Snowboarding

Shaun White is the face of Snowboarding... er, half-pipe snowboarding. The Travis Rices, Nikolas Mullers and Jeremy Jones' of the world may have their say in freeriding and super park. But halfpipe is unmistakebly White's.

From the International Olympics to the X-Games, the Flying Tomato dominates the podium of every halfpipe competition he enters. Some argue he is the Tiger Woods of halfpipe snowboarding; with his competition a few notches below him not only in technical execution of tricks but amplitude out of the halfpipe. Literally owning the "Double Cork," (involves two flips, multiple spins, and at least 20 feet of height in the air) White's competition are still trying to catch up to his trick bag.

Not to take anything away from the foresight or gymnastic ability of White, but the elevation of his riding ability was given an unfair advantage by Red Bull building him a private halfpipe, with a foam pit and helicopter pad. This gives this rider an unfair edge over any other rider on the planet.

White invented the double cork on a private 167-metre (550ft) long ­halfpipe (a structure like an inverted tunnel with facing concave ramps), built by his ­sponsor, Red Bull, at Silverton Mountain in south-west Colorado, for an ­estimated cost of $500,000. ­Accessible only by helicopter and with a soft, foam pit built into one wall, the ­structure allowed White to try tricks he had ­"contemplated for years" without risk of injury.

All I am saying is give the rest of the competition access to such training facilities and you will see the sport taken to another level. Keeping White the sole athlete with access to such a halfpipe is unfair to those looking to drive the progression of the sport.

Kevin Pearce, one of White's top competitor's,  landed on his head in Utah while attempting the trick. Pearce was in a coma for a week and may never ride a halfpipe again.

Fellow Olympian Greg Bretz from Mammoth Lakes has been attempting and landing the double cork as well, without the luxury of White's error free foam pit. Other riders are pushing the limit and their lives trying to keep up with the progression of halfpipe riding. Finding trial and error with every bruise and bump alongside their competitors.

If we continue to give Shaun White the face of snowboarding for only mastering halfpipe riding, give the other riders he competes against their own halfpipes with foam pit walls. I'm sure the real athletes wouldn't even need the helicopter to get back to the top of the halfpipe.

Until all riders have access to a halfpipe with a foam pit, White is a cheater. I claim there are dozens of riders better than America's ginger golden boy.

Shaun White is the face of snowboarding to those who don't ride often. He does not represent those that gorilla session the parks and city, the freeriders that never set foot on a resort, nor the true athletes without multi million dollar funding for private halfpipes with foam pits.

The 15th day of competition witnessed further speed skating acrimony. In total, 21 medals were awarded to nine nations.

For the first time at the Vancouver Games, Canada and Germany have overtaken the USA in terms of the number of golds taken. The US retains overall first with 34 medals.  

For Norway, it was another day of success. Their single gold medal has the country on course to surpass their 2006 total of 19 medals—which included two golds—and has the distinction of being the country's 300th Winter Olympic medal. Norway has already collected seven gold medals at the Vancouver Games.

Biathlon

The illustrious Bjorndaelen, who had thus far taken a silver in the Vancouver games, took his sixth Olympic gold in the men's 4 x 7.5-km relay at the Whistler Olympic Park to move to within one of his predecessor Bjørn Dæhlie's record of 12 Olympic medals.

Bjorndaelen's teammate, Emil Hegle Svendsen, earned his third medal of the games and his second gold. The Norwegian team supplanted Russia from first after the the initial leg and retained the lead for the remainder of the event, with a finish time of 1:21.38.1.

Bjorndaelen crossed the finish line wielding a Norwegian flag that had been given to him. The gold was Norway's 300th Winter Olympic medal.

Austria and Russia's teams took silver and bronze, respectively.

Snowboarding

The unpleasant conditions that had impacted the games on the 14th day refused to abate and rain covered the course at Cypress Mountain during the ladies' parallel slalom, while a seemingly impenetrable mist obscured the surrounding scenery.

The crowd, which was sparser than usual, was unperturbed and continued to enthusiastically support the competitors.

One of the pre-race favourites, Germany's 2006 silver medallist Amelie Kober, failed to advance from her quarter-final after losing her balance and crashing out. It had been an unconvincing day for her.

In the semi-final first run, Germany's Selina Joerg and the Netherlands' Nicolien Sauerbreij navigated their lanes fluidly, with Joerg finishing her first run 0.17 seconds faster. She could not replicate that display in her second run, crashing as she approach the red line and sliding into the gates.

Joerg contested the bronze with Austria's Marian Kreiner, who had been overcome by Russia's Ekaterina Ilyukhina.

In the "small" final, Austria's Kreiner established an impressive lead over Joerg and her assured second run held off the German Joerg to secure bronze - her country's third medal in a snowboard event. 

The unexpected composition of the final did not diminish the spectacle. The two competitors executed an almost indistinguishable first run, separated only by a narrow margin of 0.02 seconds.

