Time for a few tweaks given the results (and untimely injuries) of late — and when you add it all up, we have a new leader:
Alpine skiing: Lindsey Vonn’s absence shakes things up a bit and pretty well insures the USA won’t come near its total of eight medals in 2010. Ted Ligety (third overall) and Mikaela Shiffrin are still favorites, and Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal (second overall; downhill and super-G leader) is still as dominant as ever.
Changes:
- Men’s downhill: Erik Guay (CAN) up to silver, Klaus Kröll (AUT) down to considered, Adrien Theaux (FRA) up to considered
- Men’s giant slalom: Alexis Pinturault (FRA) up to bronze, Manfred Moelgg (ITA) down to considered
- Men’s slalom: Mario Matt (AUT) up to silver, Ivica Kostelic (CRO) down to considered
- Men’s combined: Pinturault up to gold, Ligety up to silver, Svindal up to bronze, Kostelic down to considered
- Women’s downhill: Vonn out, Maria Hoefl-Riesch (GER) up to gold, Tina Maze (SLO) up to silver, Tina Weirather (LIE) up to bronze, Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden (SUI) up to considered
- Women’s super-G: Vonn out, Anna Fenninger (AUT) up to gold, Tina Maze (SLO) down to silver, Lara Gut (SUI) up to bronze, Julia Mancuso (USA) down to considered
- Women’s giant slalom: Jessica Lindell-Vikarby (SWE) up to considered
- Women’s slalom: My medal picks are currently 1-2-4 in the World Cup standings. They’ll stay put.
Biathlon: Andreas Birnbacher (Germany) has been sick, so we won’t knock him out of the projections just yet. Not too many surprises on the men’s side, though France’s relay team needs to improve. The surprise in the women’s competition is the Czech Republic’s Gabriela Soukalova, who’s leading the World Cup standings. France’s Marie Dorin Habert has a ruptured tendon in her ankle, so we’ll remove her from consideration.
Changes:
- Women’s sprint: Soukalova (CZE) up to bronze, Olena Pidrushna (UKR) down to considered
- Women’s pursuit: Soukalova up to silver, Valj Semerenko (UKR) up to bronze, Andrea Henkel (GER) and Pidrushna down to considered
Bobsled: The early-season races in North America have skewed the current standings toward the U.S. and Canadian teams. The men haven’t done as well in Europe. Manuel Machata isn’t getting many opportunities for Germany, and Latvia’s Oskars Melbardis isn’t in great form.
Changes:
- Men’s two-man and four-man: Drop Machata from considered
- Women’s: Elana Meyers (USA) up to silver, Sandra Kiriasis (GER) down to bronze, Cathleen Martini (GER) down to considered, Jamie Greubel (USA) up to considered
Cross-country skiing: Dario Cologna (SUI) is trying to come back from ankle surgery. We’ll leave him in for now. A couple of other skiers have skipped the odd World Cup event or the entire Tour de Ski, so the World Cup standings from this season aren’t that meaningful. One surprise: American Simi Hamilton won a freestyle sprint.
Changes:
- Women’s sprint: Denise Herrman (GER) and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (NOR) up to considered
Figure skating: Most of the pre-Sochi competition is complete aside from the European Championships this week, so the projections won’t change much. The Four Continents will only have a couple of Olympians in action. But qualification and national championships have made things interesting. Ashley Wagner placed fourth, and her inclusion is mildly controversial. Evgeni Plushenko on the fringe of Russia’s plans, Japan’s Miki Ando retired after missing out an Olympic berth, and projected gold medalist Mao Asada was third in Japan’s championships. At least defending gold medalist Yuna Kim won handily in South Korea after skipping the Grand Prix season. Gracie Gold’s score from U.S. Championships would be the highest in the world this year, but would international judges be as generous?
Changes:
- Women’s: Gracie Gold (USA) considered. Miki Ando (Japan) out. Considered list now specifying the likely Russian skaters: Adelina Sotnikova and Julia Lipnitskaia
Freestyle skiing: The X Games and World Cup events may still shake things up.
Changes in aerials
- Men: 2010 World Cup champion Anton Kusnhir (BLR) missed the 2012-13 season and has come back with a win in Deer Valley and another podium. Countryman Alexei Grishin, the 2010 gold medalist, is making a comeback and was third in Deer Valley. They’re up to considered.
- Women: We’ll see who makes China and Australia teams. USA’s Ashley Caldwell and Emily Cook up to considered.
Changes in moguls
- Men: Medal contenders are 1-2-3 in World Cup. No change.
- Women: No change, though Miki Ito (JPN) is trying to come back from a knee injury.
Changes in skicross
- Men: Dave Duncan (CAN) up to silver, Andreas Matt (AUT) up to bronze, Chris Del Bosco (CAN) down to considered, Filip Flisar (SLO) down to considered
- Women: Katrin Mueller (SUI) up to considered
Changes in slopestyle
- Men: Waiting for U.S. team announcement to shake things up.
- Women: Kaya Turski (CAN) is fighting a knee injury. Devin Logan (USA) up to considered
Changes in halfpipe
- Men: Watching health of Torin Yater-Wallace (USA). Justin Dorey (CAN) up to considered.
- Women: Roz Groenewoud (CAN) had — you guessed it — knee surgery. We’ll see how she recovers. Devin Logan (USA) up to considered — yes, in two events
Luge: They’ve run seven of nine World Cup events this season, so that should be enough to give us a clearer picture. Still a whole lot of Germany.
Changes
- Men: David Möller (GER) up to silver, Dominik Fischnaller (ITA) up to bronze, Andi Langenhan (GER) down to considered, Chris Mazdzer (USA) up to considered
- Women, doubles, relay: No change
Nordic combined: Most medal contenders are having solid seasons, particularly World Cup leader Eric Frenzel (GER) and Jason Lamy-Chappuis (FRA).
Changes
- Normal hill: Mikko Kokslien (NOR) up to bronze, Bernhard Gruber (AUT) down to considered
Short-track speedskating: No change. We’ll keep an eye on the Euro championships and make sure all the picks are healthy, but the major pre-Sochi competitions are long complete.
Skeleton: Feeling a little more bullish on Matt Antoine (USA) but not quite moving him up into the medals.
Changes
- Men: Tomass Dukurs (LAT) up to bronze, Frank Rommel (GER) down to considered
- Women: Shelley Rudman (GBR) up to bronze, Marion Thees (GER) down to considered
Ski jumping: He used to look like Harry Potter. Then he looked like Trevor Horn. Now he’s back — Salt Lake/Vancouver champion Simon Ammann (SUI) was third in the Four Hills. And 40something Japanese jumper Noriaki Kasai is fourth in the World Cup. In women’s, we’re still holding out hope for the rehabbing Sarah Hendrickson (USA).
Changes
- Men’s large hill: Simon Ammann (SUI) up to bronze, Noriaki Kasai (JPN) up to considered, Anders Jacobsen (NOR) down to considered
- Women’s: Irina Avvakumova (RUS) up to bronze, Carina Vogt (GER) up to considered, Coline Mattel (FRA) down to considered
Snowboarding: Just did the picks 14 days ago; no point in changing anything until after the X Games.
Speedskating: These picks were also recent, and the European Allround Championships didn’t give us any reason to change.
No changes in curling or ice hockey, and no changes are likely unless we have a sudden wave of injuries or other changes.
Duresport.com 