PyeongChang Preview

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm watching downhill skiing training runs right now and I'm loving it!  Yes, my two weeks of extreme sleep deprivation have begun.  I still don't understand why they need an extra day for the Winter Olympics than they do for the Summer, even though it's a third of the events, but I'll take this little taste before the cauldron is lit on Friday.  It's kinda like the soccer games in the Summer.

Anyway, I decided to break my Olympic preview up into two parts.  This first part will be about each of the different sports.  But I'm saving my medal picks for part two, which will come your way either before or after (but definitely not during) the Opening Ceremony.

There are 102 events in PyeongChang, which is a Winter Olympic record.  As a result, the USA has the largest Winter Olympic team ever for any nation.  And the USA is expected to challenge for the top of the medals table.  At the very least, Team USA should surpass the 28 medals (that's the current total, which is still subject to change) won in Sochi.

Alpine Skiing
Two of the top female alpine skiers in the world are American.  Mikaela Shiffrin won giant slalom gold as an 18-year-old in Sochi.  Now she's an all-around skier and a medal contender in at least three events.  Lindsey Vonn, meanwhile, is arguably the greatest female alpine skier ever.  And she's back after missing the Sochi Games due to injury.  Vonn and Shiffrin should bring home quite a haul.  As for the men, veteran Ted Ligety looks like the best medal shot in his fourth Olympics.

Cross Country Skiing
We could see some history in cross country skiing.  The United States has won a grand total of one Olympic medal in the sport--a silver in 1976.  That could definitely change in PyeongChang.  There are actually two Americans who are medal contenders.  Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall are both capable of ending up on the podium, and that first-ever American gold in cross country isn't completely out of the question.  Although, that would require Marit Bjoergen not winning one.  The 10-time Olympic champion has a chance to become the most decorated Winter Olympian ever if she wins four medals here.

Biathlon
That silver 42 years ago is still one more medal than the USA's entire all-time haul in the sport of biathlon.  That could change, too.  Lowell Bailey won the 20 kilometer event at the 2017 World Championships.  His Olympic results haven't been great.  But he wasn't a defending World Champion in either of his previous Olympic appearances.

Ski Jumping
The only American Olympic medal in ski jumping was a bronze in 1924 (which wasn't even awarded until 50 years later).  Don't expect that to change.  Poland's Kamil Stoch is the top ski jumper in the world, while Germany and Norway have the top teams.

Nordic Combined
Likewise, Germans and Norwegians are favored in Nordic combined, the marriage of ski jumping and cross country.  The U.S. has been successful at Nordic combined in recent Olympics (Bill DeMong won a gold and Johnny Spillane won three silvers in Vancouver).  Norway and Germany won seven of the nine medals awarded in the sport four years ago, though.  It probably won't be much different here.

Freestyle Skiing
New events in freestyle skiing means more medal opportunities for the United States.  Of the 10 freestyle events, there's at least one American medal contender in about seven of them.  The only real exception is aerials, which is dominated by China and Belarus.  The other freestyle skiing event where an American medal would be a surprise is men's moguls.  Mikael Kingsbury of Canada is the overwhelming favorite, but Korea could grab a medal from Choi Jae Woo.

Snowboarding
As the IOC continues in its quest to turn the Winter Olympics into the Winter X Games, they've added still more snowboarding events to the program.  (There are now 20 events, or 20 percent of the entire Winter Olympic program, between freestyle skiing and snowboarding.)  And since the USA is really good at snowboarding, those added events should serve to increase the American medal haul.  There are familiar names like Shaun White and Jamie Anderson back for more, while Chloe Kim, who many think is the next big thing, will make her Olympic debut as the favorite in women's halfpipe.

Speed Skating
Calling the Sochi Games a disappointment for USA Speed Skating would be an incredible understatement.  Not a single medal (well, yeah, the Dutch won literally all of them).  They think they've solved the problems that plagued the team four years ago, so a return to form seems likely.  Brittany Bowe and Heather Bergsma both look like solid medal contenders (although, Bergsma is married to a Dutch skater and lives in the Netherlands).  The US could also win a medal in the new mass start event, which is kinda like a cross between short track and track cycling.

