Whistler (AFP) – The current king and queen of cross-country skiing – Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic and Poland’s Justyna Kowalcyzk – will be looking to add Olympic gold to this winter’s success in Vancouver.
The pair triumphed at January’s Tour de Ski in Italy, but will both face fierce competition when Olympic medals come up for grabs, starting Sunday in the women’s 10km and men’s 15km free.
The 26-year-old Kowalkcyzk is the current overall World Cup leader and has been battling Slovenia’s Petra Majdic all winter with the pair are set to resume their struggle at Whistler’s Olympic Park, high above Vancouver.
But veteran Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, who won three gold medals at the world championships last year, will be looking to add Olympic gold to her 10km Individual, Team Sprint and 4×5km relay global success with the Finland team.
Likewise in the men’s events, Bauer has silver medals in the 15km classical from both the 2006 Olympic Games and the 2009 World Championships in Liberec, but will face Petter Northug on his path to gold in Vancouver.
With three gold medals to his credit from Liberec, Norway’s Northug will be amongst the favourites.
The 24-year-old, a keen poker player, will be contesting his first Games and will be looking to add Olympic glory to his world crowns over the pursuit, 50km individual and 4×10km relay.
While the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway and Finland are traditionally strong in the region where the sport originated, Switzerland’s Dario Cologna and France’s Jean-Marc Gaillard are names to watch.
Reigning Olympic sprint champion Chandra Crawford could be set to give the Canadians something to cheer about as she looks to defend her gold on home soil.
Having switched from biathlon aged 16, in her first year on the Canadian senior team she collected five international medals in one month.
Considered an underdog in Torino in 2006, Chandra surprised herself and the experts by coming through with a gold medal performance in the women’s sprint.
In total, 12 medals will be contested in six different disciplines at the Olympic Games which include the Individual, Mass Start, Pursuit, Individual Sprint, Team Sprint and Relay.
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