Can Sochi pull off being a good host city?
The choice to award the Olympics to Sochi is gaining controversy by the minute.  Sochi is a summer resort town on the Black Sea.  Organizers have tried to convert it into a winter sports haven by essentially reinventing the city.  Construction overruns increased the announced budget to a record $51 billion, though by some estimates, as much as half of that amount is unaccounted for and may have disappeared through fraud.  Additionally, there are rising security fears over the city’s proximity to ethnic groups, many of whom are upset with the Russian governments’ actions and who have vowed to disrupt the games.  A recent law enacted to curb the lifestyle of LGBT citizens in Russia has worried people that the Olympics will be marred by a public showdown over the law. How will these Olympics play out?  Will the  athletic events themselves be overshadowed by Sochi’s shortcomings?

What new events have been added to this  years’ games?  Which will create the most hype?

The new events that have been added to this year’s games include: new team competitions in figure skating and luge, a mixed relay in biathlon, a ski jumping event for women, a ski half pipe, a parallel giant slalom for snowboarders, and slope-style events in both skiing and snowboarding.  Of these, the slope-style and women’s ski jumping events have gained the most momentum.  Slope-style is an event where the goal is to perform the most difficult tricks, while getting the highest air  The slope-style events will bring new X Game-esque excitement to an Olympic world that is trending younger and becoming more modern.

Canadian vs. U.S Men’s Hockey
No gold medal would excite the local crowds and mean more to the host nation than the gold up for grabs in men’s ice hockey.  It certainly will be a huge home ice advantage for the Russians to have the crowds on their side.  But with the overwhelming favorite, the Canadians, coming into the games as strong as ever, and with the young U.S. team improving each time they play as a unit, the gold is far from a given for the Russians.
Russian hockey was once the standard for sporting dominance in any Olympic competition. Successful teams and past accomplishments from the former Soviet Union include the Unified Team in Albertville in 1992.  The Russians won medals at every Olympics from 1952 through 1992, failing to win gold only in 1960 and 1980 when the games were held in the United States. The U.S. captured gold both those years. Since then, Russian hockey has been in a dry spell.  They fell all the way to sixth place in Vancouver, when the Canadians embarrassed the Russians, 7-3, in the quarterfinals. Can this year’s team, led by the reigning NHL MVP Alex Ovechkin, overcome challenges from Canada, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and the U.S.?

Women’s Ice Hockey – U.S. vs Canada – who will win?
Women’s ice hockey figures to be a showdown between the two giants from North America. Since the event made its debut at the Olympics in 1988, U.S. and Canadian teams have combined for four gold medals, three silvers, and a bronze. Even more impressive, the teams have met in the gold medal games of all 15 world championships ever held, dating to 1990. The Canadians will enter the tournament as the defending Olympic champions, while the U.S. will enter as the defending World Champions.
Can Shani Davis shine with the spotlight of the world on him?
Shani Davis is the most versatile and perhaps most accomplished speed skater of his generation. In an age of increased competition and skill, Davis has won both the World Sprint Championships, which includes two races each at 500 and 1,000 meters, and the World All-Around Championships, which includes races at four distances and favors skaters who excel at long races. Over the last two Olympics, Davis focused on two events, taking a pair of golds in the 1,000 distance and a pair of silvers at 1,500 meters. He won silver and bronze at the World Single Distance Championships last year and is still a threat to win either of his two best events.

Does Shaun White still have what it takes to win?
Shaun White has gone from being merely a great Olympic athlete with two Olympic titles in the half-pipe, to being an unstoppable Olympic powerhouse. The man who proved “tomatoes” can fly (his nickname due to his red hair), also plays guitar in his own band and is said to make eight figures from a variety of endorsement deals.  Regardless, he is locked in and focused on both the new slope-style and classic half-pipe events.  He is going to try to win multiple golds for the first time in his career. White has reduced his training time as he has gotten older and more involved in other projects. While he is intensifying his workouts to trade quality for quantity, he is keeping them to two hours rather than the marathon preparation he used to employ.  At 27, can White still command the attention of the crowd and dominate the sport the way he has in the past?

How many medals will Team USA claim in Sochi?
The 2010 U.S. Olympic Team won the most medals of any country in Vancouver with 37 (9 gold, 15 silver, 13 bronze). With new sports in the Olympic program and many returning Olympians, the U.S has 230 total athletes ready to compete and win medals for their country.  The total number of athletes they have is more than any other country in the games.  After winning the medal count in 2010, the U.S is going into the Olympics with a great chance to top that medal total again in Sochi.

The Olympics begin on February 7, and air on the NBC networks.