Winter Olympic Athletes and Events to Watch For

As this week's Sound Off poll attests, figure skating still tops the favorite event charts, especially for Nebraska Wesleyan University's female population. A rising choice for both sexes, however, is snowboarding.

Keeping that in mind, I've compiled a list of the top athletes in these events and a few others who have snagged a lot of press attention lately. There's an admitted bias toward the Americans, because I figure most of us watch the Olympics to cheer on Team USA.

Snowboarding: Shaun White, Kelly Clark

Shaun White is favored in the men's events, having recently acquired the gold medal in the Superpipe event at the Winter X-Games. The conditions under which he attained that medal attest to the dangerous thrills of the sport: an hour before the final he wiped out face first against the pipe in an attempt at the double cork 1080 (a three complete turn move). In the final, White landed two double cork 1080s.

Kelly Clark, a 2002 Winter Olympics champion, has been pulling in titles all year, although she recently lost the X-Games crown in the Superpipe event to teammate Gretchen Bleiler. These two, along with the third member of their team, Hannah Teter, will be fun to watch.

Figure Skating: Johnny Weir

Admittedly, the reason Johnny Weir is on this list is because he has received a lot of press in the last few weeks due to his daring fashion choices in the rink. For the US Figure Skating Championships, he asked his costume designer to add a few tufts of arctic fox fur to the left shoulder of his outfit, and intended to do the same for the Olympics. His fashion decision cost him a huge headache when animal rights  advocates threatened to interrupt his Olympics skating. Weir is a repeat Winter Olympian and three-time national champion, but it remains to be seen if his skating can live up the hype of his costumes.

US Women's Figure Skating has taken a decided downturn in the last few years and is not figured to rank high on the international scene at the Olympics. Two-time Olympian Sasha Cohen failed to make the comeback she planned, being edged out for the team at the national championships. Instead of watching the U.S. women's skaters, it would be best advised to pay attention to South Korean Kim Yu-Na. She is a heavy favorite in the event and is her nation's best hope to win a gold medal outside of speed skating.

Speed Skating: Shani Davis

Shani Davis was the first black athlete to win a Winter Olympics gold medal when he won the 1,000-meter event in 2006. This time around, he is favored in the 1,000- and 1,500-meter events. Unfortunately for fans who may have hoped for another Michael Phelps-style athlete with the intention to take every medal in his event (5), he decided to opt out of the 10,000- meter.

Alpine Skiing: Lindsey Vonn

It should be interesting to see if Lindsey Vonn can live up to the hype she has attracted as this year's favored female American athlete. She crashed in a training accident just before the 2006 Olympics and has since acquired a couple more recent injuries. Still, she is geared up to race in the downhill, super-G, slalom and giant slalom events. The speed-focused downhill and super-G seem more assured than the intense slaloms, especially given Vonn's nagging pain in her left hand.

Also keep an eye out for Bode Miller, a four-time Winter Olympian who intends to take up the tennis racket after the current ski season. These athletes are only a few of those who have already become Olympic stars; there will likely be many others who will steal the spotlight from even the most tested of veterans.

The action begins with Ski Jump qualifications and the Opening Ceremony on Friday, Feb. 12 and will continue for 16 packed days until the men's hockey final and Closing Ceremony wrap up the Games on Feb. 28.