Short Track
NBC did the Olympic organizers a huge favor by getting the figure skating competition put in the morning PyeongChang time.  Because that meant short track got bumped to the evenings.  And short track happens to be South Korea's national sport.  Expect the atmosphere to be great and the crowds to be raucous, as South Korea will likely pick up a whole bunch of medals in short track.  Although, it's a little disappointing that Viktor Ahn wasn't one of the approved Russian athletes (for reasons that are still somewhat unclear).  Because it would've made for quite a story (and scene) to see him competing in South Korea after unceremoniously being cut from the Korean team.

Figure Skating
This has the makings of a fascinating figure skating competition.  Russia could easily go 1-2 in the ladies' event, but the bronze medal is definitely up for grabs.  The pairs competition, meanwhile, is wide open between China and Germany.  In the men's event, though, we could see quite a battle between defending Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan and American Nathan Chen, who dazzles with his arsenal of quadruple jumps.  The ice dancing competition is really the one to watch, though.  Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the gold medalists in 2010 and silver medalists in 2014, are again the gold medal favorites.  That is, unless you think the French team of Papadakis and Cizeron is.  Then there's that bronze medal.  Which could go to any of the three American teams. 

Russia, Canada, USA was the order of finish in the inaugural team competition four years ago.  That should be the case again here.  Although, I wouldn't be shocked if Canada and Russia swapped places.

Luge
Erin Hamlin will be the U.S. flag bearer in the Opening Ceremony.  She won a bronze in Sochi, becoming the first American ever to win an individual Olympic medal in luge.  Hamlin will end her career in PyeongChang, where she could end up on the podium again.  The favorites, of course, are German.  Germany won all four gold medals in Sochi and could sweep again.  They're that good.

Bobsled
Since women's bobsledding was added to the Olympics in Salt Lake City, the U.S. has been one of the dominant countries.  And they're once again medal contenders, along with the Canadians and (surprise, surprise) the Germans.  The women's competition will also see Nigeria make its debut, and we'll also see a women's sled from Jamaica for the first time (although, sadly, no Jamaican men's sled).  Speaking of the men, the USA is still recovering from the devastating death of No. 1 driver Steve Holcomb, the gold medalist in Vancouver.  Russia won gold on home ice in Sochi, but that's one of the many Russian medals from Sochi that's since been taken away.  Canada and Germany should battle for gold.

Skeleton
A Korean is ranked No. 1 in the world in men's skeleton, so you know the home fans will be into this one.  You've also got the Dukurs brothers from Latvia and American Matt Antoine.  We've seen medalists from all over in women's skeleton throughout its Olympic history.  But this time, it's looking like the traditional sliding powers.  And I'm, of course, talking about the Germans and Canadians.

Curling
Mixed doubles curling is kinda fun, I've gotta admit it.  It's a much quicker game than the traditional version.  The American team in mixed doubles is the brother-sister duo of Matt and Becca Hamilton.  They're also on the regular four-person American teams, which means they'll be incredibly busy in PyeongChang.  Once the regular tournament starts, it'll be everybody's quadrennial obsession once again.  From Norway's pants to Britain's skip (trust me) to the people screaming "Sweep!" in all different languages.  And, most likely, we'll see Canada atop the podium once again.

Hockey
Last but not least, we have hockey.  A hockey tournament that will look very different.  The first one in 24 years that doesn't include NHL players.  I'm not gonna get into the NHL's lack of an Olympic break (I think I've made my feelings about that pretty well known).  Instead we'll have mainly European-based players, which bodes well for Russia.  (Imagine the irony of Russia finally winning the hockey tournament at the Olympics where they're not even allowed to call themselves "Russia.")  Sweden and Canada met in the final in Sochi and, even without their NHL guys, look like they should be in the medal mix again.  The USA, I think, is a fringe medal contender.  On the men's side at least. 

On the women's side, it'll once again come down to the USA and Canada.  The USA is tired of seeing Canada win and desperate to reclaim the gold for the first time since the inaugural tournament 20 years ago.  If it's not another USA-Canada women's hockey final, that would be one of the biggest shocks of the Games.