2014 Winter Olympics: A Preview

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, are finally here! By this time tomorrow, I will be sitting in front of my TV watching the first events from Russia. As always, I'm looking forward to the figure skating events the most, and this year, there is the added bonus of the team competition. I promised a preview of the events, so here we go.

Team
This is the first year for the team competition at the Olympics, even though the ISU has held several World Team Trophy events over the last few years. The concept is pretty simple: One man, one woman, one pair, and one dance team will perform in the short program competition and in the long program competition. Each country can make two substitutions throughout the event (for instance, two men might split the short and long programs, and two pairs could split the two programs). The countries with the most depth and fewest weaknesses will do the best in this competition. Canada, Russia, and the U.S. are expected to take home the medals, but Italy could play spoiler.

Pairs
The favorites for the gold medal are Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov from Russia, who began skating with each other after the 2010 Olympics. If they slip up (like they did at the Grand Prix Final and the European Championships), Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy could take home gold instead. Savchenko and Szolkowy won the bronze medal at the 2010 Olympics but have suffered from inconsistency during the last four years.  

• Other pairs to watch: Qing Pang and Jian Tong (2010 Olympic silver medalists from China), Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford (2013 World bronze medalists from Canada), Kristen Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch (Canada), Stephania Berton and Ondřej Hotárek (Italy)
• Fun fact 1: Pay attention to the pants! (Trust me — it will be hard not to.) Both Trankov and Hotárek have sported bright yellow pants earlier this season. Both teams ended up winning on the Grand Prix Series, so obviously the pants can bring good luck.
• Fun fact 2: Meagan Duhamel is almost as fun to watch in the Kiss and Cry as she is on the ice. She usually begins analyzing the program the moment the music ends.

Men
This event is all about Patrick Chan and the Japanese men. Oh, and a certain Russian named Evgeny Plushenko. Chan has won the last three World Championships and is truly spectacular when he's on. However, he's also had performances where he's fallen three times and still won. That probably won't work at the Olympics since the level of skating has improved so much. Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan won the Grand Prix Final this year and could definitely play spoiler to Chan's Olympic dreams.

• Other men to watch: Daisuke Takahashi (2010 Olympic bronze medalist from Japan), Tatsuki Machida (Japan), Javier Fernandez (Spain), Jeremy Abbott (USA), Jason Brown (USA), Denis Ten (Kazakhstan)
• Fun fact 1: No Canadian man has ever won an Olympic gold medal. Not Brian Orser. Not Kurt Browning. Not Elvis Stojko. If Patrick Chan wins gold at these Olympics, he would make history for Canada.
• Fun fact 2: Hanyu's good luck charm is a tissue holder shaped like Winnie the Pooh. It even has its own Twitter account: @HanyusPooh.

Ice Dance
This is the competition I'm most looking forward to (my 16-year-old self would probably be shocked). Meryl Davis and Charlie White from the United States are the reigning World Champions and the 2010 Olympic silver medalists. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir from Canada are the 2010 Olympic Champions and two-time World Champions. Both teams train together under the same coach at the same rink in Canton, Michigan. I'm rooting for Davis and White to win the gold medal this time, but Virtue and Moir are some of the purest ice dancers I've ever seen. May the best pair win!

• Other ice dancers to watch: Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat (France), Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev (Russia), Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje (Canada), Madison Chock and Evan Bates (USA), Alex and Maia Shibutani (USA), Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte (Italy), Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov (Russia)
• Fun fact 1: The short dance this year includes the Finnstep, a pattern dance similar to the quickstep in ballroom dancing. Be prepared for lots of music from the Big Band era and Broadway.
• Fun fact 2: Alex and Maia Shibutani (the "ShibSibs") have their own YouTube channel with some fun skating videos.

Ladies
If you're just tuning into skating for the first time since Vancouver, you might think things look very similar at the top. The reigning Olympic gold and silver medalists (Yuna Kim and Mao Asada) are skating once again and are still considered the favorites for the top two spots. Yuna Kim is the first reigning Olympic ladies gold medalist to return since Katarina Witt, so it would be amazing to see her win again. However, the Russian ladies should not be ignored: Julia Lipnitskaia (15) and Adelina Sotnikova (17) recently finished 1-2 at the European Championships, defeating Carolina Kostner of Italy, the reigning World bronze medalist. I'm also still rooting for my favorite, Ashley Wagner, to pull off the best performance of her life.

• Other ladies to watch: Gracie Gold (USA), Zijun Li (China), Akiko Suzuki (Japan), Kanako Murakami (Japan), Polina Edmunds (USA), Valentina Marchei (Italy), Kaetlyn Osmond (Canada)
• Fun fact 1: Julia Lipnitskaia will skate her long program to music from Schindler's List. Her dress is red, just like the little girl's in the movie.
• Fun fact 2: Ashley Wagner is returning to her long program from last year (Samson & Delilah) after her poor performance at U.S. Nationals.

Get excited! The Olympics are almost here.