Whistler to see fierce competitions for titles

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-02-10 09:58

Whistler - Some dreams are set to be buried beneath the snow of Whistler during the competitions for the upcoming Olympic Winter Games titles.

Whistler to see fierce competitions for titles

Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic competes during the FIS World Cup cross-country men's classic 15 km individual start competition in Otepaa January 16, 2010.[Photo/Agencies]

The current king and queen of cross-country skiing - Lukas Bauer of the Czcech Republci and Poland's Justyna Kowalcyzk - will face tough Nordic tests in Whistler, the site for the cross-country, Alpine skiing, biathlon, Nordic combined, ski jumping, bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Bauer, the silver medallist in the 15km classical from both the 2006 Olympics and the 2009 World Championships in Liberec, will have to take on the challenge from Petter Northug on his way to gold in Vancouver. The latter, from Norway, garnered three gold medals in Liberec and would at least have some psychological edge over Bauer.

The 24-year-old Northug will relish the prospect of his first winter games, where he is expected to add Olympic glory to his world crowns over the pursuit, 50km individual and 4 X 10km relay.

Likewise in the women's events, Kowalcyzk, 26, who is the current overall World Cup leader and has been battling Slovenia's Petra Majdic all the winter with the pair are set to resume their contest in Whistler, high above Vancouver.

And veteran Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, a triple gold medallist at the world championships last year, will endeaver to add Olympic gold to her 10km Individual, Team Sprint and 4X5km relay global triumph with the Finland team.

But the reigning Olympic champion Chandra Crawford of Canada is expected to make life hard for Saarinen. Chandra entered the Turin Olympics as an underdog, but she surprised herself and the experts by coming first in the women's sprint.

A total of 12 medals will be contested in six different disciplines of the cross-country event at the Olympics which include the individual, mass start, pursuit, individual sprint, team sprint and relay.

The men's Alpine skiing events could turn out to be a fascinating showdown between powerhouse Austria and Switzerland, while a handful of poachers are able to pull off some upsets.

Benjamin Raich, who replaced the retired Hermann Maier as the talisman of the Austrian team, won two golds in the giant slalom and slalom four years ago in the Turin Games, and will this time spearhead the Austria's charge with the help of the likes of Marcel Hirscher.

The Swiss team could be a potent force with youngster Carlo Janka heading up a team that also boasts veterans Didier Cuche and Didier Defago.

Julien Lizeroux of France and Croatian Ivica Kostelic also stand some chance against the Austrian duo of Reinfried Herbst and Pranger, as well as Raich.

Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway and Slovenian Andrej Jerman should not be counted out in the speed events, as they displayed promising forms prior to arriving at Whistler.

In the women's Alpine skiing events, American star Lindsey Vonn could outshine all her opponents as she targeted at least three golds.

Even some of Vonn's closest rivals admitted they could do little to stop the 25-year-old American from dominating the coveted speed events in Whistler.

"She's unbeatable, at least on some of the downhill courses," Germany's Maria Riesch was quoted as saying.

Riesch currently leads the women's World Cup slalom competition and will likely battle Austria's Marlies Schild and Frenchwoman Sandrine Aubert for the Olympic glory.

However Riesch, an all-rounder who is second to Vonn in the World Cup overall and downhill standings, remains one of the few women capable of upsetting the American in the blue riband event.

Four Hills champion Andreas Kofler and fellow Austrians Gregor Schlierenzauer and world titlist Wolfgang Loitzl will be among the favorites for the Olympic ski-jumping gold.

This event is strictly confined to the male elite that includes Swiss 2002 double Olympic champion Simon Ammann and 2006 champions Thomas Morgenstern of Austria and Lars Bystol of Norway.

Kofler and Morgenstern were also in the Austrian team crowned Olympic champions at Turin four years ago. And German hope Martin Schmitt insisted that he would be ready once the Olympics come around, although the 31-year-old 2002 team gold winner has struggled to find his form in the recent.

In the Olympic sliding events of bobsleigh, luge and skeleton, the Anglo influence is on the increase after decades of domination by the German-speaking nations.

The United States enjoy a good chance in bobsleigh as they boast the world's top-ranked four-man drivers, namely Steven Holcomb and John Napier.

Holcomb and his push team of Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curt Tomasevicz will drive the USA I sled in Vancouver with Napier, Chuck Berkeley, Chris Fogt and Steve Langton in USA II. The two-man lineups include Holcomb and Tomasevicz, Napier and Langton with Kohn's second still undecided.

The women's lineup features three pairs, Shauna rohbock and Michelle Rzepka, Erin Pac and Elana Meyers and Bree Schaaf and Emily Azevedo, to launch a three-fold pursuit of the gold.

Elsewhere, reigning two-and four-man champion bob champion Andre Lange of Germany is of course the one to watch as he bids for a hat-trick in the latter category.

In luge, Italian Armin Zoeggeler is clearly the favorite for a third straight gold, though Russian World Cup challenger Albert Demtschenko and German world champ Felix Loch have a slight chance of achieving an upset.

Among the luge pairs German World Cup leaders Andre Florschutz and Torsten Wustlich would find glory beckons to them provided they make no mistake.

Shelly Rudman of the United Kingdom, the silver medallist in Turin four years ago, showed she would be the person to beat in the women's skeleton in Whistler as she ousted top-ranked Mellisa Hollingworth of Canada in the World Cup race at St Moritz in mid-January.

"This season has all been about improving every performance to peak ready for the Olympics and things are going well," Rudman was quoted as saying.