In the second run, Ilyukhina momentarily lost her balance, compromising her run against Sauerbreij. Despite an admirable recovery, Ilhuyikina could not remedy her errors and was unable to overtake her opponent. Sauerbreij finished 0.23 seconds faster.

Sauerbreij and Ilyukhina became the first snowboarders from their respective countries to medal in the Olympics.

Alpine Skiing

The ladies' slalom commenced under unpleasant conditions at the Whistler Creekside. Adverse weather had already caused the postponement of the ladies' giant slalom second run, and the impaired visibility had resulted in a number of crash outs—most notable among them, Lindsey Vonn.

Germany's Maria Riesch established a 0.40 second lead over Slovenia's Sarka Zahrobska to take first place in the first run .

In contrast, the USA's Lindsey Vonn had a lacklustre slalom, compounding her recent disappointment at Whistler since her acclaimed gold in the downhill. Vonn conceded just 16 seconds into her run after an average beginning.

In the second run, Austria's Elisabeth Görgl, who has taken two bronzes, achieved a time of 53.01, which allowed her to withhold off a remarkable 14 challengers until displaced by France's Sandrine Aubert.

Maria Riesch's sister, Susanne, specialises in the slalom discipline and appeared certain to establish a respectable finish time but terminated her second run after becoming entangled with one of the course's poles. She lay despondently in the accumulating snow.

Austria's Marlies Schild, who had impressively emerged from a error, achieved a time of 51.40—0.49 seconds faster than the then incumbent, Sweden's Maria Pietilae-Holmner.

Unfortunately for Schild, Maria Riesch was the final competitor in the second run and capitalised on a strong beginning to reclaim first with an overall time of 1:42.89.

Riesch became the first woman to receive more than one gold medal at a single Olympic since Croatia's Janica Kosteli in 2002, and the first German to do so since Katja Seizinger in the 1998 Nagano Games.

Curling

After 47 matches between 10 nations over a 10-day period, the ladies' curling reached its climax with gold contested between Canada and Sweden at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.

The consolatory bronze was coveted by Switzerland and reigning world champions China, who won their match 12-6. The Swiss capitulated in the eight end after China took four points to extend their lead to six.

In the final, Sweden took a sensational gold to shock the home favourites.

Canada took a one-point lead in the second end but it remained a balanced match.  The lead alternated between the two sides, and it was 6-4 to the Canadians in the ninth end.

There was a certain disquiet amongst the crowd when a few spectators occasionally shouted chants that could have unsettled Sweden's skip Anette Norberg.

What should have been the deciding delivery for Canada's skip, Cheryl Bernard, proved to be an unfortunate error for her. She failed to remove one of Sweden's stones from the house, giving Sweden a tantalising opportunity

Sweden calmly exploited the unexpected chance to take two points and extend the match to an extra end. With the exception of small clusters of Swedes, the crowd was unnervingly silent.

Tension was palpable and reached a peak when the two sides had just one stone available, with the game still tied at 6-6.

Bernard again made a fundamental error, this time condemning her team to defeat. In her final delivery, Bernard intended to displace two of Sweden's stones from the house but could only take the initial target out. The other stone was untouched and gave Sweden the decisive point.

The gold medal is Sweden second consecutive gold in ladies' curling.

Speed skating

Three medal finals in the short-track variant were held at the Pacific Coliseum.

In the men's 500-m, Canada's Charles Hamelin took gold with a time of 40.981 to the joy of the Coliseum's partisan crowd.

Hamelin had established an early lead before being overtaken by South Korea's Sung Si-Bak, but regained first after the South Korean crashed out.

The USA's Apolo Anton Ohno was later adjudged to have been responsible for the crash of Canada's Francois Lous-Tremblay and was disqualified. Sung-Si-Bak was advanced to second and Tremblay took the bronze

In the ladies 1,000 metres, China's Wang Meng seized her third gold of the Vancouver Games with a time of 1:29.213.

Wang Meng aggressively coveted the lead but tussled with the USA's Katherine Reutter. She eventually regained the lead and appeared to have consolidated first, but still had to battle with Reutter and South Korea's Park Seung-Hi until crossing the red line.

China's Zhou Yang was disqualified. It is Wang Meng's fourth Olympic gold medal, equalling South Korea's Chun Lee-Kyung.

Canada had more reason to celebrate when the country's four-man team took gold in the 5000-m. Canada held onto the lead for much of the race, despite a determined pursuit by South Korea and China, and finished with a time of 6:50.045.

The two Asian nations took silver and bronze, respectively. The USA, featuring Apolo Anton Ohno, finished in fourth.

Charles Hamelin has become the first Canadian to receive two golds at the Vancouver Games. 

Recently, I had the privilege of interviewing two-time gold medalist Shaun White.

