2010 Winter Olympics Preview: Figure Skating, Curling, Cross-Country
Day four of the Double G Sports Vancouver Olympics Preview will cover Figure Skating, Curling and Cross-Country Skiing. Check out the site home page for our previous previews.
Figure Skating
The Unites States leads the all time medal count with 44, including 13 golds. Lately the USA has dropped off their past dominance. In the 2006 Torino games, they won just two silver medals. This year they hope to get back to the success of the past.
One of the ice dancing teams for the Unites States is Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. The pair won a silver medal in the 2006 Torino games.
The other pair to watch for the United States is 2008 Junior Worlds Champions Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates. This pair is among the youngest teams in ice dancing, coming in at ages 19 and 21.
In the pairs competition, U.S. Champions Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett are long shots. They are a consistent pair however and usually give entertaining performances. They are fun to watch.
The skaters in the Men's Singles competition for the Unites States are a varied blend. Johnny Weir is a media guru, staring in his own reality show. He is a three time U.S. Champion. Jeremy Abbott finished 11th in 2009 Worlds competition. His performance in the 2010 U.S. Nationals showed that he could be a contender for the podium, if not gold. The third US member is Evan Lysacek. He is the reigning world champion and a two time U.S. champion.
The United States only qualified two women for the singles competition this year and they have not won a medal in this event in three years. The comeback of Sasha Cohen fell short. Rachael Flatt is a young up an coming star, however she may not have the experience to succeed at these games. Mirai Nagasu won the U.S. title in 2008 at just 14 years old. She struggled in 2009 but now has a new coach and has returned to form entering these Olympics.
Curling
Curling is sometimes very funny to watch. Many people think it looks silly, but there is indeed strategy involved. The object is to get your stones inside the target set on the other side of the playing surface. It's similar to darts, but on ice. Stones are controlled by sweeping the ice as it slides.
The Men's team won the first Olympic medal in this event in 2006, winning a bronze. Neither team is expected to compete for a medal this year. Both the men and women have not had very good season's.
The men are captained by John Shuster while Debbie McCormick leads the women's team.
Cross-Country
Cross-Country skiing has a variety of events. The United States has just one all time medal in this event, a silver. They did not claim a medal in the 2006 games.
The top Unites States competitors are; Kikkan Randall, Kris Freeman and Andy Newell.
Norway is the all time leader in medals with 87 but in the 2006 games, Russian Federation took home the most medals in this competition (7).