will join the ranks of teammates Casey FitzRandolph and Joey Cheek as he sprints toward a gold medal.
After gaining a new coach, the women’s ice hockey team is expected to be a strong presence on the ice in the 2010 Games and is predicted to face the Canadian team in the gold medal game. The men’s team should again be a medal contender, but the dynamic on the ice may be different as the squad is much younger than in prior Winter Games.
Other athletes to watch for the USA include Evan Lysacek (men’s figure skating), Ryan St. Onge (freestyle skiing), Natalie Darwitz (women’s hockey), Angela Ruggiero (women’s hockey), Jenny Potter (women’s hockey), and Daron Rahlves (ski cross).
Athletes expected to make a decisive impact for their country’s team vary across the event spectrum. For Italy, Pietro Piller Cottrer, 2008-09 World Cup winner is anticipated to wear Olympic gold on this year’s podium.
Norway has long been dominant in the Olympic Winter Games and this year will likely not be any different as Ila Vigen Hattestad and Magnus Moan are expected to be strong medal contenders in cross-country skiing and Nordic combined, respectively. A Japanese athlete, Norihito Kobayashi, will be strong competition for Moan in the Nordic combined event.
While all the usual events are still included in the Winter Games the new sport “ski-cross” that made its debut in Torino, will make its second Olympic appearance during the 2010 Games. Ski-cross has been described as “motocross on skis.” American athlete Casey Puckett described it to NBC as a “controlled chaos. Well it’s not really controlled, it’s just chaos.”
The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will commence with the Opening Ceremony in Vancouver on Friday, February 12 at 7:30 ET. For full listings of events and medal ceremonies, refer to NBC.com.