AT&T and the U.S. Olympic Committee sponsored the interview. AT&T is one of the official sponsors of the U.S. Olympic team and is responsible for the Team USA soundtrack, which is available on iTunes.

During the interview, White discussed a variety of topics including the appearance on Oprah he had filmed only hours earlier to his plans for topping his current trademark trick, the double McTwist 1260.

However, there was one topic Shaun White talked extensively and more enthusiastically about, the amazing experiences he had during his time in Vancouver.

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Shaun White described his experience at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy as being “a blur.”

He didn't even get the opportunity to savor the moment after winning his first gold medal. Immediately following the competition, Shaun was rushed by police escort to the bottom of the mountain, led to the podium, and had the gold medal placed around his neck. The next day he left Torino.

In 2006, Shaun missed out on what he calls the “whole Olympic vibe.”

This time around things were much different.

Shaun had the opportunity to see the beautiful city of Vancouver. He visited the U.S. Team house in the Olympic village, and got to know some of his fellow Olympians. He took the time to see some of the other events, including the women's halfpipe and men's figure skating. He did get to experience the “whole Olympic vibe.”

During his time in Vancouver, White also found some time to have fun hanging around with friends and family.

On the day before his gold medal performance, White and some family friends who live in the Vancouver area went on a kayaking trip around Horseshoe Bay.

Looking for something to do that would keep him off his feet, and prevent him from thinking too much about the next day's competition, a friend suggested taking out the kayaks. After initially being hesitant, White agreed to take the trip.

Always the showman, White said, “I had to be the guy who stood up on the kayak, obviously, and tried to pet the giant seal that came by and wanted to hang.”

White also shared with us what he did immediately after his historic gold medal run.

He said there was no time at all to unwind. He went straight from the competition to conduct two major press conferences, during which he was starving since he doesn't eat prior to his event. In his words, “I wish I had one [a cheeseburger]. I would have destroyed it!”

Instead of running to the nearest McDonald's, official sponsor of the U.S. Olympic team, to indulge in a cheeseburger after completing his press conferences, Shaun enjoyed dinner with his family. He described the family time as being his “big release from everything.”

White shared another insight into his Olympic experience when he discussed a close encounter his new gold medal had with a glob of ketchup.

Shaun said, “It's a dangerous place out there! We were eating last night [Thursday] and my friend was eating a burger and literally ketchup flew inches from the ribbon, and I made a vow not to wear it at dinner anymore.”

Shaun White's time in Vancouver was magical. Describing the experience he said, “I didn't really know what that meant to be on the U.S. Team. Obviously, I competed in Torino, but I popped in, did four days of practice, one event, and left. I didn't get the chance to take in the whole vibe down in the city and do everything. This time around was just unreal. I was proud to run around with the U.S.A. gear on and do the whole [Olympic] thing.”

Shaun White will always remember the Winter Olympic Games in Torino as the time he first became an Olympic gold medalist, but he will remember Vancouver as the time he became a true Olympian.

Click here to read more about my interview with Shaun White.

For over a decade and a half, the Commonwealth of Australia has made quite a habit of getting at least one medalist at the Winter Olympic Games. Known more for their dominance in summer sports, they might as well begin a new tradition of garnering at least one gold medalist at a winter games, too.

Short track firefighter Steven Bradbury glided through the 1,000 meter pile-up to earn the first for the land down under at Salt Lake City in 2002. Alisa Camplin made it two with a stunning performance in women's aerials at the same Games. 

Vancouver mercenary and "spam king" Dale Begg-Smith gave Australia its third, by winning the men's moguls four years ago in Turin.

And Thursday night was the time for snowboarder Torah Bright to make it gold medal No. 4 for the Aussies at Cypress Mountain's halfpipe. 

After an unimpressive performance in her first run, she rebounded by executing a difficult switchback 720 to earn a score of 45.0 in the finals and secure a first-place finish.

The native of Cooma, New South Wales is expected to have her face on one of Australia's stamps later this year with her medal.

Behind her were two Americans. Hannah Teter of Belmont, VT scored a 42.4 on her first run to earn a silver while Kelly Clark of nearby Burlington, VT scored a 42.2 on her second run to earn the bronze.

Bright qualified directly to the finals after scores of 41.3 and 45.8 on her two runs. Her gold-medal winning performance puts her in elite company among Australian Olympic medalists. 

The Australia short track 5,000 meter team of Bradbury, Kieran Hansen, Andrew Murtha, and Richard Nizielski earned a bronze medal at Lillehammer in 1994. Alpine skier Zali Steggall earned a bronze in the women's slalom at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. Camplin added a bronze to her gols in women's aerials at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

Other Americans who qualified for the finals included Elena Hight and Gretchen Bleiler, who finished 10th and 11th, respectively. Spain's Queralt Castellet, a potential threat to the favorites in the event, injured herself in warm-ups prior to the finals.

Shaun White has once again proved to the world that he does belong to be on the world’s biggest stage.  During this year’s winter games, White won another gold medal while competing in the snowboarding portion of the Olympics. 

Not only did the White win, but he completely destroyed his competition.  He performed so well that because he went very last, he had already won his gold medal after just his first run.  While everyone else had already completed both their first and second runs, Shaun White already had them beat with just his first run. 

So although White could have just gone straight down and still receive his gold medal, White decided to go off the wall with tricks that have never been seen before.  On his second and final run, Shaun White busted out his 1260 McTwist to end his final run.  This was the most shocking trick that anyone has ever seen in snowboarding history and it earned him a score of 48.4.  Needless to say Shaun White shocked the crowd, his opponents, and everyone in America; and again, White went home with another gold medal. 

The question that people have been asking is does Shaun White have an unfair advantage over is competition?  I personally am tired of all the crap that White gets criticized for simply because he has done well for himself. 

Not only does White have his natural athletic ability over his competitors, but he also has a training facility located in Colorado.  Shaun White has achieved this training facility because he is sponsored by Red Bull.  People are complaining that White is given too much of an advantage by having such a facility. 

Now my problem is that people don’t understand that White has earned his sponsorship, and he has earned everything that he has today.  I’m tired of people complaining he has too many advantages.  Shaun White worked his butt off to get to where he is today.  The gold medals that he has received are all earned.  Shaun White put himself into the successful life that he has today; and no one should try to take that away from him. 

I agree that yes no other snowboarder will be able to compete with him because of where he is now today.  However, it is Shaun White who has worked hard and put himself in this position to be king of the entire snowboarding world. 

The fifth day of competition at the Winter Olympics witnessed Canada's second gold of the tournament—and the country's fifth medal overall. In total, 15 medals were awarded to athletes from 10 nations. Bad weather again proved to be more than an irritation, resulting in the postponement of the men's downhill.

In the ladies' 10 km biathlon pursuit, there was a reversal of fortunes, with Germany's Magdalena Neuner adding a gold to her silver from the 7.5 km sprint. Slovakian Anastasia Kuzmina, who won gold in the 7.5 km, finished second ahead of France's Marie Laure Brunet.

The German completed the course in a time of 30 minutes and 16 seconds. When not skiing, Neuner enjoys playing the harp and her performances in the Olympics are sure to give her ample inspiration.

In the men's 12.5 km pursuit, Swede Bjorn Ferry's finish time of 33 minutes and 38.4 seconds, along with immaculate accuracy at the shooting range, earned him first place.

The gold was his first Olympic medal. He began competing in the Olympics at the 2002 Salt Lake games.

Austria's Christoph Sumann finished second—16.5 seconds behind Ferry—ahead of France's Vincent Jay, who unexpectedly captured gold in the 10 km sprint.

Severe fog at Cypress Mountain caused protracted delays for the ladies' snowboard cross qualification heats.

Competitors and spectators refused to be unsettled, however, and a number of "Canadian" waves rippled through the stands as attempts were made to self-entertain.

Although the weather refused to improve, the organisers persisted—much to the detriment of some of the boarders.  

The USA's Lindsey Jacobellis again defied credulity, appearing once more to self-sabotage her gold medal aspirations.

Her fall continued her disappointment at the Olympics, perhaps inextricably defined by a surreal miscalculation four years earlier that denied her gold in Turn.

In the final, Canada's veteran Maelle Ricker caused delirium for her fellow Canadians, taking gold ahead of France's Deborah Anthonioz and Switzerland's Olivia Nobs, respectively.

Ricker's experiences at the 2006 Turin games were less controversial than Jacobellis but spectacularly more painful. She sustained a concussion after dramatically skewering off the course.

It was a horrendous crash, one which caused her tremendous anguish and catalysed an unstoppable impetus to one day medal.

After securing gold, Ricker addressed the media, "Turin was such a motivator for me. It just made me work that much harder and just go for it today. It’s crazy. Indescribable. I’m going to pinch myself.”

At the Richmond Olympic Oval, speed skater Lee Sang-Hwa sensationally foiled Germany's world record holder, Jenny Wolf, while bronze went to China's Wang Beixing.

The 20-year-old South Korean's overall time of 76.09 seconds was sufficient to allow her to become the country's first gold medalist in the women's 500 m discipline.

South Korea became the first country to triumph in both the men's and women's versions of the 500 metres.

The death of Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili continued to reverberate and controversially prompted organisers to amend the starting place for women in the single's luge, moving competitors to the section used for juniors.

The decision was made to conform to an earlier one to lower speeds in the men's version by moving their starting position to the women's equivalent.

At the Whistler Sliding Centre, Germany's army psychologist Tatjana Hüfner raced to first in three of the four heats in the women's single luge. Her overall time of 2.46.524 was 0.490 ahead of Austria's Nina Reithmayer.

Hüfner's gold, along with third-placed Natalie Geisenberger's bronze, affirmed Germany's outstanding authority in the men's and women's luge thus far in the 2010 games.

It was Germany's fourth successive gold in the women's single event, since Silke Kraushaar took gold at Nagano in 1998.

Just about fifteen years ago, snowboarding wasn't considered a "sport."

Snowboarding was something that wood-pushers did in the cold winter while their parks were frozen over. The 1990's were a decade, more so than the 80's, that saw these "alternative" sports mount ultra popularity.

Fast forward to 2010, snowboarding is a billion dollar industry and the face of the lifestyle is a 23-year-old American named Shaun "The Flying Tomato" White.

White has almost single handedly took a recreational activity and made it a bona fide, respected trade. He has his own clothing line, equipment brands, and he's one of the world's most recognizable athletes. Don't forget White's salesman skills, he's one heck of a pitch-man, too.

There are hundreds of world-class athletes in Vancouver for the next two weeks that will put their skills on display for the world to watch. White could quite possibly be the best overall athlete in that bunch.

The Flying Tomato defies gravity on every breath, floating, rather flying nearly two stories above the icey super pipes that he calls home.

White has owned ESPN's X-Games for a decade, he's collected 15 gold medals in snowboarding and one in skateboarding. If skateboarding ever makes its way to the Olympics, you can be sure that White will be donning the red, white, and blue while he skies on the halfpipe.

Winter Dew Tours and Grand Prix's of snowboarding are events that the young American has dominated in the past, but he shines brightest on the biggest stage of all—the Winter Olympics.

White's greatest accomplishment of all was his one gold medal he garnished in the 2006 Torino games' mens halfpipe competition. With his Michael Jordan-esque nature, be sure that there's only one thing on his mind—bringing home another gold medal to the U.S.A.

There's no question that White is again favored to win the halfpipe event in Vancouver. The run is at Whistler, one he is familiar with due to his Winter X-Games experience.

White's private training is second to none, he has his own super-pipe in the middle of Colorado's avalanche country. He flies by helicopter to begin his daily regiment, making sure he's head and shoulders above his competitors. The Whistler run should be a cake-walk compared to the monster work out facility that he recently built for himself.

If there's one American Olympic athlete that will surely blow his/her rivals out of the water, or air in this case, it's Shaun White.

The white of the snow, the blue of the ice, and the flaming red of White's hair, it's in the cards already, he'll win gold in Vancouver.

The 2010 Winter Olympics from Vancouver are just two weeks away.

Shaun White and Team USA will look to continue their dominance on the half pipe; Lindsey Jacobellis will look to make amends for a showboating error that cost her a gold medal in Torino; and Lindsey Vonn will look to stand atop the alpine skiing world at the third time of asking.

America will likely move into second on the all-time list of medal winners in 2010, moving ahead of the Soviet Union and looking to close the gap on runaway leaders Norway. Team USA brought home 25 medals from Torino four years ago, their best ever haul on international soil, and a strong run north of the border could help them add to the 78 gold metals captured over the years.

In part one of my two-part look at America’s chances in Vancouver, here are the movers are shakers, the contenders and the pretenders, for the seven snow sports of the 2010 Games.

Alpine Skiing

The Basics

There are five different events in the alpine skiing program, each of which will be contested by the men and women.

The downhill and super-G events are known as the speed events, and medals are awarded purely on a “quickest down the mountain” basis. In the more technical giant slalom and slalom events, athletes make two runs and racers’ times are combined. In the super-combined event, changed slightly for this year’s Games, skiers make one downhill run and one slalom run, with medals awarded to the racers with the fastest combined times.

American Hopes

Austria has historically been the dominant force in alpine skiing, having won twice as many medals than every other nation (101) other than Switzerland. But all eyes will be on Lindsey Vonn, who had a headline crash in Torino four years ago, as she looks to quench her thirst for an Olympic medal on her third attempt.

Vonn is currently ranked No. 1 in the 2009-10 FIS Alpine World Cup standings. She won the women’s downhill event at Lake Louise in Canada and the super combined race at Val d’Iserein France in December, and she followed it up with downhill and super-G victories in Haus im Ennstal in Austria and at Italy’s Cortina d Ampezzo at the start of 2010.

25-year-old Vonn, an Olympian in 2002 and 2006, is still searching for her first Olympic medal, despite winning the World Championship twice. She has dominated in all five World Cup downhill races this season, and she’ll be looking to cap February off in style in Vancouver.

Leanne Smith from North Conway, N.H. is probably America’s next best hope of an alpine skiing medal, while Bode Miller on the men’s side will be looking to put a disappointing 2006 Games in Torino behind him and build on the two silver medals he captured eight years ago in Salt Lake City.

Competition

German Maria Riesch, ranked second overall in the World Cup standings, is a close personal friend of Vonn as well as the American’s biggest challenger in the downhill and slalom speed events. Defending World Champion Kathrin Zettel of Austria is accomplished in both slalom and giant slalom, and Sweden’s Anja Parson, a five-time medallist, can never be discounted.

Janica Kostelic, who defended her combined title and won a super-G silver medal in Torino will not be competing on the newly-designed Whistler Creekside course in Vancouver.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: 80 percent

Biathlon

The Basics

The biathlon combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting. There are five events scheduled for the 2010 Winter Olympics: individual, sprint, pursuit, mass start, and relay, where the format is the same for the men’s and women’s competition with only the distances varying.

American Hopes

Team USA has never won a medal in the biathlon—one of only two droughts for the red, white, and blue in the Winter Olympics—but a trio of New Yorkers are hoping to change all that in Vancouver.

Returning Olympian Tim Burke, Lowell Bailey, and Haley Johnson represent America’s best chances in the two-pronged event. Burke finished second in the 20km individual race in Ostersund in Sweden at the end of 2009, and he became the first American to lead the World Cup standings when he wore the yellow bid earlier this month.

Without the pressure of the eyes of a nation, Burke and co. might have a legitimate shot at picking up a medal in one of the four men’s events (10km sprint, 12.5km pursuit, 20km individual, and 15km mass start) north of the border.

Competition

Norway’s duo of Ole Einar Bjorndalen and Emil Hegle Svendsen make a gold medal unlikely for Burke, but if he shoots well, there’s every chance of him being in the mix.

The women unfortunately are less likely to break their 18-year biathlon famine—although Johnson had a top-30 finish in a World Cup event last month—and a team medal in either the men’s or women’s relay is out of the question because of the strength of nations like Russia, Austria, Sweden, Germany, and Norway.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: 15 percent

Cross-Country Skiing

The Basics

Cross-country skiing involves athletes skiing over different terrains in two different styles. There is the “classical” style where athletes glide across a prepared track that has parallel grooves cut into the snow, and there is “freestyle”which is move like ice skating where skiers transfer their weight over a smoothed course.

There are 12 events in Vancouver, six for the men and six for the women. The events, which specify whether you must ski in the freestyle or classical style, are the same for both men and women, but the distances vary.

American Hopes

America will send 10 athletes to Vancouver—eight who were allocated a roster spot and two more by quota re-allocation.

Kris Freeman is America’s best hope in the men’s competition, while Kikkan Randall will lead the charge for the women.

Freeman, from Andover, N.H., is the top distance racer in the country and he’ll be hoping for a medal when he takes his poles for the third time on the Olympic stage. He is a five-time World Champion, and he will have his best chances of a medal in the 15km freestyle or the 50km classical race.

For the women, Kikkan Randall is the USA’s best hope. She’s in the top 40 in the World Cup sprint standings, and she has been on the podium twice in 51 World Cup starts, most notably her second-place finish in Liberec last year.

She also finished an impressive ninth in the sprint event in Torino in 2006 after coming 44th in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Competition

Petter Northug is one of Freeman’s biggest rivals at the games. The Norweigien 24-year-old, who won three gold medals in last year’s World Championships, is arguably the favourite in four individual events in Vancouver. He’s the current Tour leader and world No. 1, and everything points to more success at Whistler.

In the 15km race, don’t discount Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer. He is a strong distance skier and was part of the Italian team which took gold in the relay in Torino four years ago.

Andrus Veerpalu from Estonia is one of the ones to watch in the 50kn event. The veteran, who turns 39 next week, will be competing in his sixth Olympic Games, and he’ll be favored to come away with a medal of some color after winning gold at the 15km distance twice before.

Randall will have to overcome the likes of Charlotte Kalla, Petra Madjic, and Justyna Kowalczyk if she wants to reach the podium in Vancouver.

22-year-old Kalla is widely touted as Sweden’s best hopes of a cross country champion in more than four decades, while Slovakian Majdic is a two-time defending spring champion at the World Cup. She came runner-up in the overall standings last winter.

Majdic lost out to Kowalczyk in the World Cup, the woman who also won Poland’s first ever Olympic medal in cross-country skiing in Torino in 2006. She won a pair of gold medals at the Worlds, so she will head to Whistler Olympic Park as a firm favourite.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: 20 percent

Freestyle Skiing

The Basics

There are three different events in the 2010 Olympic program: Moguls, aerials, and ski cross. Men and women compete in all three.

The mogul event will see skiers racing down a hill over a course of large bumps, making sharp turns while keeping their knees bent. There are also two ramps which send the skier into the air where they are expected to perform flips and twists. Skiers are judged on speed and style.

The aerial competition is one of the most exciting events on the Winter Olympics schedule. Skiers fly down a slope and over a concave ramp, propelling them up to 50ft into the air to give them enough time to perform multiple flips and twists before landing the other side. Get ready to hear a lot about the lay-full-full, lay-tuck-full, and double-full-full-full. Tune in to this—you’ll be glad you did.

The ski cross is a new event for 2010 and pits four racers against each other in a first-to-the-line battle over jumps and turns.

American Hopes

Team USA will go into the Olympics feeling confident. Four of the team’s women swept the top four spots at Lake Placid in upstate New York last week, and Jeret Peterson—a two-time Olympian and seven time World Champion—says he is looking to push the envelope with his trademark three-flip, five-twist jump.

Hannah Kearney will spearhead a strong mogul team in her second Olympic Games. She failed to live up to expectations in 2006 despite entering the games as the World Champion, but a strong showing on Whiteface Mountain has her name being thrown out once again as a possible medallist.

She has the speed and air assault to dominate the mogul, and it’s likely that the US will have a great start to the competition when Kearney takes to the mountain on Day One of the competition. Shannon Bahrke, Michelle Roark, and Heather McPhie could also challenge for spots in the top 10.

Also watch out for Emily Cook in the aerial event. She came in fourth in the 2009 World Championships and will be competing in her second Olympic Games. She is a strong medal contender, even if she is unlikely to strike gold.

Jeret Peterson, who has never placed better than seventh in his previous two trips to the Games, may represent the best chance for the men in the aerial competition. Talk will center around him landing “The Hurricane” his signature quintuple spinning triple flip. If the conditions are right and he pulls it off, his daredevil approach to his sport may just be worth it.

Competition

If the Americans hope to win a medal in the men’s aerial, a feat they failed for the first time in Torino four years ago, they may have to withstand the barrage of Canadian trio Steve Omischl, Kyle Nissen, and Ryan Blais.

Omischl has stood on the World Championship podium four times, including the last three years on the very top step. Nissen finished fifth at the 2006 Olympics and fourth in the 2009 World Cup aerials, and Blais rebounded from injury in 2007 to finish seventh in 2008.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: 60 percent

Nordic Combined

The Basics

This event combines cross-country skiing and ski jumping—two events in one day. It is a male-only event and features three events: two individual events distinguished by the size of the hill, and a team competition.

American Hopes

Bill Demong and Todd Lodwick will be flying the flag for Team USA. They have competed in nine Olympic Games between them and both have won the World Championships.

Demong won the bronze medal in last year’s World Cup, and he is excellent on the large hill; Lodwick took the gold in the 2009 normal hill competition.

Many fans of the sport will know Demong for one of two reasons: as the 22-year-old star forced to miss a year of action after fracturing his skull in 2002, or as the member of the American team that lost his bib in the 2009 World championships, and thus getting disqualified. He’s looking to set the record straight in February and be remembered for all the right reasons.

Johnny Spillane adds depth to the American roster for the team competition, and pundits are saying this is probably the best chance the country has ever had for its first Nordic combined medal.

Individually or as a team, the US really does have more than a punchers’ chance.

Competition

France’s Jason Lamy Chappuis is the skier in form heading to Canada. He won his fifth World Cup event of the season last weekend and currently holds a 380-point lead over Felix Gottland at the top of the international standings.

34-year-old Gottwald came out of retirement last May, adding an extra threat to the Americans’ chances. He has won two gold medals, a silver medal, and three bronze medals in four Olympics, and he gives the Austrian team a dangerous combination of skill and experience.

Meanwhile, Finland’s Anssi Koivuranta, the defending World Cup champion, is as good as anybody on his day, and Notway’s Magnus Moan will likely be in contention in both the normal and large hill events.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: 75 percent

Ski Jumping

The Basics

There are three events in Vancouver in the ski jumping class: two individual events and a team event. As with the Nordic combined event, it is contested by the men only.

The individual events are separated into two categories: the normal hill and the large hill. Athletes are awarded points based on the length of their jump and their style, both in-flight and on the landing. The team event is also held on the large hill, where the scores of four members are combined to produce a grand total.

American Hopes

The US is sending three athletes to Vancouver to compete in the ski jumping events: Nick Alexander, teenager Peter Frenette, and Anders Johnson.

The bad news is that none of them will seriously contend for a medal.

Johnson, who became the youngest American representative on the Olympic ski jumping team when he competed as a 16-year-old in 2006, will look to improve on his 40th position in Torino, but it is doubtful whether he will even be in serious contention for a top-30 finish.

Johnson finished just inside the top 50 at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec in 2009, and he has never finished better than 29th in a World Cup meeting. An ACL injury slowed down his Olympic preparations last year, but he insists he is fit and ready to go. Even a healthy Johnson is no match for more than two dozen other jumpers.

Competition

With Team USA unlikely to feature at the business end of any of the competitions, there are scores of ski jumpers you could expect to finish ahead of the American trio.

Gregor Schlierenzauer, a winner of a record 13 World Cup events in 2009, is definitely one to watch in Vancouver, as are fellow Austrians Thomas Morgenstern (large hill) and Wolfgang Loitzl (normal hill). Expect the Austrian team to win gold or silver in the team event and have at least one jumper on the podium in each of the individual competitions.

Swiss Harry Potter look-alike Simon Ammann, who burst onto the scene with individual victories in the normal and large hill eight years ago, can also be counted on for an impressive Olympics, and Finnish nine-time world champion Janne Ahonen could add some serious European spice to an already-bursting top five.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: Two percent

Snowboarding

The Basics

There are six events on the Vancouver snowboarding program, three for the men and three for the women. They are the halfpipe, parallel giant slalom, and snowboard cross.

American Hopes

America took home seven of the 18 snowboarding medals at the 2006 Olympics, including three golds.

Shaun White and Danny Kass went one-two in the halfpipe for the men, while Hannah Teter and Gretchen Bleiler replicated the feat in the women’s event. Seth Wescott took gold in the snowboard cross, while Team USA also took silver in the women’s cross (Lindsey Jacobellis) and bronze in the parallel giant slalom (Rosey Fletcher).

Jacobellis is once again one of the main gold medal contenders in Vancouver. Few will forget the crash that cost her gold four years ago when, with a big lead and the finish line in sight, Jacobellis mis-timed the landing on a showboat trick and hit the ground, allowing Switzerland’s Tanya Frieden to win gold.

Shaun White will also head into the Games as one of the favorites for a gold medal. One of Team USA’s more high-profile athletes, White will look to defend his Olympic championship with a lot of confidence.

He dominated the field at the US Snowboarding Grand Prix last week, finishing one point off a perfect score after nailing his “Double McTwist,” a jump including one-and-a-half horizontal flips packed inside two vertical flips.

On the women’s side, Kelly Clark is also in good form, winning her third half pipe event in the last four outings. The 2002 Olympic champion should have scooped a medal in Torino, but she tried a 900-degree spin to try and snatch gold when a 720-spin would have likely landed her at least bronze. She crashed and finished fourth. With that behind her, she is one of the favorites for another gold next month.

Two teammate who may have something to say about that are 23-year-old Hannah Teter and the covergirl of US snowboarding Gretchen Bleiler.

Teter, the defending champion and humanitarian from Vermont will more than likely be on the podium in Vancouver, while Bleiler is coming into form at just the right time after winning her first win of the season on Mammoth Mountain in California earlier this month.

Competition

Team USA’s competition could come from within: from friends and teammates. That said, there are still a number of athletes, particularly in the women’s competition, that could ruffle some feathers.

In the half pipe competition, China’s Liu Jiayu represents the biggest threat to an American sweep. She is the 2009 World Champion and could ruin more than one American dream in Canada mid-February.

22-year-old Australian Torah Bright could also upset the established order on the half pipe. She beat Kelly Clark to the gold medal three times in 2009, and she could very well bring the Aussies their first Olympic snowboarding medal.

Chances of a Gold in Vancouver: 95 percent

In part two I will preview the ice sports: bobsled, curling, figure skating, hockey, luge, short track, skeleton, and speed skating.

Wisconsin winters prove to offer prime opportunities for snowboarding enthusiasts.  Whether your just a beginner or an advanced snowboarder, the opportunities to enjoy yourself and have some constructive time on the slopes is endless in Wisconsin.

Generally Wisconsin's snowboarding season runs between the months of December and late-March when the climate is such that it will sustain snow.  Many times Wisconsin ski resorts will make snow when necessary, but usually this is only limited to the early and later times of the season when snowfall amounts are down and the slopes are lacking a sufficient snow-base.

Wisconsin is a great opportunity for snowboarders because there are so many ski resorts spread througthout the state.  Geographically speaking, from the kettle moraine region of the southeast to the Lake Superior shoreline in the north, visitors to Wisconsin can choose from thirty downhill ski and snowboard areas, the fourth largest collection of any state in the country.

If you want to board bum, don’t stop at just one resort—make it a road trip! Tyrol Basin, Alpine Valley, and Cascade Mountain have some of the best terrain parks in the Midwest. Tyrol Basin built its first half-pipe in 1988. Alpine Valley’s Mohawk Terrain Park creates one of the slickest hills around. Every year, Cascade Mountain engineers one of the longest parks with a flow that’s a must to experience. All these resorts are within about 90 minutes of Madison.

And don’t forget to hit up Sunburst and Wilmot Mountain outside of Milwaukee. These two resorts are excellent places to learn the feeling of freedom that you can only get while flying on a board. Season passes are available at every resort, and usually cost between $200 and $500; early season deals and ski packages are always a steal.

Most importantly don't forget to practice safe snowboarding by wearing all the necessary snowboarding gear.  There are many snowboarding gear shops available, and many of them offer great specials and very affordable equipment too.

Happy snowboarding!